We're finishing our Basement!

The process of buying a house is LONG and frustrating.  We originally put an offer on another house, but when that deal fell through because the square footage was smaller than was originally disclosed, we were left looking for another home.  Our wedding was only 3 months away and we were getting a little stressed about having a neutral spot for everyone to start our new journey together.  We kept looking...and looking...and looking it seemed.  When we found this house, I was drawn to it.  I knew it only had 4 bedrooms which would mean we would have to either share or finish the basement.  I remember looking at it for the first time and something about it just felt like home.  The previous owners had put some work into the main and upper levels, they had reinforced the cement floor in the garage that is over the bonus room, and they had put in a deck and did some landscaping out front.  It seemed so inviting to me.  We looked at it a few times and had some inspections done on it.  I knew this was the house for us...and fortunately so did Rex!  When we put the offer in it already felt like it was ours.  The kids all liked it and were excited about what it could be for us all too!


Our basement was never, ever finished since the time it was built in 1979.  Having 4 kids and only having 4 bedrooms upstairs meant that someone had to share...2 somebodies in fact!  Thank you to Lucy and Cecelia for taking one for our team! 


So yep...we are finishing our basement! .....AND  it's almost done now!!  We are so close after a year of working on it, its almost finished!  We decided to use a contractor and there have been good and bad with that.  Some things have been smooth and some have been extremely frustrating...but that's all part of remodeling right!  If there is ever a next time for this, Rex and I would just use subcontractors to do specific jobs!  We have learned a lot through this process, which is the goal right!!


I know it was challenging to have such close quarters for awhile, but now...everyone gets their own room!  And we get an extra bathroom and a bonus room!!  Not to mention the washer and dryer moved downstairs and we have a mud room for our shoes and things!  Rex was able to put in our laminate floors on his own and now we are just having the last part of the carpet laid.  Soon the kids can all have their own spaces! 


Its been a long time coming, but it was so worth the wait!  I'm excited to have our house complete!


Here's a short video of some of the pictures I took during the process!

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Heather

Ready for Kindergarten

She's ready for Kindergarten, but her parents might not be!  We are excited for her to go to school and grow up, but it makes us a little sad too!  She is our last child at home.  Its a little bittersweet to have them all going to school now.  But, boy is she ever excited!!  She can't wait to start and 4 months is a little too long to have to wait for Kindergarten!  At least we were able to go to registration and she got to meet the teachers and see the classrooms and the school.  So glad she has something to look forward to!

Love this girl!




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Heather

Its Easter Time Again

I don't know about you, but Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  The beginning of Spring, time to spend with family, coloring eggs and Easter egg hunts, lots of food and my favorite part about Easter??  Its remembering the Savior Jesus Christ, the Atonement, the love he has for each one of us, the opportunity we have to repent and try again.  Because of Him all of these things are possible.

My Easter day usually consists of my church meetings, an Easter egg hunt with my family and lots of yummy delicious food!

We usually try to color our eggs the day before Easter and that silly bunny ALWAYS hides them from us!!  We used a dye kit this year and did some of them that way, but then we also used whipping cream and food coloring and let the eggs just sit in that for awhile.  Some of them worked!  It was fun to try something new this year!!

This is a few of us after the Easter egg hunt sorting through the spoils of the day!!  We have the Easter egg hunt at my aunt's home.  She has a lot of property with horses, a barn and a chicken coop and is the perfect place for the egg hunt!  We are so thankful she hosts this event every year!!  Candy, money and an Easter basket for everyone!!  That sneaky bunny really knows how to help us have a good time together!

The day isn't complete without a family picture to remember the event!  Thank goodness our kids are all accepting of my photo obsession!! 


I hope your day is filled with the memories of a loving brother, Jesus Christ and his atonement, with food, family & lots of fun!  HAPPY EASTER!!!


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Heather

Brighton 2016

This year we got the opportunity to stay up at Brighton Ski Resort in a cabin with my sister and her family.  It was just an overnight trip, but it was just what the doctor ordered!  Lots of R & R, games, laughter and some snowshoeing....and food....LOTS of food!!  Kaylie and I were the only ones in our family that had been snowshoeing before!  And we LOVE it!  It was fun to sharing something we like with the rest of our family who hadn't done it before.  I think for the most part everyone enjoyed it!  We snowshoed around Brighton on the flat part of the lake.  Cecelia had a bit of a hard time because she doesn't like to walk that far, but even she soldiered through with us having her strike a pose for a photo when she was getting a little tired!

It was a beautiful day for snowshoeing!!  The sun was out and it wasn't too cold!  What I loved most was spending time with my sister and her family, my mom, my brother-in-law's sister and her family, his mom and my cute little family.  I love the memories we make together and I hope they last a lifetime.  It's important to have memories as a family and I love making them with my crew!

No trip with my sister is complete without a group selfie!!

Sleeping baby!  Man did he ever work hard up there on Dad's back!  Cute Owen!

The scenery!  If you haven't experienced Utah in the winter...its a MUST DO!

The kids at the finish line!  They all made it!  YAY!!!

The adults have to pose too!

Love this fun family of mine!!!  If you've never been to Brighton or never snowshoed...you should!  It's a blast and something the entire family can do!!  Happy shoeing!!

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Heather

Valentines 2016

This year for Valentine's Day we decided we would surprise our Gram!!  We snuck over to her house when we knew she wouldn't be home and we wrote messages to her on paper hearts and left her favorite ice cream, Baskin Robbins Nutty Coconut, for her in the freezer!  She absolutely loved it!  And she was completely surprised!!

Happy Valentine's Day Gram!!


What are your Valentine's Day traditions??

Provo City Center Open House

Today we were able to attend the Provo City Center Temple open house.  It was FREEZING!  But soo worth it!  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We believe that sacred ordinances are performed in temples.  Learn more about temples HERE.


This temple was so beautiful.  It is the 2nd temple in Provo and was previously the Provo Tabernacle until it was destroyed by a fire.  Read more about its history HERE.  I am thankful we were able to walk through it with our family before it was dedicated.  Our kids loved the baptismal font and the celestial room.  I think what they loved most was being able to experience it with their cousins!


I'm thankful for my beliefs and for the Savior Jesus Christ and for all of the people who worked so hard to bring this blessing of the temple to us all.

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Heather

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year Everybody!  We were lucky enough to have these 3 home with us right after midnight!  Love them and their craziness!!  Excited to see what this year brings for all of us!!

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Heather