Jake, the new guy

A few weeks ago, we got a call saying one of the male dogs from the same litter Kinley was from, was needing a new home. So we took him on a trial basis, and he quickly proved to be such a wonderful dog, we just had to keep him!

So now we've got another boy in the house!

His name is Jake, 1/2 golden retriever, 1/2 some kind of black lab/border collie mix, about 10 mos. old:

Yes, he sleeps at the foot of my bed. And yes, in this pic he's using my purple blanket as a pillow!:

He went sledding with us and even rode on the sled with Zach:

He's a great car traveler, but he really prefers to sit on the seat!:

the inside

kitchen:

looking into living room from kitchen:

boys' room:

our room:

my bathtub:

we also have a walk-in shower!

There is also a kid/guest bathroom, a guest room, a playroom, the dining room is part of the kitchen/living room area, a laundry room, garage, and storage downstairs. Didn't think the world needed that many pictures! We are decorated for Christmas now, but these pics were from November.

House progress

Brenden helping:



grass!:

my first macintosh from the baby tree:

front:

back:

Quick catch up

So I haven't posted on here since June. Wow, that's a long time.

A lot has happened since June!

July was not a great month. I'm really not up for recapping the entire thing. But the basics are that along with summer camps for the kids, babysitting, building and moving into our new house, my Gramps, my mom's mom, got very sick and passed away. It was too sudden, he was so dear to me, and it was just so sad. I split my time between here at home and being in Spokane.
Then, as we were frantically moving from the rental to the new house, because it was time, but also because the rental had a buyer that wanted to move in ASAP, then there was an accident, and our sweet Kinley puppy was killed.
Some people may understand, and some people may think I'm strange to be so emotionally upset by the death of a dog. But I really struggled. I felt very squished in my life. The emotions and stress of kids, building, moving, loosing a dearly loved grandfather, and then my puppy that I've spent 11 years trying to convince my husband to let me have, kinda pushed me hard. Thankfully, my heavenly father knows me well. In my depression, I know I'm loved, I am forced to keep busy, and life presses on, and sometimes loosens up to relieve the pressure.

We're slowly settling into the new house, and loving it!
Zach has been keeping busy with other building jobs around town, so we've still got a lot of unfinished projects around here. But they're getting done as time allows, and we're feeling more and more settled.
My camera was lost for a while, then the computer wouldn't read it for a while. Now it seems to be working well again, so I'll upload some random catch-up pics on here, then we're off for Christmas vacation!
Maybe I'll do a little better on here in 2011! I'll certainly try, but don't hold yer breath!!!!
Merry Christmas!

More Modge Podge

And some May/June pics:

Grandpa and Grandma Camp at Wapato:

Puppy love:

Kinley is definitely part of the family!

We don't have a bathtub here and the boys get tired of taking showers, so this is our compromise. They actually love it!:

Plains Day:

Modge Podge

Here are some random pictures from April and May.
Aladdin play:


Great Grandpa and Grandma Hall:


Conrad trying on Grandma's wig:

Kelly and Cori with our fabulous dried flower arrangement!:


Trip to Oregon, (no kids!!!) for Joel and Wendy's wedding:

Zach and Joel making floral center pieces:

At the beach with Buss, (this pic is too sunny , but it's Zach's favorite):

Cori and Buss with the tide pools:

beach hair:

Getting closer!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted house pictures. I've been more than a little overwhelmed lately. No time for explanations though! Here is proof of progress through pictures...

The boys are great helpers. They clean up garbage, sweep, pile scrap wood, etc. And play in the dirt piles!

Here's the front with the siding up. The garage doors are in now.

This is the back:

Hallway:

I guess I don't have a picture of this room painted. I'll take one today after they get more hardwood in.

I think Zach took this pic for proof that I made a mess while painting!:

Kinley puppy loves to be at the new house. She plays with the boys in the dirt piles and drags wood scraps around.

The furnace and a/c are up and running, electric trimming is started, hardwood started, tile started, gravel driveway started...who knows what else!!! But we can see the end and I'm finally getting excited! Yahoo!!!

Our Girl!

I haven't kept good pictures of our puppy on here, sorry. Here is our little sweetie, now that we know which one is ours. She is 6 weeks old now, weaned, and eating dry puppy food. We aren't ready to take her home with us yet, but are going to start taking her for visits! She'll start getting used to us, riding in the car, wearing a collar, and such. But will go back home to her mama. She's kind of feisty and demands a lot of attention compared to the rest of the litter, so I guess she'll fit right in with our family! We're full of strong-wills around here!
I'm thinking of calling her Kinley, after Mount McKinley. Any thoughts or opinions or other ideas???

Where We Are

This is the house we are staying in for now as we continue building the new house. We have a lot of things in storage, as this is much smaller than we have been used to! But it's a lot of fun living in a small "cabin" for a while. There are 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, with plenty of space for what we need.

We have been blessed through the opportunity to live here. It is more affordable now that we have the new house payments. It is only a couple blocks away from the new house, a quick, easy walk, and we can use our permanent mailbox already. We are next door to good friends! We're much closer to town, so running to the grocery store or library is not a big deal. The boys don't need to change schools, they just ride the bus now.

We are very thankful for these things!

This house is listed for sale, so we do need to be ready for people who want to schedule a walk-through, but that has not been a problem.