A Visit from the Cousins

Watching General Conference

The cousins.

Look at all those monkeys on the bed.

Last month our cousins (Dad's brother and his family) came down to see us.  It was such a great time, albeit short.  The kids watched conference together, played, walked some dogs in the rain and just bonded.  Most importantly, J Man was able to teach their oldest son the ways of being a wii addict.  Dad and I had a fantastic time just chatting with his brother and wife.  We love them so much and will miss seeing them when we move.

Big Changes!!!

We have two big announcements.  One, we are moving.  Two, I am pregnant!!!

We are moving to Denver, Colorado.  Dad got a job with Ernst and Young (one of the big four accounting firms.)  He will start this Monday.  Our house is under contract after being on the market for less than two weeks.  The way this has all worked out has been such a blessing, miraculous really.  I am so sad to leave our beautiful city and all of my awesome friends, but I am really excited for Dad to have a job with so much potential for growth.  The kids and I will stay a few more weeks to wrap things up here and then Dad will come back to move us out there.

The other exciting news is that I am pregnant.  We have been planning this one for a year.  The timing is a little crazy but I am pretty sure there isn't a convenient time to be pregnant.  We are expecting Vance baby number six in November.  The kids are all soooo excited.  I am happy to be doing this with so many helpers this time.  It is way easier!!!

So, lots of excitement here.  We feel so blessed.  I can't say that enough.  The Lord has been mindful of us and has been supporting us through all of this.  We are so thankful.

More Before and Afters

In January I started updating our house.  It started with new flooring in three different areas, but what good is new flooring without a fresh coat of paint.  Oh, and the paint looks so good in this room, I should really paint these other rooms...tear down the wallpaper, switch out light fixtures, buy new throw pillow, new bookcase, have the carpets cleaned..!!!!  Have I exhausted my budget yet?  Here are the before and afters.

This is the flooring in the front entry and the red door.  We had a vinyl floor put in that looks like wood but is more durable for this high traffic area.  I painted the front door black.  I love the new effect. 

This is the old flooring in the downstairs bathroom, the old paint color and the old toilet seat.  Also, not pictured is a peg board behind the wall that I removed.

This is the new floor, walls painted white, white toilet seat cover,  and red decor as an accent.

Blaaah!!  I hated this yucky, smelly wood under the sink and the filthy rug.  Good riddance.  

Master bath old flooring.

Hall bathroom wallpaper.  I started tearing this down only to find another layer of wallpaper.  When I tore that layer off I found that it had been glued to the sheetrock!!  I had to pay a friend to come in and texture the wall.  It was quite a project with a ton of prep for me, but so worth the effort.  I love this bathroom now!!

The new black door.

The new bookcase that replaced the old one that had bowing shelves.  I got this one for half off so I was pretty excited about it.

I touched up all of the kitchen cabinets.  They were getting pretty ugly.

The basement fireplace before being painted.  This alone brightened up the downstairs sooo much.

These are the old beams that I removed.  You can see this room really needed to be painted!!  That light fixture is new, it replaced some old track lights that I hated.

This is in the middle of the project when I had removed the beams, all by myself I might add.

Ahh, peaceful, clean, beautiful.

The whole left side of the basement room.

This is the right side of the room with the ugly beams and again a new light fixture that replaced  some track lights.

The full right side of the basement room.  This room feels so big now.

The front of the house with the red door.  I decided to paint the shutters to match the door.  

It was a lot of fun to do all of these projects.  I love my house so much more now.

Our Baby is Five!

Baby R is no longer a baby.  I may have to come up with a new code name for her.  She doesn't even stand to be called little anymore.  She is a big girl!!  We had a great party with some of her little preschool friends, a family party and a dinner at a restaurant, all to celebrate her happy day.  We love you Baby R.  (any suggestions for a new code name are welcome.)

Baptisms for the Dead

Our oldest son was in a youth meeting where Elder Eyring's talk on family history was discussed.  He came home so excited to research our ancestors and find someone who may need their temple work done.  He spent over an hour, painstakingly looking through every person on the Vance and Baughman sides.  Miraculously he found a sibling of an ancestor on Mom's side who had not had his temple work done.  He printed out the page and on his first temple trip was able to vicariously be baptized for this man.  Dad and I were both there and it was such a special moment for all of us.

Our New Years Party

We went up to the snow to get some sledding in this year for New Years.  I had no intention of staying up and doing a party 'till midnight like I have in the past because Christmas break wiped me out!!!  So, we went sledding in the day instead and had a blast!!  I love my kids and how much fun we all have together.  

Christmas Fun

The nativity reenactment.  I loved how "Baby Jesus" laid still on the floor the entire time.  She was in character the whole time.

After Caroling on Christmas Eve we reenacted the nativity. Christmas morning started at 5:30 and we had so much fun opening presents from each other.  My favorite part is watching what the kids bought for one another.  We went to church and then came home and started the turkey dinner, Dad's big cooking day.  I love how he makes everything just right.  The rest of the day was watching the  "Sunday Movies" that we got for them and a fire made by Little L and Dad.  It was a wonderful, relaxing day!

We got a grabber from Dad's grandparents and it became the wrapping paper picker upper.   Hahaha.  It was so much fun.

Off to church in our new Sunday dresses from Grandpa and Nana.

Dad doing his thing in the kitchen.

It was an awesome dinner!!

Our first fire in the upstairs fireplace was lit by Little L.

Cuddling on the floor by the fire on the comfy pillows from Dad and Mom.