Ode to Our Abode

I love our house. I am so happy to finally be in it. Here are a few pictures of it. I still have a lot of decorating and unpacking to do.

This is the study or office or front room or whatever you want to call it. This is where I picture a piano :)

Kitchen

Shelby and Graci's room

Part of my Christmas village. I still need snow for it. And to locate some people and other houses packed away

Graci, Barbie, Shelby

I dont think this one needs any explanation

Dad coming to the rescue. Ya, we have a lot of mud here. Especially today since it was so warm

Phoebe's pawprint

When we moved here we were down to one kitty. Now we are back up to 3. Here is one of them.

Fabio's New home. We still need to get roxy over here. 

Brian saw Bo and Midnight  (one of tigers babies) together digging for the groundhog or whatever they are

Can you see the two pheasants? Where were they a couple weeks ago?

The Front. They still need to paint the hardyboard and now the timbers look different. They need to be stained too. 

We finally got our fireplaces up and running! We have a gas one upstairs, and a wood stove in the basement. It is so fun to sit and watch it. I have been spending a lot of time doing that this weekend.  The best part about it is our furnace hasn't kicked on once since we started using it. It heats the whole house!
Another favorite of my house, is my central vacuum. It was kind of a last minute decision but I am so happy I have it.  We had our friends Kory and Misty and their little girl Jettlyn over tonight. They just got married and Misty is from Australia and they are having a very hard time with the cold weather. At least today was a beautiful day.

catchin up

Im a couple weeks behind so I have to do a lot of catch up. Last weekend we finally were able to move in! We owe many thanks to Mike, Brians Friend Banner, Karen, and my parents for helping move, clean, unpack, etc. It went a lot smoother this time around with very nice weather. We lucked out and got everything moved before the storm hit Saturday night. It didn't amount to much snow, but it was cold and wet.
We spent the next several days getting ready for Thanksgiving. Dad and mom worked so hard on our new garage floor that we just love! Mom and I did a bit of shopping, but mostly unpacking and preparation for Turkey day. I even took a trip to Moroni to buy Tom. I came home with a couple smoked turkeys as well that I am excited to cook up. Wednesday night Kim and Carl and kids arrived and we had fun hanging out and watching movies. Thursday morning we took advantage of the little snow we had to pull the sled around. Eventually the sled broke though due to the lack of snow. Everybody had fun though.

Later in the day everyone played each other in baseball or bowling or soccer on the wii. 

I failed to get any pictures of our dinner. Karen and Kelly and family also joined us that day. Then we all watched Nacho Libre after searching for it forever. 

Our new garage floor thanks to mom and dad!

Friday was another cold day but Brian, Dad, and kids all bundled up to go ride the horses. 

Saturday Brian moved hay out of the barn so we can move Roxy in. Fabio is here but we needed to make more space for Roxy. Kim and Carl had to leave Thanksgiving night so they were not able to be at the Christmas party Sat. 

Candice and Gary and Casey and Jenn all came down to eat a delicious dinner and party a little. 

Chef Sheron

All grandkids got pillowcases from Grandma and Grandpa.

Cayden is really excited for his. 

Instead of a pillowcase, Shelby got a Christmas pillow. She was so excited when she opened it up. 

Casey and Shelby are thrilled to have their picture taken. 

The White Elephant Gift Exchange

Poor Phoebe wanted to join in all the fun. 

Dad got the white elephant

Trae and I in our funny faces. This is his last Holiday Party since he leaves for his mission next summer. 

We got more snow during the night. This is what it looks like out my bathroom window. 

Orchard

This week has for sure had its ups and downs. It started off rough, but ended pretty good. It took 3 tries and at least as many late nights to get our house to pass its final inspection. We will close on it Tuesday and will move in this weekend. I can't believe it is done! Well, pretty much done. They still have to finish cabinet hardware, fireplace stone, carpet and cleanup.
The other evening a lady knocked on the door and asked if I had an orange cat. My heart sank. I knew exactly what happened. A week before we move, and Tiger gets hit and killed. I was so sad. I've had her for almost 5 years. At least I still have one of her babies. She was the best mouser ever too. At least I know she knew I loved her.
Brian only worked one day this week so he decided he better go in for a few hours on Friday. Graci and Shelby and I went with him so we could go shopping. On our way home we stopped at In n Out (my most favorite fast food place) and then ran to the guys house who was doing our fireplace stone to pick some out.
Saturday the girls hung out at Harris' house while Brian and I painted the garage. Well, we primed it now we have to paint it. We are trying to get that all done before Thursday as well. Kim and I both decided it was time we had some family pictures taken again so we met up in the orchard and took some. I just love the colors in the orchard. I just have to laugh every time we get together because poor Brian and Matt are so outnumbered. I don't know what it is going to take to get any boys around here. I think we were successful and got some fun ones. Since I took her pictures with her camera, and she took ours with mine, you will have to go to her blog to see hers.

Cute little Hannah and Graci

Just the Girls

November

Its November. I think I went to bed on October 1st then woke up and it was Halloween. As much as I am not looking forward to snow, I am very much so looking forward to the holidays. Even better that we will be in our own house again. We close on it this week. Im not taking pictures of it yet now until it is all done because it is very dirty right now. Dust everywhere and workers going in and out and I can't wait to get everyone out of my house. 

We got our driveway and sidewalk yesterday. They just need to finish up with hardware and cabinet odds and ends, and carpet and cleaning. I realized I haven't really taken any pictures this week at all so I am leaving you with a photo of my great grandpa and his pet deer. I am going to frame it and hang it up in my house. 

I have to write about Kenni real fast. Friday brian had been at the house all day and the girls wanted me to take them to Subway for dinner.  After we got our stuff, Kenni handed the kid who made her sandwich some Halloween candy. I asked her what she was doing and she said she just wanted to share with whoever made her sandwich. Just now, while writing this we took a break and went for a 4 wheeler ride. It is dark of course at this time of night now, and I saw a shooting star. We got home and Kenni wanted to stay out to watch for one.  She asked me if all wishes come true. I told her some of them do. She said when she sees a shooting star she wants to wish for us to be really rich so we can help all the poor people. I thought it was so sweet. Despite all her spunk and sass, she really is such a thoughtful and loving little girl.