Finally. It's Done!

The last time we redid our family room was when Brock was baptized. That was 16 years ago. We had my brother put up a chair rail and crown molding and painted it two tones: white on top, peach on the bottom.

We ordered blinds that matched the paint and then bought carpet that tied it all together. It was supposed to be a medium to medium-dark shade.

Well. When they rolled out the new carpet we had just purchased it was super light and kind of pink.

Gasp!

But we lived with it for 16 years until I was ready to rip the carpet out and live on cement. It was beyond cleaning. It had outlived its usefulness. (See below.)

Finally, Boyd and I had some funds to redo this room.


In April of 2010 we asked my brother to rip out the fireplace and tear out the wall and see just what was behind the fireplace.


We discovered two things in the opening behind the fireplace.

First of all, there was just one wall, I repeat, one wall that had insulation.

It was no wonder that all winter long we would feel a cold, northerly wind blowing in from the bottom of the fireplace.


And second: the opening was not centered in the middle of the wall. It was off-center about 18 inches and was very noticeable.

That kind of shot our plan to pieces. We were going to have this nicely centered nook in our family room that we could fit an entertainment center in, thereby giving us more room in the actual living space of our tiny family room.

We called a friend who is an interior decorator for advice. He told us what he thought would look nice.

We couldn't decide what to do that would work for us.

After we got the walls taped and mudded, we put a hold on the room.

We stopped all of our progress during the summer.


One day I had a flash of inspiration. The man who helped design our kitchen cabinets might know what to do.

We called him and sure enough,he had the best ideas!

We decided to incorporate his idea to custom build an entertainment center and use some tricky plans to center it in the room.

While we waited 8 weeks for it to be built, we mulled over and over what color to paint the family room.

One night I was watching a movie called "Dear John". The woman in the show had this blue family room that was so striking.

I asked Boyd what he thought about blue.

He thought it sounded cool.

We searched and searched for the right color and thought we had found it.

I painted the entire room and when it was finished, it didn't look good.

It was the wrong color of blue. It didn't match the paint that was going down the hall.

We were just sick.

We went on the search again and found a color that had a lot of green mixed into the blue.

Hesitantly I painted the walls and it was.....perfect!!!

We loved it!


Next, the entertainment center came. It took all day to be installed.

But, oh, what a lovely piece of furniture it is.

Jon installed new lights and then we were ready for carpet.


We picked a nice neutral carpet that warmed up the room. Unfortunately, when we had the entire room complete, or so we thought, we looked at the blinds and realized they didn't work.

They were a bright white, which just didn't match the warm tones in the room.

Again we stewed and fretted and one day I had a thought to try a cherry-colored blind to match the cabinets and entertainment center.

We called Budget Blinds and the salesman came out and suggested that the best window coverings for a french door would be shutters.

Hmmm.

That had never crossed our mind.

We ordered shutters and had to wait 4 weeks for them to be made.

In the meantime, Boyd went to TJ Maxx, Ross, Kohl's and Hobby Lobby to find home decorating items.

He found some fantastic pieces.

Finally on Monday, we got our shutters.

Beautiful!

Our room is now complete.


It took 10 months from start to finish but the wait was well worth it. I still do a double take when I walk into my room. I can't believe how warm and friendly it is.

Thanks Boyd for facilitating such a fantastic home makeover!

What do YOU think?

Hangin' with Grammy

Last Friday I went to Gardiner Village with my mom, Kalie and Isaac. We popped Isaac's car seat into my car and got ready to go.

Kalie had him completely ready for the occasion.


We had lunch at Archibald's. Isaac enjoyed playing with his toys and tasting little nibbles of food.


This week on Thursday, Isaac came to visit for an overnighter.

Alyssa and I fed him dinner...sweet potatoes and bananas.

I also have this nifty little item called a "nibbler".

You can put a piece of fruit inside and the baby can chew on it and suck all the juice out of it.

We decided to let Isaac try some cantaloupe.

He loved it!


After dinner Isaac decided to try a little light reading.

Genius in the making!!


Come visit again!!

Please!

Alyssa's Piano Competition

Alyssa had a piano competition at Weber State University last Saturday.

She has worked on her pieces for months.

They were excrutiatingly difficult. I wouldn't be able to play them in my wildest and fondest dreams.

She played Chopin's Nocturne in C Sharp Minor and Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C minor.

Finally, the day came for the competition and Alyssa was pretty nervous.

She went into judging room and played her pieces. She did pretty darn good considering the pressure on her.

We couldn't go in and listen so I have no video. Just be assured it was amazing.

Here is Alyssa with her piano teacher.


She performed at the Weber State Browning Arts building. This is Alyssa in front of the building.


Since I am a somewhat lame mother when it comes to classical music, I have to admit my weakness and shortcoming when it comes to Alyssa's piano playing.

She started playing Bach's prelude and I found it so unpleasant to my ears that I asked Alyssa to tell her teacher that I couldn't take listening to it while she learned this piece.

Her teacher very kindly told Alyssa to tell me to take a walk. This piece was very important to learn to play if you are pursuing a musical career.

I have kept my mouth shut since.

Oh. And now she plays the piece beautifully.

And. No. She didn't win. The people who won played pieces that had to be at least 30 pages long and lasted 10-15 minutes.

Twenty Eight

Last Friday, we celebrated another anniversary.

Twenty-eight years.

Twenty-eight years of good, bad, happy, sad, funny, interesting, exciting, special, difficult and soul-stretching events.

Happy 28 Boyd. Here's looking at 28 more....

Blue and Gold

I happen to be the Cub Committee Chairperson in our ward.

It is the perfect calling for me right now.

One of the committee's responsibilities is to plan and put on a Blue and Gold banquet for the cubs.

In case you don't know, which I didn't, the Blue and Gold celebrates scouting's birthday. In 2011, scouting is celebrating their 101st birthday.

We decided to have a Medieval theme this year. The boys came dressed up as knights. We had two round tables with shield-shaped placemats set up for the knights to sit at during dinner.



Before the events of the night got started our cubmaster had a uniform inspection. If your uniform is buttoned and looks nice you get a treat. The cubmaster informed the boys that if they were dressed as knights it was considered a uniform.

Each pack meeting our boys look a little sharper.



We gave out 2 Bobcats, 1 Wolf, 3 Bears and 2 Arrow of Light awards. It was exciting to see how the boys, parents and leaders worked together to earn these awards.

The committee decided to serve spaghetti, garlic bread, green salad and brownies with ice cream for dinner.

Planning and executing the Blue and Gold banquet is a TON of work but I was able to pull it off with lots of people helping out.

We have such great leaders in our pack. Our boys are so fortunate to be where they are right now. Thanks to EVERYONE for your willingness to serve.