Phase 1 of our remodel

So we are in the thick of our kitchen remodel, and since I want to wait until we're all done and do a big reveal with before and after pictures, I did want to give a tiny glimpse of what's been going on here.  So I'll tell about the first phase of our new carpet!  We had all 5 bedrooms carpeted, plus the game room and sewing room.  Three days later, we all helped Mike move his office home into one of the bedrooms upstairs.  He is LOVING working at home and not having to go out in the cold, dark early morning hours.  

This is of all of us moving everything out of the bedrooms into the family room, living room, and guest bathroom (doesn't Cam look thrilled to be helping?)  It was a huge undertaking and we figured with the time all 6 of us spent moving everything, it totaled about 12 hours. 

 That was the easy part though as we learned the next day when it came time to put everything away. . .  Two carpet installers worked from 10:30 am until 8 pm laying the carpet, which I LOVE.  I'm so excited about it, and to have it in the other rooms as soon as we're done in the kitchen.

 Here's our bedroom with the new carpet.  I love it, and love that I don't need to vacuum nearly as often as with the lighter.

More fun family time

We continued having fun after Christmas with several more activities.  We all went bowling one night and Mike and I really enjoyed beating everyone with our great scores and many strikes. . . We should have been playing for money!  We had the Bundy's over one evening for 'fast and easy' pizza and monkey bread. That double batch was gone quickly.  We played both name games, then the game of 'things.'

On New Years Eve we went to the matinee "We bought a Zoo" and enjoyed that, then came home to eat a tasty Turkey dinner. I'd been feeling deprived of one since we'd missed out on one for Thanksgiving, so I had fun preparing the dinner and feasting on leftovers for days afterward.

Since the snow came in November before we'd had a chance to rake up any leaves, we took advantage of a 50 degree day and got them raked up.  Since we haven't had snow for about a month, what we did have is mostly melted. It's been a weird winter so far.  How long can it continue this way? 

Carol invited us out one evening for munchies and two new fun games.  It was fun to get together with her and her kids, Ann, and the Bundy's. 

We got several new fun games for Christmas including Just Dance 4.  We've had fun playing that, and I'm surprised at how much rhythm the boys have!

Ann and I took our girls to SLC for some shopping and lunch at Thaifoon.  We hit some great stores that had 50% off Christmas decorations so I'm excited for next year to have some new things.
All too soon it was time to go back to work and school, and for Brody and Kylee to leave for Colorado after three wonderful weeks with us.  I guess it's true that "all good things come to an end."  That's OK, because I have great memories of this Christmas season and now have our remodeling  to look forward to.  Stay tuned!