Merry Christmas!

Hi Friends!

Yes, it has been nearly 2 months since we've updated our blog. We've been working like crazy on the house and traveling a ton between UT and ID. Between it all, keeping you current via this site has taken a back seat. We apologize.

Our Christmas was amazing, and one of the biggest reasons for that was our house was ready (enough) for us stay in. YES! We got to spend our second married Christmas together in our very own house.

Since we last updated, much has happened - painting in hallways, built-ins and kitchen, got a fridge, and started adding furniture where we could.

While we wouldn't trade our Christmas in the house, we can't quite call it done yet. We still need to tile the front bathroom, and have the floors done (hardwood or carpet depending on the room). Some may say we're more camping than living in the house. No TV (satellite/cable), no Internet, no real bed, no functioning dishwasher or garbage disposal. But the air bed is comfortable enough, the heat works, we've got season 4 of 24 on DVD, and the kitchen is fully functional even though some of our gizmos and gadgets are still in Boise.

Here is a look:

Bedroom -

Kitchen -

Even Gary has settled in nicely - as seen here with his Seal he got for Christmas from "Grandma" and "Grandpa" McBride.

Its amazing to think that Christmas last year we had no clue that we'd spend this Christmas in a house of our own. Its crazy to think of how far this house as come in the past 6 months, and we can hardly comprehend what it will look like next year. All we know is that we are exciting for the adventures ahead. We look forward to officially moving back to UT. And we appreciate all of you friends and family who follow along with our adventure via our blog.

May 2009 bring you all of the best!

Happy New Year!

On the Inside

While a lot happened on the out side of the house, a WHOLE LOT happened on the inside as well. We finished painting the living/dinning/office. We found a light fixture for the living room. And we had a party as we pulled up the nasty carpet to reveal the beautiful unfinished hardwood floors. The pad under the carpet was... not much of anything. We had some discussion if the pieces of pad looked more like corn flakes or gram crackers, but after we swept it all together we decided in we actually had a sand box in our living room.

And in the end it was beautiful!

You're just going to have to trust us that the pictures do not do the blue justice - it really looks great.

But WAIT... There is more!!

We also got paint in the front bed room.

It is amazing what a coat of paint does to make these look clean and new. It is a great feeling to have most of the behind the scenes work done so we can keep moving forward with tasks that at the end of the day you see progress with. We're getting very excited about what's happening in our dear home.

On the Outside

Lot's happened at the house on our last trip to Utah. Thanks to a dedicated and determined mom, we found a great and affordable concrete guy who redid our walk way, and we also got the front steps cleaned and painted. We're so excited about the improvement in curb appeal!

What is left to be done outside? On our next round of pictures we will have the hand rails attached. We also still need to paint the main door. Next summer we'll go big with landscaping and all of that fun, but that is still a ways away.


Our big debate is what to do with the remaining two bushes that line the door. Do they come out now, or do we keep them until we decide what we want to do with landscaping in that area? We'd love your thoughts on if they should stay or go now? We also welcome any suggestions of what plants would be great there that we can look into next summer.

What is that??

On the first weekend of October we had a bit of an adventure that we've been meaning to share. It all came about out of the desire to be out of our storage unit in Boise. Our trip to Utah coincided with Conference weekend, and as many of you know, VERY rarely is there a Conference weekend in October that does not include rain in Utah.

Rain - what's a little rain when you're moving stuff from ID to UT? That's what tarps are for, right??

Our plan was to leave Friday night after securing our load. However, after it took 3 hours and 2 trips to Home Depot to get enough tarps and clamps to feel good about the covering, so we decided we'd get some sleep and head out first thing in the morning. 5:00 on Saturday morning we hit the road in the dark and in the rain. 45 minutes outside of Boise Mary looked in the rear-view-mirror as a semi passed allowing her to see something flapping in the back of the truck. We pulled over to discover that ONE corner wasn't secured enough and our tarp was shredding!!!

To our good fortune there was Wal Mart in the town and 45 minutes, 1 additional tarp, 1 towel, 1 waste basket, and a 20 piece bungie cord set later we were back on the road.

And it only took us two more hours than normal to make the trip. But along with that we will never forget listening to the first session of Conference on the radio and learning that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is building a temple in Rome.

For all of that effort, here is what our final carefully wrapped load looked like.

What, you may ask, were we transporting that was worth all the effort? The Bear Lake Monster? A dragon our friend Haggrid left to our care? Or maybe a couch and an elliptical machine. :) If you ever need help packing furniture to move in an open bed truck in the rain - just give us a call. (or learn from our lesson and PICK A DIFFERENT WEEKEND).

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

A message from Ron Howard

Ok, ok, so we have been not the best at the blog updating thing lately. Moral of the story - when we are in Utah we need to be sure and pack our cable to get the pictures from the camera onto the computer so we can show you our progress.


In any case, updates coming soon about our latest adventures with the house. We've made a lot of progress over the past weeks, so exciting things for you to see are on the way.


In the mean time.... 'tis the political season. We hope you'll indulge us as we break from housing updates for this posting. Our political junkie cousin shared this video with us this afternoon, and we had to pass it along. If nothing else, hopefully it will bring a chuckle. Feel free to click on the link below, or scroll to the bottom of the blog to see what everyone's favorite red haired child actor turned director has been up to.


http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d

Goodbye Fitzers! Hello Open Seas!

We had a great two weekends at the house. We got big things done, and we’re feeling great about our progress.

It all started out with a battle in the front yard. The cavalry arrived in the form of the Cutright family. It was a tough fight. The battle was not without casualties. The Fitzer bushes were mean, and called in their best troops – the wasps that had a nest in one of the bushes. Badges of bravery go to Steve and Dave who took the stings and fought on with valor. In the end, our secret weapon made all the difference – Kathy driving the GMC Safari! Who knew the family van was such a work horse? (ok, we had a clue when it pulled the Dodge Caravan out of the sand at Sand Hollow two summers ago ;) )

We also want to give a special call out to Sara, Ryan, and Hannah for being wonderful with rakes, ruthless with weeds, and all around great at running errands.
Here’s the before and after – talk about progress!

Here is Sara next to one of the culprets who met its match.

Working hard or hardly working?

J/K - we couldn't have done half of the things we have without Steve's help!

Our great work on the first Saturday spurred us on to getting even more done than we were hoping for on this trip. With renewed energy we turned our attention inside. Thanks to many extra hours by Terry and Steve M. throughout the week, we were ready to… brace yourselves… start painting the living room/dining room on Saturday.

We got white on the ceiling of both rooms, and our lovely Open Seas paint in the living room. It’s a first coat at this point. Grandma’s comment when she saw the pics was “Is it really that blue?” Well, maybe. It may just be a bad picture. It may just need the second coat of paint. Or, if you like it, yes it is that blue. ;)

Before: After:

We can’t wait to get back down and finish painting those rooms and hopefully get paint on the front porch as well!