Beautiful Spring Days

The past few days the weather here has been amazing. A couple days over 80 (almost too hot) and today a perfect day in the 60's. My ideal weather would be 60s and 70s year round. We enjoyed the nice weather by spending time outside. Up in Brockport we found an old tower. It was apparently built as a memorial but now it has seen better days and is falling apart.

Today we went walking through Highland Park with the dogs. They loved roaming around, checking everything out. The magnolia trees are blossoming and are beautiful. The yellow tree was just opening up and there were different shades of pink and white magnolias.

Down by some of some of the cherry trees that were in full bloom, we saw some people spelling out "love" for a picture.

March Madness

For those of you who don't know, over the past few years my parents and thus the family get into March Madness more and more each year. We have a family bracket competition and the winner's name is engraved on a trophy each year. They go to games in the first round and make March Madness t-shirts for everyone. This year there was also a competition to decorate a room in honor of the "season." We decide to decorate the bathroom since it is currently the nicest room in the house, having just been redone. Here are a couple shots. Notice all the orange decor in the room.

Sadie and Sylvester also wanted to get in on the action. So here they are in their March Madness orange.

Bathroom Fun

The first weekend in March, Caleb's parents came out for a visit and helped completely redo our bathroom. It is something we have really been wanting to do but have always been afraid of starting because it is the only bathroom in the house. Tearing it apart meant going without a shower and/or toilet for several hours or days. But we finally took the leap. Caleb started tearing the old tile and fixtures out during the week before.We were fortunate to have the help of a couple of people in the ward.

Once all the tile was off the walls, it was time to put up new drywall, put in the tub, and find a way to get the new tub surround up the stairs (after 6+ tries it finally made it). We spent a couple nights in a hotel so we would have a toilet and showers. By the time they headed back to KC, we had a functional shower, the tile floor was in, and a working toilet. Over the following week, we grouted the tile, put in the new vanity and sink, the new mirror, and a new light. There are just a few final details to finish up. The bathroom looks great, a thousand times better than before.

Eight long weeks

These past eight weeks have certainly not been what we were expecting. Some moments are good and some are very difficult. We are grateful for the support, thoughts, and prayers. Things will never be the same but they will get better.

Christmas Eve

Its Dinner Time in the City

This year since I am very pregnant, Caleb and I had a quiet Christmas at home. On Christmas Eve we had a fabulous meal prepared by Caleb. We ate ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole (which I don't like) and jello (which I made). We carried on the tradition started in my family many years ago. Once dinner starts the lights go out and you use candles for the rest of the night. We had one small catch this year and that is that we did not have any candle sticks to put on our candelabras. This did not stop the fun though because we had fat candles to use. Once dinner was over Caleb and I played the part of my dad who insists on using the regular lights to do the dishes. I must admit it is much easier to do the dishes with regular lights.

 

Caleb pigging out on his second helping

Me with my first and only plate.

Caleb finishing his second helping.

Earlier in the Day

Another tradition we have in my family is preparing goody plates for our neighbors and friends. So I spent a portion of Christmas Eve baking cookies and making puppy chow. Later that evening we delivered plates to our neighbors.

Here I am cleaning up after the baking the cookies. One of the down sides of pregnancy that no one told me about is the fact that a pregnant belly tends to collect food spots on the under side of it and of course you cannot see them there (powdered sugar).

The plates of cookies and the puppy chow. The puppy chow was then put in the middle of the ring of cookies.

The Finished Tree

Camberly got started decorating the tree as soon as I got it in the door. Camberly decided to keep the tree decorations simple. I think it looks wonderful. What do you think?

The finished tree.

Camberly by her work of art.

Saturday Fun

Ward Christmas Party

We started our Saturday with the ward Christmas brunch. Camberly and I brought a breakfast casserole. We ate first and then the primary put on a program. The program was very funny and entertaining.

Christmas Tree Shopping

After the ward Christmas party we went Christmas Tree shopping. Last year we went to this farm just east of Rochester called Wilbert's Christmas Trees. We decided we like the experience so that is where we went this year. This is how it works you are give a hand saw and a tree wagon and then you are sent out to cut down the tree of your dreams. Here are some pictures of our experience.

Camberly picked this one. It was the 4^th or 5^th tree we stopped to look at.

Me cutting the tree down, which was harder than it looks. It only took 20 minutes to cut down, ok more like 5 minutes.

Camberly and I have a 50/50 relationship and since I cut down the tree it is just natural that she pulled it back to the car. Ok, so this picture was staged, I pulled the tree back to the car.

We got it all strapped down to the top of the car and headed home.