House Stuff

I love having a new house built- even though the process is taking a long time! We have picked out everything we wanted for this house. We have made it "ours" so we are going to stay there for a while. We will have 2100 sq. feet, which should give us enough room for a little while. I am in love already with our main floor. We have coffee-colored hand scraped oak for our floors, gorgeous coffee-colored cabinets and trim throughout the house, and MY kitchen! I love the kitchen! I got to pick my kitchen- which makes me sigh with contentment. I love, love, love my cabinets and granite counter. They are a beautiful combo. We have picked out some amazing pieces of blown glass for our bar lights. And I have under cabinet lights! I am excited to have a fireplace again. I miss it in our house right now. In my head, I have already moved into this house and have it fully furnished and decorated :) We do need to buy a few things, like rugs and storage, but I have been mentally taking notes and know exactly what I want and where to get it. Chloe has been "designing" her room. She changes her mind every day so who knows what the final outcome will be. Since she starts kindergarten this fall, she wants a more mature room. But I don't think Jeremy will go for a Hannah Montana room! One other thing that I am really excited about is my bathroom. I know it sounds weird, but we are getting a jacuzzi tub. I can't wait to take a bath every night!

I talk about this house as if we are about to move into it! Actually, the foundation is almost done. So we are probably looking at a few more months before we even get to move in. Oh, well.

Great Wolf Lodge

We took the kids to the Great Wolf Lodge for a few days. It was SOOOO much fun! They have an indoor waterpark with lots of fun things for the kids. The only bummer was that Chloe wasn't tall enough to go on the big slides with us. But there was a huge tree fort and a wave pool and tons of things for her to do there. They also had activities throughout the lodge for kids to do. There was a Teen Game room, an Arcade, a Scavenger Hunt, a craft room, Bedtime Stories every night, yummy places to eat. Chloe loved the Scavenger Hunt but each game is so long (average is about 6 hrs from start to finish) that she was done after 4 hrs. This place is very kid friendly and we are excited to go back again in Nov!

Logan's cheesy "excited" face

Ready for bedtime stories
On a quest to find all the gems

One of the elevator lobbies, and place with lots of "treasures"

Even Logan tried to play

So Sneaky!

I was in the kitchen the other day when Logan came in and was wandering around. Next thing I know, he's running out of the kitchen. Obviously up to no good! He had snuck into Jeremy's box of doughnuts and helped himself. Clearly he knew he could get in trouble for this and took advantage! He crammed as much into his mouth as he could and ran. This is my sneaky doughnut ninja! I was laughing too hard to take it away from him. He was trying to get as much in his mouth as he could so I stuck him outside with the mess. Once he figured out I wasn't going to take it away from him, he relaxed and enjoyed his first doughnut!

Congratulations, Jesse & Corby!!!!

This weekend a friend of ours got married!!! For some reason I didn't take any pictures other than of the cake. But it was one of the best weddings I have been to in a while. It was absolutely beautiful. I normally don't cry or even get teary-eyed at weddings. But I got teary a few times on Saturday. It was so sweet. I think my favorite part was at the end when Jesse got so excited that she jumped up and down :)

Jesse, you were a beautiful bride. I hope your special day was every bit as magical as you had imagined it. I am so glad that I could be a part of it! It was beautiful and fun and wonderful. The joy on your face made me so happy for you! I know you and Corby will do great things together. And I am excited that soon we will all live a little closer to each other!

PS- the gift that didn't have a card, that's from us. I forgot your card at home :P

Back in the Saddle

Well, I'm back. The last few weeks have been busy and rough on us. We had some family come in from out of town, which was wonderful! We got to take them to the Space Needle and out to dinner for "real" seafood. Sammi had her graduation and we are so very proud of her! Of course, we also like the perks of having a flight attendant in the family! ;)

Uncle Mark at the Space Needle

Last week was really hard on us. About mid-week, I had a miscarriage. I never realized how attached we were to such a new life. For only being a few weeks pregnant, it was very heartbreaking. I basically didn't want to talk to anyone or see anyone. I didn't know what to say or how to say anything without crying. Even now as I type my eyes are filled with tears. Jeremy and I decided to NOT know the reason. Sometimes there are questions that just don't get sufficiently answered. I'm sure we could play the "Why- What If" game forever. But in the end it would only bring frustration. We put our hearts in God's hands, knowing one day we will know the "why." After crying about as much as I could, we decided to get away for a couple of days. So, early Friday morning we jumped on a plane and went to Vegas. I know that sounds like a crazy idea, but seriously, 90 degree weather. Need I really say more?

Vegas was exactly what we needed! The sun was amazing! Even though it's the same sun, there really is something different about the sunshine here in Washington. After growing up in the Midwest, sunning in Washington just isn't the same. It really is true. I never tan here. But last summer, after just a few days in MO, my skin was glowing. I am truly made for sun. My skin is better, I get an amazing tan, my mood is better, I have more energy. So, for our 2 days in Vegas, Jeremy and I laid by the pool. Hours. By the pool. Sunshine. Happiness. We didn't go to any shows (although my long-time favorite comedian is in Vegas), we didn't do the "touristy" things. Friday night we did walk around some of the hotels. They were nice but I really enjoyed our pool. And we found this amazing diner. I could have stayed there all evening! All the servers and hostesses sang! It was an Oldies diner. Much to Jeremy's dismay, I LOVE oldies!!!!! So when they started singing and dancing right in front of us, I was in heaven. Oh! And the food was actually incredible!

On top of the Stratosphere

My new favorite diner