New layout, and a closet.

Well, we finally updated the look of our blog a bit. Aren't we so hip and relevant?

Ok, you got us...we just used a default template from blogger. We're not hip and relevant at all! But we didn't really have you fooled anyway, did we?

In other news, we are working on turning the closet in our bedroom into a bathroom. In order to do this, phase 1 involved building a new closet to replace the one that will become a bathroom. (We'll lose some floor space in our bedroom, but the benefit of not having to sneak by Sam's bedroom in the middle of the night should far outweigh the lost space.) Phase 1 is now complete! A special 'thank you' goes out to Nathan and Sarah Partain, who put the idea more firmly in Amanda's head, thus giving me 6-9 months of extra work to do! ;-) Actually, it's a wonderful idea. I'm glad they brought it up.

For those interested (ie, family members and the Partains) you can find a pseudo photo-journal of the process here:

Closet Photos

For the rest of you, we'll cut to the chase, offering just the initial and final pictures.

Before.

After.

After, with door knobs!

Voilà! There you have it! Next step is to move on the the bathroom, and first on the list is plumbing. Cross your fingers for me!

P.S. - We solicited design suggestions from many people. Most of them were much more complicated, albeit very good. In the end, we went with our original, simple design. Please do not be offended if we didn't go with your design. We still love you.

With Ammy and Papa

Sweet times

Spring Time 2010

My tulips!

A front yard picnic

Daddy and Sam in the tractor across the street

The ladies, after an evening of catering a rehearsal dinner.

Who wouldn't love these boys?

Our dear friend Jocelyn, working her way into Sam's heart.

"Singing" and playing his guitar. Apparetnly singing is when you look around the room and shout what you see for a prolonged length of time.

Inexplicably, Sam believes that Bert and Ernie live in the cupboard under the counter.

Christmas, New Years, and a bit of fun confetti

Uncle Terry and the kiddos on New Years morning

Gramma and Sam

General Bucket Head

Lovely paper whites

Sam explains Christmas (to the best of his ability)

Birthday Ferry Trip with Friends--12/12/09

Please sir, may I have some more?

Birtday pie, with lifting help from Jordan Francis

Brats and beer, and pretzels for the little one

Our first make believe tea party

Some of you, who witnessed our nuptials 10 year ago, may remember something similar. Random barbershop groups seem to follow Jim. Or maybe we follow them.

Chritsmas Tree Hunt 12/09

Warm drinks after the adventure

We were afraid Sam would be scared of Santa (based on previous experiences) so we let him know that Santa just wants to know what he wants for Christmas. So he walked right up to him, while another girl was on his lap, and said, "I want a truck."


The fearsome huters...

...and the women and children

Happy Halloween!

A few movies... Enjoy!

The possibly overwhelming birthday song.

Jammin' with a singing birthday card

abcd...

Bedtime

In the rain

A chocolate treat

Birthdays & Weddings

Looking out the window on the way to Colorado Springs.

Hanging out with 'tough' military friends. Sam learned to greet people with a growl.

Hooah!

Doesn't every good party end with guests rolling on the floor?

Dressed up to celebrate Jocelyn and Ian's nuptials.


Spending time with our dear friend Jocelyn.

We saw Wicked! We would definitely recommend it.

Sam finally figured out the joy of blowing out the candles after all the guests went home.

The motley crew to celebrate Sam's second birthday.

One more...

...because this picture is too perfect not to share.

A little bit of Richards life...

Sam gets a big boy bed! (aka a twin matress on the floor)

With Sam's second birthday on the horizon, we thought it might be time for a new bed. So we disassembled the crib Saturday morning then googled "how to transition your toddler to a bed." Apparently, 2 is still a little young. But we got him all excited about his big boy bed and amazingly, it worked. No tears, no escape attempts. Then around 11 we heard a "thud, thud" and found him like this: (Still sound asleep)

But he loves it, so we are thrilled!

Oh my goodness! The best burger meal ever. A friend told us about a place where the hamburgers start at $15 and they are worth so much more. So we scrounged up some pennies and shared a burger to end all burgers. He was so right!


A friend commented that half of our old Europe pictures were just of the food we ate. So here is a nod to the old days.

A visit from Grampa Joe and a trip to Ivars.

How cool is this kid?

Maybe my favorite picture ever taken.

This boy makes me giggle.

So does this boy:

Perfect timing to capture the bite

This one is for all the baby model scouts out there. But no, you can't have him.

We were so excited to take him out on a boat! He was less excited.