The Beginning to New Counter Tops

I wanted to give you all a small glimpse of our new counter tops which are underway. Erich and Moe have been so gracious to work their magic on our counter tops using a technique that Erich was trained on called Granicrete. It's basically granite at half the price but still beautiful and durable. We're so excited to see the finished project, but here's what we have so far:

Counter tops before (awful and never looked clean!)

Taking the sink out

Covering EVERYTHING to begin the process

Miloh was working while we were working

Then he found Moe to play with

Steps 1 and 2: We had to clean the counter tops really well and then the concrete mix was applied. We had to do 4 total layers, and the third layer is where the textured look started to come out.

Counter tops with concrete mix

The mad scientists

Spraying on the color (there were 3 different colors sprayed on several times to create the look we were going for)

The color process

Starting to darken

Where we are now- The counter tops have gotten to the color we wanted, so now they dry (This pic makes them look really dark, there a bit lighter than this). Later today, we will apply the gloss that hardens the tops and creates the final look. Then we can take down all the paper and see what it really looks like! I like it already!! I'll update pics soon!

Love,

J & H

P.S. We wanted to say congrats to Dave and Kristen Martin and the birth of their beautiful daughter Maggie! We've been praying for you guys!

Some Paint..... Some Laser Beams

So we decided to take on anther project this week....the office. We wanted to make it more of a "guys" room since every other room is pretty neutral and because Jon will be the one in here the most. Unfortunately, we don't have the furniture or things we want in here yet, but hopefully you can get the vision. We'd like to add black/steel furniture, some bean bags, and just some rustic deco. Enjoy!

Now to the laser portion of the blog:

I had my second round of laser eye surgery done yesterday. The first didn't keep, so they did what they call a "reinhancement" surgery. It really wasn't too bad.

Last pic with glasses hopefully...

Me drugged up on Adavan- I have to wear these big bug eye shields over my eyes for the next 4 nights.... thank goodness Jon loves me as much as he does!

~5 hours later- seeing much better but still looking a bit drugged

Thanks to everyone who prayed for me. I'm pretty much feeling great!! We've got a bunch of fun things planned for the weekend, so I'll be posting again soon. LOVE YOU ALL!  H

Faith, Hope, and Love

Our small group served with Faith, Hope, and Love, an international faith based organization that exists to build communities. Most of us were able to take the day off and help with some community service projects. We passed out flyers about the free events to the neighborhood which consisted of most of the lower income families in the area. We then helped a lady pull stumps out of her yard, and finally spent 3 hours pulling weeds at a baseball field at a park. It was a long hot day, but we had a great time and it was cool to serve so many people. 

We ended the day with a barbeque for the neighborhood. Here's some pics from last night...

Jon being Jon

Jon being Jon again

All of us

Visiting our Grandparents

On Saturday, we made a trip down to see Jon's grandparent's on his dad's side in Southern Indiana. They own a beautiful farm and we knew my dad would love to see that side of Indiana... plus, we love to visit them. They spoiled us the whole time we were there. His grandmother reminds me so much of my grandma Sally. She is the best cook!! His grandpa is so kind as well and gave my parents the grand tour which they enjoyed very much. Here's some pics from the day.

Izzie wasn't too sure about riding the Mule, but once she realized she really got to drive, she didn't want to stop

AWWW!

Mom, Dad, Grandpa Bill, Grandma Winnie, and Jon

This is Roscoe.... the baby deer that someone found on the road. They knew Grandpa used to raise deer, so they called him. He is now nursing Roscoe back until he's strong enough to be let go. He was so cute!

Izzie of course loved him!

Roscoe

My favorite kids again!

Hanging Out

When my mom and dad got home from Reno, they wanted to take on a few more house projects, so we gladly gave them a list! I finished up my last day of school for the summer (everything went great), and then we all had the rest of the week to hang out and work on the house. I don't have any pics of my dad, but he graciously worked on our yard all weekend. He fertilized and sprayed for weeds and bugs. Unfortunately, the people before us did not take care of the yard, so we have a long road ahead of us getting that to look good. Thanks dad for helping us! Mom helped me paint and then took on the worst project, taking the wall paper off!!! See below.....

The previous owners didn't put primer beneath the wallpaper (just put it on the drywall), so it was extremely difficult to get off. After 3 days of work, it's all off but now the wall has to be completely re-mudded and texturized.... however.... it already looks better!

We painted our last room on the first floor... the laundry room... Izzie helped too!

When she wasn't painting, she was babysitting Miloh (taking him for a drive)

Taking Miloh for another ride

Then we swam some more... I love this picture!

Taking a float

Izzie laughing at......

THIS!

The family

Izzie enjoying Bill's new car.... she has good taste!

Morse Lake

Thanks to Nikki and Eric, our small group got to have a night of fun on Morse Lake on their boat. It was a fun way for all of us to go out together. Jon didn't get to go because he had some work to do and Izzie was NOT GOING ON THE BOAT! So, since he got to go out golfing the night before, he let me have a night of fun. We all met up at a restaurant on the dock afterwardf for "Caribbean Night", which was mostly a bunch of old drunk people dancing around, but we had fun anyway! :) 

Shawn- trying to wakeboard- it shocked us all that he even tried because he hates the water!

Chris and Eva- we love you guys!

Leslie and Eva- Leslie is fairly new to the small group and we love having her!

Nikki, Jessica, Shawn, and Chris- hanging out on the boat

Eric and Nikki- a night out away from the baby

All of us at Caribbean Night

My two favorite kids!