Yuki & House reno week 4

So we had to put our dog Yuki down last week. Yuki was really my mom's dog. He was by her side through everything. We would put him on her bed and he would stay by her side all day, every day. He was a good dog. Slightly crazy, but we still loved him. After my dad got remarried they decided that Yuki had to go. They were going to Idaho a lot and had a hard time finding someone to watch him so (cue the trumpets) Susan, our friend, stepped in and took him for us. She is such an amazing person and we are so grateful for her and for loving Yuki and taking such great care of him. He loved Susan which was a big deal because Yuki loved only a few people. He was old though and it was time. Susan called me on Sunday and told me that she thought it was time. He had a respiratory infection and couldn't sit up anymore or move very well and was just going downhill. I know that if we hadn't put him down he would have suffered for a few more days and gone anyways. So she made the decision and we went in the next day and said our goodbyes. It was really hard but I know he is with my mom getting lots of love. What a guy. Love you Yuki dog.

After that depressing note...our house is coming along. The floors in the kitchen were just re stained so I couldn't get a good picture of the kitchen which is the best part! This is a terrible and old iPhone picture but you get the gist. White cabinets, subway tile back splash, new sink and faucet.
 

 

top left: the fridge will go in the empty space to the right of the window

top right: SiSi's closet

bottom left: painted railing and spindles, new floor color

bottom right: new closet at the end of the hall

All we (and when I say we I mean the contractors) have to do now is paint everything and put all of the doors back on then clean the entire house!!! I have never been more excited to clean a house before in my life!

So funny story, no renovation is without it's few hiccups. We had originally planned on painting the house ourselves to save a lot of money. How hard could it be? We thought. This last week I devoted all of my free time to sanding and cleaning the walls, patching holes, taping and buying all of our supplies. I finally finished and A's mom graciously offered to take SiSi so we could go start painting. Anxious to get the job done we jumped into it with our rollers and brushes. About 10 minutes into painting I hear A complaining through the walls and he doesn't stop. I won't repeat what he was saying but let's just say it was enough to get me to leave my awesome paint job and go in to his room to see how he was faring. He wasn't happy. So we sat down and had a good talk and ultimately decided that if we painted our house ourselves there was a chance that we would not like each other by the end. And we both agree that saving a few bucks is not worth our marriage. So we are having someone else paint for us and it feels quite nice.

After the painters are done, the doors will be reattached, carpets and air ducts cleaned and then we will move in!!! Hopefully in about a week, WHAT?! We are so excited!

Labor Day

We had a fun filled Labor Day doing absolutely no labor. Thanks to those who participated in the Labor movement for giving me a day in which I sit around and eat lots of food and hang out with my family! Yay for you!

We decided to go to the GR and enjoy the sunshine and the cool mountain air. A went riding with his dad and Phil. SiSi, Martsie and I stayed on the property and hung out with Micaela and her kids. It was the perfect weather and we enjoyed every minute of it. SiSi even had her first real 4wheeler ride and she loved it!

Then if that weren't enough, A's parent's threw a big BBQ pool party for the family that night and it was way too much fun. SiSi thinks she is Michael Phelps or something because she tries to swim all over the place. And of course this wouldn't be a Webb party if someone didn't jump off some kind of roof. Thanks John!

Hope you had a labor free and fun filled Labor Day too!

Party over here!

I grew up in a family that loved birthdays. We celebrated every birthday the same: my parents would decorate the house with the same birthday banner and a kind of creepy clown balloon that we had been using for all of our birthdays, most of the time my birthday landed on the first day or school so that was a real winner, dinner seemed to always be at Outback Steakhouse or Teppanyaki, then we would come home to a Jamoca fudge ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins, singing and presents. I love birthdays! For SiSi's first birthday we wanted to do something fun so we decided to do a pool party. Everything was all set up by A's parent's pool and then the storm clouds came rolling in. We tried to sit it out but when the lighting hit we decided to take the party inside. It was pretty much pandemonium for the rest of the night but it was fun and SiSi was so happy! Too bad :( but it's okay, we'll take a rain check! Get it? Ha!

this is how cute it would have been...

I used a Sweet Tooth Fairy recipe for the double chocolate cupcakes here

the cupcakes were a little rich and dense for a children's birthday party but I thought they were good. I probably won't make them again though. The frosting I used will be my go-to frosting from now on though. It was amazing! Now if I can just find the recipe again...(story of my life!)

 SiSi was incredibly spoiled and enjoyed every second! Cousins everywhere, pink sequined everything, a rocking chair (Ikea), balloons and best of all her Granny and Grandma who know her so well got her a cell phone and a car. One going on 16. Heaven help us! The bottom right pictures she is texting and talking while driving. We need to have a chat SiSi.

 

Overall a huge success! Happy birthday to our little joy. 

Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever know!

Delmont Reno Week 1

Last week was SiSi's 1st birthday party. Big deal. It was wonderful despite the thunderstorm that drove us inside. So much for a pool party, there is always next year! I'll post those photos next time.

Just thought I'd throw these in here. That top right is classic SiSi, she's craze.

This post will go over our home renovations and I'll try to keep posting updates as we go. I hope I am not the only person who loves these kinds of posts, if I am please tell me so I don't keep boring you all. Gracias.

Our home was built in 1958 and still retained a lot of those qualities. The electrical was original low voltage and hummed when you turned on a switch. Parquet wood flooring in the kitchen and gorgeous hardwood floors underneath the carpet, wood burning stove in the basement, single bar closets, some tile in the basement that potentially has asbestos. Then we jump up a few decades...1970's dark brown oak cabinets, washer and dryer in the kitchen, laminate counter tops and ceramic sink, groovy light fixtures and cheap foam core doors everywhere, plus we inherited years of terrible amateur electrical work with open splices at every turn, a 40 year old furnace, galvanized pipes and a chimney that had never been cleaned before-never in 55 years! Wha?! The basement is a mess too. The room that will be our laundry room was unfinished and there was a leak from the bathroom upstairs into the bathroom downstairs so the ceiling was torn out and all a mess.

top: left: basement fireplace, anyone need a sweet weight set? right: new furnace and piping

bottom: left: basement bathroom ceiling right: cold storage, it's huge!!!

But there are a few great things that the previous owners did...new windows, the old garage was converted into a bonus room, can lights in the living room and bonus room, new fireplace upstairs, the upstairs bathroom was recently redone and the carpet was pretty new and a good color. So overall we started out with good bones.

A and I sat down a few times and went over a list of everything that we would ever want done with the house. We went over every detail of the home as if money were no object. Then we prioritized the list from "must be done" to "it'd be nice".  Here's the list for now:

• New electrical, furnace and replace the galvanized pipes with copper
• Clean the chimney
• Kitchen: paint cabinets, granite counter tops and new sink, move W/D downstairs, new pantry, and repair and refinish kitchen floors
• Paint entire upstairs
• Closets in upstairs bedrooms
• Put in a hall closet
• Drywall laundry room
• Repair basement bathroom ceiling
• Wall mount TV hookups and everything for A's new 65" TV I got him for his birthday (spoiled much?)

We realized quickly that this wasn't something we could do on our own so we ask around and got a few referrals for contractors and ended up contacting Kaleb with Royal Builders to get a bid. Kaleb actually came in with a little bit more expensive of a bid but he could start faster (remember we are still living with A's parents) and we trust the person who recommended him so we decided to move forward. We also really liked the ideas that he had for our kitchen and hall closet, he knows his stuff. He started within a couple days of us giving him the go ahead and our house is currently torn apart. It makes me so happy! I seriously love this! I feel like I'm on HGTV hosting my own makeover show. A girl can dream right?

So in a week this is what has happened...

• Electrical is about 90% done.
• New furnace installed and done.
• Copper piping is in-I think? I could be wrong...
• The chimney sweep came and said that it was the worst chimney he has ever seen and we need to get a new one or we will probably burn down our house. We decided to not deal with it right now and just not use the wood burning stove in the basement for a while, maybe never, we'll see. The upstairs fireplace is piped differently so we can use that one all we want.
• Kitchen: cabinet painter is scheduled for Sept. 9th, counter tops will come in right after, W/D are downstairs, pantry has been torn down and beams are being put in to frame the new pantry, hardwood floors will be one of the last things to be done so probably second week of Sept.
• Paint colors are chosen-Benjamin Moore "Revere Pewter" for everything upstairs except the kitchen which will be Sherwin Williams "Georgian Revival Blue" with bright white trim.
• Old hall cabinets have been torn out and the framing for the hall closet is up. 
• Wall mount TV hookups are about half way there.

So that's lots of fun. I am so glad we hired a contractor. He is worth every penny. Not having to run over to the house every time someone has a question is awesome. Plus, he is moving ahead like crazy. No calling people every day asking where they are with my projects and hearing things like "I'm a little behind" or "I'll be there in a couple hours." LIES! All LIES! If any of you have worked with a shady painter/floor guy/electrician/plumber (Abby, I'm thinking of you!) you know what I mean. I went over and took some photos tonight so the lighting is terrible but you get the gist.

KITCHEN

top: counter top, sink, backsplash and appliance garage have all been removed.

bottom: everything on that wall was removed and they started from scratch. Where the framing is where the pantry will be and they are installing new cabinets on either side of the pantry. Walls are being installed around the fridge to make it look more "built in" and a cabinet will be above that will be flush with the fridge. On the right side there will be a cabinet up top with a space for a microwave right below it, then an empty space then another cabinet on the bottom to match the original cabinets. It'll make sense when it's all done :)

HALL CLOSET

top: look at those gorgeous hardwood floors!!! we didn't even know they were there until we bought the house. It's not in our budget now to tear up the carpet and refinish them so we are saving up for hopefully in a couple years.

bottom: left: the old drawers and cabinet have been removed and the closet has begun to be framed out. right: I decided I wanted can lights in the hallway because I don't like tiny hallways very much so anything to make them a little more bearable is great.

BASEMENT

top: left: the awful fireplace right: the new furnace

bottom: left: the basement bathroom ceiling, super fun right? right: cold storage, YES!!!

Until next time!

Happy Birthday Little Miss!

 

It's SiSi's first birthday today!!! Happy birthday to the sweetest, craziest girl around. Love you Siena!

 

 

 

Adulthood 101: We bought a house!

I haven't blogged in a while because well, we bought a house! We have finally joined adulthood and are living in the burbs. My days are now filled with meeting contractors, picking out granite and choosing what shade of grey I like the best. Middle class problems right?

But seriously, I'm loving every minute of it! Andrew and I have been married for 5 years now and we are finally settling down for longer than a year. We've had 8 moves so far and I am so excited to not have to move for a while and I get to unpack all of my things that have grown dusty in the barn for 3 years. It'll all probably end up going to D.I. because who really needs all that stuff but I'm excited to unearth it.

The home was built in the 50's and needs quite a bit of work so we are going to stay living at A's parent's home for another month or two until the blessed day comes! Thank goodness for my in-laws, they are saints. I think they are just slightly excited for us to move out.

The home is in Holladay and in a really cute neighborhood. We already know quite a few people who live close to us and we heard that there are a lot of young kids in the area so we are ecstatic. Maybe we will make friends and stop being so anti-social. We'll see.

Here are some photos of the new Webb estate.

Front

Living room

Converted garage/bonus room

Kitchen

Master

upstairs bathroom

Family room

backyard

2nd bedroom upstairs

3rd bedroom upstairs

There are two additional bedrooms, a bathroom, cold storage area and a laundry/storage room all downstairs but for now we are pretending that they mostly don't exist. Our remodel will be focused on the upstairs really since we won't be spending much time downstairs and we will slowly work on the basement as we get time and the budget for it.

So far we have a massive list of what we want to do upstairs including a new kitchen and converting the 2nd bedroom into a dressing room. Why not right? We do have the get all new electrical and a new furnace so that's not fun but we would like our house not to burn down in the middle of the night so it's a necessity.

It hasn't really hit me yet that it's my house. As soon as we actually get into construction it may hit but I think it'll take me a few weeks of unpacking boxes to really set in.


I've already started choosing things like granite counter tops, paint colors, new configuration of the kitchen and so on. We'll go over that next time. Just be prepared for a whole lot of house reno posts for the next 6 months. It's going to be an adventure! Wish us luck.

Awesome

So obviously I'm an awesome blogger.

January came and went, no blogging.
Feb, March, April and May came and went and still no blogging.

Oy vey. what to do?

I do have a few excuses which are lame so I will spare you. One of them is kind of funny though so I will share. About a month ago I was at the Ranch and decided to get my brother-in-law's horse out that hasn't been ridden for about a year and I got bucked off. Totally my fault but still annoying because I broke my elbow and sprained my wrist pretty bad so I have to type with one hand. Caring for a baby one-armed is pretty exhausting and so is one-handed typing so blogging is a little further down on my list these days. Plus, I can sleep or blog and I always choose sleep, except for tonight obviously.

Adventures of the past few months...

February included a quick trip to Saint George with Tracie and her cutie patootie, Parker. I stopped by my grandparent's place to say hi.

 Grandma Crystal

Grandpa Dip

 Aunt Sharla, SiSi, Grandma & Grandpa

Aaron and I ran to my mom's grave on Valentine's.

SiSi @ 6 months

Maui in February

SiSi really loved Maui.

Random's from March

Grub Steakhouse with Grandma & Grandpa Webb

Kipling is still alive and well!

SiSi @ 7 months

April 26th was the anniversary of my mom's death so we did a fun balloon release to honor her life. I want to do this every year so SiSi will know her Grandma Vickie. We had so many people come and support us and many more write the sweetest notes that we attached to the balloons and sent to heaven for her to read. Join us next year!

My angel mother, love you! 

My gimpy brother Aaron. He broke his leg the week before. 

We are an accident prone bunch.

That night A surprised me with a box of chocolates and a trip to San Diego! What a man!!! I can't get enough of him. It was perfect. A's mom even watched the girl while we were there, I got to sleep in! You moms know what I'm talking about! That is a present unto itself. If that wasn't good enough we stayed at the best hotel, ate like kings, went to the zoo and got massages. It may have been slightly hard to return to reality.

Diners, Drive-ins & Dives restaurant. Delish!

Glorious spa time!

but then we got to come home to this...

blurry but one of my faves

8 months old

just a little daddy

K is so sweet to her, she is still learning to be soft.

Tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point with Grandma, Aunt Abby & Michael

Grandma & SiSi

Abby & baby Michael

May hit us kind of hard, I broke my elbow and couldn't take care of SiSi for about 2 weeks without help. Luckily, A, his mom and Abby jumped right in and did everything. What would I have done without them? I really don't know.

SiSi loves to be outside, especially in her swing.

Then if my broken elbow wasn't enough SiSi got the flu. Worst week ever. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a sick baby.

being outside with her Sprite and saltine's made things a little better. 

Don't worry, we didn't give her Sprite, she just really liked the bottle.

worst ever. Let's never get sick again, okay?

Then last weekend we had to move all of my things out of the Orem house so my dad can sell it. A & his brother packed it all up and took it to the Ranch. We made the most of the day and enjoyed the fresh mountain air.

SiSi watching the dogs fight is a daily and entertaining occurrence. We always bet on Josey, sorry K.

This photo was taken right after Jared & Rose closed the door on their moving van. They are moving to Idaho Falls and we will miss them! My dad is selling the house as soon as the carpets get cleaned. It was bittersweet walking through it for the last time. I was 2 when we moved to Utah. There was a peach orchard across the street and always tons of kids outside. Many birthdays were celebrated there, baptisms, holidays, family dinners every night, singing Beach Boys and Josh Groban, movie nights, sleepovers, hugs and kisses, the best neighbors, learning to ride bikes without training wheels, scuffs and scrapes and even sickness and death. Somewhere between all of that I grew up and moved on and didn't even realize it. I try to not be sentimental about things because the memories are what is important but this one has been a little hard. This was my home for so long and I never thought of it being gone. Only happy memories though. I can't wait to create my own home with my sweet little family. Hopefully soon!

June will hold lots of good for us. House hunting (and hopefully buying), the girl is starting to stand on her own, my splint will come off, A's job is going well, K is happy and healthy and the pool is open! Get ready June, it's going to be a party!

9 months 

16 lbs

I can't remember how tall she is, let's just say she is teensy.

favorite foods: yogurt puffs, apple slices, graham crackers, veggie puffs, baked beans, rice, ice cream, chocolate, french fries, scrambled eggs, peanut butter, bananas, snap peas, pasta with pesto, cucumbers, avocado. Pretty much anything really.

She loves to stand at the french doors and squeak until someone takes her outside. LOVES cell phones and computer keyboards. Loves mommy, daddy, Kipling and grandma the most. Has the cutest squeaky laugh and talks all the time, even in her sleep sometimes. Wants to stand by herself and tries so hard. The swing is her favorite spot. Is the happiest around lots of people. Has to have her blankie and binkie. Gets so excited when A comes home from work. Loves animals. Has to touch everything. Her hair can finally go into a tiny pony. Hates getting her diaper changed and runs away from me every time I get her dirty diaper off. Can crawl at the speed of light. Loves to play in the dog water bowls. Hates her car seat. Loves walks. But the biggest announcement is that she cuddles with us now. Best thing ever!!!

Love her!