Kitchen Demolition/Renovation!

We tore out our entire kitchen in March. It was supposed to be a weekend job but it was way more involved than we had anticipated. The actual tearing out only took a few hours but getting it back together was interesting- (the house is 100 years old this year, so nothing is square, and everything has been done before-poorly of course) We tore out the cabinets on a Thursday evening after the kids were in bed ( yes, it was very loud but thankfully they stayed asleep). My brother-in law Nick and Dave were going to lay the sub floor and do the prep work for the tile Friday, then lay and grout the tile Friday night/Saturday, with cabinets coming in Monday. That was the anticipated timeline. The kids and I were to stay at my parents for the weekend. As it were, the floor was terrible and they had to rip it out to the floor joices and it was crazy unlevel and took muliple hours blood sweat and tears to put together. The kids and I ended up spending 10 full days at my parents house which was fun and crazy too. It was Spring Break so kids wer out of school which would have been super fun but, we all got the stomach flu, Elena got RSV, Carter had Bronchiolitus and they almost hospitalized them. Also it was Dave's 31st birthday, and because he and Nick were slaving away every spare minute on the house we only saw him like twice the whole time. It made for a wild memory! I didn't think it was so great at the time but I kept giggling while posting this just remembering how WILD it really was! Jax, Daddy and Ellie-girl playing before the big demolition that night.

Sick Kiddos ( they actually look kind of happy in this pic but that's because I bribbed them to smile becaue they looked so miserable in the other pic- Eva obviously still looks miserable. Poor Babies!

This was the first day at Mommers and Papa's house. We were all still healthy and Spring Brak had just started, this was a great day!

Dave and Brandon ripping out the kitchen Thursday night.

Dave tearing out the awful triangle shaped bar that took up the whole kitchen so awkwardly. ( I was really glad to see that go :)

I look kind of crazed, I know, but I had just drop kicked the ugly old counter top- (which felt amazing by the way!)

All the lovely layers of formica! I actually think the original grey marble was the best, they kind of just digressed from there

Brandon and his sweet wife Mary came and helped us tear out all the old cabinets/tile. THANKS guys!

After it was all out, this was the disgusting mess we were left with (and we'd actually cleaned it up a ton by the time I got the camera out)

All the yucky layers of flooring. THERE WERE SO MANY! Tile, cork board, red brick linoleum, orange foam carpet, ply-wood, yellow linoleum, pine or maple hardwood floor, cedar decking and who knows what else!

up close look at the Pretty Pinwheel tile design by Dave's brother Nick. He did an amazing job! We love you Nick, THANKS SO MUCH!

(plywood and tile subfloor)

Quick level- because it was so very un-level
(notice the yucky wall where cabinets were -gross!)

Finished tile! Soooo very gorgeous.

The Kitchen in Eva's room, yikes what a disaster!

new cabinets getting installed, so exciting!

Knotty Alder with brushed nickel hardware!

Look at the pretty not-ply-wood-like-countertops and the huge pantry!

Jax and Brandon trying to hook up the sink/dishwasher, Hooray almost done! Look how open it is! I love it so much.

The kids hanging out while we try to put the kitchen back together- so patient! What a mess it was, you can even see all the dust on the carpets. It's so beautiful! Well worth the wait. We were thinking we'd sell the house this spring after getting the kitchen remodeled to get something bigger because our little family has grown so much since buying this house, but I dont want to now. It'd be so sad to leave now it's so wonderful. We are so blessed and so very grateful to eveyone who helped us get it done. ( we still have to get the backsplash finished and put up trim but to us it's such an improvement we're willing wait to save up for the travertine we want on the backsplash)

Pine wood Derby

Daddy Dave slaving over the perfect design :)

The trophies/ set up (my brother Brandon is in the plaid shirt- he's the Webelos leader in one of the other wards)

Jax getting ready for the big event:) So his uniform was a blue Tshirt and the bandelo because he's just barely become a scout and I forgot to buy a uniform-oops! he survived though and we made sure to go right out and get one before blue and gold banquet!)Jax with the 'Slithering Style' car (that was the award he won- it had a snake decal on it) Also notice our kitchen in the back ground- i.e. dark cabinets, ugly ply-wood looking formica, dark grout tile etc. . . new pictures coming soon:)

I made tons and tons of Twinkie cars for refreshments, they were super cute! I was pretty sick of looking at twinkies by the time I was done though:)

March was a crazy busy month for scouting we had the pinewood derby and the blue and gold banquet two weeks later. Jaxson had his very first scouting Pine wood derby in March. It was fun but I am also the Cub Master- and very in charge so it was my first pinewood derby too! I sweat bullets over it but in the end it went really great! He took fifth overall and second in the wolf pack in our ward ( it was 3 wards combined) so he didn't get to go to regionals but he was pretty happy nonetheless.

Forever!

It was like -50 degrees that day so we had to just hurry and get a pic all togeter and this was the best one though not perfect as I have a branch/ shadow across my face and I don't look very happy, Dave doesnt love this one of him either but we are all together and that's better than what we had before (which was nothing)

Big 8 yr old so handsome

Pretty Princess

Sweet Baby

Sweet Sharkey

I've been absolutley terrible about updating our blog since the baby was born and I kept telling myself that it was because life's crazy with a newborn. . . so she's 7 months old now and I'm pretty sure life is just crazy, newborn or not. These are some pictures to help update and then I need to devote like two weeks to catching up. My sweet sister in law Rachael is an aspiring photographer and she took these family pictures for us in January. I absolutley love them and if you know her tell her she did such a great job!

This is my day, My Baptism Day. . .

This pic was supposed to be last. . . Elena rolled over for the first time after Jax's baptism. Yeah Ellie-girl!

We had lots of family and friends come support Jax on his big day. We got a few pictures- not nearly as many as I would have liked of course:) All of my siblings and their spouses were there except Chewy and Adina who lived in Seattle ( they just moved back 2 weeks ago though!) and two of Dave's brothers came and Grandpa wilson drove 2 1/2 hrs in a terrible blizzard to come alone because Grandma Wilson had to work.

L-R: Our Sweet neighbor Farrell, Eva, Alexandria, Aunt Jen with baby Elena, Uncle Nick, Grandpa Wilson, Daddy, Aunt Suann, Uncle Johnny, Johnny III, William, Mommers, Old Papa, Papa Call, Mommy with Carter, Jaxson, Uncle Brandon, Uncle Nathan, Savanah, Aunt Krista, Aunt Rachael, Vercein, and Alexus. Uncle Bart was taking the pictures and and Aunt Mary had to leave early for work. I didn't get photos of the friends that were there but there were lots and we were so grateful to everyone who came to support our family!

classic Jax pic

Jax and Daddy. Jax was baptised by Daddy and confirmed by Old Papa. ( that was a super special request by Jax what a neat legacy for both of them because Old Papa is 90 and Jax is his oldest great- grandchild:)

Our Sweet Neighbor Farrell came with us to Support Jax. What adear friend he is. He's almost 90 also (on July 21st)! Grandpa Wilson gave the opening prayer, the full time missionaries gave talks. One on Baptism and one on the gist of the Holy Ghost. There were three children from our stake baptised that day. Eva, Carter Jaxson and Mommy sang "Jesus came to John the Baptist" After jax was baptised before they did the confirmations. We practised learning all three verses every night for almost a month and they did a great job! I am so blessed and feel so honored to be the mom to all four of these special heavenly spirits. I say it alot but I mean it-- I really do have the best kids in the world!

March 5, 2011 Jaxson Gabriel Wilson was baptised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What a special day. I love this little boy so much and I am so proud of the righteous choices that he's making.

100+ and Dr. Seuss Day

Funny Shark boy in the tub, he loves bubbles!

The kids' school celebrated Dr. Suess's birthday in early March and they all got to dress up like a favorite Dr. Seuss character. Eva wore the Captain Moroni costume I made for Jax a few years ago ( the loin cloth was tied around her waist with a ribbon like a belt -- sooo funny!) She thought she looked like the girl in "The Cat in the Hat" though so it worked.

Jax was "The Cat in the Hat" he wore a pretty good costume Hat, bow, cuff links etc ( Eva's tap class did a "Cat in the Hat" dance a few years ago. He looked cute. He also added 'nerd classes' from the costume box because he thought that was funny-- and he did look pretty funny:) He's always good for a laugh!

Uncle Brani making Elena ( and everyone else) laugh

Elena and Mommers ( her namesake) I love this PIC!

Elena had her four month check up March 9th and she weighed 16lbs 15oz and was 25 1/2 inches long her head was 26 cm and on her chart where they tell you what percentage they are in, the nurse wrote 100+. Funny huh? None of our kids have ever made it off the percentage chart ( except Eva's head ), they're usually in the 50% range or less ( Carter struggles to make it above 15% in anything, even still!). Since birth she's gained 10 lbs, and grown 5 inches. She is our super star- our super huge- super adorable baby princess and we love her so much and are so very glad she's part of our family!

Wedding/ Girly Nail Party and etc. . .

Jaxson, Savanah, Carter, Eva, Alexus, Rachael and Vercein at the reception church. Rachael brought some snacks and they were devouring them! Dave ended up getting some burger king for the kids while we waited for the luncheon. The sad thing is these are the only pictures I got of the wedding/kids because I forgot my camera at the temple and then my card was full :( The kids all looked beautiful in matching outfits. They were darling!

Brani and Mary cutting the cake (aren't they adorable?)

Pretty Elena

More starving kiddos (I wish I had better pics of them they really looked amazing!)

Val and Mary (these ladies can make some super funny faces!)

Miss Savanah getting beautiful

Princess Eva all Done!

Savanah and Mary Chillin at the nail-light. Darling!

I got a french manicure and I loved it I could very easily become a regular! I was super careful and it lasted over three weeks, AWESOME!

Mommers getting girly

Val and Silly Mary getting pedi's

Krista (we didn't even half to drag her kicking and screaming)

Rachael patiently waiting her turn to get fancy:)

Princess Eva and "the Nail-Man" ( she was so happy she couldn't stop smiling the whole time)

Brandon and Mary got married for time and all eternity, February 18th in the Rexburg Temple. It was a wonderful day. Mary's parents live in Rhode Island so they flew in a few days before to play with us ( well-- with Mary and Brandon we all just tagged along:) Mary's mom Val took all us girls out to have mani-pedi's and it was super fun! None of us Call-girls had ever had anything like that done. I loved it and I'm pretty sure eveyone else did too. Eva actually had a little bit of a nervous breakdown when she chipped her one of her nails a few days later. She was devastated. She keeps asking when we are going back to have "the man" do her nails because "he does a really good job." Funny girl, she's addicted!