I love before and after pictures

When Shane and I bought our condo almost two years ago, We knew it would require some major updating. We have spent countless hours remodeling the place....well, when I say we, I mostly mean Shane. I have done a good job at keeping the kids out of the way however. Here is a before and after of Shane's latest project.

This is a picture of how our fireplace use to look. Other than Shane's wonderful family, (sorry Hughes' it was the only fireplace picture I could find) it's totally boring, insignificant, and lack lustre.

Here is the after picture.



Shane tiled travertine stone and made the mantle out of molding. Once again, I kept the kids out of his way.
Avery does a pretty good job at decorating the fire place, (don't ask me where she learned to pose like this) but we need something to decorate the mantle. Any suggestions?

unfortunatly our camera is broken, so I won't be able to post any new pictures for awhile. You'll just have to suffer through our old pictures:)

In case you're wondering, small boats can do back flips.

I can't help but laugh every time I see this picture, though at the time it wasn't all that funny. The boy sitting next to Avery is her cute little cousin Kesler, who by they way, at the tender age of four is already a fishing and wildlife genius. No really, he could perfectly imitate the sound an elk makes before he was saying "mama" or "dada." He's already given me my own private fishing lesson, and he can hike as well as any adult, but for those of you who know his mom and dad, this really isn't surprising.

Okay, back to the story of how paddle boats can do back flips. We decided to take Avery fishing in the pond behind Austin and Amy's new house. It was such a beautiful morning, as most summer mornings in Montana are; serene, calm, free from people, pollution, stress...

After we took this picture, we thought it would be a good idea to pile on three more people; Shane, Grandma Hughes and Me; our first mistake. We started paddling to the center of the pond when slowly the horizon in front of us started rising as we started sinking.....backwards. Before we knew it, the boat had flipped and we were all swimming. Luckily the children were wearing life jackets, but none of us were...and there's our second mistake. The water was way beyond touching but the three of us managed to save ourselves and the children by swimming to shore and losing the fishing poles.

The fun thing about Montana is something unexpected always happens. You never know when you'll run into a bear, find a secret huckleberry patch to pick, or end up swimming when you thought you'd be fishing.

We've invited all our friends and family to join us in Montana. Some have taken us up on it...Joe and Emily, Thad, and Brem. My family will hopefully be joining us this summer, but everyone is welcome to take a vacation with us to good old Montana.

By they way, Shane did find his fishing pole the next summer.

Finally...my first post ever.

For weeks now I've been telling people I'm starting a blog, and today I am finally starting. I like to be a woman of my word even if it does take several weeks. Oh it will take me awhile to work out all the well thought-out detail I see on everybody else's blogs, but eventually I will get there. At this point in my life, my children allow me about ten minutes tops on the computer before Avery gets lost in cartoon land and Sage starts crying from neglect. Speaking of my children, would you like to see some pictures?

Here is Crazy #1 also known as Avery. She's our little Montana girl. She loves the outdoors, taking hikes, looking for wild life, all of which she learned to love from our trips to Montana. When she doesn't have Montana on her mind, her other muses in life are playing with friends, changing her clothes no less than three times a day, and as anyone who calls our house knows, talking on the phone. Her birthday is in June and sometimes I have to remind myself she is only turning 4, not 16.

Would you like to meet Crazy #2?

This is our little Sage. He turns one on Saturday. He is our little Daddy's boy and cuddle bug. He loves dancing to music, playing with balls, and following me around the house undoing whatever it was I might have just cleaned up. Much like his older sister, he is very social, friendly, and curious. We just can't seem to take a picture of Sage without him crawling toward of reaching for the camera.

I have to say I'm very grateful these two children were sent to our home. As difficult as parenthood is, they are perfect for Shane and me, and we try to be the best parents for them.

For my next blog I will fill you in on the disasterous consequences of this seemingly innocent picture.