Our New Kitchen

We have been giving our house some minor face lifts for the past year or so. It started with getting new kitchen floors and carpets downstairs last April, then repainting and updating the toy room to a toy / craft room, and this past December and January, we updated our kitchen. We love going to Naples, Florida every spring break, and so we brought that atmosphere to our house and in our kitchen. We hired a great handyman who fell into our laps one day and made our vision come true, and we are so excited with the result. We had out cabinets painted white and beadboard inset in them, we added a cabinet on the end of the counter, added a bar on the back of the sink, got a new deeper sink, wrapped the bar and new cabinet along with the eat in kitchen in bead board...and my two favorite things, beautiful new quartz countertops that look like sand at the beach, and our gorgeous new glass and stone tile backsplash! We couldn't be more happy with it, though it is not done yet, we still want to add builtin seating in the corner of the eat in dining area, and shelving on the top of the cabinets! I am posting before and after pics! Hope you enjoy the change as much as we do!

Random February

Here are some pics from random moments throughout the month... - Emmy putting her new bathing suit and cover skirt OVER her tights and dress...and her beautiful makeup she did herself. - A great pic of Jonathan and Bryden when we went up to PA for Uncle Len's funeral - Bryden in our one random snowstorm of the season...we were in Williamsburg - A not Bryden wrote to Emmy one day when Emmy was irritating her - The girls sleeping together in Bryden's room - Bryden's room rearranged - Button week at gymnastics - and finally, Emmy helping Mommy clear out the liqour cabinet to move it after our upstairs toilet flooded and we had to get the living room ceiling repaired...she was pretty proud of her organization! Enjoy!

Baby Kerem is Born

Aunt Chandra went into labor with Kerem and I got to go and babysit Kaya while she was in the hospital! We had fun together, and the following weekend I took the girls down to see Kaya and meet Kerem, and they were so excited. Bryden was such a good "big cousin" and took great care while holding Kerem and playing with Kaya, and Emmy, ahhh, little Emmy, well, she tried nursing Kerem when she held him, just like Aunt Chandra does!

Super Bowl Throwback

We FINALLY got to go to Tennessee for Superbowl Sunday like we used to when Jim and I were dating and lived in Knoxville! We spent every Super Bowl Sunday with the Etherton family while at UT, and we have gone a couple times since living in Virginia, and when we don't go, the experience just isn't the same! It's a short trip since the game always falls the same weekend as my conference meet for St. Catherine's, which means not leaving until Saturday afternoon, then turning around and coming home on Monday...but it is totally worth it! We have so much fun, and the girls had a blast playing with Luke and Eli, though it was mostly Eli, he won both girls over! We had a little extra time before the Super Bowl, so we drove into Knoxvillet o go check out the new aquatic center! It was built after we left and we have never been inside, luckily it was open, and HOLY COW, it is AMAZING! Would have loved to have had the opportunity to train and compete in there, WOW! Thanks to the Etherton's for always being such a blessing in our lives!

Random January

Here are a couple random pics from January! The first two are of a night we got home late from swim practice, got fast food for dinner and Bryden decided we should have a picnic on the floor! Yay for random ideas! Emmy LOVES to sit on the counter when I am cooking or making lunches for school or making a smoothie, and this is a pic of her entertaining herself while sitting up there! And finally, a pic of my supporters at our conference swim meet at St. Catherine's...Love my family!

Happy Thrid Birthday Emmy

Ohhh, sweet Emmy! She is such a blessing in our lives! She is truly the sweetest child I have ever met! She is so loving, giving hugs and kisses to anyone and everyone at any time, she has never met a stranger (literally, she will talk to anyone and give hugs to random people at random times, even if they have not acknowledged her at all), she is patient, and kind, and so giving! Anytime she gets something for herself, she gets the same things for everyone else (I get one for Bryden?), she is sensitive to the needs of others, she is goofy, she loves to smile, she is confident and independent, she comforts those that are sad and brightens the day of those around her! She loves Toy Story and Scooby Doo, and could watch them each 100 times with no complaints, and always wanting more! Which leads us to her birthday party...it was Scooby Doo themed! We had so much fun, everyone that came dressed up as people from the 70's or members of Mystery Inc, it was AWESOME! Emmy, of course, was Scooby, Bryden was Daphne, I was Velma, Jim was Shaggy, Uncle John was Fred and Uncle Murat was the Monster! When it was time for the cake, we realized that a monster had stolen off with Emmy's cake (the expression on Emmy's face was priceless when I pulled the top off and there was no cake under...she was dumbfounded and disappointed, so funny!). The monster left us clues to find the cake and we had pit stops where we played games and attacked the Monster with silly string while trying to find our cake! Emmy cried when the Monster came out (Murat had on a ferocious mask and a sheet over him) and was a little scared, cling to me for dear life, but the older kids had a blast. Finally we "killed" the Monster with silly string and unmasked him, Emmy laughed when she realized it was Uncle Murat, and we finally found our Scooby cake and got to enjoy it! I love our family and friends for having so much fun with us! Enjoy the pics!

Ski Bunnies

Yes, you read that right, ski BUNNIES, plural, that means both girls skied! We went up to Wintergreen the weekend before Emmy's third brithday as a birthday celebration weekend! Bryden signed up for her annual ski lesson our first day at Wintergreen, and Emmy watched and wanted a turn, so we signed her up for one the next day! Two years old and Emmy was on skis! Holy Cow! Granted, it was only a week before her third brithday, but still, she was TWO! Both girls are natural skiers, and I love that! Skiing was such a big part of my life growing up, and I am so excited to share that with our girls. Bryden did so well in her lesson this year, that I felt confident taking her out myself the next day, so after Emmy's lesson in the morning, Bryden and I hit the slopes for a few runs. We started on Potato Patch a few runs then moved over to Dobie, and Bryden ROCKED it out! Emmy killed her lesson too! It was so dang cute watching her on her foot and a half long skis. She is such a feather weight, and the decline is so little on the training slope, that her instructor had to pull her everywhere, but she learned how to balance herself and be on the skis, and she had a huge smile on her face the whole time, so proud of what she was doing! I am so proud of both of the girls and how they try new things, even if they are a little scared.