Celebration

We had some big plans for Madison's 16th birthday but Madison was not in much of a mood to celebrate since she was on crutches. Now that she is off crutches and feeling more like herself we went out and celebrated. She ask if a few of her friends could stay the night at a hotel. We started our evening with a nice dinner at Zuppas.

After dinner we headed over to the hotel. I tried to stay out their way as much as possible so there is not many pictures. Madison had a lot of fun with her friends. I am glad that we were able to turn her 16th birthday around and make it a good memory for her.

House

We went by the house again tonight to see what we missed last night when my phone died. All the cabinets are in. It was nice being able to take a look at the girls bathroom. They are going to have so much room in there. I hope that it will alleviate some of the fighting.

Two sinks and a separate room for the shower and toilet. They should be able to get along and share. We can hope. The floor also was in in Kevin's office.

It has been awhile since anything has been done in his room so he will be happy to see the progress when he gets back from Salt Lake tomorrow. Some of the tile has also been filled in with grout. Before the grout went in this piece of the shower looked a little off to me. Now with the grout I love it.

It is fun to see all the progress. I can't wait for it all to be done. It was also nice to see that our lights were delivered. I can't wait to see those go in and be reminded of what we picked.

1 more month

In one month we close on our house. Some days it seems like it has happened all so fast and then other days it feels like it has been forever. The girls and I popped in really quick this evening to see what has been done this week. As we walked in from the garage I heard squeals from Allison and Ashley. The kitchen cabinets are all in. Now it doesn't look like one big room. I love to see how excited they are for the house. Madison says she will get excited when we actually live in it.

I have been anxious to see how much storage that we are going to have in the kitchen. I do not know how I am ever going to fill all the cabinets up but after the small kitchen that I have cooking in it is going to be a relief.

I also love all the space in the cabinets in the master bath.

What are we going to do with all that storage? I am so excited to get organizing. I miss having everything in it place. This limbo state has been frustrating because when I need something that I know I have but just don't know where it is. I can't wait to have a house of order again.

Kevin pushed that the laundry room be a good size. He knows how picky that I am about laundry and he wanted me to have a nice place to do it.

I don't know what I will do with so much space. It will be nice to have a counter to fold the laundry on. My phone died after this so we didn't get to explore the rest of the cabinets because it was too dark. I can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Pictures

Today we were a little crazy and went to take pictures. It was cold outside but the girls were good sports. We headed out of the car but after a few shots some got cold and went back to the car. I had suggested that they stay in the car till it was their turn. We had fun and got some good pictures. The coloring is a little off but nothing some edits can't fix.

Allison's 13 year old pictures.

Madison's 16 year old pictures.

The Girls all together.

New Years Eve

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. 2014 brought many changes for our family. Kevin got a new job in Salt Lake and started working from home. We sold our house that we lived in for 13 years. We are living in temporary housing while our new house is being finished. Change is never easy but I think we have ended up stronger because of the change. I am excited to see what 2015 will bring.

Tonight we had our traditional dinner.

Madison was heading to a Stake Dance later with some friends so Capri joined us before the dance. After dinner Madison headed out with her friends to the stake dance.

The rest of us spent our night watching Studio C. Allison loves the show. She showed us some her favorites. It was a great evening. I love our little family traditions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Winter Driving

Madison is just now getting back into driving since her surgery. She has really wanted to try driving on snow but we have been concerned about her reaction time since her leg is still weak. Today I picked her up at the high school and though it might be fun to try driving. I took her to a parking lot first. She did a good job and kept it slow. After a little bit, I let her drive around the neighborhood and then home.

She did a great job. I think the first thing on list of things to do in the new year is get her license. She is frustrated that the surgery held her up on that.

Allison is 13

This started out as a hard birthday for Allison. She is feeling a little left out by her friends from our old ward. She feels like they have dropped her and it has been hard. The girls in our new ward have been great and one girl that she has made friends with birthday is the day after hers. Her mom put a party together for her and invited Allison. She was reluctant to accept the invitation but decided it might be fun. Before the party we went out to dinner for her birthday. She chose Texas Roadhouse. We tried to get there before it got busy but didn't make it. The wait didn't seem that long but it ended up being twice what they told us it would be. Once we got seated it was a great evening. Allison pointed out now that she is 13 she is no longer on kids menus. She was excited to order off the adult menu. She was excited when they came so sing to her because they brought her a chocolate sundae.

She was also a good sport and got on the saddle when they sang to her.

I love her face in the picture. She looks like I can't believe that I am doing this. After dinner we dropped her off at the party. She still wasn't sure about going but decided to still go since she said she would. When we picked her us she was grinning ear to ear. She had so much fun and realized that it isn't bad to move on to new friends. She met a new girl that is building a house three houses down from ours. I am so glad that she ended up going. This move has been hard on her but I think that we might have turned a corner today.
After the party we headed home for cake.

Today was great day. I loved celebrating Allison. She is a beautiful fun young women.