Easter and kitchen update

So, this last week we have had quite a transformation in our kitchen and feel like we are finally making some progress. Wednesday our cabinets came in and these last few days the focus has been on our floors. Here is a recent picture of what our kitchen looks like so far. I can't wait for the rest of it to come together.




We spent Easter this year with Tyler's family and are traveling up north, next weekend. This year Tanner started to understand what the Easter Egg hunt was all about. He was exciting and great about finding the eggs but then just wanted to throw them instead of putting and keeping them in the basket. Either way it was fun! Below is Tyler and Tanner's after Easter meal. We discovered that Tanner really likes Chinese food.


Tanner and his cousin Brooklyn were reunited and as you can tell, quickly became good friends. He was very into giving loves to everyone.


Grandma Carole and Tanner playing with his new pink Easter ball.


I love this kid! He gets so excited over playing catch.


Brooklyn was sitting there very nicely and Tanner quietly crawled over to her and put his head under her hand. I can't wait to watch them grow up together.


Tanner and Tyler collecting Easter eggs. As he drug his basket back to the house all of the eggs fell out and his just kept on going. If you look closely you can see a few of the eggs.


Collecting Easter eggs like a seasoned veteran.


Tanner and his Easter basket.


And here we are! The three of us at Easter lunch. Overall , the day was a success. Tanner is fighting a cold and didn't have much of a nap, but he was a trooper and didn't melt down until we got home.

Family Update

With the help of my mom taking on Tanner for a week, Tyler and I were able to take a vacation to Jamaica with two of our best friends Katie and Brian. Above is a picture of Tyler and I on our last night in Jamaica enjoying the sunset. Below are a few pictures from our trip. I added a picture of Tanner to keep everyone satisfied, but will do his own update soon. Tanner had decided that he is a big kid and can do everything by himself. Here is our Saturday morning when he decided that he needed to eat the oatmeal by himself. To his credit he did try to use a spoon but decided that grabbing fistfuls of it and shoving it in his mouth was much more effective.



Here are the four of us at dinner.


Tyler and Brian discovered shuffle board on our trip, but we still aren't sure if they were playing by the correct rules.


More shuffle board.


Katie and I at the resort.


After an entire week in Jamaica we discovered we hadn't actually sat on the beach and watched the sunset. So, our last night in Ocho Rios we sat and watched the sunset.
I have to give credit to our photographer Brian Meyer, this could be one of my favorite shots.


Another creative shot by our photographer.



We had the opportunity to take a catamaran to Dunn's River Falls and hike up it. It was so much fun! We were able to go down a natural waterslide, hike an amazing waterfall with beautiful surroundings.


On the way to Dunn's River Falls, the catamaran stopped so that we could snorkel along the reef. Here is the four of us in our snorkel gear...looking for cook fish.


Thanks again mom for taking such great care of Tanner, Sosa and Callie so that Tyler and I could take a break and focus on us in such a beautiful place. Thanks also for all "projects" you did around the house, we are truly blessed!

Kitchen Progress

So the kitchen is coming along a little slower than anticipated but we are making progress and coming into the home stretch. Here are a few pictures of what has been taking place. Below is Tanner standing where our food pantry use to be.



We left for Jamaica and came back to all of our cupboards being cleared out. Here is part way through the process.


Below is after the top cupboards were ripped out.


Here is the new wall color in the dining room and also one wall of the living room. We decided to cover the burgandy color that was in the dining room and covered it with a slate blue gray color.


Our cupboards are suppose to be installed on Wednesday and the counters should be soon to follow. This week should bring about lots of excitement and change so we will keep you posted!

Tanner update

With all of the excitement with the kitchen remodel, Tanner has been right in the middle of it. I think he checks for ants and the water lines almost daily. He thinks that behind the fridge is a great new place to hide. The weather is beginning to get nicer and that has allowed us a few trips to the park. Tanner is in love with the outdoors! Which I love, but makes it difficult to get him inside when the weather quickly turns wet. One of his favorite activities at the park are the swings.


Tanner is starting his career early with his new basketball hoop! Tyler guards him and he runs around like crazy with the ball until Tyler says shoot a hoop and then he goes and makes a basket.


Guess who dressed me? I left for an hour and met Tyler and Tanner at the mall and here is Tanner in a completely different outfit, with nice new shoes and everything Jordan. I do have to admit that it is a sweet outfit!


We might have an addiction besides shoes...Tanner took a nap with his basketball this afternoon. He hauled it all the way to his bedroom and then figured out how to hold onto it while cuddling on my lap. Even when I laid him down he didn't let go. When he woke up he was so excited to have his basketball in the bed with him.


This is for Grandpa Mike! When cleaning out the garage we decided to pull out Tanner's Christmas gift...his first motorcycle. He loves it! (In case you couldn't tell from his face.) I think we definitely have a character on our hands. He steals our hearts all over again everyday and is at such a fun age where everything is new and interesting. I can't wait for summer to get here to be able to spend my time off hanging out with him and spending lots of time playing outside.

An unexpected, but exciting suprise...

About three weeks ago we were very excited to be spending our Friday night installing a new dishwasher. What we ended up with is an unexpected kitchen remodel that won't be complete for at least another two weeks. When the old dishwasher was pulled out we discovered, water damage, mold, and lovely carpenter ants. So...the adventure begins. Below are some of the numerous looks our kitchen has gone through over the past few weeks. The huge blessing is that our insurance has been great and is covering the entire remodel and helping cover food beings I have been without a kitchen sink for two weeks now. Doing dishes in the bathtub has added a whole new level to the experience. We will keep you posted!



Above was step one when the mold was being taken care of and the water was being properly dried out. Our entire kitchen was encased in black plastic and these blowers ran 24 hours a day.




Here is a view of the other side of the kitchen.


This was the original discovery when Brian and Tanner were removing the dishwasher.

Here is the kitchen after our granite counter tops were removed along with some cabinets...yes, our fridge is in the middle of our kitchen.



Here is the lovely granite counter top in numerous pieces.

Tanner Update

So really, I am trying to keep this blog updated but finding the time to sit down and do it doesn't always happen. Tanner is growing so quickly and changing so much that I wanted to share with everyone all the new adventures we are on. First tanner has teeth. He has had his two bottom front for a few months now but he is now working on the four front top teeth. Lately he has been exploring what his teeth can do...kisses very quickly turn into chomping with a sneaky little smirk on his face and everything. He is walking/running everywhere and always wants to be on the move, besides the rare occasion when he stops to watch other kids, especially if they have a ball. What can I say, we have an active, adventurous, curious, explorer on our hands. Below is a picture of Tanner's new chair. It is just his size and he is in love.



Tanner loves the camera and most the time I can't get pictures because he wants to see the screen behind the camera with the picture of him on it. Today we were playing around and he came at the camera with one of his numerous expressions. I love it! He definitely keeps us on our toes and his expressions are priceless.


Due to the 2 hours of snow that we received today, school was cancelled for me and Tanner and I stayed home and played. He loved hearing the snow crunch under his feet and just kept walking around and around in circles.


Tanner walking in the snow in the front yard. Tanner would have stayed outside all day long. He was quite upset when it was time to come inside and warm up.


Once inside we pulled out a new toy that had been in his closet. Much to my surprise, he actual took the bat and tried to hit the ball. He used more of a chopping than swinging motion, but I am sure under Dad's coaching he will get there.


Well, that's us or Tanner anyways. Tyler just finished his coaching season and is staying busy at work. I am now interim director at the preschool and have been staying busy teaching night classes for an Adult Degree Program. We are looking forward to summer where our lives might slow down a bit and we can spend lots of time outside and on the river as a family.

Tanner and the dogs

Tanner discovered how to play fetch and Callie was an eager participant. Tanner really had his own version of how to play fetch and Callie was so great at playing along with him. Above he is holding the ball above his head and Callie was concentrating so hard.


At one point Tanner had both dogs wanting to play catch with him. He was holding it so still and neither dogs would take it out of his hands.

Tanner knew that Callie was suppose to have the ball in her mouth and tried to shove it in there. Callie was being so careful trying to take the ball without catching Tanner's hands in her mouth.



This is how it all started. Tanner swiped the dogs ball and the game of fetch began. It was quite interesting to see who would actually go fetch the ball...Tanner or Callie. Sosa supervised most of the activities.