Luke's dad, Harry was in town for a few weeks. It was lots of fun and Kaitelyn really enjoyed her time with Grandpa. He spoiled Kaitelyn with lots of attention and toys. She's still asking for him and going to the room he stayed in :( He also spoiled me by scraping the windows on my car and warming it up before I left for work. It was a treat having him with us.
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We went to the new Cabela's down in Lacey, WA on M.L.K. day. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. It is nothing compared to the one in Kansas City, KS. This store is quite a bit smaller. The animal encounter display was not that entertaining and the biggest disappointment was the Aquarium. They only had little freshwater fish in the tanks. Kaitelyn was not amused at all and she was cranky the entire time we were in the store. I usually purchase my Columbia t-shirts from Cabela's, but I could not find a single one.

Also, while Harry was visiting, he managed to take a few day trips along the coast and make some new friends. He took some amazing pics on his phone. I really wish I had some to share, they are frame worthy pics.

Here are a few cute pics....

back nine anyone??

such a DIVA

Kaitelyn with G-pa Chermak,
feeding seagulls from the ferry deck.

mmmm....snot!

Kaitelyn thought she could sneak in a quick nap.... ________________________________________


Aww...Daddy, Daughter moment.

It's daddy's job to do pigtails and Kaitelyn's job to make sure her nose is clean :-D

This is the end result of that daddy, daughter moment. Isn't she cute ;-)
...showing off those tails

Just as promised...

pics of our almost completed kitchen. We still need to finish the ceiling, grout the floor, install new trim and we're still waiting on the door for the top corner cabinet. Eventually, I'll pick out new curtains, but these will do for now. My favorite thing about the kitchen is the new light fixture above the sink and it being a lot more functional and pretty!Kaitelyn enjoying a bubble bath in the new sink.

.... showing off one of her toys.

there's that darn missing door, also the dishwasher is amazingly quiet.
I've never heard such a quite dishwasher.

WOW...it's amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun or just plain busy. The holidays came and went without a single posting from us. I'm so sorry, like I said...time sure has flown by.

Here's what's been happening...we've recently been bombarded with a lot of people asking us why we haven't updated our blog.

Kaitelyn is now 19mths, quickly going on 2. She has been working hard to perfect her temper tantrum skills. I can't help but laugh when she's busy throwing herself down on the floor, kicking, screaming and crying when she doesn't get her way. Kaitelyn has been introduced to "Time-Out" already. I think she kinda understands, who knows. She is growing up so fast. I've come to realize that she's not a little baby anymore, she's "little miss independent" :(

I'm sure Kaitelyn was thinking "Are you talking to me"??

Here are some of the new phrases she is saying: "Gasp...Oh Noooo", you really have to hear it in person, she says it when something goes wrong, it's sooo cute. "It's broke", "Nana(banana)", "Balloon", "Ball", "Clock", "Fee, Fee (Alexis)". She's imitating a lot, one of my favorites is "wiping her butt" with a tissue or wipe. I'll ask her to wipe/clean her hands and face, when she is done, she'll try to wipe her behind with the wipe. It's so funny. This morning, I was spraying my hairspray in the bathroom, she was in the next room and started making the "shhhhh" noise like the hairspray. I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you.

Luke has been busy working swing shift during the month of January. Unfortunately, we haven't seen much of each other. However, we were able to completely remodel our Kitchen. It is almost complete, we've just got a few more little things to complete. But, it is gorgeous. Our new cabinets are a natural cherry wood with a Corian countertop and built in sink. It's so fun, the sink is so deep that Kaitelyn enjoys taking baths in the Kitchen now. I like it too, I don't have to sit on the bathroom floor.

I've been super duper busy with work, since we've been back. It's seems, I just start my day and then it's time to go home for more work. My day doesn't end until after 10pm usually.

Luke's dad has been visiting for most of this month and it's been really nice. Kaitelyn loves her Grandpa. He has been so good with her. He's got good stories, wisdom and patience. I'm really gonna miss Harry when he returns to Kansas. It's been nice to have an extra pair of hands with Kaitelyn. Especially since she is always testing our patience these days.

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Here are some Christmas pics...we are at the Children's Holiday Party put on by the Credit Union I work at. Kaitelyn had a BLAST that night. She did not want to sit down, she was running around the entire time we were there. Hence, the reason for the rosey red cheeks in one of the pics.

Kaitelyn with her first truck and her rosey red cheeks

Kaitelyn received a lot of compliments from my co-workers, they adored her.

Twas the night before Christmas...Santa came early that night

Kaitelyn opened her 1st present and didn't want anything to do
with any of her other presents from Santa...

Oh Yeah...
Did I mention that Kaitelyn likes to de-dress herself now??
Here's proof:

after this shot, she ran away and tried to hide.

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Here are pics of the dysfunctional kitchen before remodel:




Here are pics just after we had the new cabinets installed and after we
put a fresh new color on the walls:



Stay tuned...
I will post pics of the kitchen at it's current stage (almost complete) at a later time.

We are waiting on the door for the top corner cabinet to arrive. It did not make it with the rest of the package. Also, we are having two of the cabinets replaced with bigger ones. The installer miscalculated and ordered/installed two cabinets too small.
When we look at the old cabinets or touch them, there is a consider difference between the quality. Our new cabinets are so smooth and much more functional.