Sheetrock Time

Nate's brother Nicholas came to help with the sheetrock this weekend. YES!!! I love seeing sheetrock on the walls. It makes things look so much closer to being finished. Mike, his son Nick, and Nate went to Home Depot last week with Mike's truck and trailer. They got 60 sheets which they unloaded into the garage.

Saturday after our Easter Egg Hunt, Nate helped some ward members move. It was really sweet of him, but he didn't get the duct work done before Nicholas arrived like he had planned. So while he finished that, Nicholas hung insulation around the room. They carried about 1/3 of the sheetrock down before they were worn out (apparently carrying boxes had already done Nate in). They decided to hang those they'd taken down and carry the rest today.

Nicholas is working hard-or is it hardly working. I'm just kidding we really appreciate his help. There is no way Nate could have done it alone, and I'm just not that much help when it comes to that stuff. Thank you Nicholas!
Look at that beautiful sheetrock hung all over the bedroom. They were able to get the ceilings done in both the bedroom and closet. They got the top layer put up around the room and some in the closet before they had to call it quits. Nate needed to take a nap before working all night tonight, and Nicholas wanted to get home in time for FHE.

They weren't quite done yet. Nate and Nicholas then got to carry all the rest of the sheetrock into the basement. It looked like they were getting quite the workout. Allie was really good at opening and closing the door for them. We sat in the front room reading stories, and when we'd see them coming she'd jump up and magically the door would open.

Down, Down, Down...

I am sure loving all this work getting done. It makes me so happy. Nate's going to be working nights for the next week and won't be able to do anything, and then we're coming to Poky to help with some projects at my parents house before Dad goes under the knife again. After that hopefully Nate and I will be able to get the rest of the room and closet done in the evenings. Then we'll do the storage room, tape, mud, sand, mud, sand, mud, sand again, texture, hang doors, build shelves in the closet, paint, paint, baseboards and trim, finish the electrical, and then maybe, just maybe, we can move the bed down and work on the bathroom. That's not asking too much, is it?

Ward Easter Party

Our ward had a Easter Breakfast Picnic and Easter Egg Hunt Saturday morning. Lots of people brought breakfast casseroles, and I am proud to announce Kayla tried mine and she liked it. I know, it's a miracle. Allie of course wouldn't touch it since there are eggs in it (they honestly don't eat the same food at all), but she had two of the nutri-grain bars they were serving and some fruit too. It was fun to have a little picnic on blankets in the gym.

After we finished eating, the kids headed outside to hunt for eggs. There really wasn't any hunting since they were just scattered around on the grass, but the kids still had fun.

Much to all the kids disappointment they only got to have 3 eggs each. It gave them a taste of what's to come, and the girls kept rehiding them in our backyard to continue the fun.

Allie, Sienna, Kayla, and Alyssa-what great friends!

Who's Bed?

As all parents know, beds are just never big enough when the little ones decide to join you. Allie came into our room looking for water in the middle of the night Friday. Nate got it for her, but then (gasp) allowed her to sleep in the bed with us. We woke up about 7:30 with her turned sideways between us. She was sprawled out completely, and Nate and I were hugging the edges of the bed. She'd thrown the blankets off, and I was freezing (my girls take after their dad and are little furnaces while they sleep). Allie was completely unaffected by the cramped space while Nate and I enjoyed the feet and head pushing against us as she made herself completely comfortable. I guess she must have cooled off when we got out of bed because just as I went to snap the picture she curled up.

Ouch!!!

Last night everything was going just fine. The girls were in their pajamas, and I went to change into mine. We were then going to have story time, prayers, hugs, kisses, and say good-night. It was 7:45. Then our evening changed.

Kayla came into my room crying that her sister had poked something in her ear. Panic. I found it was one of these sticks from Kerplunk. Nothing was oozing out of the ear, but I figured I'd better get her checked to make sure. Thankfully their doctor's office is open until 10pm so we didn't have to go to the ER.

The PA looked in her ear, decided she needed a smaller thing to look through, looked again and again and again. I was really getting worried at this point. Then she turned and smiled and said she couldn't believe it but Makayla was one incredibly lucky girl. The stick had hit the ear drum, but it had only bruised it, not ruptured it. A tiny bit more pressure and things wouldn't be so good.
These sticks are now illegal at our house. Allie is incredibly repentant, and Kayla is only complaining of a slightly sore ear (not bad enough to have to endure more yucky tylenol). We just have to watch her for the next 48 hours. She said things sound funny, but as long as that returns to normal, she won't have to go to the doctor anymore. If it doesn't we'll have to take her to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor.

Starting the Basement

Woo Hoo!!! Last weekend Nate and my Dad started work on our basement. Nate and our wonderful neighbor Mike had gone to Home Depot Wednesday night and picked up a load of lumber. Mom and Dad came down Thursday night, and the guys got to work first thing Friday morning. They both had long weekends and were able to work Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Mike loaned us his nail gun (I am told this is a life saver), the compressor, a thing that uses bullets to shoot nails into the cement floor to attach the walls, and nails for both above mentioned items. He and his wife, Gay, are incredibly nice and incredibly generous people. I am told without those things we would have not gotten near as much accomplished, and the guys would have been hurting a whole lot.

As it is they were able to finish framing the bathroom, frame the bedroom at the right of the basement stairs including a huge closet, a small storage room, and also the entrance to our cold storage. They got the electrical strung with the minor exception of forgetting wire to the closet light, and they even got rid of the pull string in the cold storage. Now we can simply flip a switch instead of wandering in the dark until we find the string.

I am so excited. It is like Christmas, except Nate does all the work instead of me. (Hee Hee Hee! I love ya, Nate!) This will be our guest bedroom so we can split the girls upstairs. Neither can quite get used to going to bed with somebody else in the room. I am going to love having room for all their stuff instead of having it crammed together. I can't wait!!! So if anybody wants to help hang sheetrock, we'd love to have you!!!

Tea Party with Friends

As previously mentioned, the girls absolutely love to play with Kayla's glass tea set. I just had to grab the camera on March 16th when they were having a tea party with some friends.

Allie, Sienna, Juliette (Kayla's "cousin"), and Kayla. Juliette is Angie's sister, Jenni's daughter. They also live in Stansbury Park, and the girls are in the same kindergarten class. The girls figure since they are cousins with cousins they must be related. Plus they were born on the same day, so they are practically twins. The girls wanted little cookies, but I was fresh out. Instead they got chocolate which Allie immediately shoved in her mouth as you can see in this picture.

Salt Lake City Temple

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early so we could go through a session at the SLC Temple. It was so rejuvinating to feel the spirit there. I am really in awe of how much work went into creating that magnificant building. It is truly amazing! I hadn't been to a session in so long. I passed out the last time I went, and I guess I'd been afraid to go again. It's amazing how Satan really plays with us to keep us from going. We'd been to sealings and even preformed sealings, but it felt great to go through a full session again. I really missed it!

Disney On Ice

After we went to the Draper Temple Open House, Nate and Dad took the girls back to Stansbury Park so Kayla could go to school. They barely made it in time, but they did make it. Mom and I went to lunch and then to a couple of stores. The guys got Kayla out of school a little early, and we all met at the Energy Solutions Arena for Disney On Ice. The girls were so excited and couldn't stop talking about it for days before... and after. They were thrilled when we told them they could even wear their princess dresses.

We watched The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and Tinkerbell, I mean Peter Pan. Mickey and the gang were there to lead us through the show. Allie couldn't stop grinning the entire time. She was singing along to the music of The Little Mermaid. Kayla had this intent look on her face. I think she was afraid to smile or she might miss some of it. Allie got a little worried when the giant Ursala came out, and she wasn't too fond of the croc either. Afterwards they both were bouncing, even more than normal. It was so much fun. I am so glad we were able to make it.

Draper Temple Open House

After a crazy busy month, we decided it was about time to have some fun. My parents came down and we had an insane weekend. It was so much fun, but we were running the whole time. We started Friday morning at 7 am getting dressed to attend the Draper Temple Open House. The girls loved it, especially since we got to ride in a bus. I was very impressed with the beautiful fabrics and colors. It is just gorgeous. Nate pulled out the camera, snapped this one picture, and it died. Apparently it had been longer than we thought since we'd last charged it. After we got back to the car, we got a picture of all of us with my mom's camera.