Remodeling

This all started with getting bids for a new bathroom cabinet for the downstairs bathroom...and ended up with tearing out the kitchen cabinets, chipping away at the old tile flooring, replacing light fixtures and ordering granite countertops. The cabinets were torn out a week ago yesterday. We are down to one working sink. The new cabinets were installed last Thursday. On Saturday, the lights were installed by Garry & Brant Jeppesen, Jeff Candrian and Mike... I loved having family members working together to complete this task. I even got sick of picking out lights and the four men went to Lowes and choose a new light for our main bathroom and wouldn't let me look at it until it was hung. They did a good job with their selection.

I was painting the kitchen walls giving them a second coat while they were installing the last light. I've replaced cabinet knobs in all three bathrooms. I've spent days looking at hard wood flooring & am getting sick of looking. I found one flooring that Mike & I really liked but our installer came over last night and started to tell us everything we would need to do to the floor if we used the one we selected and this morning before I came into work, I stopped off at Home Depot to see what they had. No more tile...it cracked and the grout chipped out...I was thinking of wood laminate but afraid it would look fake once the granite countertops are in. What do you like better, wood lamitate or the wood flooring?

Stockholm in the Fall

Fall in Stockholm is beautiful, you need to go to Amy's blog to see all the photos I've taken since we've been here.
Today, I thought you'd like to see the neighborhood that Rob & Lorena & Michael are living in....








They live really close to a marina so I walked down past the tennis club, past the park to the other side of the marina...I shot the photos looking back toward their duplex. The sign is the name of their street & I know you just love our photos of Michael...he really seems to have grown since we've been here.
Michael was blessed at church today. I am so happy we were able to be here for this sacred event. We have to leave tomorrow. I've already shed tears!

6 weeks old

We arrived one week ago today. Today Michael Robert is 6 weeks old...as I was running yesterday I thought about how much babies change and how at first our time is measured in weeks...next we measuring time in months and as we grow older we measure our time in years. Isn't it sad that we aren't growing and developing weekly? I mean, just think how much we could at least mentally grow. This is Michael with little Michael a week ago...this was taken Thursday night. The last photo was taken tonight...his favorite place to sleep (in his stroller).  Okay, I know, I said that was the last photo...but he loves his bath time with Grandma! During his bath time, w e had a great chat tonight. I asked him what his cousin was going to be like and he smiled and tried to tell me...
Honest...it was so cute!

Carmel Corn if you dare

II made yummy baked carmel corn to take to our visiting teaching / home teaching families. Tonight, after a long day of church meetings, Mike was relaxing, reading and munching on some of this delicious treat when he felt something lodge into one of his crowns. Sadly, he broke a piece of his crown right off! Luckily, it doesn't hurt but he now has a nice jagged edge on the crown. Here's the picture I took so Brian could do some long distance dental consulting with him. (So nice to have a son-in-law that knows about these things).
I also decided to share what we took to our families. Here's a photo of the package I'm delivering tomorrow (since it's one of my V.T. sister's birthday on Columbus Day). Notice the witch card and a black shoe made from cardstock...I got this idea from one I saw in Paper Craft Magazine a few years ago...the shoe is overflowing with carmel corn.

Below is the recipe...if you dare...to make it!

RECIPE: Spray a large baking pan in preparation for the popcorn. Dump the popped popcorn into the sprayed pan...Mix together...1 c. butter, 1 c. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 c. corn syrup...let boil for 5 minutes without stiring. Stir Into the hot mixture: 1/4 tsp. of baking soda and 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Pour over 3 quarts of popcorn (I use 3 bags of microwave popcorn). I also carefully picked out all the un-popped kernels from the mix...don't want to break any crowns or teeth!

Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes...stir and bake 15 minutes more.

Dump out onto wax paper and try to wait for it to cool without eating any...I bet you can't do it!

WARNING:  Do not eat if you have crowns!

ODE TO AMY

ODE to AMY...

so spunky & adventuresome,
May this birthday not be dumb!
Enjoy being twenty-four...
let's hope this year is not a bore!
Each passing day...
we'll love you more & more in our own way!
So give a cheer...
LOUD and CLEAR!
For AMY happy day to you...
from all of those who hold you dear!

Top photo: baby Amy, Kent, Grandma
Bottom photo: Andrea, Amy & Brittany (on right)

Now, say the ode while you watch this video...
WE LOVE YOU MAYSIE...HAVE A FUN DAY!
XOXO Mom & Dad

Mike's 57!

At 7:40 p.m. after being in labor for eight hours, Virginia gave birth to Michael Edward 57 years ago today in Marin General Hospital, weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces. He was 20 1/2 inches long.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE

....it's time to celebrate!

Now that he's a grandfather and his first grandson is named after him, what do you think, does his grandson look anything like he did? (Go to Rob & Lorena's blog if you haven't seen a picture of our grandchild, Michael Robert Candrian.) Personally, we haven't gotten to hold him yet but we did hear him cry while talking to Rob on Sunday. Oh, so sweet.....he was born in Stockholm, Sweden. We are thrilled to have a grandchild and very excited to finally met the little one in October.

I have no idea when any of these pictures of Mike were taken....no dates on any of them. UGH!
His Dad, Bruce (his older brother) and Mom a month old....maybe?

The other picture shows his Nana (Matilda Anne Hauser Candrian), Jim as a baby, Mike as a toddler and I think his cousins, Tom and Barbara Candrian. The next photo he was probably five months old? (No, that is not a birthmark by his eye...there's something on the scanner.) The last is my favorite...I think he's a year old (his baby book states that he got his first hair cut at 15 months old). Still absolutely adorable little boy, right?

I know Mike hates for people to fuss over him...but fuss over him we will...
HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I LOVE YOU!

SIGNS

"SIGN SIGN EVERYWHERE A SIGN..." Andrea commented on her memories of the "fish" sign....

...so I decided to take a few pictures of signs. It's interesting how signs

can bring back memories. . .

SIGNS can also provide Warnings...

On Sunday, we saw this sign and watched as a couple totally ignored the sign and walked up the side of this mountain...maybe they couldn't read English or figure out what the symbol on the sign stood for...hum? Do we do this in our lives, totally ignore warning signs?