Our New Storage Closet

This project has been sitting for a YEAR now. And we finally finished it! You may remember last October when Justin and friend Rueben cut a hole in the wall at the back of our little coat closet under the stairs to see what was behind it.

Well, this is how it all started.

And when we saw all of that space that wasn't being used, we decided to knock down the rest of the wall.

And that is how it stayed.....until about a month ago. We finally finished the closet.

Justin installed a recessed light and the electrical work was tricky. Thanks to a friend/electrician in the ward who came over and pointed out that we used the wrong wire. But we finally got it right!

And then there was the drywall. I will just say that we now have a new found respect for people who do drywall and make the walls look beautiful and even without any bumps or lines. Drywall is a major pain and took much longer than I realized it would. Here is me holding up a heavy piece with my feet while Justin quickly puts the screws in to hold it.

And the mudding and the taping and the sanding, oh my!

This is what I will look like when I'm all old and gray, just in case you were wondering!

And finally.....ready for some primer, texture and paint!

Putting on some primer late at night

And here is miss Katelyn helping me with the paint. I painted the first 4 letters and then she wanted to do the rest.

Please note the snow boots. That is what she has been wearing for the last month....

And the painting is....finished!

Now for a carpet remnant being cut down to size and installed.....

And now that we have a functioning closet, it's time for some food storage shelves.

And with all of that we were finally ready to put of closet back together. Ready to see the finished product??


(drum roll please.....)


TA-DA! Here are some views with the coats back in and our new extended pantry in full swing....

We love it! And I'm so happy to finally have a functioning closet again! The kids love to go in there. Brandon has done his homework in there, and it is their new hide out.

You know, a closet under the stairs is a perfect spot to learn how to do some of these home improvement things like drywall, when it doesn't have to turn out perfect.....thanks for working so hard with me on it Justin! Go us!

School Starts

And so it begins. This last week has been crazy with school starting and trying to get into a schedule and routine. It has been easier than last year though, because Lindsey and Brandon are both at the same school this year and on the same schedule. Last year we had 2 kids in 2 schools, one in full day, one in half day, and the school schedules were 30 minutes off of each other. Thank goodness for carpools! But this year will be much simpler, so that will be nice. 

Cuties!

Here is Brandon on his first day of school:

Our big 3rd grader!

Miss Lindsey, ready for her teacher conference on the first day

Ready to take Brandon to class

Here is Lindsey on her real first day of 1st grade the next day

She is really, really growing up too fast!

Ready to go to Lindsey's class

There she is in her first desk

So far, so good! The kids like their classes and are excited to go back, which is a good sign. It is weird to only have Katelyn and Dylan all day now. But Katelyn loves being the big helper and she loves getting more one on one time with me. And she is a great shopper too! Little Dylan continues to make us smile and keep us on our toes. I guess we are officially in a new chapter with a new school year started! Can someone please slow down the clock a little bit??

Summer Swimming Lessons

We just finished up swimming lessons, which we have done every weekday for the last month. We love going to an outdoor pool by our house for lessons. I think that kids need to be outside in the summer, rain or shine. And for your info, I never once had to bring an umbrella to their 11:00 am lessons. August has been pretty beautiful!

Here are some pictures of our swimming adventures this summer:

And here are some cute pics I grabbed of Dylan on the last day of lessons.

Here is a picture of Katelyn jumping off of the diving board. She always has a very horizontal kind of jump.

And here is our last day of lessons treat at Baskin Robbins. Yum! The kids all learned so much this year, I'm so proud of them!