Anniversary, New Home... Fatigue

Here is a longer than usual update... we have had a bit going on :)

Last Wednesday we celebrated 2 years of marriage... it was a long day where we both worked over 10 hours but we did get to go to dinner. I am so incredibly blessed, my husband loves the Lord and loves me better all the time... there is so much I could say to embellish that but I think I will leave it there. You all saw the puppy that Jeff got for his gift and below you will see the beautiful picture he had made for me. It has wedding photos, our vows and the verse we had on our invitations and he had it framed with a beautiful copper frame... I love it! There is also a picture of us from that night.






The last few days we have finally made our official move to the house. We are so excited to have this home and absolutely exhausted from the neverending 2 days it took to get out of our old place. Once we get settled we will have updated pics but this will show you how amazing the floors turned out once they were done... better than we thought they could! We will be working on our guest room next, hoping it will be ready for our first house guest, my stepmother Yvonne, who will be here in just over a week and then we will begin the master suite. Many many more before and after pics to come :)

Before and after of the floors:

Sad News Happy News

My heart is heavy as I write this first part, we found out late Thursday night that our good friend of the family Tom Bettger died in in a bicycle accident. I've known Tom since Infancy and am very close to his children Molly and Andy. Tom was a shining example of the Christian life well lived, always joyful, always outgoing, always willing to give of himself to help someone out. One of the things you could always count on was going to church on Sunday morning and having Tom shake your hand and ask you how things were going. He wasn't just making conversation, he was genuinely interested in your response. While we take great comfort in knowing that Tom is with the Lord and is now glorified and perfect, we will miss him and there will always be something missing when we go home to Boise. For those of you reading this that believe in Jesus, we ask that you pray for Kathy, Tom's wife and his children Molly and Andy as well as his extended family and friends who will miss him dearly. Please pray also for the driver that hit him and that this whole thing will be used to grow God's kingdom. Here is a link to Tom's obituary http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/idahostatesman/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-dale-bettger&pid=127650089

It was a year ago Saturday that our good friend Kelly died in a plane crash. The NTSB has issued their final report which basically states they have no idea why he crashed. It's hard to swallow. It seems that we would have more closure if we knew what happened. I suppose we do know, God has numbered our days and Kelly's days were up and now he and Tom are sitting at the feet of Jesus singing God's praises in a heavenly harmony that we cannot even begin to fathom. I frequently find myself wishing that Kelly could come over to help with projects on the new house or come on a hike or play with our dogs. All of which he would have loved to do, but I know he is far better off where he is. I had hoped to avoid aviation altogether on the 23rd but as it worked out, I ended up flying six legs and I really enjoyed it. I even "stole" the airplane for a few minutes and flew circles around Crazy peak where Kelly, Ryan, LeeAnn and I camped out a couple of summers ago. At any rate it's nice that flying is fun agaian, I'll always miss Kelly but time does heal all wounds. . . just not that quickly.

Enough sad stuff already, I'm crying like a little girl.

Ok happy stuff, yesterday LeeAnn and I took a drive to "Eddie's Corner" which is a gas station in the middle of nowhere somewhere between Great Falls and Billings. The purpose of our trip was to pick up a puppy. Specifically, the puppy that LeeAnn was gracious enough to get me for our anniversary. He is an 11 week old weimaraner. He should make a great hunting dog for me and companion for the family. He and Otis have become pretty good friends too. We named him Ruger in honor of my favorite deer rifle. Here's a picture, I love those Weimaraner ears!

Renovations

We decided to paint and have the floors refinished before we move into our new house. We've spent many long days and nights over the past week working on the place. The day after signing the papers we tore out the purple carpet and spent the next two days pulling tack strip and staples. We have also managed to paint the living room and dining room and install some new light fixtures. Today the floor guys started sanding the hardwood floors in preparation for refinishing. We hope to have the house move in ready by Tuesday. We're having fun!! Here are some pics.

Texas May '09

Last weekend we had the opportunity to spend some time with family in Texas. We started off in the Dallas area hanging out with my brothers and my Mom. We stayed with Randy, Emily and their 3 kids Seth, Abigail and Levi; and we spent as much time as possible with Jon, Emily and their 2 kids Addison and Aubrey. It was so much fun to just have time with them eating great food, watching basketball and going out on the boat. For Mother's Day we had a family portrait done and we can not wait to see how it turned out :)

We spent a short time in Longview at my Mom's house but saw most of our extended family (more than a few people when we are talking about my family). We had a great meal at my Uncle James' house where I was able to see almost all of my aunts and uncles and a few of my cousins. Monday was special because we spent time with my sweet cousins Tyne and Leigh and their children, it had been too long so that was really nice.

Most of the time Jeff was a big jungle gym for the nephews and nieces, they LOVED it and he did too. We have still had limited time with my family since we have been married and it is so much fun to see him enjoy being in our family and to see our family really enjoying him, I have really been blessed with a wonderful husband!

Here are some pics from the weekend:

2 Hours in Paradise

Today I got bored in Kalispell and drove up to Glacier National Park. It was sweet! The really good stuff in the high country was still inaccessible due to several yards of snow, but I still got to see some of my favorite places and even bagged a new lake (not much of a feat considering that it was only .5 miles from the road). I managed to get a few acceptable pictures too in spite of the midday sun and clouds. I'm really looking forward to spending some more time up there this summer, it really is the crown of the continent if not the world! Here are some pics, enjoy.

In Limbo

We only thought everything was in order following all of the inspections, recommendations and bids. Turns out that the appraiser flipped out about the chimney and now that has to be fixed before we can close on the house. Of course we did not find this out until the day before we were supposed to close. Now we are living in limbo, with half of our stuff packed in boxes, half of it ready to be packed into boxes and none of it where it can be found. It seems that I spend more time in the mornings looking for clothes to wear than I do in the shower. Fortunately, the mason should have the chimney fixed by the end of next week and we will be able to close on the house as soon as we get back from Texas. Then the fun begins! Painting, flooring, tile, yard work my heart is aflutter at the thought of it all. I will finally be a man, I will finally have a house to fix! And we will finally have a place to call home (not real home, Idaho and Texas will always be real home (Heaven is our real home although Heaven is synonymous with Idaho)). Random fact: Baby Grissom is now the size of a peach!