~While I was Away~

I'm notorious for leaving Nick with really big projects when I go out of town, and this time was not exception to the rule. For a week I vacationed alone with the babies in Utah while Nick went to work, studied for class, and tore out our entire kitchen.... with the help of his trusty friend, Greg...

who took a crowbar to the eye when trying to pull cabinets off the wall. They decided to start using safety goggles after that experience. Smart boys.

I'm glad that we had butterfly bandages in the house... and I'm glad his eye still resides safely in his head.

They yanked, they pulled, they even moved my kitchen sink into the laundry room.

Yay for having a nice deep double sink in the laundry room instead of that tiny little vanity sink that used to be there.... not so useful when trying to hand-wash or soak dirty clothes.

They got rid of the lazy susan and found a few hidden treasures that had fallen down in the back of that beast: oatmeal packets, chips, and some unidentifiable object in a plastic bag... yikes!

Walla! It's gone!

Thanks, Greg for almost sacrificing your face. I'm glad you still have your eye. Thanks spending an entire day helping Nick. I'm sure you were a great booster to his morale. Thanks for taking pictures and supervising when needed, Tiffany. Oh, how we love your little family!

Nick spent a few evenings removing the floor and cutting up pieces to fit in the garbage can so this room truly was an empty tomb when we walked through the door yesterday afternoon.

Alec stopped dead in his tracks said "Oh no!! What happened?!"

Lyssa squealed excitedly about the new found echo in our kitchen, then ran to show me how she knows how to open the fridge door and say "snack? snack?" Alec shortly joined her in her plea.

I tried really hard to laugh and not cry as I thought about the weeks ahead with no kitchen, no kitchen sink, food and microwave in the basement, dishes upstairs, and the fridge in the dining room... a fridge they can apparently now open.

Nick tried not to fall asleep while walking into the house after driving through the night. I think the thought of remodeling a kitchen, catching up on two weeks of missed work, completing a class project and taking a final this week would be enough to send a man to bed early. Yet he stayed up late and laid most of the hardyboard on the floor last night. Isn't he amazing??

So yes, we are home with big projects in our midst. Somewhere in between keeping the kids happily occupied and out of trouble, recuperating from our long drive/trip, and trying to be of use on this monster house project I intend to play catch up with the blog. For now I leave you with this little beauty from our vacation.

Happy Monday!