Cheers!

Today is my dad's birthday.  Growing up we would always spend New Years celebrating and playing games.  Kari and Andy offered to host a party at their house so we all gathered there to eat and bring in the New Year.

Oven Baked Fried Pickles- YUMMY!

2013 has been good to us.  All of us.

Hannah started school, Hailey has completely broke our of her shell, we have sold and purchased homes, my sister was married, Kari was home three times, Schmidty joined the family, Kristin and Bobby got engaged.....the list goes on and on.

Happy New Year!

The great walls

We made a trip out to Rogers today to choose our Granite slab.

There were two almost identical pieces to choose from.  One had ivory/creamy undertones and the other was more on the brown side.  We choose the ivory/creamy one.  Glad we made the trip out to check them out! 

Then we made our trip to the house to see if any progress has been made and were very happy to see that we have been mudded and taped!  They started to hang drywall a few days ago but it was hard to take pictures since they had temp heat in there that made it super humid and hot- all of the pictures I took looked like I was in a sauna.

Kitchen and Dining Room

Master Bedroom- left door leads to bathroom, right into closet

Hannah showing off her closet

Hailey's room

Upstairs hallway looking to landing

Front entry

Getting ready for the celebrations

The girls and grandma made a New Years banner today!

It's been nice having a low key last few days.  No packing, no cleaning, no working.

Just the family hanging out.

Cinderella

We got to our new home, Brian's parents, last night around 9 pm.  We ate some dinner and then sat on the couch visiting with our new roommates before finally calling it a night.  We had to be in Plymouth this morning for a 9:30 am closing.

When we got there we saw our realtor, Mike, in his truck.  We all walked in together and were guided to the signing room.  Shortly after we arrived we met Alisha and Patrick.  The soon-to-be owners of 13080 Revere Lane.  They were adorable!  They were excited and while we waited for the papers we signed to be copied they told us about the draw they felt to the Champlin area.  They didn't know why but something was pulling them back to that area during their home search.  It was comforting to know that it was our house that sealed the deal for them.  They will love it there!

We were able to get settled into Denny and Judy's and now it was time to relax.

For Christmas my mom bought the kids tickets to the Children's Theater to see Cinderella.

I have been super excited for this night for a long time!

We met mom, Jennie, Kim and Kristin at La Casita for dinner while Kari and the boys ate a home cooked meal at dad's.  We all met at the theater and took our seats.

The show was AWESOME!

As soon as the show started they noticed that the two step'sisters' were the same two actors that played the boy and the mouse in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie that we saw this summer.

I love the Children's Theater!  They can take a classic story like Cinderella and make it fun and current.  During one part of the show the stepmother and sisters sang Single Ladies, there were references made to Lady Gaga and the prince sang Bruno Mars songs.  The kids were instructed to stand up and yell as loud as they could everytime the word pig was used. 

 Not your typical 'theater' experience :-)

As we were leaving the theater once the play was over, there was a dance party happening in the foyer.  There were actors and actresses from the play standing out there dancing with the kids and an actual DJ playing music. The kids took about 20 seconds to warm up before they got in on the party-action.

We stood there for about 20-30 minutes watching the kids dance. It. Was. Awesome.

I couldn't hold back the tears.  What a perfect evening to end this week.  

The last chapter

 

This is it.

Brian moved into this house in August of 1998.

I moved in Feb of 2000/2001-can't quite remember but it was the year Nash was born which should be easy to figure out once we have access to our stuff again.  Maybe I will come back and edit this part.  But then again, maybe I won't.  Those details aren't important.

In this house we fell in love and raised a puppy, we struggled for three years to start our family and finally we brought home our first child...and then another.  We celebrated holidays and spent time with our friends and family.  Our girls learned to walk and talk in this house.  We spent summers swimming in the driveway and falls jumping in the leaves.  We've had numerous dance parties and picnics on the floor. 

Brian had put so much time and energy into this house. Besides the basement carpet, I am not sure there was an inch in there that he hadn't improved.  From paint and tile to wood floors and new cabinets. New windows, a garage door and sprinkler system.  He built a shed and fence and upgraded the driveway,   Every summer he was praised by the neighbors for his beautiful lawn.

Although we both have worked at our same companies all this time, we have both had multiple job responsibility and salary changes.  We have seen promotions and furlows.

We have left the house empty while we scurried off to Vegas or spent the weekend at the cabin.

But it's time to say goodbye.

This is it.

We spent the day cleaning and packing,  Denny came over in the morning to help us with one last trip to the storage unit.  After that he took the girls back home with him so that we could finish.  As they drove away they looked out the window and waved.  Brian made trip after trip to storage with his truck while I packed boxes and cleaned rooms.  Even though for the past week the house felt empty, today things felt as though they were multiplying.  Room by room was emptied and got it's final cleaning.  The neighbor stopped over around 8 pm to say goodbye.  Around 8:45 pm we were finished and ready to make our final trip down the deck stairs.

The house was empty except for the keys, garage door openers and few pieces of mail laying on the counter.  This is it. Time to say goodbye.

I was alone in the house and as I walked over to turn off the dining room light I had a movie-like experience.  As my arm raised to reach the light switch I could hear Nash barking, kids calling for mom and laughter.  I stood there with my arm raised for a few seconds, looked around and then turned out the light.  Once the light went out the noises stopped.

That's when the tears started.

We had a good life here but it's time to make new memories.

Merry Merry Christmas!

*sigh*

It's almost over.

It doesn't feel much like Christmas this year.

It could be that I didn't think it about it much because I was too focused on work and the move.

It could be because for the past few years Brian and I have hosted so there is typically a lot of talk and planning about Christmas leading up to the day.  Menu planning, cleaning the house, etc, etc.

Jennie and Tom offered to host this year.  It made sense and of the houses available they seemed to have the most room and would allow the pup.    They did a great job!

I for one was so thankful that I didn't have much to have to worry about (except for moving out of our house tomorrow).  Every pitched in a little bit with bringing food and there were plenty of treats and snacks.  Grandpa Dan made cream wafers- whew!  I was feeling a little sad that I never got around to make them this year.  

We were suppose to be at Jennie's around 8 am however it took us a little longer to get there since the kids slept in a bit.  

It was so nice to have Kari and her family here for Christmas although there were so many people around that it brought a special level of chaos :-)  It was tough to see everything that the kids opened but they had constant smiles on their faces so I will take that as a sign of success!

With all of the recent and upcoming $$ events happening in this family, we all decided to attempt a homemade Christmas this year.  It would have been nice to not exchange adult gifts at all but it's hard to get this group on board with that idea.  

I went to my grandma's house about a week ago to pick up some things.  She gave me a bag of aprons.  These are aprons that have been around forever and first worn by my grandma and great grandma.  My sisters and I would always get 'aproned' at grandmas when we did dishes or helped her cook.  They were in pretty bad shape when she gave them to me but after soaking them in Dawn dish soap and then sending them through the wash they cleaned up just fine! 

I made each of my sisters a cabin ornament.

Each of my sisters and my mom got some of my grandma's jewelry framed.  I LOVE how these turned out and it was SUCH a fun way to preserve and display these pieces.  Fun fact:  the middle flowers were pieces that my grandma and great grandma made at a jewelry class.

  

For Jennie and Kristin (and their new rings), a ring holder either to put next to their bed at night or at the kitchen sink while they wash dishes.

Mr and Mrs ornament for the newlyweds

We had this blanket made for Grandma Bauer.  Picture from the cabin this weekend, my all time favorite picture. It turned out pretty good!

I made a bunch of bottle cap magnets for Kari, Grandma, my mom and Andres' mom.  I wish I would have taken a picture.  I made this necklace for Kimmy, not that I plan for her to wear it a lot but this pup is pretty adorable.  He should be shown off!

My shadow box creation for Bati.  It is a top loading box which means there is a slit in the top of the frame that allows one to drop things in.   I thought it would be cool for Bati to be able to store his treasures from all of the places he has traveled to and all the places he plans to go.  Coasters, pieces of currency, bus tickets, brochures, tickets, etc

Jennie and Tom needed to leave around 5 for their other party so things wrapped up in the late afternoon.

It was nice to get home a little early so we could start packing and getting ready for our big move out day tomorrow.  

Merry Christmas!  

Merry Christmas Parmleys!

Today is Lula's last day with us.  Santa will pick her up tonight and bring her back to the North Pole.
The girls will sure miss her.

We have the perfect situation.

Brian's family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve and my family has always celebrated on Christmas day.  It works perfectly.  I love being able to spend the whole day with our families and not worrying about needing to be somewhere else or splitting our time.  

As soon as we arrive the kids are off- playing with their cousins and sitting by the Christmas tree begging to open presents.  I remember doing the same thing with my cousins when I was younger.  

After Bob, Paige, Rob and Denise left the kids ran upstairs to take their spots in the living room. We like to have the kids open their presents first (one by one) than the grown ups. It's fun to watch everyone open and see what everyone gets.  Hailey was pretty excited and surprised to see that Hannah knew she wanted new headphones.

Hailey with her new piggy (kitty) bank. She has been asking for one for a few weeks now.  One of the only things she asked for this Christmas.  Hannah was so happy to get her Password Journal,  one of her gifts from Hailey.  

Some of the gifts they received were books, PJs made by Grandma, bracelet kit, Spuzzle game, Hannah Montana and Smurf Wii games, Teen Beach Movie Mac Barbie Doll, Loom bracelet maker, gift cards and more.  Brian and I agreed not to get each other gifts this year with the upcoming new house however he didn't listen to well and got me a new iPhone!    It's amazing how much you don't something until you have it and then you can't imagine your life without it. My iPhone 4 was fine.  It works perfectly although had a little trouble keeping a charge. My new phone however is perfect!  Lightweight, better camera, more storage and has a few new features that are fun to play with like the finger print recognition.

Cuties!

We got home late and luckily Hannah remembered to leave a treat for Santa and his reindeer.

Life at the Parmley's

These days life at the Parmley's consists of eating dinner and watching TV with card tables, lawn chairs and office chairs.  Thanks to Stacey and Shane this past weekend, there isn't much left around here.

Even Lula had trouble finding a place to hide! 

We have drywall!  Things are starting to look fun in the new house!  The drywall has started and this place has started to take shape.  I am liking what I am seeing!

MOA

The house is so empty.  It's sort of surreal.  I couldn't help but wake up this morning to feel a little relived. THANK GOODNESS  we had such great help this past weekend.  What a blessing!

Time for a break.  The girls and I FINALLY get to see the boys and Kari today!

They were spending the day at the MOA so we drove out to meet them.  Plan is to catch some lunch, do a little shopping and then go to see the movie Frozen.

They were SO happy to see each other!

On the way home Hannah started to get sad.  Within a few minutes on the road she started bawling.

Me:  "Hannah, buddy, what's wrong??"

Hannah:  "I don't want to move."

Me:  "Oh honey.  Why?  Everything will be ok."

Hannah: " I'm sad.  I don't wanna move.  What if Santa and Lula can't find us?  What if they put the toilet in the bathtub instead of on the floor?  What if Nash tries to come back and can't find us?  What if we can't get internet?  How are you and dad going to carry everything?  What if it's all too heavy? What if our house isn't ready for us when it's time to move in and leave grandma and grandpas?"

Me:  "Buddy- you don't need to worry about any of that stuff.  Santa will find you.  Daddy moved when he was little and Santa found him with no problem.  They would never put the toilet in the wrong place and if they do we will just tell them to fix it.  Remember that daddy and Shane already carried all of the heavy stuff out of the house.  There is nothing left to worry about.  Don't cry buddy.  It's going to be wonderful."

It didn't make her feel too much better.  She cried the whole way home until she finally cried herself to sleep for a few minutes.

It was bound to happen.  They have been doing pretty good and soon enough it was going to hit them.  Their behavior has been a little different lately and it's hard to blame them.  Things have been crazy around here.  Mom and Dad are running around like lunatics and now they don't have any toys or furniture in the house.  Things are changing and all they know is that we are going to grandma and grandpas for awhile.  

Broke my heart to see Hannah so upset tonight but I think it was good for her to get it out.  

She obviously need that.