New look

This is for those of you that wanted to see how the bathroom painting project turned out.
First of all I only have before pics of one of the 3 baths.

This is the downstairs bathroom/laundry room before.

     

 This is after. Color is not showing up the greatest on here. The wall by the sink is a dk gray, the other three are a cloud gray.

Welcome to the monkey zone.:) The walls in here are tan & the theme is monkeys. So far there are just a few things on the walls, that  adorable monkey was found at Hobby Lobby & the wooden plaque on the wall was made by my son...

Clears throat, any questions which son would have come up with this???

Now let us be swept away to Paris...

This is the master bathroom. The walls are a soft aqua & I am accenting it with brown & white.

The wood on the mirrored cabinet will be painted dk brown sometime soon. :)

There you have it.:) Its quite a switch from the white bathrooms that I started out with. I am enjoying the change & am wondering why I waited so long to paint!

Of winter & wintery things

Wow, I am really behind... I haven't blogged on here since Nov.1. But see its not my fault, I was given a eepad for a early Christmas gift by my dear husband. :) Now I don't have to go up on the desk top PC to go online, but I haven't figured out how to put pics on my blog through the eepad. So, its not my fault... Wrong! I have no one to blame but my self.
 Enough of that line of thought, lets see where do I begin?

Some things never change! Ashlyn is still as silly as ever.:)
 A big change was when Shane went from 7 to 8! He was thrilled to finally be the big 8.:)

The day after his birthday party was a sick day for Ashlyn.:(

 That horrid flu took its rounds through our family the first weeks of December, just when it seemed like it would never end, we were all healthy again.

String lights are so fun! That little boy in the background  totally ruined this string... If you twist the bulbs around while they are lit they will burn out. Oh will it was just lights.

My two big helpers! Washing the dishes was so much fun :)

The Christmas program was nearly cancelled with all the sickness among the students [or cast].:) When the night came for the program they were all able to be there. The directors chose the perfect play for this year, because of how messed up it was intended to be I had no idea when they missed a line or two.:)

Squinkies,football,semi,legos,stroller,doll... Presents are so much fun!

Now we are off to PA for Christmas! This is a story in its self. We had plans to drive all  the way out there. No, I was not looking forward to that long drive. Not one bit! But we had to get there somehow & driving was the cheapest way to go. About 10 days before we left our friend Rick offered us a ride to OH on his plane! Wonderful!!! We still had 4 + hours to drive from there, but no complaining here! That is a fraction of the hours it takes to drive all the was from here. It seemed crazy on Sunday morning while we were at church, to think that by late that evening we would be in PA.:)
 I am telling you if your gonna fly private planes are THE way to go.:) No security checks, no running to catch your plane!

 Looking towards the front to see how Rick does things.:)

 Can't make much sense out of this one? It was tight in there & they were all trying to watch Cole play angry birds.

Horrors! He has blue snot...

Olivia Wengerd & Ashlyn... We slept at Carl's the first two nights we were there. Mom & Dad's house can only sleep so many people then it is FULL.
 Olivia & Ashlyn enjoyed playing together. :) My dad has always thought Olivia looks like Ash. Maybe a little, but their actions make them look more alike.:)
 Now lets go to Grandma's house for Christmas!

 The lovely Mr & Mrs Shetler... Mr. cuteness himself is Logan.

 The girls... They thought they didn't have nearly enough time together with Emily!

 The boys...

 There is my Cole that loves smiling for my camera.

 All the presents at Grandpa's!

 This will be a treasured picture! Seems like I don't take near enough pics of the children with  their grandparents.

 SNOW!!! There was an abundance of it this year. It was gorgeous to see & so fun to play in!

 The girls in the tree... Not sure why this was so fun???

 I remember breaking off icicles when I was little. They find it just as much fun as I used too.:)
There was so much snow while we were there that we couldn't go visiting like we usually do. The van we rented was horrible in the snow, so we spent most of our time hanging out at my parents house. I  was sad that I didn't get to see people like, Mary Hochstetler, Elaine Miller, & many more! I am so glad we stayed at Carl's or we would not have seen them either!
 Our flight home went well & we were all ready to see our cozy house again. Well it was not so cozy... The boiler was not working, so the water froze... We did have two electric heaters going to warm the place up a bit, but when its bitterly cold outside they just don't keep up.
 Our landlord came out as soon as he heard our plight, they got the water thawed & running again. The boiler is still touch & go.:( Some days Dale can get it to work & it roasts me out of the house, other days it just stubbornly refuses to work. The repair guy is waiting on parts again.:( Mr. Chris feels so bad that its taking so long, but it can't be helped.
 Speaking of cold. We have seen some serious cold this winter. -0 many nights & only getting up in the teens during the day. We have had snow on the ground all month, unusual for the valley! The children have gone sledding on our hills many times. Its great fun to fly down those "cliffs".:) The walking back up is where its not so fun.

Sierra seems to think that emptying out my Tupperware several times a day is her personal duty. :( She also enjoys the lid drawer, but when she tried it with some of the other cabinets I said enough is enough!
 She is saying more & more words. I have also gotten her to do a bit of sign language, she picks that up real fast! Nights are going a lot better, she still wakes up several times. Normally all she needs is her pacifier put back in a the tag of her blanket tucked back in her hand.:) Its so nice to have her wake up happy!
 The past month I have been helping Inez some at the store till she gets a replacement for Erin. I enjoy working there & Dale is a great sitter for the children.:) I sure couldn't handle working full time plus coming home & taking care of my family the way some moms do! Gives me a fresh appreciation for the blessing I have of being able to stay at home with my children & only going to work for fun.:)
 This week I started painting our 3 bathrooms. I have 2 down & 1 to go.:) Its so fun to give things a fresh look. I didn't realize for old & dirty the walls looked till I put paint on them! The downstairs bathroom I painted 2 shades of gray, the master bathroom is aqua with brown accents & the children's bathroom I am still trying to decide what color to paint.
 Whew, that's quite the update! That's all for now folks. :) Have a wonderful worship service tomorrow!

The little things...

So I am the first to admit that I am creatively challenged... No one complains about it [at my house]. But all the neat things I see on pinterest leave me wishing I could do a bit more!
 Enter Ashlyn's 6th birthday. I searched pink cakes on pinterest & came up with one I thought was really pretty. The blogger said it was really easy, I am thinking maybe I can do this one.:)
 With prayer & a vote of confidence from a friend I started on it.

Can't wait to see what the girls say about it!

 This is what Cole thought of it all.:) Maybe he licked just a bit too much icing!!!

October...

I see I am really neglecting my blog. :( See that's what happens when I try to keep up with xanga, facebook & my blog.

Lets see what has happened here the past months? Well lets see... Oh yes there was THE wedding. I am sure most of you know that Brit its happily married by now. Her wedding brought so many fun people out to CO. Dad & Mom, [I am still in shock that they actually came out here, a good kind of shock though] Nate, Waneta, Emily, Garrett & Logan... And even my friend Christy Smucker.:) [She is a great photographer & Brit had to have her for the wedding photography.]

 A few pics to prove that these lovely easterners were really here.

Look its my dad, on my couch, in my house, holding my daughter.:)

Love this boy! He was so much fun & he has no time for aunties camera!!

Fun times for Briana!

These two were sooo cute

There was a timelapse of several hours between when pics were taken & when the wedding started. Of course by now Ashlyn's hair was all in a mess again. So the bride re-combed her hair.:) BTW I still haven't quite figured out what the poor child thought Brit was going to become once the "I do" was said. She was crying like Brit was moving to the north pole!

Cole was very done with weddings by now... Playing with the little gummy bears was a temporary diversion.

I am so bad about remembering to take pictures! This is the only pic I have of my mom while she was here.

Mr.Logan again.:) It will be such fun to see him & Sierra play together at Christmas.

After the wedding we went to Wyoming to see more friends & to make new friends.:) Micah was not at all sure about going up there. He didn't know anyone & he was sure it was going to be a dull weekend. NOT!!! He hit it off great with John Stoll. While Briana & Shane were delighted to get to play with Ed & Kim's children again! They were not ready to come home when the weekend was up.

Church camping was a lot of fun too. 3 days of fun & play for all.

Cole rode strider bikes every chance he had

Ashlyn played with the boys...

Soon after that School Started

They were nervous about going back to school after homeschooling for 2 years. But they were all smiles when I picked them up in the afternoon! Micah & Briana are in the same class & think Miss Rachel is the BEST teacher. Shane is quick to tell them that oh no, Miss Deanna is the best. Of course Ashlyn loves her Miss Kelly too.:)

Then it was time for Sierra's first birthday. That year went so fast! From this

to this in one year.:)

She started walking right about the time she turned one.:)

Cole has had a hard time getting used to being at home alone with mom on the days Ashlyn goes to school.:(

Tuesdays & Thursdays are very long days for him. Often we go shopping on those days, but that's no fun either... Mom when are you going to be done???? Mom, I am hungry. Mom, I want to go pick up the children...

Next up is camping in Silverton. Gorgeous part of Gods creation...

This is on the way over there. The little cabin[with its laundry hanging out] way up on the mountain always intrigues me.:) Mom I really wish you could have seen this. Its part of the million dollar highway scenery.:)

Breakfast

Bacon made on a fire. Yum!

Marv gave the children rides on his spyder.:)

The men went hiking. [Dale took these pics. Note i said the MEN went hiking]

Looking down over Silverton

Bad hair day!

 I wish I had more pics of the drive back to this ghost town. It was very bumpy & interesting! One lane road... wrapping around mountain sides, hoping nothing is coming from the other direction. This of course was a mining town & when the mining quit there was no reason to live way back in here. If these old buildings could talk...

 They would have been way back in & got lots & lots of snow in the winter. But the beauty of it all is awesome!

One last parting pic...

Every little girl has a first time for pig tails.:)