Demolition

Photo 1 - Our future kitchen and dining room
Photo 2 - Master Suite
Photo 3 - Bathroom
Photo 4 - We're vaulting the ceilings
Photo 5 - Hearth Room

Digital Scrapbooking

I've been wanting to start digital scrapbooking for quite some time now and finally signed up for a 4-session class through UVSC. I love it! Our first class was on Tuesday and we learned how to make scrapbook paper in Adobe Photoshop. Next week we'll be learning how to add photos and borders. All of the scrapbook pages (12" by 12") I design can be printed at Costco. Here are some pages I made during class (click on them to see the texture).

Mt. Timpanogos

We couldn't resist driving up up the canyon to see the changing fall colors. We weren't disappointed! Even more exciting, our new house is only 11 miles from Sundance (at the base of Mt. Timpanogos), a place to hike, ski, and eat at wonderful restaurants. Yes, this is a shameless plug to get you all to visit us soon in beautiful Utah.

Our House

After months of planning, construction will finally begin on Monday! Our project should take 3 months, which should have us moved in on Christmas Eve (I think I better go watch the Money Pit again in order to get a reality check). I got the photo off the Utah County website. The house was built in 1971 (4912 sq. ft.), is at the end of a cul-de-sac, on a 1/2 acre, and has terrific views. The first drawing is a pretty accurate "before picture" except that there is no chimney and there are huge double front doors. The second drawing is what the house will look like in a few short months. I'll keep the pictures coming as construction progresses!

Why I am tired sometimes...

Sweet Marcus is a good eater and good sleeper. Sounds great, right? Yes, except that when he is awake he has an abundance of energy, shall we say. Although he ignores me in this video, most of the time he loves any attention he gets and loves to show off.

Neighborhood

What a great neighborhood we live in. And what makes a great neighboorhood? The neighbors of course! Our neighbors love to serve in any way. When Grandma Nordmark accidentally locked her keys in her car on Friday, Kevin Brad and Lee (first picture) came to the rescue. Grandma was visiting from Mt. Pleasant to celebrate her 83rd birthday with us. We always love having Grandma visit and she continues to impress us with her energy and strong spirit. She played catch with Marcus and helped me give Holden a bath. The other pictures are of Marcus and his good friend Maggie eating toast, Uncle Shawn looking sharp in his suit, and "Gramma" Juanita holding Holden at the dinner table.

Boo, Owunch, Yehyoh

Photo 1: Andrew (blue), Marcus (orange), and Eli (yellow) walking in the park. Marcus plays with his friends at least once a week.
Photo 2: Grandma Nordmark stayed with us one night on her way back from Oregon.
Photo 3: Holden in his bouncy chair
Photo 4: Olivia holding Holden after church

Labor Day Weekend

Our 3-day weekend began on Friday evening with Kjell and I rollerblading around the neighborhood each pushing a stroller. Earlier in the week we rollerbladed down the Provo River Trail with the kids and swam in the river. Normally we'd go to the waterpark, but since kids under 5 were banned from public pools this week (the health dept. had a huge rise in sickness spread by feces), that was not an option!

We spent much of Saturday morning at our new home in Orem. Since construction will start soon, we needed to go through all of the stuff the previous owners left for us. Anyone need a bread pan (we now are the proud owners of 17)? Some water bottle lids? A 9-foot inflatable snowman? How about some balloon animals? We made a pile of "keepables" that included dozens of hangers, 2 turkey trays, a nutcracker, toys, a box full of plastic forks, 2 board games, and pool cues and balls that went along with the pool table left behind. Did we score or what?! Who knows what other treasures we'll find along the way...

Anyway, Kjell and I went on a date to Macaroni Grill last night. We decided to bring Holden since he was paying for our dinner. I got a gift certificate for letting the nurses take some blood from Holden's heel when he was born because of a study in which I was a participant. Tomorrow we plan to float down the Provo River and perhaps have a BBQ.

Marcus and Holden keep us on our toes. In the first picture Marcus is looking for his ball. Since we often find balls under the stove, he is using a tool to fish it out before church (hence the plaid sports coat courtesy of Grandma Love). Although it appears as if Holden's head is disappearing in the last picture, this is not the case. He's all in one piece even with the constant batterings from his brother. Don't worry, we keep a close eye on our munchkins.

Doesn't Kjell look handsome in his new suit?