Look how far our house has come!

Here are some photos of how far our house has come since we began. Many of the after are a little old but you should get the idea. This summer there should be some more big changes that will be fun to compare to the before pictures. Hope you enjoy!

BEFORE-Kitchen 2003

AFTER-Kitchen 2004

BEFORE-Dining Area and Bathroom door

AFTER-Dining Area (It was used as a living room for a while as we finished the living room)

BEFORE-Living Room, First week in June 2003

AFTER-Living Room, 2005 (without fireplace)

BEFORE-Master Bedroom 2003 (looking in the door)

AFTER-Master Bedroom (Look Duane is kneeling where the closet use to be...)

Wedding and Mountains!

Well, Aaron, Kirstan, Alex, Peter, Tippi and I all loaded up in the VW van (AKA the vanaru) and headed for CO over Memorial Day weekend. This was a weekend to celebrate the marriage of our brother Clint to his amazing wife Maddy.


It was a long drive but very fun. Gunnison, Almont, and Creste Butte are beautiful places. The whole weekend was a blast with lots of family, mtn biking, river rafting and the occasional drink. There were pinatas at the celebration and Alex made good use of it after the beating was over. Look at our very cute Strawberry shortcake!


On June 2nd, Aaron, Bram, Tippi and I headed up Mt. Adams. It was a long hot day but very satisfying when we where finished. The views were spectacular and well worth the pain of getting to the top. This was my first volcano ski. There were many people on the mountain that day but on the way down we had the mountain to ourselves. This was Aaron and Tippi's 2nd trip in so many days. They are studs!

Me trugging up the south false summit with Mt. St. Helens in the background.

Bram on his wasy up!

Oh! What a day!

I did it! Today I finished my thesis and have submitted it to the Graduate Office. This was the final step to complete my thesis. This has been a long time coming and I know that many of you will be happy to not hear me complain about it anymore. This is a real weight off my shoulders. Walking in graduation will feel really good in a couple of weeks.

Now it is time to drink some wine! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Peggy and her Dragon Boat!

On May 5th, we went to see Aaron's Mom, Peggy, in a Dragon Boat race. It was on opening day of boat season at UW. The boats were very cool and her boat won their race. That day we got hang out Alexis (Aaron's sister), my Mom, my grandparents, and lots of dogs. I wish we could have seen my grandparents more but we had to get over the bridge before it was raised for 4 hours. But all in all it was a great day and fun to see Peggy kick butt in her Dragon boat race. FYI, she is in the back of the white boat that is pictured.

Earl Peak

This pic is from the other day when we went skiing with friends. This is us heading up Earl Peak in the Teanaway. Earl Peak is a great hike in the summer also. This day no dice on seeing the th view but the turns on the way down where really nice.

Our New Blog

Hi Everyone,
We have decided to start a blog to help with keeping in touch. We can be bad about calling and even emailing so hopefully this will help. We are ramping up for a busy summer. Aaron winter job with WSDOT is winding down and my work is ramping up for a busy summer season. Aaron will be off to Alaska soon then back for a possible remodel on the house. We are also hoping to get a garage build during late spring. We maybe biting off more than we can chew but we will see.

I hope to add to this twice a month if not more. This will also be a good outlet for me when things get crazy.

Hope you enjoy reading this and we would love to hear what you are up!
Thanks,
AK