Home Makeover

New Paint and Carpet

Our New Hardwood Floors

New Paint

John and I put hardwood floors in our downstairs before we went to Mexico so I decided that we needed to update the paint too. I painted our living room a lighter beige than it was and also painted the tv room and kitchen a gray color. The gray turned out to be a little bit more purple than we thought it would be, but I still thinks it looks great. The color is still growing on John. Now all we have left to do downstairs is to put the base back in and repaint is along with the crown. John is also going to put in a new kitchen and bathroom countertop with some marble tiles that we got. Here are some pictures of what we have done.

Chris and Andrea's Wedding

John's brother got married last week in Cancun. We were lucky to be able to go. Andrea and I actually use to teach together at Mattson Middle School and she and Chris were the ones to introduce John and I. So we were very happy to see them get married.

Cancun

Mary and Me and Chichen Itza

John relaxing on the beach

Here are some pictures from our trip to Cancun. We were there for John's brothers wedding. Unfortunately, John could only stay until Wednesday since he has to get back to work, but I was able to stay for the whole week. It was lots of fun and very relaxing sitting by the pool all week.

Ellinger Christmas 2008

John with his nephew Henry
Having Christmas Dinner

John and his Dad with Pepper and Mocha

Pepper and Mocha in front of the Christmas Tree

Pepper and Mocha in their Santa Suites

This year we had a wonderful white Christmas. My parents came up and saw our Christmas decorations in the morning and then we went to John's parents home for Christmas day and dinner. Tonight we will be going over to my parent's home to celebrate Christmas with my family. As usually Pat and Mary spoiled us and Pepper and Mocha. John always gets a little upset when we get joint gifts from his parents, mostly because that usually means I am getting something for the house that he won't use so he was extremely surprised and happy that our joint gift this year was an XBOX. It was a great Christmas day and we are thankful for all the wonderful gifts and memories made.

Snow Time

It has been snowing in Seattle nonstop for the last week. We now have about 10 inches of snow at our house. Lucky for me, I haven't had to go to work in the snow. I now get a 2 1/2 week winter break. Pepper and Mocha don't know whether to play in the snow or to eat it. Pepper tries to avoid it, while Mocha just eats it up. Now there is so much of it, it covers most of their bodies.

Tree Hunting

For the last three years, we have gone to get our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving at the same tree farm in Silvania with the Ellinger family. We of course take Pepper and Mocha with us to pick out the tree. Last years tree, was a little too big so we tried to get a smaller tree, but I think we ended up with a bigger one than last years. Now we just have to finish decorating the house.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we went over to John's parents house. Usually we go to my families and then to Johns, but since my parents were in Utah we just had the one Thanksgiving meal. John and I made the turkey and took care of the dessert. John was very excited to use his new baster which allowed him to inject flavoring into the turkey and since he is the cook in our family, I just stayed out of the way.

We brought Pepper and Mocha and they got to play with Chris and Andrea's dogs, Lucy and Daisy. When everyone was done eating, John gave the dogs lots of turkey to nibble on which of course they loved.