My Sister's Side of Gwen's Arrival

I mentioned in my post about Gwen's birth that my sister Alana was there. She was also there when Travis was born. Can I just say, both experiences were only amplified because of her presence. I love how my sister remembers all the little things that I don't. She fills in the blanks for me! : )

She made a post on her blog about Gwen's birth and its beautiful, better than my own account! She is very emotional and I'm very detail oriented. You'll definitely notice the difference. So thank you Alana, for such a wonderful view of Gwen's birth. This one is definitely bookmarked in my book. Love you Sister!!

Alana's Post on Gwen

a long time coming…

(This photo was taken a few months ago, we’ve cleaned up the front yard since then…)

Its almost been 6 and 1/2 years since we moved in with Joe’s parents. It was all due to our firstborn needing a little extra time in the hospital and a few surgeries here and there. When times are tight, and you have nowhere else to go, family has always got your back. I am so grateful for Joe’s parents & grandparents who kindly and even promptly opened their home to us for these years. A lot of people say they commend me and Joe for living with the parents for so long. They could never have done it! But in all honesty, we have been blessed. We couldn’t have asked for better roommates/landlords. We truly couldn’t. We’ve learned SO much from them and my children have gained precious years and moments with their grandparents and great grandparents that most kids never, ever get to experience! I know I didn’t when I was growing up! What a blessing its been!

Now the medical bills are finally paid off and we’re keeping our fingers AND toes crossed that we won’t have anymore for a very long time. Have I mentioned we’ve been blessed? Blessed with loving family, loving friends, a loving Heavenly Father who has been watching out for us our entire lives? Have I mentioned that?

So what’s been a long time coming you might ask? WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! AH!!!! A HOUSE! Yes, a HOUSE! Haha. I never thought I’d utter those very words but its true! Joe and I, are a couple of VERY proud homeowners! We remodeled the home. Joe has done a good majority of the work. He had some friends come and help with the demo, the wood floors and the bathrooms. We had carpet guys come and do the new carpets, we had some friends do the prime painting and Joe and Mike Davis did the rest. Joe & Mike also installed the kitchen & bathroom cabinets, my Dad helped with the bathrooms as well! Lawry has been hard at work with the yard, trimming it up and getting stuff ready to go. He also installed the toilets and the bathroom sinks. I’ve been busy painting the basement bathroom, the kitchen, the front accent wall and all of the trim and touch up paint. DON’T WORRY – it was all latex paint so no worries about fumes and stuff. I checked with my Dr! Bonnie has been great helping clean up the tile in the bathrooms to be ready to be sealed, she’s also done a ton of yard work with Lawry. She’s also kept Joe and his friends fed and watered most of the time they’ve been there!  Can you smell that new house smell yet?! My Mom has been a tremendous help with the boys and she’s taken them for quite a few weekends so they have been taken care of and out of our hair while we’ve been hard at work. And I never imagined that we would get to pick everything out for our first house! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

It was built in 1967 and I really do believe that they only updated the carpet since then. It only had one owner and she passed away over a year ago. So besides the updating it needed, it was in really great shape! These pics are of the front entryway and dining room area.

This is the kitchen with LOVELY carpet in it. I know you’re jealous!

The stairs to the upstairs and the stairs that go down to the family room.

Family room and walk way to laundry, bathroom and office.

Laundry room and stairs to the unfinished basement.

Master bedroom and master bath.

Boys bedroom on the left and baby girl’s on the right.

Kids hallway bathroom and the boys, checking out the view from upstairs.

I forgot to take a picture of the basement bathroom before we remodeled it. OH WELL.

Here are all the demo’d photos. This is the kitchen.

This is the front room from the front door view.

Front door from upstairs.

Boys bathroom. Joe was reading instructions.

Boys room on the left and baby girl’s on the right.

Master bedroom with a view of the closets!!!

Master Bath

Upstairs hallway view

Stairs to the family room and then the family room.

Family room closet, door to basement, view of laundry room.

Stairs to basement, laundry room

Joe’s office!!

Here’s the basement bathroom!

View from family room.

Sick of the photos yet? Here’s the almost finished set!

The boys helped Dad tile the basement bathroom!

Joe really wanted subway tile in one of the bathrooms. I was kind of leery of it but it really looks awesome!

The boy’s bathroom

Their cool cabinet. Our’s is smaller but it matches.

The family room with carpet!

Travis had a long day…

New washer and dryer!

New kitchen appliances!

Master bedroom and bath. Looks awesome!

The boy’s bedroom with a view of the closet.

Baby girl’s room with a view of her closet!

Upstairs hall, view from upstairs hall into the dining room, view to the family room.

View from the front door.

Family room and Joe’s new office!!!

 

I will have more photos soon of the home completely finished. The kitchen looks amazing!

 

We’re pretty excited to say the least. The kids are excited too but I don’t think they get the concept of moving yet. Every time I pack a box they cry because they think I’m taking it to storage and that they’ll never see it again.  2012 has proven to be a pretty HUGE year for us. Baby Gwenevere was born in December, Joe’s second year as a Bishop, Enoch graduated Kindergarten and started 1st grade, Travis came to terms with the fact that he’s gotten a little sister instead of a little brother, we celebrated 8 years of marriage, and WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

Here’s to many happy memories to come in our new home!