More basement pictures

It seems basement updates are all I have to offer lately, but this is what is taking up our time and energy!

The picture with the sheetrock stacked in the middle is the Family Room. The photos with the table saw in the middle (Joseph is SO EXCITED about that) are the master bedroom, and the last two are the nursery.

The large walk-in closet will probably be sheetrocked this weekend.

We start weekly doctor appointments tomorrow. Saturday we have childbirth class and Monday we tour the hospital and finish pre-registering. So much is going on!!!

Found my cable! They aren't in order, but you can see the large hole that was dug, Tim helping fill the hole back in after the window was put in, Nate showing his true feelings for Will, and Joseph evening out the edges to put the window in.

I will take photos of how things look sheetrocked tomorrow (in daylight).

baby shower

Here are some of the pictures from the baby shower. It was enjoyable. I used all my battery on the movie for the shower, so I don't have any pictures of the basement. Catherine with her Mom, Catherine with her diaper cake and wet-wipes ice cream, & with the puppy blanket. This is the theme of the nursery.

This & That

I'm not sure where the cord to connect the camera to the computer is so that is why you haven't seen basement photos yet. Things are coming along wonderfully... I just hope it will be done before the baby comes. I think it will be, but probably not with enough time to do a few things upstairs that I wanted done or to finish the basement bath, which is fine. We are SOOO blessed to have such generous family and friends helping us with the project. It's amazing!

The baby shower last week was a lot of fun! I enjoy looking through the gifts and imagining the little one here... including rocking stuffed animals (or the kitty) in the new rocker... I know it seems silly but it makes me smile!

As for Baby Olson I think things are going just fine. 39 days to go, but who is counting! ;)

I hope all is well with you!

Love, Catherine & Joseph

The Egress Window Is In!

YAY! I'm one happy gal! Photos of the process to come soon!

Krandma sends box of birthday presents and this is the reaction.

I sent a box to my Grandkids for the October Birthdays this month. This was the reaction when the box was opened. Grandma just can't do anything right.

Not really, I sent some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans in the box. Katie and Morgan sampled some bad tasting beans from the looks of it. Ooops. I hope the rest of what was in the box was a little better. Love Krandma.

Baby Bellies

Just incase you thought Elizabeth's baby belly was cute, it reminded me of another cute baby belly who is 25 today. Here are his pictures. Newborn, 2 months, 2 years,

as Gertrude in a play, and on his 18th birthday

Elizabeth

Elizabeth likes to show off her belly

Great-Aunt Karen wants new pictures of Elizabeth

Here they are

They are from September around the 11th

My furbabies

I don't like having my picture be the first one you see, and since I don't have a current picture of Elizabeth I thought I'd post a picture of my kids. This picture is not posed; they snuggle on the couch together all the time! I think it was taken at the beginning of the year. They are watching tv, in case you are wondering!!! (From left to right: Anna 2.5 years old, Snicklefritz 2 years, Bentley, 3 years)

Family Update

Hey all! It's been a while since I visited the blog, sorry! We are doing well in our house. The basement working is coming SLOWLY but surely. The major hurdle will be getting the egress window in. The electrical has been *almost* done for several weeks now. At least the insulation, etc has been moved in the basement so Joseph can start putting it in soon! I told he has until the end of October to get it done and he thinks he can do it. I wish I could believe that! ;) Although I do think he can have everything done except the bathroom by then, so at least I could start decorating, etc.

Baby and I are doing fine too. This little one was very lazy for two weeks, to the point I was worried one day because I hadn't felt him/her move for a while so I had things checked out. As soon as the monitors were strapped on the baby started kicking them... stinker... could have saved us a trip by doing that earlier! Haha! I guess the last three or four days baby found a new place to hang out because he/she has been moving like crazy again. Yesterday I decided he/she was doing the chicken dance! I felt an elbow going up and down, up and down my side and then something bigger would push on that side, like its bum. (Do the chicken dance once and you'll understand what I mean!) I think I've registered for everything we need/want and am finalizing a shower invite list. Should be fun!

My job is going all right. I was constantly butting heads with one agent to the point I was job searching (and I really need a bigger paycheck when daycare expense kicks in). Unfortunately he passed away about two weeks ago so things have been a bit different around here. I never wanted that to be the way we stopped working together... so I did feel a bit guilty (and completely shocked) when I heard the news. Actually, this is the agent that showed Tim & Ilene around Grand Forks when they were looking at moving here. He was great with customers and other agents, but for whatever reason he and I just didn't get along.

Joseph's job is going the same as usual... he's the only surveyor and they keep him very busy! He is currently out of town for a few days.

I thought you may like to see my latest picture, taken Friday the 21st. I am FAR too amused by my outtie. HAHA!

Two Fun Weekends!

Hello There Everyone!

It has been a fun few weeks. I chaperoned a youth group of girls who wanted a princess party! I also went to a beautiful garden called the Red Butte gardens with some friends. LeAnn and I went to the Zoo so see an exhibit of a White Alligator.

Come look and see!

Hope all is well with all of you. Love to all

Kris

Our first race together!

Eric and I each earned a medal for running a local 5K race the morning of my 31st Birthday! Can you believe it??! We are both in shock (however we aren't mentioning how many runners we were competing against in our age groups :) ). I came in 1st for women and Eric in 2nd for the men, of course. Eric could have ran way ahead, but this being our first race I asked him to run with me and help keep me going. I ran the entire race without walking and wanted to die before reaching the finish line. It is one of the hardest things I have done and, as such, the reward is soooo sweet! I'm having a big piece of chocolate cake tonight!

Here's a riddle for you. There are two possible answers.

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?

A whole new look!

BEFORE ! AFTER!

This is final result of my new EXTREME MAKOVER on my home!

Whatcha think?! Nice?!

I have gotten a lot of comments on it. I got a new door mat, trimed the roses and I am excited to decorate for fall.

Hope all is going well for all of you.

Love,

Kris

Back home again (almost)

Hi! We are back in Iowa with Tim and Ilene. I put a whole lot more pictures on our blog. Here is one of us with René, my family's German exchange student, whose wedding we attended last Saturday. We had a great time, but we are still glad to be (almost) home. Today we will enjoy the fun task of packing up all the stuff we left here. Hope it all fits!

Love, Celia (and Keith)

Birthday, School, and too much to eat!

Eric turned 31 and enjoyed his preferred cherry pie as well as a mandatory cake that the kids enjoyed decorating for him. We had a fondue night the day before school started and I've decided we'll do it every year; Yum!!! And no I did not eat the entire plate in front of me. Katie started all-day Kindergarten and loves it. She comes home singing all these new songs she has miraculously memorized in a day. She is funny and loves to see Morgan and Ethan at recess or lunch time. So Joey is my buddy during the day and I've found he is very quiet when he plays alone. His favorite thing is to jump off of things and get into the cupboards when I am not watching him closely. He knows where the gummies are, and now they are all gone.

Mirror Lake and pictures of the Uintas

Pictures of the Uintas

The top picture in taken from the road.

The second is a picture of Mirror Lake. Mirror Lake is near Mount Baldy, one of the highest mountains in the Uintas. We walked around the lake and had a picnic by this area in the second picture.

The bottom picture is taken from the base of Mount Baldy. From this view you can see the lake off in a distance. You

This weekend Gary left to go backpacking for a week in the Uintas. These are his favorite mountains to backpack. He and his friends made a camp area about 20 years ago and it remains undisturbed to this day. Theywill be going there again this week.

Sunday drive to the Uinta Mountains

Uinta Mountain Range

Mount Baldy

Christie looking off a cliff at the base of Mount Baldy.



Gary and I went for a drive in the Uinta Mountains last Sunday. The Uintas boarder Utah and Wyoming. It was a fun drive and we had a picnic my Mirror Lake. The whole trip took about five hours during which we had sunshine, 90 degree temperatures which dropped quickly to 65 degrees with rain and hail, then sun again.