Silent house

May 6 2019,

It was a chilly Monday evening. Heath was at work, so I was making a super simple dinner that the kids would love to eat and I would love to make. GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES and don't forget the tomato soup. I sent them all off to do their 20 minutes of reading at the same time.

The house was eerily quiet. 6 kids at home and not a sound. I had to document it.

EVERYONE was reading, like they were supposed to. Except our little NETFLIX junkie. Captions. The girl loves captions! She reads her movies instead of listening to them so she can sucker me into thinking she is doing what she is supposed to be doing!

New rooms and peace on earth

Heath, Kelsey, and I spent the majority of our Christmas Break moving the boys from the two bedrooms on the main level upstairs to the one big bedroom, and Kendal and McKenzie from sharing a room upstairs into the two bedrooms on the middle floor.

We painted. We bought curtains and rugs and clocks and made wall hangings and decorations. We MOVED so much stuff!!

Kendal and McKenzie were starting to really get on each other's nerves. It is hard for a 12 and 11 year old to share a room and still like each other. They need their own space and their privacy if life is going to go well here at our house.

The Crane kids came back to our house on December 27th so we hustled to get it all completed in time. The girls were so surprised and LOVED it!

"My new room was awesome! I loved it so much. I was so surprised. It was so glamorous. Now I don't need to share a room with anyone. Now I have my own room. The first time that I slept in my bed I felt so comfy. I hope that I can keep this room for a long time, and I will try to keep my room clean for as long as I can." - McKenzie   

"My new room so really nice sleeping, parting getting out of my siblings. It is nice for doing homework, it is peaceful,quiet,cute and e.t.c. It is the perfect space for me, i wouldn't want another room in the house. I love my closet it fits my clothes and even some other things like blankets and games. I love everything in my room how it is." - Kendal

Peace on Earth, totally worth it.

Roasting in December

The weather has been so mild this winter. On December 29th we had a hot dog and marshmallow roast for lunch. It was crazy to be outside and not worrying about how cold it was or if you're Morgan, even wearing a coat or jacket!

I sure love these little crazies! It is good to be back together again during the Christmas Break.

A new front door

This is the AFTER picture.

(It is so awesome!)

Here is the last BEFORE photo of our house with the sliding glass door and crappy kitchen.

The sliding glass door didn't allow us to have a specific dining table spot. Usually when you opened our front door, the sliding glass one, you had to walk around our kitchen table. Heath was making us a new table where we could all sit and eat without bellyaching that someone was touching us (heaven forbid!) and with the door where it was, there was no room at all for the new table.

So we decided to change it. My dad came up of course to help because tearing out an exterior wall was a new deal for Heath and I. We removed the large picture window first and framed in a new smaller window and the new door. Another reason we wanted to change the large window placement is so the window in the opposite wall would be in the same place on the opposite wall.

After the new front door was in place, we removed the sliding glass door and put the big picture window in it's place. Heath worked hard on all the painting and trimming it all back out on the inside as well as the outside.  Well, actually, the outside took us awhile. Like, most of the summer. Which was a strange coincidence that Kelsey didn't invite many friends over all summer!

Here is the finished product. We love that the dining room table has a home out of the way and we love that the new door is SO MUCH more efficient and warmer than the slider was in the winter, and we love that we still have our incredible view. These pictures also show our new kitchen. We love it all.

Heath's birthday - He's kind of a big deal!

For Heath's birthday I ordered a bunch of shirts that said "My friend Heath, he's kind of a big deal" and gave out about 30 of them to our friends around here in the Heber. I asked them to get on Facebook and send him a little HAPPY BIRTHDAY video of them wearing their shirts on his actual birthday. It was fun fun fun. This is our friend Angie. She was in Oregon at Multnomah Falls and posted this picture. It was so much fun to have everyone give him birthday wishes with their shirts on.

That evening I invited local friends, family, and coworkers up for a BBQ and fun. I ordered this monster sized tres leche cake that says "YOU'RE KIND OF A BIG DEAL" from the Mexican market. It is his favorite.

Our friends Mary and Kelly made Heath this apron for this birthday. It has fur accents which is an inside joke from a Regency Ball we went to with them where Heath insisted on a fur lined Regency tailcoat. We had a great evening and it was so fun to have fun Heber and Midway people that we love share it with us.

hoops

Heath came home with a basketball hoop. Our lives are forever changed. The days are getting longer, the sunshine is getting warmer, and the kids are getting better at basketball.

I think many hours will be spent out here this spring and summer. We all love it.