Home Sweet Home

We are finally starting to feel settled in our new home and city. We never would have imagined that after six years of dental and orthodontic school that we would still be in the mid-west. But, we are really enjoying it here and have been so surprised at how wonderful our neighbors and ward have been. I already feel at home at church and know a few girls that I feel comfortable calling. We're not sure why the Lord pointed us this direction, but we are glad to be here!!

Cole and Garrett have already become friends with all of the neighborhood kids. They are the youngest, so we have built-in baby sitters whenever they come to play. Garrett has a crush on our little neighbor Kierstie and thinks she is the best thing since sliced bread. She carries him around and dotes on him and will be the perfect baby sitter. Cole's favorite friend is Peter and I think the two of them might become a little mischievous. I'll have to keep my eyes on the two of them!

I am enjoying having a house of my own (I'm thirty and it's my first home -- FINALLY!) and have all sorts of projects planned in my head. If only the funds were unlimited, I could have some real fun! The best thing about our house is that it feels like home and has since the day we moved in. I love how it "feels" and know we are in the right place.

Here are a few pictures of our house so far. We have a living room with no furniture, the master bedroom and bathroom that needs some paint, and Russ' office is still a mess (he is in bad need of a book shelf), but the rest of the rooms are looking pretty good and are done for now. Now it's time for "real life" and we are all looking forward to getting back into a routine.

Cole's room - my mom and I had fun painting the stripes. The teepee isn't usually in there, but was the day we took pictures. I love the stripes and his name. We are planning to put up a cork board for all of his preschool pictures.


I love Cole's bedspread, but he definitely needs a bed skirt!!


The family room (sorry the sun is so bright) right off of the kitchen.


My mom and Garrett painting - I think my mom smelled enough paint fumes that week to last a life time. We painted five rooms while she was here. My mom is such a hard worker. She totally wore me out! At sixty-one she can work circles around me!!


Garrett's room. We just moved him into a "big bed" with rockets and stars. He even has glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling (thanks Aunt Teresa!).



The toy room - hopefully someday it will be a baby's room, but for now it is an awesome playroom. The walk-in closet also has my scrapbooking table up in it. It is a great multi-purpose room!!


The kitchen - I love how open and spacious it is. It gets the morning sun which I love!



The wall of black and white pictures - one of my favorite things in my house


Russ failed to take a picture of the basketball court and hoop in the backyard. He had to buy a new basketball as soon as we moved in. He has loved shooting hoops. We put a little hoop up for the little boys so they won't feel left out. We also have a playset for the boys in the back. They have loved playing on it. Our neighborhood also has a community pool, so we have spent a bunch of time playing in the water as well. We sure are enjoying our new home! Feel free to stop by for a visit!!