Family Portraits- Finally!

For a long time Jenny (Ryan's mom) has wanted a family shot of all of us. And we make it a big hassel every year, complaining, griping, moaning. Rob climbs up on the ladder, sets the self-timer and runs down into the photo. They turn out fine, but they're not professional by anymeans.

This year we did it. And they turned out cute! Thanks to my sister-in-law, Linda, who took the professional shots!

2010- The Green's

The whole family!

Chris & Angie on left, Ryan & Angie in middle, Rob & Jenny on right.

Padia kids left to right: Airika, Trent, Jaden, Bayla

Ella in the middle

Just the grandkids!

We even got cute shots of just our family.

4 Generations

4 Generations (very special because Ella is Grandma's first great grandchild)

Here we are with our maiden names:

Joan Hoerres, Cynthia Steger, Angela Griffeth, Ella Green

I was glad to get a shot of Ella with Grandma and Grandpa- they just love her. I'm so happy they are alive to see our baby. I know it means a lot to them.

Right when Ella was born neither one wanted to hold her for fear of dropping her or tripping or something aweful. HOWEVER... as they kept seeing her and how cute she was- they couldn't resist! Now if Ella's anywhere within their reach- grandma and grandpa want to hold her! :o)

Holiday Fun!

For turkey day we went to my Aunt Donna's house after we ate with Ryan's family.

This is what happened when we went in the door!

I found it so funny that everyone swarmed the door to see the baby, I ran and got my camera and took a photo from the stairs. Ella- you are a star!

I had a gift certificate for fondue, so I took the girls for a much needed girls night. It was GOOD! (besides Heather fainting at the table...)

Ella saw her 1st santa at the Coleman's Christmas party, she smiled and didn't cry. I don't think she even knew what was going on. Maybe next year?

Trying on her Christmas outfit at home. We (me) decided on a black bow for photo day- ahhhh the decisions you have to make as a girl!

Her Christmas photo at 3.5 months old. Cute stuff!

Ella on her first snowy day in December getting warmed up by the warm laundry from the dryer. I just kept piling the clothes on and she couldn't get enough.

Annual Friends Holiday Party- this year's theme- ugly sweaters. Ryan was sick and stayed home. :o( I took Ella and put her to bed in Candi's room.

Alison (8.5 mo pregnant), Erin (fresh off a cruise to Bahama's), me (tired, pale, and out of shape ha ha)

Another pic with Lindsay

Wreath party at our house- stole this idea from some friends of mine in Utah. Everyone loved how they turned out and was glad I put it together.

And we had fun in my "craft room/laundry room"!

Aunt Donna, Me, Lindsay (preggo), and Katie (Erin was there too but left earlier)

For the rest of the holiday season we have Christmas Eve at our house in 8 days with Ryan's family. We're making steaks this year! Christmas Eve we'll also go to Linda's house for the Swedish Christmas at noon. Christmas Day, we'll go to my mom's at 9 am, then Aunt Nena's at 2- Rob and Jenny are going to that also, so that will be fun. Pictures to follow. :o)

Ella is 3 Months old!

Your first time in your BUMPO seat! You are so cute in it, sometimes

if you're too tired though, you do fall to one side.

Mom modeling her new sling to carry you like a little baby kangaroo.

You look so tiny taking a snooze on the big couch!

Bath time- you LOVE your nightly baths! My little fishy!


One of my favorite pictures so far of you!

Ella- you amaze us every day with your smiles! You smile at everything and we appreciate everytime you do! You are starting to chuckle, but have not full on laughed yet. You're getting close though! This third month has been my favorite so far- you are learning so much- especially how to grab and feel things with your hands.

We love you lots!

COMPLETE!

After final inspections from three city divisions and only four things to fix that were very minor, we got our Certificate of Occupancy! We've been waiting for this day for over a year, and it's weird to think we've earned the C.O. finally! It's our house, we can live in it, and all the work is done- what an accomplishment!

***I personally feel like I schmoozed the inspectors into passing us quickly, I wore my old "City of Westminster" park ranger shirt, had the cutest baby in the world smiling at them, and I was chatting up a storm about how excited I was to move in this weekend. Go me!

We had the person at the city take a family picture of us with it!

I was a little disappointed that Ryan's name was the only one on the document... I did a lot of work at the house too! He's a male, so it just proves our society still isn't ready to recognize women in construction...errr.

We can finally relax, start packing, and MOVE IN!

Deck

The deck was the only thing we were waiting on to call in the final inspection. When it was done, the house finally looked completely finished- except for landscaping of course.

Rich Diggle, the owner of the framing company, that we hired did our deck.

Lights

The lights really made the house have a good feeling, especially at night. We've only seen it during the day for 5 months, so it was nice to hang out there at night- just Ryan, me, and Ella.

I didn't think about what these two lights looked like when I picked it for the master closet. Funny what you miss!

Glass and Cleaning!

R & K Glass came to install the glass products we purchased from them.

The mirrors were installed

The shower door turned out amazing. It swings both ways and is so straight and clean. I hope it's not too hard to keep clean! I guess it will force us to clean the shower.

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We debated long and hard whether or not to pay people to clean the house and windows for us. But in the end we decided to just bite the bullet and pay someone to get it sparkling clean and do what they do best. It really was worth it!

The window cleaning company sent out 3 guys to do the job- that atright there tells me it was too hard for us to do on our own. And it took the crew about 3 hours to get the windows cleaned and sparkling inside and out. Thanks All About Windows and Doors!

We also paid a lady to clean out all the dust and dirt from the inside of the house. I am glad we paid her also- she really made it nice and move-in-ready. Shefield Homes uses her to prepare their homes for the owners also.

The nice clean, sparkling tub!

Carpet and Final Grade

We called the excavator for final grade. They smoothed out our lot and got rid of the excess dirt. Now our "yard" looks more like a yard and ready for sod!

The carpet was installed and we knew right at the beginning of this huge project that carpet would be one of the last things called in. So we were really excited when it was finally installed!

I love the look of it and am so happy with the style and pattern.

Ella literally tested out the new carpet and she approved!

(She spit up on it, and it cleaned up really well!)


The stairs look so good with the carpet on them finally.

I can't wait till we finish the basement and open up this area!

Ryan was really worried because I picked carpet that was "special" and didn't come in super big widths. He was worried because there was going to be a seam in our master bedroom. I got quite a kick out of it when he was on his hands and knees for 15 minutes searching for a seam and could NOT find one! We still don't know where the seam is- guess they did a good job! Way to go Images Flooring, and thanks TROY for sending your best guys!

Exterior Paint

Our house was caulked and painted in just two days!

We aren't too sure about the color, but people who see it say it's nice.

So I guess we'll just enjoy it until the next time we paint our house!

Fireplace, Lights, Garage Door Openers, Final Hardware, etc!

The finishing touches are happening so fast that I can't even truly remember what order they are all happening! One day Ryan and I walked in and there were so many people working inside, trucks parked outside, it was SO exciting!

All the different contractors working together

Rio Grande fireplace came back to hook up the fireplace.

The flames, logs, and bricks make it look so nice.

The electricians came to hook up all the lights and light fixtures. This was really exciting because now we can go to the house at night and enjoy it.

The light pendant over the stairs gave them a heck of a time...

we'll have fun changing bulbs in that fixture!

Ankmar Doors came back to install the garage door openers. Ryan's all excited about this... they are nice openers, but the digital clocks on the opener pads, seriously?

Pat and Matt came back to install the final hardware- toilet paper holders, towel bars, house numbers, and more!