Remodel Continued...

Just a few more remodel pictures.....

                                                                                     Old railing looking to front room

Main bathroom before/after

Main shower before/after

Downstairs bathroom before and after

The Remodel

The front of the house- didn't change much as most was done during the winter

Well, our big project has come to an end.  Well, kind-of.  The intense work is over, but we are guaranteed to still have the maintenance that comes with a rental.  We bought this home at the beginning of  November with the intent to remodel and either sell or rent to make an investment.  It wasn't the best timing, as Aaron was in school so he had less time to work on it.  We had hoped to get one in the summer when he could spent whole days over there and get it done quicker, but it just didn't work out.   Plus, it was during the winter and right during the holidays.  Our goal was to be done by Christmas, but as it turned out we weren't and spent some of our Christmas break working.  We also devoted "date nights" (Aaron and I working while the kids had a babysitter) to it, and weekends.  It was pretty trashed when we got it, so it was a LOT of work, but I think it was worth it.   We had to rip out carpets and water-damaged flooring, cabinets, toilets and tub, scrape and scrub the nasty floors, then seal them.  We re-painted, tiled, put in new plumbing and electrical, new shower, tub, and toilets, cabinets and carpet.  We both put a lot of time in there and Aaron and I (and the kids!) were glad when it was done.  We finally locked the door and walked away the 3rd week of January and that was a nice feeling.  By then we had a renter, and so far things are going okay.   I am just really proud of our work now that we are done and wanted to show a few  before and after pictures.

Kitchen- before

Happy New Year!!

We had a great time up at the Michel cabin at Strawberry Reservoir for New Year's. We spent two nights there and just played our guts out! The kids got to go sledding, snowmobiling, and ice fishing with dad. Mom and Heidi had a little fun in the snow, too. Mom's favorite thing was playing games, games, and more games!! It was fun to ring in the new year with Oma and Opa Michel and also my Schulz grandparents. What a blast.

Christmas Morning

Christmas day was a lot of fun. We met at the clubhouse with all of Aaron's family, where Santa had dropped off a few gifts for the kids. It was a magical time for them. They had fun opening their gifts and playing with them for a little while. Then, we sat around and talked and opened some special gifts from Grandma and Grandpa, and had a little devotional. We enjoyed an evening at aunt Carol's house in Starr, ID, which is about 20 min away. We ate and played games, just enjoyed being together. It was a great Christmas to remember.

Christmas in Boise

We had a great time celebrating Christmas in Boise with Aaron's family this year. This will be the last Christmas we will spend away from home. It was nice to enjoy it with Aaron's siblings, a few of whom we have not seen for about 2 years. Wow!! It was really great. We have missed them a lot. We stayed up by his parents place in a hotel where the kids enjoyed swimming in the pool almost every day. We also had a great time going on a trolley ride to look at the lights, to the mall to see Santa, and just spending quality time together playing games, watching movies, and catching up. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins, too. Thanks, everyone, for a wonderful Christmas. We have a lot of great memories from that week.

Christmas with the Michels

Okay, so it's been a really long time since I posted last so I apologize. The holidays made life really crazy for us, in addition to remodeling a home which was another HUGE project. So, this threw things off for our family and we're just getting back on track. So, expect to see a number of new posts all put up within a matter of days as I attempt to "re-document" the things we have experienced the last few months.

So, I guess I will just share a few of the biggest events since the last post, in order of when they happened. In the middle of December my sister Candice flew over from New York with her family and it was such a priveledge to spend some time with them, although it is always too short when you don't get to see eachother very often. This would be the third time this year and she's thinking she probably won't be coming over at all next year. They came down for Cory's brother's wedding (A lot of weddings this year.) We got to celebrate Christmas with the Michels a little early- on Dec 13th. We exchanged gifts and did our little nativity scene with the kids, had a traditional German dinner (yummy! Glese, Rouladin, routkohl (probably spelled wrong)- I look forward to that every year.) Erika and Kyle enjoyed spending time with their cousins Lucy and Logan. We also had the opportunity of going to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert at Temple Square with Natalie Cole singing with the choir. It was great! I just want my family to know how much I love them and how grateful I am to have such positive influences there for me.