March

 Progress on the house continues...LeGrand got all of the insulation in the front put in and we finished up pulling wires into outlets for lights and plugs.

The kids had some fun with my phone...seems like they get their hands on it every chance they can!

This day cracked me up...There was a contractor taking pictures and doing some things at the company house and couver wasn't having it so the lady was afraid to get out of her car. LeGrand loaded him up in his truck and drove to the top of the lane until the lady left - I couldn't help but get a picture of LeGrand and the stinky dog in his truck, ha ha!

We more than NEEDED a BREAK!!  COVID mixed with house building we hadn't been on a trip in far too long - we packed up everyone the end of March and headed on a southern Utah adventure - it was SO much fun, we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.  It wasn't quite as warm as we'd hoped but ended up being the perfect getaway/recharge!

We started with a stop in the town of Loa --just for our Loa!

Then on to Torrey where we stayed with plans to see Capital Reef national park

We had SUCH a fun time at Capital Reef, the kids loved just being able to do all the exploring they wanted to and we loved not having a schedule so we could just take our time - it ended up being one of our favorite stops on the trip.

Then we were 'supposed' to be on our way to Bryce Canyon and the lady in charge of the directions (ME) took us the wrong way, ha ha.  We couldn't help but stop at this random guys "Treasure Garden & petting zoo" ...the kids thought it was so cool.  Ha ha

It ended up being a fun detour to see Grand Staircase and Gobblin valley - we would have loved more time in Goblin Valley to explore!

Our last stop was Bryce Canyon, it was a bit colder than Capital Reef and Goblin Valley but luckily they had just opened the road all the way to the top the week before we got there so we were still able to have a fun hike and enjoy seeing all that Bryce had to offer.

                                       

SO enjoyed our little family re-fresh, in the midst of the house-building craziness!

2021 - What a year!!

 It's been WAAAAAY too long since I have updated this blog, in fact I'm now seeing that it has been almost an entire year!  I'm going to do my best to update the months but I though it fitting to start with a 2021 explanation.

It was easily one of the biggest 'growth' years...or trying/frustrating/hard just plain hard!  We spent more than half the year in the depths of building our home - our home that was supposed to only take 6 months, turned into a full 12 months, we're learning that's basically the joys of building - mixed with some unforeseen effects from COVID.  By the end we were more than exhausted (and completely sick of spending money) and that was when all the work was up to us.  From electrical (and ALL that involves),  and tiling, to finishing all baseboards, painting the ENTIRE house, painting and hanging doors, finish trim around doors, windowsills, flooring in bathrooms and sealing the concrete floors, wiring and hanging all the lights and fixtures, a whole ton of Caulking, hanging wallpaper...it was A LOT, and frankly by the time we could actually move in I really despised the place. I was so sick of working my guts out 24/7...there were still some things to do when we moved in (like tile the master bathroom shower) and I don't do well with 'unfinished projects'.  My parents saved the day and showed up for a full two weeks after we had moved all of our stuff in and helped us get completely unpacked, finish some projects, organize some stuff - it was so helpful and much appreciated.  That was the end of July/beginning of Aug.

Now that we've been here 5 months I'm starting to learn to love the place.  There are definitely still things, like all the little things I know are wrong, and then a garage floor that has to be changed because they didn't slope it and the first big snowstorm I pulled my car into the garage and all the snow melted off and flooded my laundry room and office....ugh.  Also, because of the size of the house we are still figuring out the best ways to heat without paying a fortune to keep us warm...there's been a lot of growing pains for sure.  I'm making it a goal this next year (2022) to try and see all the good :)  The kids love it here, they make use of the gym nearly every single day, they love having their friends over for parties and there's plenty of space for everyone to have fun!  The views blow me away everyday, they are incredible even in the middle of winter!

...now here's the rest of this blur of a year! ha ha