Family reunion

Grandma Davis turned 80!  We had a big party with her whole family.  Before the "surprise" party, we had a get-together at Chuck-a-Rama.  Here is sweet Davis, partying with Grandma!

 Ruth made her a family history quilt.  It is beautiful!

Then, on Saturday, we had a party with all the other cousins.  Eli fell asleep with Grandpa:

 Because Davis is a social butterfly, he was the only baby who NEVER fell asleep:

 We went to dinner that night with family.  Here are Davis and Eli interacting in their high chairs:

Then, we went up to the cabin.  Davis got a lot of cousin time.

With Anna:

With Eli:

Grandma got some grandson time too.

All in all, it was a FANTASTIC week with family and babies!

Home decor advice needed!

Problem: We have a bonus room in our house that BADLY needs a redo.  Like, the ceiling has cottage cheese, the walls are awful, and the blinds need refurbishing.  The carpet is also awful.  So pretty much everything about the room is bad.
Remember how it looked like this?

I found a couch that I love at the furniture store.  I can basically custom make the couch to our own specifications:

I love the idea of a black and gray and red room.

But, we have a beautiful brown entertainment center that we love:

This is what the room looks like now.

Would the entertainment center go with the couch?  Should I keep the black and gray and red theme?  Or should I change it somehow?  What change would I make?

ADVISE IS NEEDED!

Welcome home!

If you haven't been following me on Facebook or Instagram, here are some pictures of our home:

 Davis's room.  It is so cute!  His light and fan are the best, but you have to see them to believe it!

 Bathroom

 Our room

 Laundry room

 SECOND bathroom

 Kitchen

 Spare bedroom.  Visitors are welcome!  Please come!

 Dining room

 More dining room.  Yeah, this picture is pretty much Davis stuff!

 This was a project I did a few days ago.  When we saw the house, there were some tacky daisies in the front room/entry.  They were gone when we moved in, which was obviously fine!  I replaced them with some silk plants, which look SO MUCH better!

The living room.  We got a new loveseat that matches our couch PERFECTLY!  Yay!!  The carpets got cleaned today, and the furniture people called last night to saw it was ready to be picked up.  Family is coming this weekend, so the timing is perfect!  This is what made me blog about our house, because I feel like it is somewhat finished.  For now.

The garage

Lest you think we are all the way unpacked, here is proof that we are not.  This is the bonus room, soon to be upstairs family room

And it will have a couch like this

Downstairs family room

And downstairs storage rooms!  Food storage, paper goods and cleaners, and everything else!

This will someday be another bedroom and bathroom.  But for now, it is just more storage!

We love our house and hope to have visitors soon!

Declaring Independence

A year ago . . .
We came to VISIT my parents in Idaho Falls for the Fourth of July.
And we said, in a YEAR, we will have a baby.
But who knew that he would be THIS cute?

And who knew that he would be so much fun to play with?
Not Chris . . .

And not Grandpa . . .

Really, the rest of us have fun playing with him too.  We just don't have pictures!  :-)
Who knew that in a YEAR, we would live in Idaho Falls, of all places, close to my parents?

Because, really, a year ago, we were barely starting to LOOK for jobs in the library field.  But then we found one here!
And who would know that we would be able to enjoy the fireworks in folding chairs, close to bathrooms with flush-able toilets and sinks with running water, and a wonderful meal with an orchestra to serenade us prior to the fireworks?

Thank to my Aunt Ruth who was participating with the orchestra at the Shilo Inn, we were able to get great seats for the fireworks.  These seats were DEFINITELY more manageable, especially for having that baby with us!

Anyway, what a difference a year makes.  We are grateful to be here!  And grateful for the amazing year that has transpired and led us to this point!  And grateful to live in a free country!

Was it really THIRTEEN years ago?

Am I really getting this old . . . ?

It all started with Facebook, of course.  One of my friends from High School mentioned that some of our friends were going to be in town.  Since I now live in town, I wondered if I could hang out with them too.  We had an event on facebook that was scheduled.  More people got invited.  It continued to grow.  But, in the end, it was super fun to see everyone and to catch up on our lives.  Here is hoping that we can get together more often, especially those of us who live in town!  Here are some pictures:

Thank you, Kristen, for hosting this fantastic event!  It was great fun to see everyone!