Baptism, Tree removal, ReMoDeL

It's been awhile since we've updated our blog, so here's a HUGE update. We have been so busy and we love it!! We were able to visit our family over Spring Break and had the opportunity to visit my sister, Tiffine, and her family last weekend for Ashiley's baptism. Troy was able to baptize her and it was a wonderful experience for him. The only problem was I forgot to get dry garments for him to change in to after the Baptism...I thought he got them and he thought I got them. Needless to say, he blow dried them...sorta. I went and got him because they waited for us. Poor guy, I felt terrible for him. The baptism and confirmation was wonderful, though!! Ash was so happy and we are happy for her. It was great to see my sister and her husband, together they have 6 kids. They were all there and very supportive. They've done a wonderful job mixing 2 families. Love you all!!!





Troy and I love our house SO much!! We've been able to do so much and feel so blessed to have the resources and time to spend together in our home. This picture is the bedroom in the partially finished basement. The entire basement was that nasty brown/orange color. We've already finished the biggest part, the family room. We spent last week patching, sealing the concrete, painting, and repainting the basement. Here's a couple pictures from the beginning.


This is the sealed, painted (with 3 coats of paint) bedroom. It was fun to decorate with all of my bears and things from when I was a kid. Unfortunately, we have nowhere for kiddos to play when we babysit or they come to visit. So, now we have a toy room!
Troy says if I get baby hungry I can sit in the basement and rock the doll in her crib until the hunger passes. Bummer.

This is Troy's bathroom. Pretty nasty, right? Sadly, we don't have any remodel pictures of it yet. Soon though...hopefully.
Here is some of Troy's amazing cement patching. He did a wonderful job. Some of the concrete had HUGE pieces missing. Thankfully he knew how to fix it. When I was painting upstairs, I just filled the holes with paint (and toothpaste), even if they were gaping. Nearly 2 years later, they are manifesting themselves again.
This...this is Tree Fuzz. Thankfully it's all gone now.

BEAUTIFUL!
This is the old pine tree that used to make our house look like we were in witness protection. Our house was barely visible from the road. Had you not known we lived here, you never would have known.

Sick.
Much better!! :) Troy pulled the bushes out on each side of the doorway this weekend. Now we can plant flowers. As for our garden we started in the house...it's nearly dead. Well, the raspberry plants are anyway. The squash, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers are all doing very well. Hopefully we can have a good garden this year with lots of fresh produce to eat. I love summer time!! Our tulips are starting to bloom, and we have another flower (I have no idea what it is) that is almost ready to bloom too. It's so fun to watch things come up in the spring time. We're getting ready to plant grass seed in our front yard, hoping it will become more full now that the pine tree is gone. We have had a wonderful Easter, enjoyed Conference thoroughly, and feel blessed to have our testimonies strengthened and edified. We love the Gospel, the Temple, and each other. We are grateful for each and every one of our blessings! We have a wonderful neighborhood, great friends, and a supportive ward family. We love it here and feel so tremendously blessed by our Father in Heaven and have grown closer to the Savior as we've been able to kneel together for prayer, study the scriptures, and share special, sacred experiences with one another.
Home Sweet Home.