So even before my last post, all the work you can see in these pictures was done.  These were taken in MAY.  And even now, more has been done, but I have yet to take pictures of that.

I didn't take exact angles of the pictures like BEFORE and DURING...but use your imagination since you can't see it live.  (actually you could, Dan took video of the house before starting work on it, but I think that's probably too boring and not post-worthy)  So on the left are BEFORES and on the right are the DURING's.  You can click on them to see them larger and read my captions that will hopefully make what you're looking at clearer.
Well that's it!  Progress is slowly being made.  Dan has been working really hard.  Next up is finishing the electric, drywall, and we just ordered the kitchen cabinets yesterday so those are due in 3 weeks.  Which means painting the walls too before they arrive.  Any suggestions?
 
Welp! We bought ourselves a house... We took advantage of a foreclosure in a great neighborhood and after months of nothing happening and assuming our bid was being laughed at...we finally found out in March that it was ours!  I use exclamation points, but to be honest, I was not thrilled about this.  It is an older house (built in 1993) and not only were the previous owners a little off their rockers when it came to decorating and only halfway completing an addition to the house, but it needed some major renovations in order to make it not liveable, but just likeable.  Over time, and as Dan and I have gradually aligned our visions into one (haha!) I have started to feel a bit of excitement over this new home.  However, creating a kitchen from SCRATCH, is not an easy task.

We also ventured into this purchase not really knowing if we would move into it, or if we would turn it for a profit.  (hence even more delay in my enthusiasm for this stress maker!) With more and more sweat (Dan's) and more and more stress (mine) going into it, we've realized that this could be a good move for us.

The neighborhood is still in East Mesa (though farther west and north than we are currently) which cuts off a little time from Dan's commute.  It is all custom homes and we actually have an empty lot next to our house which I find kind of bizarre that it could stay undeveloped for this long, but Dan met the owner once and he told him they have plans to build...hopefully not for 10yrs or more haha!  I secretly thought how cool would it be to level our home, buy that empty lot, and build our giant dream home covering both lots!??  HAHA!  Riiiight...  So now that we're back to reality, you can see all the before pictures I took, I think in February before the sale was final.  Just remember...it has good bones and lots of potential! ;) (PO! haha...to all my old roomies that get that reference...;)

Click on any to view larger and see my captions.
 
4th - EASTER! - We spent Easter Sunday at my parent's and also held a mini birthday party, complete with egg hunt, bubble dancing, presents, and cookie decorating!  Maddy had more sugar in one day than she's probably had in her entire lifetime!

9th - Maddy's Birthday!  "I'm TWO!"  I taught her to say that when people ask how old she is, we worked on it for a couple weeks although she still has trouble getting the fingers down.  We had a little birthday party at our house for her and Dan's family came.  The kids played in the backyard and then we had pizza, opened presents, and had her butterfly cake!  At two years old Maddy can sing all the words to "I Am A Child of God" and "Twinkle Twinkle" among others, she knows her entire alphabet and with no help from mom, can recognize some letters.  She just about has all her colors down and can count into the 'teens.  She is talking in full sentences and surprises with new ones all the time.  It's so fun to hear her talking more and understanding more.  I also like hearing her "mother" Ally, it's cute now, but not for long!  She is getting more creative as she plays and reads herself stories.  Her latest thing is "I'm being a birdie, ladybug, snake, etc."  I don't know where she picked up on that, nursery maybe?  But it's so funny!  She still loves to read, to hear music, sing and dance, to play legos and blocks making towers, painting and coloring, anything to do with water, and playing with other kids and of course Grandmas and Grandpas and all extended family.  She makes us laugh everyday and is such a good big sister and helper.  We just love our sweet Madelyn! 
 
FEBRUARY - A pretty quiet month, no major things to report, so I'll just let the pictures tell it all.
MARCH - Spring time is here which means bunnies, and easter egg hunts and girls in pretty dresses!  Maddy enjoyed the egg hunts, although she got jipped at the ward one, but we remedied that with one on her birthday/Easter celebration the next weekend (in April).  Enjoy all the pretty pink-ness!
 
FYI - If you haven't already figured it out, you can click on any of the pictrues to view them larger, also you  can see captions I've wiritten on a few if you hold your cursor over it.

JANUARY - We took the girls on a couple "first" trips this month.  We did a quick day trip to Tortilla Flats to see the lake, do a little hike, and enjoy the wonderful weather!  Both our girls LOVE to be outside no matter what the occasion so it was a fun time!

Our next trip was to Flagstaff to enjoy the recent snow dump that happened this month.  We stayed one night in a hotel (Daddy and Madelyn in one bed, Ally and I in another - what fun!) and spent the entire first morning out in the snow.  We went sledding on a saucer (Mommy took the plunge with Maddy for the first ride! Woo hoo!) and Ally pretty much froze, poor little girl.  She ended up falling asleep, but once I felt her hands and feet, I kind of think it may have been a hypothermic coma?  This wasn't Maddy's first time to see snow, but it was her first time to play in it.  Thanks to awesome friends that loaned us some snow gear, she had a BLAST!  We made a snowman (although the snow was pretty crusty) and sang the snowman song and threw snowballs at Daddy.  It was a great and exhausting time!
 
November - So not much seemed to happen this month.  Ally grew, Maddy is still learning to "be soft," and we ate turkey with Dan's family and this year (and always...) we were grateful for our two healthy little girls!
December -
6th - Ally's Blessing Day - It was fun to have my sis and her family with us this time around.  First time in a long time that we were all together for a special occasion.  I tried to record the blessing again, but I think you mostly hear Maddy "trying" to be quiet, haha!  Ally did great after I reminded the boys to not let her feet go above her head (as in Maddy's situation that made her cry through the whole thing)  We had the usual "brunch" afterwards at our house.  It was a great day!
13th - We celebrated my brother Scott's birthday, nephew Connor's 1st Birthday, and had a pre-Christmas all on this one day.  Go here for the photo highlights!
Christmas Time! - Now that Maddy is older we could really start to talk to her more about Christmas things.  She loved seeing the lights up at night and caught on to who Santa was real quick, though she did NOT want to give him hugs at the ward party...  We unfortunately couldn't torture her and put her on his lap at the ward party because they didn't do it until the very end after eating and a show and there were masses of kids.  Oh yeah, and Santa did some magic show or something first...??  But Christmas time was so fun and Maddy still asks to sing what she calls "holy night" but that means "Silent Night" and she was singing Jingle Bells the other day when she found her bell (the other day being May 13 2010)  Some of Maddy's main attraction gifts were Elmo dolls and a mini kitchen.