Kitchen Remodel Update

This project it ending up taking a lot of time! We've ran into a few "bumps" such as ripping up an extra layer of board in the laundry room and kitchen. However, that's done and all the old flooring is gone!

Next Ryan had to lay cement board down before we could lay tile. My brother, Quinton, helped out a lot with that. Thanks a ton Quinton!

And finally, we could lay tile! Ryans sisters helped with the tile in the laundry room and kitchen. They got the majority of it finished last weekend, and then two nights after work Ryan finished laying the tiles in those two rooms.

We're pleased with the way it's turning out!

Then today, Ryan's mom was going to help us grout so we can put our appliances back in and have a kitchen again! However, our "bump" today is Ryan has the flu. So the grout is going to have to wait until Monday.

So until then, my refrigerator and stove stay in my dinning room and I will continue cooking on the BBQ or with my Croc pot. If you have any good croc pot recipes, I'd love to have more!

I ordered our dishwasher a couple weeks ago. It's sitting in our garage waiting to be installed. We then decided to purchase a new range and microhood now and they'll be in on Thursday. (The fridge will have to come later with time and money!) But I got the coolest stove and microhood you've ever seen! I'm so excited and am anxious to post pictures of them when we finally get everything put back together!

Too Much Fun

(I'm doing great at keeping my blog updated!! I just posted 3 new posts so don't miss any and leave us comments!)

Celeste is so much fun! She has a new little laugh/giggle that's so stinkin' cute! Just thought I'd share a little video clip of her. Hopefully it makes you smile like it does for me.

(She's so much help when I do the laundry!)

Harrison Cousins

My mom made Celeste and Elsie matching outfits so we had to get their picture taken together, too. It's tricky to get Celeste to stay in one place to get her picture taken anymore. She does great if we're outside and the grass is wet! ;) This was the best I got this time. We may have to try again. We are missing cousin Tayson, who lives in Michigan. Hopefully someday soon we'll have all 3 of the Harrison cousins together to get their picture taken!

Mikesell Cousins

I'm addicted to taking pictures of Celeste. I thought she looked so cute this past Saturday and we were setting up for a photo shoot with all the cousins, so I snapped a few of just Celeste, too.

Ryan's sisters came down this past weekend to help us get started laying our tile. They were VERY helpful and we appreciate their help TONS. Thanks again Amy and Lori for all your help. While they were here, we got a picture of all the Mikesell Cousins together. From left to Right, there's Celeste, Jaden, and Mya.

Elsie

Yesterday my sister and brother-in-law let me take pictures of their daughter, Elsie. She is 1 month old today. It was so much fun to do a photo shoot with her and use her and my guinea pig as it was my first newborn photo shoot. Thanks Drew and Kara! I hope you are pleased with how they turned out. Here are a few of my favorite. (Sorry, I couldn't choose so there are "quite a few!")

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Do you have a favorite? (Photo number is ABOVE the picture) Thanks for looking!

First Hair Clip

I finally bought Celeste some little hair clips tonight. Her hair is getting long and the corn syrup wasn't working as well. It was just sticking to the hair, and not her head. Maybe these clips will help her hair lay down and not be a wild mess! I think she looks so big with one in!

Thanks for letting me share!

Who needs toys...

...when you have a pantry!!

Seattle Area Trip

(I say "area" because we were all over the Seattle area!)

Friday, March 6th: My mom, Celeste, and I flew out of SLC to Seattle, WA to surprise my Grandma for her 80th birthday. When we arrived, my Aunt Diana and cousin Jenn came and picked us up from the airport. From there, we went to a cute little Victorian house/restaurant and waited for my Grandma and Aunt Karla to arrive. When they got there, my mom and I got up to say hi to Grandma. She was so surprised she started screaming. It was great!

Saturday, March 7th: Everyone met up at the Mongolian Grill and had a nice dinner. There, my Uncle Brian showed up and gave Grandma surprise #2!

Sunday, March 8th: (Grandma's actual birthday) We surprised her by all showing up to attend church with her. Her ward is really small and I think we doubled their attendance that Sunday. We also all got together at Aunt Diana's house for cake and dinner.

Monday, March 9th: My good friend and cousin, Jenn, and I went shopping and then the ladies met up at the restaurant my cousin is a chef at and had lunch. It's a cute little soup/sandwich place in downtown Tacoma.

Tuesday, March 10th: My mom, Celeste, and I flew back into SLC and drove back home with lots of slick roads and a chain law over South Pass. But we're safely home and had a great trip. :)

(Note: the picture captions are on top of the pictures)

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!

All of my Grandma's children were there except for one, Aunt Sharon. So here are 5 out of the 6 siblings. Back L-R: Donna (my mom), Aunt Sandi, Uncle Brian, Aunt Diana, Aunt Karla, and Grandma Ingalls in the chair.

And this is everyone! This included the fiances, girlfriends, and everyone that gathered for the celebration.

I was so excited to get a 4 generation picture!

Here is Jenn, her daughter Ashlee, Aunt Diana (Jenn's mom) with my mom, Celeste, and I all with Grandma.

Celeste and Ashlee played great together.

Ashlee loved to give Celeste hugs and gave her tons! Ashlee is exactly 5 months older than Celeste.

More Hugs
Playing under the table. I loved this picture because if you notice, my 22 year old cousin David is also under the table playing, too!

While we were there, I couldn't resist taking advantage of the green they have and had to do a little photo shoot with Celeste. (We defiantly don't have green this time of year!) This was on Monday and we woke up to snow that morning. Luckily in the spot I wanted to take pictures at, the snow melted during the day. However, it was a little chilly out so we had to hurry!

Celeste LOVES the cold air and gets so excited when we go outside!

(If you noticed, the grass was cold on her feet so she kept lifting them up. The grass was very wet!)

On a more serious note...

She saw a bird!

We had such a great time with family and miss them already! Thank you bunches and bunches Jenks for your hospitality. We also hope you had a fantastic birthday, Grandma! It was great seeing everyone. We love you all!

Kitchen Remodel

We have started the kitchen remodel. Painting is finished! This weekend we will start tearing out the floor and putting down concrete backer board. Then the following weekend we will be tiling. It'll be so nice when it's all finished!
(I apologize, these pictures were taken while we had everything torn apart so nothing is in it's place...it's messy!)

Before:

During:

After:

I love how it turned out! We are eventually going to get stainless steel appliances (one at a time) and I think it'll look super nice. We are also going to replace the handles an on cupboards. I'll keep you updated on pictures when we're doing the floors.

Coming Soon: Pictures from Celeste and my trip to Seattle, WA. We just returned home last night and I'm anxious to share the pictures. However, it's my bed time now. I'll shoot for tomorrow!

Rock Star

A couple weekends ago we got together with some of our friends to eat dinner and play games. The boys enjoyed playing Wii Rock Star. They really do look like "Rock Stars," don't they?

Mark

Ryan

Josh, Taylor, and Ryan

Brandon

Thanks Fowlers for the fun night!