Kitchen Remodel

    This has been a long time in the making, (literally months!) but our kitchen is finally complete!  When we were first looking at houses about 2 1/2 years ago I was almost due with Noah and didn't want to waste my energy looking at a house that didn't excite me in the pictures.  This house was one of those 'blah' houses because of the kitchen.  I love spending time in the kitchen and I hated the picture.  Brett convinced me to overlook the kitchen and just take a look.  I fell in love (minus the kitchen of course).  We decided that we would agree to plan a little fixing up to make it more of a happy place for me to be in.  This was the year!

Here's what we did:

  The counter-tops were laminate now they are granite.  The sink is now twice as deep as it once was and I'm much happier with our new faucet. The cabinets were black and now they are antiqued-white.  We replaced all the doors with new ones that were already a glazed white.  We painted the base and upper cabinet frames white and tediously hand glazed them to match the doors.  Brett installed new lights.  Upon removing the old ones he discovered they were only being held in by two small screws and easily could have fallen on our heads at any moment, so he installed the new lights properly.  What once was wall now has a tile back-splash.  All the knobs and pulls are different and just what I want now. Brett and I love projects, and this one definitely taught us a lot for future projects: some things are worth paying the extra money to have someone else do them, shopping around and asking for discounts is great, don't remove the doors until the replacements are ready to install, and a beautiful kitchen = a happy women!  Oh, and someday I need to learn how to take good indoor pictures, I can never seem to get them sharp looking.  Just use your imagination or come on over and take a peak if you want.:)

During the whole lighting exchange we also put in some ceiling fans in our living room.  Brett is super handy and did a lot of work.  Props go to the man that does the work and pays the bills too!  Thank you Brett for my best Birthday, Christmas, Hannakah, Valentines Day. . . present ever!!!!

Here is our kitchen mid-remodel.  Yes, our kitchen looked just like this for almost 2 months without doors.  Very convenient, but also kind of annoying for the world to see everything we keep in our cupboards (I did invest in a few baskets for smaller things to make it look a little less scary)

And here's the grand finale:

BEFORE

AFTER
(You can't really see the antiquing in my pictures.  I love having the glaze on there though, because it hides spills and dirt that the boys make on a daily basis)

BEFORE
(Our sink was really shallow and so after eating breakfast it would look like we had a loud of dishes to do.  Our faucet was also so low that we could never really fill up any of our pitchers.)

AFTER
(Believe it or not, there were actually 3 cereal bowls, two large cups, and a vase in the sink while I took this picture.  Ahhhh, I love deep sinks for hiding stuff:)

I love how everything turned out and I am SOOO excited to finally cross of my first thing on my Baby Boy countdown to-do list!

Now Brett and the boys have started our next project to cross off my list. . . I'll keep you posted:)

The Rushtons are coming - Second Edition

 We were able to spend Saturday and Sunday with the family too.  On Saturday we got to see my oldest sister, Holly's, new home.  It's gorgeous!  It also has the most amazing views and landscaping.  The boys had so much fun exploring and playing.  Hyrum was in a serious pillow fight match in the basement with his cousins, which always bring about some kind of injury.  He just tweaked his wrist a little bit so I brought him to Grandpa for his 'magical owie fixing'.  I remember my Dad doing this to me when I was younger.  He would get really serious and then rub his hands together really fast for a long time (yep, right out of Karate Kid) then put his hand ontop of the owie.  Suddenly everything was better.  Hyrum thought it was really cool and kept talking about Grandpa's magic.  (Later Noah hurt his lip and Hyrum tried to do the same thing and put his hand over Noah's mouth - that didn't go over quite as well:))

The boys spent a considerable amount of time on their trampoline.  I have some major jump-aholics in the making.  They loved playing with their cousins and running around their new big back yard.

On Saturday night we went to the Cherry Hill water park.  It was a blast!  The kids had so much fun on the lazy river and the pirate ship pool.  I didn't get any pictures, because I was in the water or wet the whole time.  I was really glad that my sister got a few to prove that we went.  We were in the water during this first picture, but this is my family for you - taking the water park by storm.

There was no better way to end this reunion than visiting Temple Square.  We attended a ward that met in the Joseph Smith Building in an amazingly brilliant room.  Everything was so beautiful and reminded of us being inside the temple.  As we sat down we realized that in front of us we could see Elder Oaks behind the stand. It was a very small ward with mostly elderly people attending, and so I can honestly say that at some point during the meeting Elder Oaks heard each of the Rushton children seated:) He was nice enough to stick around after the meeting to talk to everyone, shake hands, give hugs, etc.  When he shook hands with our boys he said they looked like great future missionaries.  When we were in the hall area Elder Oaks was talking to several different people.  We all decided to get together on some steps behind where he was standing and be 'pose' ready.  My Dad then tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he would mind turning and facing the camera for a picture.  He looked at all of us with a little surprised face and said that he couldn't just stand in front us us all, and he would much rather get in the middle. 

The Rushtons are coming! The Rushtons are coming!

 As if Hawaii and Georgia weren't fun enough we fit a family reunion in too!  :)

On the first day of the reunion we met at the Uinta National Forest (just minutes away from our house) for hikes, crafts, and outdoor play time.  The kids seemed to have a lot of fun.  The 'older' kids got into an intense game of monopoly while the younger ones enjoyed the crafts and exploring the forest. 

I love that my boys will all have cousins right around the same age to play with on both sides of the family.

 Hyrum really LOVES going on hikes, so he kept stealing Grandma to take him on hikes on the trails around our site. He even brought his magnifying glass to investigate the rocks.

We had a delicious lunch with the traditional Rushton sandwich (bread, peanut butter, chocolate chips) and afterward roasting marshmallows over the fire. Hyrum never wanted to eat the marshmallows, but he LOVED burning them to a crisp and then watching them bubble up and melt over the fire. 

That afternoon everyone went to the Lindon Aquatics Center and had a blast, however my boys decided to sleep until after 4.  The naps were much needed and made the evening with everyone much more enjoyable.  Everyone came to our place afterward for a yummy BBQ and visiting.  

Georgia, Georgia! (part2)

 We visited Acworth Beach and I was in 'southern heaven'.  It just looked exactly like I imagined Georgia to look like, fully equipped with a white gazebo, hanging trees, and swampy looking area.  We had fun playing in the water.

 

Even though I was assured that alligators wouldn't be there, I couldn't help but feel eyes watching me from the murky water.

Georgia was BEAUTIFUL!  Everyplace just looked like a movie, with porch swings and rocking chairs everywhere.  I highly recommend it.  I'm also so excited to make a book or album of all the pictures I took of the historic sights for my boys to use someday in a report.  

Thanks Lee and Jaclyn for a great vacation and memorable experience!  Let's do it again:)

Georgia, Georgia! (part1)

     We were so happy to go visit our good friends Lee and Jaclyn in Georgia last week!  It was our first time in Georgia and such a fun experience.  First observation:  Humidity is a beast!!!! Second observation:  Georgia is GREEN!!!  Everything was so lush and beautiful, it was hard to believe that cities could exist anywhere with so much dense forest everywhere. Our preferred rental car upon arriving was not available so we got the next best thing.  Brett was excited and in love. . . I, on the other hand, don't see the appeal in squished cars:). 

I had no idea that so much of our Civil War history occurred so close to their home in Georgia.  We could have stayed for weeks to see all the sights.  Being pregnant, and having four kids (ages 1,2,3, and 4 -perfect spacing) along with us, we decided to pick one activity each day.  On one of the days we visited the Marietta Fire Department.  It has a fun little museum with old historic fire trucks, helmets, and other cool things.  I think the best part of it was when one of the firefighters decided to make the kid's day.  He let them see a bunch of their cool tools, get into a rescue truck, push some of the buttons, play on the pole, etc.  The boys are still talking about it:)  I had Hyrum go potty before we left and he kept saying, "I went potty in a firemans toilet. I washed my hands with special fireman soap.  I . . . ".  The simplicity of joys in a 4 year olds mind:)

Lee and Jaclyn's house was incredibly beautiful, with crown molding all throughout, a finished garage, and southern quaintness that made us feel like we were staying in a fancy cabin the whole time.  We did, however, spend  a good amount of time outside too.  The kids had a lot of fun together playing.  They were cute little 'cousins' and got along really well.  I LOVED all the yummy grilled food they cooked up for us. . . mmmmm.  I just might post some of their recipes as we try them out here. 

I was amazed at how many historic sights were so close to their home.  We visited a really cool confederate cemetery.  I learned a lot about the civil war.  Some things just don't translate fully in a text book, but standing in the places they occurred and walking on grounds where battles were fought really changed my outlook.  It was so interesting to be surrounded in the Confederate 'culture' and how they see it not as a war of race, but of loosing their way of privileged life handed down to them for generations.  It was just very interesting how so many confederate flags still adorn polls, graves, and monuments everywhere.  It was a bit of a surprise to see right after celebrating the 4th.

Here one of the final battles were fought before we gained control of Atlanta.

Happy 4th

 I wish I had more pictures to show what a fun night we had, but here are a couple of perks:

Jimkeepers gathering!  We were excited to find out that our long-time friends DJ and Libby were in town so we got to gather with some of the 'local' gang.  It's always so fun getting together and watching families grow.

The boys had a blast with sparklers and some other fireworks Dad bought.  I have to admit we also have the most amazing view of of the fireworks going off over the valley from our deck.  I loved hanging out on our deck from about 9:30-10:30 and seeing all the lights and amazing displays of patriotism.  

FOUR!!!

 I can't believe that our Little Man has turned four!  

In four short years he has managed to grow into a little boy that loves to play, build, race, tell jokes, and ask a LOT of questions.  He makes us laugh with his questions of curiosity and innocent foibles in conversations.  

This year we threw his first ever 'friend' birthday.  There were 13 kids total so we decided to make it a pretty low-key party with presents and cake/ice cream first followed by water fun in the backyard.  It was a summer birthday with umbrella straws, watermelon cake (with big plastic ants crawling on it, of course), and lots of pop-juice (as Hyrum calls it).  

The kids had so much fun splashing down the little slide into the kiddie pool.