The almost finished product

Without further delay... ah hem... drum roll please.........................

here are pictures of the remodeled kitchen! 

It's just about complete; we just need to hang the curtains and switch out some of the outlets and covers.  We've been need to do that for about 6 weeks now and we can't seem to find the energy to get that done so I'm posting the pictures now!  But it's fully functional and we LOVE it - now if I could just get that cooking thing down we'd be

living the high life!

 From the dining room looking into the kitchen

Again from the dining room looking into the kitchen.  There used to be an upper set of cupboards above the peninsula counter that are now gone - it makes the kitchen a lot bigger!  The over-hang counter with the stools is also new.  I'm still deciding if I like the stools, hence the plastic still on them!

Looking at the sink onto the deck.  I like having my dishwasher close to my sink now.  It used to be on the other side of the counter by the deck doors... not sure who designed that kitchen!

In the kitchen - to the left is the dining room and to the right is the stove.

BEFORE....

AFTER!

Jessie + Tony

On Friday, August 5, we got a new brother-in-law - Nick's sister Jessie got married to Tony!  Welcome to the fam Tony - I hope you know what you're getting into! Only kidding.. (or mostly kidding!) the Frank's are a wonderful family to belong to!  We made the trek to downtown St. Paul on Thursday (only getting lost 3 times between the hotel, church and groom's dinner) and had a wonderful time at the wedding on Friday.  Nick was a groomsmen and Julianne was a flowergirl so we were very "involved."  It was a very stressful day as a mom (only a few tears were shed when naptime didn't go as planned - thankfully my mom was able to take Julianne in her car and drive - to Wisconsin! - so Julianne could get a few zzzzz's).  Julianne ended up doing very well - she walked down the isle with the other two flowergirls, then came and sat by my mom and I during the ceremony, and then walked back down the isle after the ceremony.  Then the partying began - she danced, and danced, and danced until we had to drag her back to the hotel - at 11:00 pm!!  Needless to say, I think we're still trying to catch Julianne up on her sleep.

Here's a few pictures from the weekend:

The Bride with her flowergirls - Ella, Julianne and Shay

At the Happy Gnome in St. Paul for the Groom's Dinner

Julianne getting her hair done - I wish her curls would have stayed the entire day! 

Ahhh... finally the wedding is over and the flowergirls can goof

around and dance in their pretty dresses! 

Two peas in a pod 

Nick and I on the trolley from the church to the reception 

Mr. and Mrs. Headrick

the wedding party

Sheri and Ashley

Ashley and I at one of the trolley stops...

Derek, Ash, Sheri, Nick and I  

 1st Dance

 Father/Daughter Dance

Julianne taking a break from her dancing - it was so fun to watch the kids - they were ALL having a blast.  I think at one point there must have been 15 kids on the dance floor! 

Nick and Ashley

Congrats to Jessie and Tony and thanks for the fun weekend!  We are so thrilled you found each other and we wish you many years of happiness!

Summer Fun

"I love summer!"

Big Girl Update

Well, we had our first "incident" with the big girl bed... Sunday night I woke up to Julianne crying at 12:40 am.  She never wakes up in the middle of the night anymore and this wasn't you're ordinary cry so I knew something must be up.  I went into her room and was a little nervous when I didn't see her in her bed.  I could hear her crying though, so I knew she was close by.  That's when I saw her curled up in a ball with her blanket on the floor in front of her closet!  I'm not sure if she got out of bed before she fell asleep that night or fell out of bed in the middle of the night.  But I am thinking she woke up and was scared - poor thing!!  But I picked her up, gave her a few smooches and put her back in bed and she didn't make another peep until morning.

But other than that one incident, things were going really well - wayyyyyy better than I expected! :-)  She still takes FOREVER to fall asleep, but has been staying in bed.  She even still calls for me in her usual way in the mornings "Mommmmmy, wh'aaare yoouuu???"