James and Erica: The last couple of months...

Okay so I know it's been a while, but I have A LOT of pictures to compensate. So at the end of January I went into Carpet Mart to order the carpet for the basement. James and I have always enjoyed working with the people at Carpet Mart. So at first I was told that it would be 2-3 weeks to order the carpet that we wanted. Then the owner told me that another customer had ordered the same carpet and about the same square footage as me, but the customer wouldn't be ready for two weeks and the customer's carpet was going to be delivered on Friday. So instead of waiting 2-3 weeks we were able to switch carpets and would be able to have it installed that Wednesday. Later Carpet Mart called James and told him that they could do it sooner and scheduled it for Monday and Tuesday. So Monday came around and the carpet guys began to lay the padding. They were only supposed to lay the padding and then come back on Tuesday and lay the carpet, but since they got done so soon they decided to do everything in one day. As soon as James heard this he dragged me up to Furniture Row to buy a couch that he has been wanting FOREVER! So back in October we went into Furniture Row for fun and found this couch. Of course James wanted it immediately and said we could store it until the basement was done. I, being the sensible one, said no. Now that our basement was going to be finished I didn't have any more excuses to say no to him. Although I did make a deal with him that if we bought the couch he had to let me get a dog. We bought the couch and then ran over to the warehouse to pick it up. On our way home James received a call from Carpet Mart. They told us there was a problem and that they had charged us $400.00 too much. We were pretty ecstatic! So by the end of the day we had our new carpet and couch all in place.

Our awesome couch! Even though I didn't want to spend the money to buy it...I am so glad we bought it!

Our new family room. I still need to find an entertainment center and make a coffee table.

And as you can tell I still need to decorate...

Bedroom One. A lot different from before. Before it was so dark with the dark wood on the walls and ceilings. Now with the enlarged windows it is bight and airy!

Bedroom Two.

Our new doors in the basement. I love these doors. I can't wait until we are able to change all the upstairs doors to match the basement.

The baby's room. We love how well the walls turned out! We decided to go for the blue and gray and have a nautical theme. I am in the process of recovering a chair and refinishing a dresser. It'll look amazing when we are finished.

In March for my birthday James surprised me with a work bench. I have wanted one forever! Now I don't have to clutter my kitchen table or counter tops to work on my projects.

James putting the work bench together.

So a couple days after my birthday James and I were coming out of Sportsmans Warehouse when I saw a sign saying Free Puppies. Of course we had to stop and look at them. I had been looking for months for the right puppy and James did promise me that if he was able to get the couch then I could have a puppy. I found the one that I loved and James told me that it was my choice and walked back to the pick up. He said he was thinking I would make the "right choice." Haha. I got in the pick up right after him with the puppy still in my arms. I told him that if he wanted me to make the "right choice" then he shouldn't have left with me still holding the little guy. He's pretty cute and growing like a weed! The previous owners weren't sure what he is. They knew he was half lab, but the other half they aren't sure about. He is extremely smart though. After one day we had him fetching and it only took a week to house train him. You can tell that I already love this guy a lot! He is growing on James too.

I let James name him. He decided on Bruiser.

Bruiser's favorite place to sleep. In the kitchen with his face in my shoe.

We went to a cabin for a couple days last week and had to leave Bruiser home. This is his way of telling us that we aren't allowed to leave him anymore.

Bruiser riding on James' lap down to Logan, UT for a baby blessing.

James and Bruiser taking a nap together.

A week after my birthday we received a call about my little niece, Evalette. She had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Poor little Evalette had her 1st birthday at Primary Children's hospital. She's home now from having to be in the hospital for a month, but will have to go back regularly for chemo. Luckily Danielle's twin sister was able to move closer to her and has been such a help babysitting Danielle's little boys.

Evalette and me at the hospital.

Evalette and her momma.

Dad and Evalette at Christmas time. My dad doesn't often let us take pictures of him so I had to be sneaky.

I took Bruiser with me to Utah. The grandkids absolutely loved him! They all had to take turns walking him.

When it was time to come home Danni's boys came home with me for the weekend.

We stopped at McDonalds on the way home.

Silly boys playing Three Musketeers.

After James quit Vivint and became a farm manger, Kraig took over James' position as Lead Tech for the Long Island office. So for a couple of months Bruiser has some friends. Harley and Ranger are full beagles. They are a lot of fun, but three dogs are definitely a hand full. We will be excited when it's only Bruiser again.

They are pretty cute dogs. It's hard to say no to them!

This is Harley. She's very small and delicate.

This was the night we brought them to our house. Ranger loves to be on top of his kennel.

Bunk beds!

Apparently being underneath the bed is the cool place to go. It's the first place I look when looking for the dogs.

At first Harley wasn't very fond of Bruiser. I was shocked when I saw her letting him on her blanket and actually touching each other. Usually she avoids him like the plague.

So I am so excited at this purchase. The little kennel on the right is what Bruiser sleeps in now. James and I decided that we will always kennel Bruiser at night. So I've been looking for a big kennel. I was at Petco when I saw this HUGE kennel on clearance. I was able to get it for $60. I am so proud of myself! My mom says it's a mansion! Right now it fits all three dogs!

James took off a day of work and stayed home to work on the yard. We were able to borrow a skid steer and used it to level out our yard. No more hills and bumps for us!