So Much To Say!

Well, I guess it should be "so much to write" - but you get the idea. :)

I have been putting off this post for a while, because there is just so much to write about!

Let's see - I left off on Friday night, when we had just finished laying the final boards for the kitchen floor. Saturday was a blur, because it was the final day that Dad and Grandpa were going to be here, and there were a bunch of things that needed to get done. We started off in the bathroom, because the tile on the walls needed to be "grouted," and that was going to take a while. After some frustration, we finally finished the project, and my arms and shoulders were so sore from all of the scrubbing! We also worked on installing the toilet (YAY!), the vanity, the mirror, the vanity lighting, priming the walls in the bathroom, moving all of the appliances back into the laundry room and kitchen, and installing the quarter round in the kitchen. We worked so hard that we skipped lunch (except for Alex - he was getting really cranky, so he was fed.) :) Andy and I, as a BIG thank-you to Dad and Grandpa, took them out for a nice steak dinner at the Country Neighbor that night. It was nice to just sit for a while! When we got back, we began right away trying to finish the quarter round. At about 12:30 AM, we just decided that we needed to go to bed - Dad needed to drive back to Missouri in the morning, and Andy had two baseball games on Sunday. We were beginning to make some silly mistakes, so we left it half-finished and are going to get back together in a couple of weeks to finish up. It's functional now - and that's the important thing. We just have quarter round to finish under the "bar" area, around the stove, and to the doorway downstairs. But, it all looks so amazing!! We also need to have a couple of doors shaved off of the bottom, because this floor is higher now than the carpet was. The basement door won't close at all, and the back door needs to be lifted as you open and close it. The bathroom walls need to be sanded and filled, and then painted. We need to do some touch-up grout work on the shower walls, fix the windowsill in the bathroom, prime and install the baseboard in the bathroom, install the shower rod, and I am sure that I am missing about 30 other things, but I just can't think of them now. I have a list - - it's two pages long now. :) BUT, it's all "cosmetic" things, and my folks are going to come back up in a couple of weeks and help us finish it all up.

So, you are wondering - - here are the pictures!! :)

The kitchen floor looking out from the hallway..

In front of the stove..

From the "dining room" into the rest of the kitchen and laundry room..

The laundry room..

The shower

The vanity, mirror, and lighting..

Sunday morning all five of us left and headed to Grand Island. There was room in Dad's pickup for some of the extra supplies we needed to return. We followed them to Grand Island and stopped at the Home Depot. Dad and Grandpa left from there. It was so hard saying goodbye to them - they did so much for us - that's the bad thing about having family living so far away. Andy and I picked up a few more of the things that we needed, and then headed to Loup City for his two ball games. After the games, we still needed to grab a few things, so we headed to Kearney from there. After supper, we headed to WalMart and got the rest of our stuff. All that, and we were home by 8! :)

Monday I spent scrambling cleaning, shopping, and getting things ready for our company Monday night. Our friends, Jason and Anne and their three kids came over for supper. They are visiting their families in Nebraska for a few weeks (they live in Alaska), and took time out of their busy schedules to have supper with us. It was so nice to see them, but the time flew by way too quickly.

This morning Alex was up about 3 hours before I was ready. I think that the past three weeks are really catching up to me, and my body isn't happy with all of it. So, Alex and I went shopping today - to return a few more things and to pick up a couple of other things. One of the things that we needed was some new shoes for Alex - he was quickly growing out of his sandals, and his feet were STINKY when he took them off! :) So, we got some new shoes!

Once we got home, Alex HAD to put them on! Now he loves running through the house, hearing his little feet slap against the new floor. But now that we have new shoes.....this all has changed!! :)

He did stop running just long enough for me to snap a shot of the new shoes (I especially love the "deer in the headlights" look that he's giving me) - he had about 5 pictures taken before this one, so he knew I was taking them - SILLY BOY!!! :)

Well, that's all I am going to write for tonight.......my fingers are tired. :) Enjoy the pictures, and if you want to see it in person, just give us a call to arrange a "viewing" - meaning that you come and visit. :) (Sorry, Andy's brother is a funeral home director, I had to use the "viewing" pun) :)