Finished Project!

The upstairs family room is one of my favorite rooms in the house.  The windows are my absolute favorite!  Our view is beautiful.  We put the TV on the right hand side of the built ins.  Eventually I'll figure out what to put on the shelves.  I was a little worried about the tile around the upstairs fireplace but I love how it turned out.  It's nice to add some subtle color.

The master bathroom turned out incredible.  I love the white quartz I chose for the countertop.  The tile and accent tile look elegant.  My favorite thing in the shower are the niche area and my big window!

I love how Tanner's bathroom turned out!  It's my favorite tile in the whole house.  The teal/turquoise accent tile around the shower is my favorite.  I was drawn to it the first time I saw it.  The floor is my favorite tile in the house. But I'm glad that I only put it in this bathroom because it's hard to keep clean.  It shows dirt and water marks really easily.  But I still love it in this bathroom.  We had enough leftover on our slabs to use Monte Cristo in all the bathrooms except the master bathroom and  the boy's downstairs bathroom.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  The colors are stunning in the granite.  I love the square sinks that we put in all of the bathrooms.  

I love my laundry room.  The blue paint is the exact color I was looking for.  I love the soft blue with the white cupboards.  One of the best things about our house is the dog shower.  It turned out really big.  But it's so convenient to bathe Sophie and clean off miscellaneous things.  

The basement kitchenette turned out so nice!  We're glad that we have the option of having a full kitchen downstairs.  I love how the "wood" tile turned out.  It's the perfect variation of color.  We put Monte Cristo granite in the kitchenette.  The "veins" in the granite are beautiful along the bar.

I love how the built in's turned out.  The basement has so much storage!  I copied Tiff's idea and did  cupboards mixed with open shelves.  The white cupboards make everything so bright.  I love the tile around the fireplaces.  I love the big windows even in the basement.  Because we did a dugout basement, there's so much light.  It doesn't even feel like you're in the basement.

Chase and Tanner's bathroom turned out so well.  It's very masculine but I really like the accent tile and I'll be able to put any color with it.

Bad News for Chase

On Thursday September 7 during the last play in the first half, Chase was running down for a kick off. One of his team mates got tackled and was forced into Chase.  They hit him on the side of his right knee and he hyperextended it.  Chase dropped to the field and couldn't get up.  The rest of the team left since it was half time.  His coach ran out and told him to stay down.  The trainer came out and assessed him and then helped him off the field.  It was a horrible feeling to see Chase laying on the football field.  Chase was definitely limping and had to sit out for the rest of the game.  We talked the trainer after the game and she said "I don't think it's his ACL, he probably just hyperextended it really badly.  You should probably get it checked out just to be safe."  Matt got Chase in with Dr. B the next day.  Dr. B looked at his knee and felt like he just hyperextended it really badly.  He put Chase in a leg brace to help support his knee.  Chase said he felt like his knee was unstable and was going to pop out.  His right knee swelled up a little and he lost a lot of range of motion in the knee.  I went in to Chase's room Tuesday night to close his window.  When he rolled over, he cried out in pain.  I knew something was not right.  So I had Matt talk to Dr. B the next day and schedule an MRI.  On Friday, Chase had an MRI.  We met with Dr. B that afternoon.  When he looked at the MRI, he hung his head and just shook it.  We knew something was majorly wrong.  He said "I don't know how I missed it, but his ACL is ruptured."  Chase looked so sad!  My eyes welled up with tears and I did everything in my power not to fall apart.  Because Chase's growth plates are still opened, Dr. B referred us to Primary's and then another great orthopedic doctor in Ogden.  On the ride home, Chase said "I went from being out for 2-3 weeks to 6-9 months!"
  We met with a couple of orthopedic doctors that specialize in sports injury.  We also wanted to hear what Primary's had to say so we had to wait a couple of weeks to get into Primary's.  The Primary's doctor was wonderful but Chase would have to wait until November 13th for surgery.  We didn't want to wait another month so we decided to go with the orthopedic doctor in Ogden, Dr. H.  The plan is to have an ACL repair on October 5th.  The Primary's doctor was a little more doom and gloom (which we probably needed to hear).  He said that Chase will definitely be out for basketball and most likely soccer.  He said that soccer is very difficult on the ACL with the quick stopping and cutting which puts Chase at a higher risk for rerupturing it.  He said we need to plan on a year which made our hearts sink.  I told Chase that if he transfers his determination and hard work for sports into his rehabilitation then he'll do great.  He started doing some physical therapy to help improve his range of motion and strength in his right knee.  They said that will help him with his recovery.  We're praying that all will go well for Chase.  His coaches and team mates have been so kind and supportive.  It just makes me so sad for Chase that he's going to miss out on basketball and most likely soccer.  He had the best chance of making the basketball team this year.  We're trying to be positive and hope for the best.  At least he's not a senior.  Hopefully he has three more years to play.

Tanner's New Job and other fun things.

I came out of my bedroom to find Tanner completely naked.  He was sitting on the floor next to Sophie "sharing" his cereal with her.  He cracks me up.  I hope one day, he'll keep his clothes on.  

Tanner likes to feed Sophie.  He's watched his older brother feed Sophie and now he wants to take over the job.  Chase and Bridger are more than happy to let him take over.  I'm so proud of Tanner.  He's very responsible with his new job.  Sophie really likes it too because he gives her a lot of food. 

Tanner loves going to preschool.  He made a stick figure of himself.  I love how he has spiky orange hair and only one eye.  

Railing!

We designed our railing.  At first we were going to have just have a plain railing on the back deck.  But then we added a few knuckles.  We chose to coat it with a silver and black coating.  Brandon said that he'd only done one other railing like that and was worried it wouldn't look good.  He wanted us to do plain black but I was worried it would show the dirt more.  So we stuck to our guns and went with the silver color.  We're so happy with how it turned out.  There was a delay in our railing.  We were hoping it would arrive on time for the inspection on Monday but it didn't.  Chris was worried that it wouldn't arrive until the following week so we were really disappointed.  But on Tuesday morning when I went over to the house to clean, Brandon was out back installing the railing!!  It was the happiest site!  There was a little misundertanding between Matt and Brandon.  He thought that we didn't want a railing going down to the lower patio.  He said that it would take two weeks to get that railing done.  We were so disappointed because now we would definitely fail our inspection tomorrow.  By the grace of God, the inspector just looked out at the patio and saw the deck railing and assumed that all of the railing was installed.  So he passed us!!

Let There Be Light!

Matt has been working so hard finishing the electrical.  He attached all of the wires to the outlets and the light switches.  Then he installed all of the lights.  Being the electrician has been so much work for Matt.  He's worked his heart out doing the electrical.  I went over to check on Matt and when I pulled up, we had lights on!!!!  We finally turned on our electrical and we have lights.  It was very exciting to see lights on!

I finally decided that I had to pick out what I liked and not care about what is in style.  I'm happy with how the lights turned out.  

Chase's Freshman Football Season

In January, Chase started going before school to lift weights for football.  Then in the summer, he went five days a week to lifting.  In July, he went to football camp for five days.  He worked his guts out.  In August, the football season officially began and it was football all the time!!!  Chase plays corner and sometimes receiver.  He's part of the kick off special team.  He is number 11.

Chase is on the left, closest to us.  

Mike and Amy were so sweet to come to almost every game.  Many family members bought Bear River Football shirts.  Charlene and Ardell came to a game but it was after a long day at the temple.  It just made it too hard for them so they couldn't go to another game.  Mom, Dad and Marilyn came to Chase's game against West Jordan.  Chase worked so hard. He loves being a part of the team.  There's a cohesiveness that I've never seen in another sport. They're a team!  His coaches and team mates have been great!

At one of his games, I looked over to see Tanner with his arm around Bridger watching the game.  It was such a sweet moment.  Bridger and Tanner have been great cheerleaders for Chase!

First Day of Preschool

I signed Tanner up for preschool in April. We've been counting down for a long time! The day finally came and Tanner was so excited! He picked out a Lightening McQueen backpack. He wore a snazzy outfit and his favorite shoes (his Nike's). As we were walking in, Tanner was holding my hand and said "I love you Mom." (He'll say that out of the blue all the time and it always melts my heart). When I dropped him off in the classroom he started to run over to the toys. I said "Wait! I need a hug and a kiss." So he came running back and gave me a big squeeze and a kiss and said "I love you mom!" It was so sweet. I got a little teary. Tanner goes to school for two hours from 9:30-11:30 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. When I picked Tanner up, he ran to me with a BIG smile! He said "I love preschool!" I've been telling Tanner for months "you get to go to preschool so you can learn your ABC's." When I buckled him in the car, he made a sulking face. I asked him what was wrong and he said with a frowny face "I didn't learn my ABC's." That made me laugh so hard! Then I felt bad that I had set him up. So I clarified that he was be learning his ABC's during the whole school year. I told his teacher the story so she told Tanner that next week he'll learn the letter A.