Sunday Meals

We celebrated Karen's return home with some delicious food. I think Alan was trying to convince her to stay for a while because he made some of her favorite meals.

Breakfast was crepes with raspberries and whip cream. The sun was foiling my photography.

Dinner was my favorite of Alan's creations thus far . . . gyoza!

Hot Dog!

We went to the ward's trunk or treat tonight. I wore my wedding dress and John cut up a black shirt and voila! costumes.

Amanda came as a lion and Bubbs as a hot dog.

Some people thought Amanda was an Ewok or Chewbacca. If only we were that organized.

We had fun passing out candy and seeing the cute costumed kids.

And, of course, mocking Bubba to no end.

Montez Sitting

We watched our friends' kids while they went to Japan last week. It was exhausting, but entertaining and great practice in case we have 4 kids and a dog.

They look so sweet in their Sunday clothes.

We even made it to church on time. Success.

Amanda #19

We went out to DishDash for my sister's birthday.

We have a really hard time getting a normal picture together. I think she looks like Kristen Stewart here.

We gave up after this one. Maybe next year.

After dinner she opened presents.

She got some sweet gifts.

Then we had cake.

Manda made it a PacMan. She's so much fun to be around.

Living Room Transformation

Before:

After:

John will even go in there barefoot now. It's a big deal.

Pumpkin Time

After a long morning of base-boarding

we took a break to go play at the pumpkin farm.

They have cute entertainment for kids here. Like cow painted cars that a tractor pulls. So cute!

John and Alan sized up the pumpkin mound.

Karen played in the corn.

I bonded with this little guy.

John found a friend, too.

We are so happy for fall.

This hay "playground" was a lot bigger when I was a first grader.

These pumpkins didn't get any smaller, though.

I can see their wheels turning. I hope Alan has a house soon for their scheming. A squash that size would take up half of our backyard!

Nathan and Julia's Wedding

We went to Nate Rogers' wedding reception at the Saratoga Foothills Country Club. It was a beautiful reception.

John introduced me to his buddy Dave and had fun catching up.

We had a delicious dinner together.

We love reasons to dress up and go out on a Friday night!

Hardwood Floors

Saturday

With all the tile (and carpet) up, we were ready to start refinishing.

After nails, staples, and grout were removed it was ready to sand.

We rented an oscillating orbital sander from Home Depot

and got down to business. Even with 36 grit paper it's slow going.

We also borrowed a hand sander for edges.

He doesn't like using the goggles.

Trusty Dyson pulled through for us again!

My mom brought reinforcements (food) and helped while we ate/rested.

Many, many hours later, we were getting closer. John's parents came back to stay with us and not a moment too soon.

Alan got right to work. They went over the whole floor again with the 80 and 100 grit. And kept hydrated.

Monday

We puttied cracks and holes, let it dry, then sanded over them.

Tuesday

After letting the dust settle and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, it was ready for the sealer. John applied it at lunch, then after work we did the first coat of finish.

Late that night we did the final coat. We went with the water-based product because 1) it's clearer/less red and yellowish 2) has the shortest drying time 3) is healthier to breath. So now we just wait for it to finish curing for about a week.

The tricky parts are 1) not having any living space 2) finding outfits to match the clean room booties and 3) resisting temptation to slide on the smooth new floors.

Korean Food

John's old roommate, James, came to stay visit. The night he stayed with us his parents treated us all to dinner at a Korean restaurant.

We tried lots of new foods and had fun reminiscing.

Dessert Time

Inspired by his siblings, John decided we needed a peach pie, so we made one Sunday. I tried a lattice crust (higher crust:pie ratio) and it turned out well. I love having John's parents for dinner because it means we need dessert.

Tonight they came for dinner and we had NO dessert. We rectified the situation at Cold Stone. Raspberry Almond Sweet Cream was the ice cream of choice. This is the post-dessert pose:

Gathered Together

General Conference at Brian and Annie's

Monkey Bread. Mmm.