The answer

Had to show you what Stephen's homecoming date did to answer him when he invited her to go with him to homecoming.  We were reading scriptures one night when we heard something hit the front window.  We opened the front door and found this little package.  Which was full of confetti and peices of a puzzle.

So, Stephen sat and tried to put the puzzle together but could not and then he discovered that the puzzle did not even have four corners.  That is when he realized that this was NOT a doable puzzle.

Then we heard something hit the back window and the all the boys got up and ran outside the front door again...thinking that the girls must not be far. I ran out the back door and found this.....

This was lead up to by a long line of resees pieces....

Here's a close-up of the package.  And then Michael, Adam and Stephen came back

into the house carrying one of the culprits!

That was too funny!

Sometimes it's fun to get caught!

BTW....they had a good time at homecoming.....and

Elsie is just as beautiful inside as she is on the outside.

Good choice Stephen!

We got stone...no, not "stoned"....STONE!

Well, here's the latest development on the house. 

 We finally got stone!

Here's the close up of the front door area.  So, what you need to know is that the door will be painted a dark brown.  And the front gable will be stained a dark brown also and there will be two extra pieces on either side of the middle beam at the point.  And they wont be sticking out so far.  Anyway, it's looking more and more like a house and we are dieing to move in!!!

 Just about another month!

  Yay!!

How many men does it take to lift a piece of granite?

We got our granite installed yesterday!

Well, apparently it takes 6 men to lift this piece!

Here's a great picture of one of the slabs!

Here's the cutout for the cooktop.

The sink.  Glad we chose to go with a color instead of stainless steal. 

Here is one of the master bathroom counters.

I love this view of the countertops next to the tile floor

in the master bath.

Keep in mind that all of the wood cabinets will be stained

a dark brown color.  Which will really make the grantie stand out!

So pretty:) I love granite!

Stucco color and a special invitation

Last week they applied the colored stucco to our house!

I really like the color.  Don't you?

Next they will be applying the stone to the front.

The other night Stephen dropped this can of flour at Elsie's front door.

He knocked on the door and ran back to the car and we drove back home.

This is what the back of the can said.

About a half hour later we went back an he dropped this vase and flower

off at her front door with this note "Oops! Wrong Flower!

And a stack of paper spelling out his name!

Cute eh?

Tile

My brother in law has been working on the tile in our house for the last few weeks.

Here is a view of the front entryway tile. Mike and I chose this particular style because we liked the variety of color it offered....just to liven things up a bit.

Here's a closer look!  Dont you just love the multi-colored look?

Well, we do!

And here's the half bath upstairs next to the entry.

Here is a portion of the tile in the kitchen. 

Here is a veiw from the laundry room into the kitchen.

And here's a veiw on the other side of the kitchen where the kitchen table will sit.

This tile will also be in the laundry room and the master bathroom.

Lovin the master bathroom so far.

Here's another view of both the tub and shower.

And there's My Man (what a Stud) downstairs in the basement working on baseboard and trim.

The dark stained baseboard and trim will be going upstairs in the kitchen and living room.

Next up will be installing the hardwood flooring and granite counter tops!

Soooooooo excited!  Stay tuned!

The Boys are back in town!

This song has been ringing in my ears all week as I have been watching Michael and Adam be together again after being away from each other for 2 years.  It's as if they haven't missed a beat.

Now that Adam is living with us, it's been fun to see how these two newly returned missionaries have changed and how they have stayed the same.  Michael reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age. I always had one best friend who I was always with.  Especially as a young adult it was fun to have someone who I could tell anything too, someone who had the same goals as I did.  And that is just like Michael and Adam's friendship.

Michael and Adam have been best buds since the 8th grade.  Michael was always just an all around good kid and he got along with everyone.  But it wasn't until he met Adam that he finally had a real best friend for life.  Adam is just an all around great young man.  Always kind, crazy, hard working , and the life of the party.  Michael has always been kinda the constant solid one always kind, thoughtful and true to the bone.  Not that Adam wasn't all of those things too, just a bit more fun- loving and goofy too.  Michael likes that about Adam.  He enjoyed Adam's free spirit because he carried a lot of the pressure to be the responsible one in our home being the oldest boy.  When he was with Adam he could really just let his hair down and have a good time without any worry about getting into trouble.  They were just two good boys trying to do the right thing and preparing to one day serve missions.

So, now that they are both home after serving their long awaited missions, they are back together trying to prepare for the next phase in their lives.  What one does, pretty much the other one follows.  They are so good for each other.  They build each other up.  They work hard together.  They inspire each other.   They are both planning their schooling and are striving to keep their mission habits part of their daily lives.  But I think they are having the most fun meeting new girls and going on dates together!

They are a couple of real charmers.  Michael is always sharing his feelings and thoughts about life with me....something I have always loved about him and missed so much about him when he was away.  And Adam is such a cutie and a flirt.  Makes this old lady not feel so old.  The other day I was at the computer and he ran up to me, rubbed my shoulders and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  I love that boy!

 So, if you ever get the chance to meet one of these two sweet, fun, and good looking young men you will probably meet the other one too. They are "Two Peas in a Pod".  A couple of great guys!

Michael and Adam

Yep!  "The boys are back in town"!

And there they go! 

House progress

Well, aside from the painting we've done recently,

 we have been making some additional progress on our house.

This picture shows the color a little bit better. 

The color is called "Basket Beige".

Dad is now working on our cabinets for the inside of the house.

As you can see, our garage is basically his

 woodshop at the moment.

And you can see how the back door of the garage 

leads outside our backyard and right out to Mom and Dad's house.

Just look at my cute father in law. 

 He is such an awesome craftsman!

And here is my awesome brother in law Mark

working on the tile in our master bathroom.

While trying to save money, we found this wall tile that Dad had left over for our bathroom. We had to match it up with the rest of our colors. In fact the little square sections were cut out and replaced with these little square colored glass stone pieces.  Then strips of the same were cut out to string around the whole shower.  The tile for the floor is next.  Just wait to see the way it all goes together.  I"m excited!

Here's a closer look at the shower tilework.

Great job Mark! 

(oh, and here's the new hired help!  Yes, they are both available)

Stay tuned for more house updates!