Cam turns 16!

Cam celebrated turning 16 on Sunday.  We made it as fun as we could for a Sunday birthday.  Jake gave him this bag of popcorn that he got from his new job at the movie theater.  At the end of the night, they just throw away all the leftover popcorn unless someone wants to take it home! 

Since we were very strict with all 4 kids about not letting them drive alone AT ALL until they turned 16, Cam was pretty happy to finally take the car for a spin around the block by himself.

I had to decorate the porch instead of the yard because after several weeks of 60 degree weather, we got a snowstorm on his birthday.

Cam was in St. George for a baseball tournament from Wednesday until 3:30 on Sunday morning, so unfortunately he had some homework to get done on his birthday.  Doesn't he look thrilled to be doing it?

We went to the Skeens for dinner and games joined by the Bundy's, Petes and Mom who is in town for Madi's wedding which was Friday.  We had a fun time eating sweet pork salad/burritos and playing in the gym.

Thanks everyone who helped make Cam's day a fun one.  And thanks Cam for being such a good kid.  I love you!

Remodel is complete!

 It's finally time to do the long awaited post of our kitchen remodel.  It's been a 2 week longer-than-anticipated-process, but in the end, it's all been worth it.  I LOVE everything and am so happy with how it all turned out.  Here are some before pictures:

 And. . . . (drum-roll please) the after pictures:

 Goodbye old white porcelain sink and. . . 

hello new Blanco silgranit sink!  I love it so much!



 Here is the living room and entry before:

Sadly (or perhaps not as I'm sure you'll be amused by this picture taken in 2010 at our 80's themed New Years Eve party) this is the only picture I could find that shows the french doors before:

AND. . . . the living room and entry after.........

Freda made the cute kitchen curtains and did the awesome flower arrangement on the pedestal.  Doesn't everyone wish they had a talented mother-in-law like me???

This was our 2nd guestroom before. . .

And this is Mike's office now:

He is so thrilled to just walk down the hall to go to work now.  It's been especially nice when its at 4 in the morning, or late at night.  And, unlike many women I don't worry that he'll get off task and start lounging around instead of working- and if you know Mike and his hideous work load, you won't be worried either.

We had many trucks outside our house the past 2 months (and this picture doesn't include 3 of them which I failed to get) which meant someone was inside hard at work.  The electricians, granite guys, carpet layer, cabinet man, hardwood floor installers, plumber, comcast team (yes, it took three guys in three trucks to figure it all out), and our contractor/handyman Bryce (Brad's dad- and may I say what an awesome job he did on the arch, banister, back splash and trim work?)  It's been very quiet the past few days without workers coming or going.

I am beyond thrilled that we've been able to make almost all the changes that I've been wishing to make ever since we moved into this house 10 years ago. 

2 brides-to-be, 2 bridal showers

This adorable bride-to-be is Josie.  She's one of my favorite former young women.  We have much in common and enjoy getting together and going for walks around the neighborhood and catching up. I loved reading her weekly letters while she served a mission in California, and I especially loved seeing her relationship with her husband-to-be Rick blossom.  And what a guy- he faithfully waited for her while she served her mission!  It was my pleasure to throw her a ward shower a few weeks ago with the help of several other women.  I had hoped the house remodel would be finished, but there were a few things that didn't come together.  Oh well, it was fun to show off what we'd done anyway.

The following Saturday I hosted a shower for my cute niece Madi who is getting married on March 16th.  Her mom and sister came plus her Dad's mom and sisters plus Jessica, Ann, Janet, Syd and little Rafe.  We had a fun time eating, playing a few games, and watching Madi open presents.

You've just had a sneak peak to what the house looks like now- and I promise a complete before/after post in the coming days.

Jake is a Eagle Scout!

(Let me start off by apologizing for the poor quality of these pictures.  I don't know what the problem was with my instant camera, but I got my good one out for the ones at home which you'll notice in the 3rd collage)

This past Sunday night Jake received his Eagle Scout Award!  We're so proud of him for working so hard to get it.  He did a great project during the summer of '10 (yes, it's taken us that long to get the paperwork done. . .) of collecting bicycles for Burmese refugees who live in Logan and don't have any form of transportation except the bus.  It was a very rewarding experience for everyone involved when we delivered the 60 plus bikes to them and to see the joy on their faces when they realized that they were getting a bike for free.

The top picture if of Jake and Ryan in the "eagles nest" with men in our ward.  It was impressive that so many came to the court of honor to support Jake and Ryan (notice cute Brad to Ryan's right).  The bottom right picture is of Jake and Ryan's little brothers taking part in the program before the awards were handed out.  Cam hasn't worn his scout shirt for a couple years- apparently he's grown a little since then. . . hahaa

The top right picture is our YM president presenting Jake with the award.  Jake really looks up to him (and not just because he's tall) and is happy he's in YM with him.  The bottom left picture is of Jake with our bishop, the YM pres. and the scout advancement adviser.  If any of you reading this are more into scouting than we are, you'll notice that Jake and Ryan are wearing their bandillos (is that even the right word?  It's the green thing with all their merit badges on them) on the wrong shoulder. . . who knew?  Ryan's was on the right shoulder (which is actually the right shoulder, not the left) but changed it so they would look the same.  We'll get it right for Cam!)

At home with the better camera.  It was nice of the Weyerts Grandparents and Jess and Brad to come and support Jake in this momentous occasion.

Way to go Jake!  You won't ever regret putting in the effort it took to become an eagle scout.