Finishing the basement

So I mentioned in one of my previous posts that one of the things that kept me away from blogging was a big project of finishing the basement. Eric has put in a lot of work and done a wonderful job of finishing our basement. it is so nice to have the toys downstairs and extra rooms. We started this project back in the fall of 2009 with Eric and his brother framing the walls. Bryson got sick that winter and it got put on hold for a whole year until this last winter when eric started to work on it again. Eric had a strong push to get him to finish everything so the dry wall could be put up while we were on Spring Break without him. After that Eric put up the baseboard and we did the painting together and I went carpet shopping. I was also in charge of doing all the taping and prep work for the painting. Eric also pushed hard so it would be done for my birthday. Little did I know my parents were going to surprise me and would stay in the spare room downstairs. It has been a lot of work, but it is nice to have it done.
Good thing we were gone, because this is what our family room looked like over spring break. Everything that was left downstairs got put in here.

Framing, electrical and insulation





Delivering the dry wall





Hanging the dry wall




Taping and muding the dry wall



Eric after a coat of paint

I kept forgetting to take pictures when we were painting, but we did a coat of primer, 2 coats of paint and then had to tape and mask everything to do a coat of paint for the baseboards.





Laying the carpet




Everything is all finished, well mostly. The bathroom isn't finished, but it is plumbed so all eric has to do is tile and sink and toilet. Also the window sills aren't done yet and a shelves in the closets.



It was a big project and something I don't want to do again in the near future

Girls retreat

In the middle of June I was in charge of a girls retreat for our relief soceity up at a cabin in timberlakes. We do dinner and a devotional and then anybody who wants to can spend the night and come home the next day. it was a wonderful evening. One of my good friends has written a book about their experience in a severe plan crash. it is titled "Divine Intervention A Story of Faith and Miracles" by Randy and Helen Hall. She spoke and told about her experiences. They are amazing and truely inspiring. The pictures below were taken the next morning as we woke up and ate breakfast one of the ladies looked out the window and noticed a mom and baby moose right outside. It was amazing.



They stayed there for a long time until we finally had to disrupt them because we had to load the cars. I love the mountains and seeing nature up close.

Discovery Children's museum

After a rough morning at the dentist - Carley had three cavities and got so nervous that they had to give her some medicine to put her out, and bryson had a freunectomy (cutting the piece that connects the lip to the top of the teeth) - we decided to go to the children's museum. The kids love it and we hadn't been there in a couple of years.
Bryson loves the construction building spot. I didn't get a picture of Carley, but she spent most of her time in the pretend house with the babies and kitchen.


Playing at the water tables

Another favorite was the helicopter



Maddy loved the putting the balls in the tubes with the air.

Maddy's 2 year old pictures

So even though her birthday was in March she got a cute dress that I thought would look great with the lylacs, so I had to wait until June. I also did lylacs in her blessing dress pictures so it was fun to do it again. She wasn't the most cooperative so I didn't get a picture that shows her true smile, but I still got some good ones.










I had to do some crazy shots so she could have a break


Her face is out of focus on this one, but I liked it.