Basement

We are finishing our basement!!! This is something Russ has wanted to do for a long time and we are finally doing it! He is pretty excited, and so am I. It will be nice to have it finished. The kids and I play in the basement everyday because our toys are all downstairs. It will be nice to have a finished and heated space to play in. It will also be nice to have another area in the house to entertain in too.

Russ and his dad and his brother (Bryan) plan to finish the basement almost entirely by themselves! Joe and Bryan are very handy and Russ is going to learn along side them. We are so grateful for their time to help us finish the basement. It saves us so much money and Russ enjoys doing the work and seeing his hard work come together. Because we are doing most of it by ourselves it will probably take us about a year to finish but that's okay!

Buying the lumber!

 In one day, the 3 of them, had framed about 80% of the basement!!

Kids

Being a mom is something I've always wanted to be but I just never knew how fulfilling and incredible (and hard) it would be! There is nothing else I'd rather spend my time doing. They (and Russ) are my reason for living and the light of my life! They have changed my world for the better and opened my eyes. My heart is so full of love for them!

 Movie night with popcorn and treats!

Hallie

Oh Hallie-o! I love you with all my heart! Hallie has the same personality as me so we do butt heads but man will that drive take her far in her life. She doesn't take naps anymore but by dinner time she becomes so whiny. I know she is tired but I'm not sure what to do about it. She is a determined little girl and so incredibly smart! I am proud to be her mom.

Selfie

 Playing at Wheeler Farm

 A note Hallie wrote, "I love you Kylee and Russell and love Hallie."

Rocking it at the dentist. No cavities and her first loose tooth! 

 Making turkeys out of food

 Hallie and I went on a date to see Frozen 2. It was a blast and I loved the one-on-one time with her. She chose to sit in my chair with me and we snuggled the entire movie long. I loved it!

 Passed out at 6 PM! I let her nap for a little before waking her up.

 Thanksgiving Feast at school!

 Playing with slime with her good friend, Jack!

Snow Day

It snowed and the kids wanted to play in it!! Brooks lasted about 10 mins and then came in because he was cold (mostly his hands).

Man they are cute!

Wearing gloves for the first time. I love his wonder and amazement in this pic!

Brooks- 22 months

Brooks is 22 months old and still a complete dream! He can do no wrong in my eyes and I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed with him! He's my little buddy and mamas boy. I love watching him learn new words and try to speak them. He has his own way of pronouncing things and often times I am the only one that knows what he wants.  Like for Popsicle it is "da do do." Russ is pretty good at understanding what he wants but sometimes he will say "interpretation please?" and ask me what he is saying. 

He loves snuggly blankets and loves to snuggle on the couch!

 He is very photogenic and often grabs my phone and says "cheese!" 

 It was cold but he loves swinging and being outside!

 Snuggling me to sleep. Seriously, this kid. He melts me in every single way!

 He is total boy and loves to play with cars!!

 He grabbed every single one of our soda cans from the pantry and placed them on the counter. I didn't think much of it and just let it happen. While I was upstairs one fell on the ground and exploded everywhere! All over our newly painted cabinets, walls, table and floor! It was quite the mess to clean!

 Fell asleep on daddy's lap at Thanksgiving dinner! I love how this kid loves to sleep. He will ask to go "night night," which is never something Hallie would do. It is probably because this is the only time he gets his binky and he LOVES his binky!!

 Snuggling but he had to make sure he had a ball with us too!

Ahlberg Sibling Temple Night

Every year, in the month of November, around the time Sylvia passed away (Nov. 7th), Joe and all his kids go an do something together to remember her. Normally they just go to dinner and talk but this time they all went to the temple, did a session and then went to dinner at Kneaders.

I am positive that when Sylvia looks down on her kids and Joe that she is so very proud!

Going to the temple tonight was significant because Joe shared a very special story about Sylvia and him. Russ shared the neat story with me when he got home. Sylvia's oncologist was a very positive doctor. He would always say, "We are going to beat this!" or "This is what we are going to do now to beat this" Near the end of Sylvia's life, this doctor pulled Joe and Sylvia into a special room to inform them that there was nothing else they could do. That the cancer had spread and they have tried all the treatments they can and they have done all they could do. I can't imagine how heartbreaking that must have been to hear. I'm sure that Joe remembers and relives this day often. Anywho, Joe and Sylvia went home with heavy hearts. But they knew they wanted to go to the temple one last time together. So, they went to the Jordan River Temple and it was super busy. The chapel was packed and they were in the very back of the chapel. The chapel was so packed that they weren't even sure if they were going to get into the next session or if they would have to wait until the next session after that. The officiator, who picks the witness couple, didn't pick the first couple in the first row that he saw (like they normally do), but instead walked all the way in the back and picked out Joe and Sylvia to be the witness couple. Joe and Sylvia felt like this was no coincidence and that this was Gods way of telling them that he was completely aware of them.

Old picture of Joe and Sylvia and all their kids

 Russ and Brett napping on their mama. So sweet!

Living Room Project

Russ has never loved that we have had carpet in our living room. He wanted to extend our laminate flooring throughout the entire main floor when we built the house but that was SO expensive to do that upgrade. And so we decided not to do it. About a month ago Russ was doing some research and found out that our flooring was being discontinued. So, if we wanted to extend our flooring into our living room now was the time to do it or else we'd have to replace our entire main floor with new laminate sometime down the road.

So, we ordered more flooring and Russ and his dad spent an entire Saturday tearing out our carpet and laying new flooring. I knew the flooring would make our house seem more custom but I was nervous I would miss the "hominess" and "comfiness" that carpet provides. But, we absolutely love having the flooring extended! It is so much easier to keep clean, it makes the room feel bigger, and with the addition of the rug it provides the "hominess" I was looking for and it lightens up the room. I LOVE it!!

 Before

 Finished product with a new rug!