What does one do with a wedding dress...

9 years 10 months and 23 days to the exact and only day that I wore that special dress - and what did I do - I cut it off the bodice, dyed the raw silk with really strong coffee, and have grand plans of using the goregous fabric to make some throw pillows for our couches. Much to my mother's dismay, I cut the dress up when I was in Colorado this past March. My mom had so kindly stored it for the almost ten years since Kyle and I got married. She never boxed it. She just always had room in a closet to keep it hanging. I would often looked at it and wonder to myself what I could do with it. Now some may say that I am a traditional type of girl, but there is some non-traditional girl in me too. I could have saved the dress for Molly, but realistically I know that she would not wear it in her wedding. And why keep it in a box so no one could enjoy it. So...why not make pillows. This way everytime I look or use the pillows I can remember that wonderful day when Kyle and I got married and all the memories that have followed. So...mom, I am sorry for doing this, but the fabric really is wonderful now that it is a light coffee color. Oma...get ready to do some sewing for me.

Our new home...

Well, we did it. We bought a house. It has been a LONG process...we haggled over price, had an inspection, and then haggled again. But alas, it is settled. We will become the proud owners of a home once again on June 7th. We are very excited. The house is great, and it has even greater potential. According to Jack, he loves the house because the backyard is bigger than the one we have now! The couple selling the house is older, and have lived there since 1948! It is really clean and has great space. The only negative thing is that because they have lived there so long and are older, there is much that needs updating. However, most of the immediate stuff is only cosmetic things like paint and such. We are excited for the work ahead of us. I will hopefully take lots of before and after pictures and post them here so you all can see the change. Enjoy the pictures that follow...

985 West 18th Avenue #1...

The living room.

The living room from the other side - showing off the great glassblock fireplace. Oh, you have to know that there are white christmas lights inside the blocks that you can turn on for a little mood lighting.

Our groovy bedroom lights.
Our groovy yellow windows in the walk-in closet.
Some more groovy lights in the master bath.

A great "mudroom" with lots of storage - including its own gunrack behind a glass door!
Kitchen #1.
Kitchen #2.
Kitchen #3.
Jack's room.
Molly's room.

985 West 18th Avenue #2...

The backyard.

The outside firepit and patio.

The backdoor looking toward the kitchen.

The backyard at another angle.

Molly, the Model...

Molly strikes a pose for the walkway.

Then quickly realizes that being a model is not her passion. She wanted out of the suit right then and there. Hopefully, it is not a sign of a bad self-image.

Carwash time with Daddy...

Jack takes his first chance to become a real man and spray down the Jeep.

Jack gets a little "lift" from his daddy.
Molly is turning out to be a little lover of the water already. All of the water to make her this wet was self-inflicted multiple times. She kept spraying herself in the face. She would be a bit stunned and then she would do it again, and SMILE just like you see.
They just didn't want to give up the water play with the hose. Molly was watching and learning from her big brother very intently.
Teamwork at its best.

I'm so strong...

Jack filled the bucket with some really big rocks, and then he thought we would carry it some where down the beach. He didn't get very far because he had collected some really big rocks. I give him and A+ for a valiant effort.

A day at the beach...

Jack and Molly loved the sand. It was so soft and warm. I don't think they even noticed there was an ocean just beyond their reach.















Molly sat forever and covered her leg with sand. She also filled a measuring cup with sand and started to "drink" it. She soon realized that it was not that refreshing of a beverage.

Molly burying her hands.

A Lighthouse...

We travelled to the beach yesterday, and this is one of the things that we got to see. It was a gorgeous day full of sun and warmth. We were excited we had such a great day.

A Hike in the Mountains...

A rainbow in the middle of the falls.
The color of the water with the moss on the trees was amazing.

The big stump sticking up is actually part of the root of the tree that has fallen over. The trees are HUGE around here.