...and the angels are singing...oh wait, that's me!

AHHHH!
After three very long years, we have finally gotten our basement finished enough to live in it...and we are loving it...and yes, you will finally stop hearing me complain about it not being finished! I have officially shut up! Greg worked so hard with many hours under his tool belt and along with our family and friends (huge thanks goes out to you...we couldn't have done it without your help). We still have a lot of work yet to do, but at least we can use it while we work on it now.

These first two pictures is what it looked like when we moved in...along with all of our crap. Look how little Jett was...oh my! The first year we got the walls framed up. The second year we got drywall up.

THEN this year we got the drywall finished...painted...and got carpet! The day it was insalled we rolled around on its softness and did carpet angels. We had so much stuff in storage, we didn't really have to buy anything to furnish our added space. We were given the tv, chairs and beds for the spare bedroom. Everything else you see has been in storage for three years. We still need to do trim, electrical work, finish the closets and finish the kitchen...and in about another three years put in a bathroom. But for now, we are content and happy with what the Lord has provided.

Kitchen in progress. Imagine cabinets, fridge and island. For now the boys' card table will have to make due:)

The family room. Behind that wall is the spare bedroom. The boys love the space and that their shark tent is up ALL THE TIME! And yes, that is Jett vaccuming. He loves it. I can't deny his request to work...no child labor laws can touch me...he asks to do it:)

Family room facing the other way. That couch you see was my grandparents in the 70's. We've had it since we've been married, so the few purchases that I made was the cover and pillows to hide the peach flower fabric. Although it may not look the best - it's a rockin nap couch and quite comfortable!

Quotes

At my work we have a stand that sits out in the lobby with a quote of the day on it. Today I was going through the pile of quotes to chose from and I caught myself laughing out loud at a few and going "hmm, that was good." So I thought I would share...

"A friend is one who takes you to lunch even though you are not tax deductible."
-Author Unknown

"Don't resist growing old. Some people never have the chance."
-Author Unknown

"I must be getting absent-minded. Whenever I complain that things aren't what they used to be, I always forget to include myself."
-George Burns

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."
-Author Unknown

"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed...easy to get into but hard to get out of."
-Author Unknown

"Oh, I don't blame Congress. If I had $600 billion at my disposal I'd be irresponsible too."
-Lichty Wagner

"Keep your temper, no one else wants it."
-Author Unknown

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
Jett leaning under a dairy cow at the fair last night. "Wow, that cow has a lot of pee-pee's"
-Jarrett Replogle

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures done by the famous Darcy Holsopple. She did a great job despite our boys refusing to cooperate.

Visitors

Two weeks ago my sister and her husband came up for a visit. The boys were very happy to see Uncle Aaron and Aunt Megan...when they were around they couldn't have cared less that we were. We tried to get out and do a lot of fun things while they were here. The week before we had to be hermits, so it was nice to get out and do something. On Wednesday they just came over to hang out and they gave Jett his birthday gift...a bike...he loves it. On Thursday we had a surprise anniversary party for our parents at our house with all the siblings and our grandparents. On Friday we went to Shipshewana for the normal Thomas the Train store, horse ride and pretzels and then spiced things up by going to the beach afterwards. Jett loved swimming and was a little fish in the water. Bray took a while to warm up to the fact that the ground felt weird, but once we got his water shoes on he loved it. On Saturday was my cousin Shelby's wedding and we all had a chance to hang out there with all our family...and we went without the boys....laaaaaaaaa!

Here are a few pictures and a video from our fun week.

Giddy Up!

Wow has life been a little crazy lately. Over the last month our lives have been focused on Brayden and his sickness, but we did find time to be out and about. Jett's best friend Wesley had his birthday party at a local small zoo early last month. It was so fun to watch all the kids together. Of course Jett could have cared less about the animals, he just wanted to run around with his pals. Towards the end I finally was able to get him to focus and he asked to ride the pony. For those of you that don't know Jett well, this is a HUGE breakthrough for him. He loves animals...but at a distance...a very long distance. Anytime we are remotetly close to a large animal he backs up and says, "Mommy, is it going to eat me?" The zoo also had camel rides. The picture to the right is Wesley, Jaydon and Emily taking a ride. I was the mean mom that said he could only pick one ride. I didn't object when he picked the horse, quite relieved actually...I didn't want the camel to eat me:)

A quick update on Brayden. He is doing great. You wouldn't have a clue that he was sick for a month and in the hospital for 4 days. There isn't much updated news we can give you at this point, it mostly a waiting game to see how his heart improves. He got some bloodwork done today and the results were fantastic. His inflammation count at the hosptial was over 100 (which the doctors informed us that # is very critical and could be life threatening...kinda scary), but today his number was 20. Praise the Lord. We have an appointment with the Pediatric heart doctor on Monday to get results from his Echo we had done earlier this week. We are in high hopes of a good report.