Lots of Leaves

Another Saturday, another day raking leaves.  Zoe was able to get in on the fun today!

Fall

Today was a great fall day.  After some running around, we took advantage of the 70 degree weather and raked the yard.  The trees are beautiful, but they sure do make a lot of work for us during this time of year.  We ended up with 11 big black trash bags and we only raked the front yard!  

All of those leaves still to fall!

Last night was also a lot of fun.  Dustin's band went to their football game and decided to have a little fun... rather than their regular show, they played "thriller" and did the dance too.  If you would like to see a video of it, a band parent posted it on their blog.  Excuse the yelling... the moms always get excited!   www.hiddenvalleyband.blogspot.com

Peaks of Otter

We took a day trip yesterday to Peaks of Otter in Bedford.  We had a picnic lunch then headed up the mountain.  It was a day trip and Zoe did great.  She had a lot more energy than we thought she would... staying ahead of us all the way up and down the mountain!  She especially loved the top, probably because there were a lot of people, including a little girl that kept slipping her Pringles!

Update

Here are a few more pictures of the house.  Sorry it's been so long... we have kind of been taking a break from working on the house.  

We have done some finishing touches in the study!  Mom McCollum painted the amazing picture above the computer.  We also painted the bookshelf and the computer stand (they used to be brown).  The paint is still drying on the TV stand and we are refinishing an end table that has a little bit of work still.

Yes, I know that the vent is out the window.  I was doing laundry at the time and we still don't have the hole drilled to send the vent out the side of the house.  There will be drawers above the cabinets between the washer and dryer.

Here is a picture of the completed bathroom!  Nothing left to do in here!  

Mud Run

A couple months ago Brent said jokingly that I needed to run in the Marine Corps Mud Run with him when they came up to visit.  Sure, why not?  So I called up Heather and we've been training for it since then.  We had a lot of fun and our knees are only a little scraped up from the mud pit.  

Before the race so nice and clean

Not so clean anymore... we had a great time!

Who wants to join us next year?

The end in sight!

Today the carpet was installed in the bedroom. Dustin took the day off work to finish up a lot of the little things left to do. Today we were able to put up and paint the crown molding around the cabinets in the mud room, put down and paint the baseboards and shoe molding in the bathroom, put down and paint the baseboards in the hallway, finish painting the mud room, and finish installing the vanity top in the bathroom. 

The only big things we have left to do are install the toilet, install the closet organizer, put down grout sealer on the bathroom tile, paint the doors for the mud room cabinets, put down all the shoe molding in the rooms we refinished the hardwood, and paint the bedroom doors. Oh and we still have to find a mirror for the bathroom. That's probably not all, but that's all I can think of. 

Here are a few pictures. 

Lots of Progress

We have made a lot of progress this weekend!  Everything is looking so good!  We are so thankful that the McCollum's were able to come for the long weekend to share their expertise, tools, hands, and old cabinets with us.  Dustin's parents renovated their kitchen a few years ago and still had the cabinets and asked if we would like them for our mud room... sure!  It looks (or will look as soon as they get finished) perfect!

I know, not a huge deal, but the closet doors being up makes a huge difference in the look of the study.

The bathroom is looking great too!  We love the color of the grout!

I am so glad that Dustin's dad is here helping with the lifting!  

Here are the cabinets without the countertops on them.  The dryer will go in the space to the left of the window and the washing machine will be on the right.  

Dustin is doing great working with all of the tools that he has never used before.

The formica is on all of the countertops, they just have to be trimmed around the sides.  Would you believe we painted the walls, then found the countertops that look so good with the color?