House Week 7

The siding is up, the shutters are on, the garage doors are in, and the drywall is complete!! Can you believe how fast things are moving? The picture is not the greatest because of the lighting the day we went out. The shutters are blue and the exterior siding is a yellow/creme. It looks really good and we can't wait to see the finished product. The interior pictures are of the family room and the kitchen. It was fun to come back after a long weekend and see how much they had done the previous week.

Labor Day Weekend

For our Labor Day Weekend we went down to Twin Falls, Idaho and spent it with Nicky's parents. It was a great time to play and relax. We spent all day Saturday at the south hills on the 4-wheelers. As you can see the kids loved it. We kept it pretty simple so Nicky could come along. Most of the trails we went on were old logging roads and simple trails so it wasn't too bumpy for Nicky. Caleb and Mackenzie had a blast with their grandparents. Caleb wanted to start out riding with his Papa Staples and then back with his Daddy. He was pretty happy as long as he was riding and we were moving. A couple times he wanted to drive himself. If you leave the key in unattended he will try. At the beginning Mackenzie just slept. She was sitting behind her daddy and in front of her mommy and after the first half hour she was out. She fell asleep against her mommy's arm. Later towards the end of the day after she woke up she was alert and looking all around. It was a great day but very dirty.

Home Week 6

So the outside of the house looks the same as last week but the interior has changed dramatically. All of the wiring and the plumbing has been completed and the dry-wall is going up. We had an inspection on it at the end of this last week and everything past. The builder we are going through does the exterior insulation but if you want any of the interior walls insulated then you have to do it yourself. Since we were out in California over the weekend that didn't leave us a lot of time. The plan was for the dry wall to be finished on Tuesday. So Monday after work Cameron went to the house with a couple guys from the ward and put in some extra insulation on some of the interior walls. Mainly the walls that touch both a bedroom and bathroom to reduce noise and the wall that goes along the master bedroom and stairwell. From top to bottom you are looking at the living room, kitchen, stairwell, and master bedroom. Its all coming along great.

Bike Ride

Caleb and Mackenzie are getting so big. They are really starting to get along and Caleb is not beating up on Mackenzie as much. He has really started to look out for her more and loves to take her for rides on his older bike. He had his own bike with training wheels, but loves to have his sister on the back playing along with him. I guess it makes less work for her, all she has to do is hang on and enjoy the ride. There is no stopping these two.

House Week 5

Things are moving along nicely with the house. This week they are finishing up all the electrical and plumbing. They will start to sheetrock everything the first of next week. When we drove by for these pictures Caleb said, "Daddy look we have windows now." It's been a lot of fun watching the progression and we hope everyone else is enjoying it with us.

Potty

Mackenzie is getting so big, she has already started to say potty. Nicky has started to put her on everytime she does and after every meal to get her familiarized with it. We are hoping to have her really close to being potty trained by the time the new baby gets here. As you can see she likes to be on it and doesn't freak out. I think a lot of it has to do with seeing her brother on the toilet. She seems to want to do everything he does. This of course can be good and bad. We have had to talk with Caleb about being a good big brother and setting a good example. He is doing a great job of taking care of his little sister and watching out for her. It should be fun to see how they both react to the new addition.

Our House!!

Can you believe it is already starting to look like a house. It's just a skeleton right now but we can't wait till it's done. The interior shot was taken from the Family Room looking back towards the back sliding door. The stairs leading to the upper floor are to the right. We didn't get any of the upstairs but will soon. All the bedrooms with be upstairs with the laundry, kitchen, dinning and living rooms downstairs. Everytime we drive by it Nicky gets more and more excited. Who can blame her though, who wouldn't be excited to be done with renting and putting your own home together. The ward we are in is wonderful. We got invited over for dinner last night by a couple and had a great time getting to know them. The kids loved it and even warmed up to their dog which happened to be a Great Dane.

Cameron

We were finally able to find a picture that Cameron is in, instead of him being the one taking it. Of course it happens to be of him and Caleb participating in their favorite Sunday afternoon past time. Sunday afternoon naps are very sacred. :) Daddy's little man loves being there right with him and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Building our House!!!

We started the process of building a home. We are building out in Kuna, Idaho which is just south of Meridian. Nicole can't wait to be done with renting and is excited to be able to do whatever she wants with her home. Cameron is just happy not to have to worry about moving the family again for a very long time. These pictures start from about two weeks ago when we broke ground on our lot. Then we have the foundation complete and this last Sunday we got pictures with the driveway complete and some of the walls and flooring. Our goal is to have a weekly update of the house so you can see it progress along with us. We can't wait till it is done and we can move in. We will keep you posted.

Mackenzie

Mackenzie is 18 months old now and growing like a weed. She is such a little princess but such a little drama queen too. I wouldn't change it for the world. Nicky has had to focus on getting some more girl oriented toys. With Caleb we have had so many boy toys and now that she is really starting to shine, it's cute to see her playing with more girlie toys. Thankfully Cameron has his boy to rough house with and now Nicky has her little princess to dress up. It should be interesting to see how the new baby fits in.