Another Move (Part 2)

We had to have all our things packed and loaded early so we were without most of our belongings for two and a half weeks.  The Mcveys were kind enough to let us stay with them for a week so we didn't have to be in a hotel for two whole weeks.  We had so much fun!  Once you see the pictures you might be trying to book your stay with them too!

 Believe it or not, this is their backyard.

 Apparently we were having too much fun because somehow I didn't get very many pictures!  We spent a lot of time outside and the kids loved every minute of it!

Some 4-wheeling

 Plenty of playing on the dirt hill 

They're the tiny pic things you see in the middle of the picture

 LOTS of swimming - we would be out at the pool for over 6 hours and I still had to beg the girls to get them out!

A snack break

Swimming with grandma and granpa

At the beginning of the week the girls wouldn't put their heads under the water, but by the end of the week they spent most of their time jumping off the side letting their entire head go under the water.

Not pictured - seeing the cows, chalk, paw patrol and squeezing in as much time as possible with everyone!  

We sure are going to miss having family only 45 minutes away.

Maisie and Krissy

Maisie and Grandma and Grandpa (I have no idea what's going on with her hands)

Maisie, Paige and Grandma Connie

Another Move! (Part 1)

Apparently we were feeling too settled in Minnesota because we've moved again!  It had been 5 1/2 years since our last move and before that a year and a half was the longest we'd lived anywhere since getting married.  Amazon randomly reached out to Matt and he ended up accepting a position - Senior Design and Construction Manager, so we've moved to Washington State!

However, a lot had to happen in the month before we moved.  We decided to do a million house projects before putting the house on the market including:

• Yard Work - weeding, oh the weeding!  I don't think we'd weeded the entire 4.5 years we lived in the house.  We put in lots of mulch, pulled out huge bushes, and planted some flowers.  We also hired people to trim all the trees.
• Painted almost the entire house - kitchen, kitchen and entry ceiling, entry, dining room, living room, family room, guest room, upstairs bathroom, and laundry room.
• Painted the kitchen cabinets and upstairs vanity white and new hardware.
• Got new stainless steel appliances (dishwasher, stove, and microwave) in the kitchen to match the fridge.
• New carpet throughout the house.
• Wood laminate floors in the entry, kitchen and dining room.
• Painted the front and garage doors black on the exterior and white on the interior.
• New faucet in the bathroom.

We did all the projects ourselves, except the carpet and we hired one painter to assist us in painting the house.  I love how the house turned out and was sad to leave it after making it so nice!  It was super crazy trying to live in the house during all of these projects. But all our hard work paid off because our first showing (the first day the house was listed) made an offer of our full asking price! The closing date isn't until the beginning of August, but everything looks like it should close!

Front of the house during bush removal:

Pulling out the bushes that blocked the entire entrance to the house
(Matt pulled them out with the jeep)

Front of the house after:

We planted four lily plants that were blooming beautifully and added red mulch

Back of the house:

I weeded around that tree for FOREVER!!!

Kitchen Before:

This is the only picture I could find of the kitchen (selfie by Paige)

Kitchen during remodel:

Before new appliances and while painting cabinets

We moved the table into the sunroom so we had a place to eat during all of the painting

 Kitchen After:

(New appliances, cabinets painted, new hardware on, new floors, and all cleaned up)

Sunroom:

We didn't do anything in this room other than clean

Dining Room During:

After removing the nasty carpet that I'd been dying to rip out since we moved in 4.5 years earlier.

During floor installation - Matt made Everett a "safe place" to play while he worked.

Another view of the progress.

Dining room after:

New paint color and floor

Living room after:

Fresh paint and new carpet

Basement Family Room Before:

This is the best picture to show the hideous color on the walls!

Basement Family Room After:
New paint color and new carpet

The new color on the walls made it look so much better!

February

Monthly Recaps:

Click here for September

Click here for October

Click here for November

Click here for December

Click here for Christmas in CA

Click here for January

February was a fun month, although still very cold!

Grace (Kelsey's baby) was going to be blessed down in TX, so Paige and I flew down to TX while Matt and Maisie had some quality daddy-daughter time!

Paige sleeping in my arms on the plane

She was seriously an angel, she slept a lot of the plane ride and smiled at everyone the rest of it!

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures from this trip...

It was amazing how easy just having one baby is!

Cousins less than two months apart!

Paige finally had someone smaller than her to pick on

We were able to do a lot of fun things even though we were only gone a couple days.

Sixth Floor Museum - a museum about JFK inside the location where the shooter was located

My dad and Paige listening to the tour

Paige and I on the 6th floor

We also....

Went out to eat at a yummy BBQ place

Went to church and saw Grace get blessed

Watched the Super Bowl

Ate lots of yummy food thanks to Keith's mom

Had lots of fun visiting with family

And a big thank you to my parents for paying for the hotel room!

What Matt and Maisie did while we were gone...

Off roading of course!  

It was Maisie's 1st trip.

A pretty cool picture of the winter run

Matt set up some rings for Maisie to play with in the back

All bundled up and having fun!

Maisie wore pigtails for the 1st time

Valentine's Day fun

My gifts to Matt - his favorite candies, a "You're the bomb" candy, a road map of our love story, and cards.

I attempted a photo shoot... that is not my talent!

Another attempted photo shoot with Maisie and some balloons

Paige loved this balloon!

Other fun from the month:

Maisie's 1st time eating spaghetti

A trip to the Mall of America

Playing at the lego store

Fun with sisters

Reading books

Being pushed around (in a good way)

We ran out of diapers and I didn't want to run out to the store, so I got creative until Matt got home with backups!

(A burp cloth lining a swim diaper)

Relaxing

More Relaxing

Pirate baby

Paige spit up on me and it was disgusting - all over my shirt and in my hair!

Next up... March - a busy month around here!