Smart Boy

Usually on Saturday's when I need to get stuff ready on the computer for Primary on Sunday, Caleb will watch TV while I'm in the office. I've determined that to be the only way to keep him from destroying all things electronic in the office. Just now Caleb came to the office door and said:

Caleb: Mommy, I need to tell you something.
Me: What is it, Bud?
Caleb: We need a Smart Mop.
Me: Huh?
Caleb: Yeah, you know, a Smart Mop. It picks up the mustard and the ketchup. And lots of other things. (Runs away)

This kid may be on to something...



*Image from buysmartmop.com

Without Further Ado...

Finally some pictures of our remodeled kitchen and our finished basement!! They both have actually been mostly finished and functional since September. I wanted to take and "after" photo of the kitchen after it had been painted and the crown molding had been put up above the cabinets (by Glen, of course). That happened a couple of weeks ago, and just so we can all look back and fondly remember all fun times during the remodel (a.k.a. crappy times) take a look back at THIS POST of basement "befores," and THIS POST of kitchen "befores." And also THIS POST just for fun.

And now without further ado, behold the basement:









And here is the kitchen:







I try not to make a habit of bragging about anything on this blog, but please excuse me while I brag about my husband for a minute, because he deserves it. Glen literally built half of our current home with his bare hands (with help from his dad, brothers, and some friends). The only work that he contracted out was the basement drywall, and the flooring in the basement and kitchen. But he designed the entire basement and kitchen, framed it all, demolished the kitchen, did all the electrical wiring, plumbed it all, painted, installed the kitchen cabinets, countertops, dishwasher, and microwave, installed all the bathroom fixtures, and all sorts of other details that I can't recall. Whew! Now we are nearly finished. And we're never doing it again.

MEGA Catch-Up

Well, I've completely neglected this blog for the past 4 months, so now the time has come to make up for my laziness with a brief photo catch-up of the lost time. I'm blaming my absence on the fact that our only camera is Glen's "work" camera, so it goes wherever he goes during the week. Also, our computer is about to kick the bucket, so doing anything that requires any uploading or use of any memory makes me nervous. Now, I realize that most of you don't really care what we've been up to since November, but just humor me here.

Shall we start with Thanksgiving? I think we shall.

We enjoyed a short visit from Glen's family from Utah over the holiday. It was nice to be able to celebrate a holiday with family!




After running an extremely soggy 10K on Thanksgiving morning. Glen finished 6th overall and I got my best 10K time ever!


The family at the beach!


Christmas:

It was just the four of us on Christmas morning, as usual. Here are some pictures of the goodies:










In January Caleb turned 4!





And in February Grace turned 2!







And lastly, somewhere in the midst of all that, this happened:


Due August 11th!

Inspirational messages by Caleb

Okay, I've got like a million things running around in my head that I should have or still need to post about, but for now I need to write down these gems that have come out of Caleb's mouth recently:

*After I announced that is was time for everyone to take a nap, Caleb promptly informed me, "No, we're not taking naps today. Sorry."
Oh, well okay. Thanks for letting me know.

*Caleb and Glen were looking at a toy magazine that came in the mail.
Caleb: "Oooo, I like that toy."
Glen: "Would you go pee in the potty for that toy?"
Caleb: "Uhhhhh, prob'ly not."
Well, thanks for being honest, kid.

*After Glen finishes the evening family prayer with "Amen" Caleb immediately says, "I popped out two boogers for that prayer!" Wow, thanks Bud. I'm sure the prayer sincerely thanks you for those boogers. And we sincerely thank you for the constant entertainment you provide!

August Happenings

August was a busy month for us, and it went by way too fast. The first week of August, I was participating in our multi-stake production of "Savior of the World". I had a ton of fun being involved in a production again, but unfortunately, I have no pictures.

Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated our anniversary the middle of the month. Us then:



Us now:


Happy Birthday to Glen! We celebrated Glen's birthday toward the end of the month:


Lastly, as if Glen hasn't been working hard enough on our house, he decided to run the Hood to Coast relay! It was a great opportunity, really. His friend, Alan, was on a team and they needed one more runner. He finished the race with his team, and came away without injury, so he's a happy camper! The team did really well, actually. They came in just over 27 hours, and 306th out of 1000 teams. Not too shabby. I came along with the kids and we stayed two nights with the Rasmussens. They were great hosts, and didn't even mind that Caleb and Grace woke up at 3:30 in the morning the first night, and didn't go back to sleep (not even kidding, folks. Longest night EVER!)

Here are a few pictures of the relay fun:





The whole team running to the finish line:

Kristin and I drove an hour and a half to Seaside with the kids to see the finish, but we were too late :( They finished the race a lot sooner that we (and they) thought they would!



Glen and Alan at the end:


And here are a few pictures of the kids with Spencer (Alan and Kristin's little boy):






Notice how both of my kids have something in their mouths. Thanks, again, Rasmussen's, for letting us stay with you! (and for letting our kids get their germs all over your toys) Good job, Glen and Alan!