Basement Celebration

We had our Grand Opening of the basement on two separate days - one for Matt's family and one for mine. Everyone got to admire Matt's handy work and try to beat him at Fooseball (which is impossible to do).

Me holding Preslee - she's wearing the outfit I bought her and her bunny slippers from family in Colorado.

Me, Preslee & Trevor

Kacie, Tylynn (Eric's cousin), Matt & Eric playing fooseball.

Steve (Eric's dad) bonding with us.

Eric and I playing with the mom's - they've never played before and it was hilarious to watch! From left to right - Cindy (my mom), me, Tylynn, Pat (Eric's mom), and Eric.

Little Aubrey checking out the fooseball table - "I want to be an expert just like Matt some day!"

"Ahhhh....we're finally done!"

My dish chairs from college came in handy since we don't have the money right now to buy furniture. The couch, coffee table, end tables, and lamps are hand-me-downs from Melanie and Jason. Thanks!!!

Matt and Ryan (Angela's Husband)

Matt & Angela - "I hope you know I was the fooseball champion in middle school!"

Matt and Jason (Matt still stands undefeated)

Aubrey's favorite part was the slippery covers on the guest bed.

Matt and Grandma Bernice from Wisconsin - she stole our #17 Matt Kenseth racecar that was for Trevor to play with, because she knows his grandma. That's okay, Grandma, you can have it as a souvenier.

The Traditional Thanksgiving Reading

The tradition was started a couple years ago that our nephew, Tyler, would read The Story of Babar at Thanksgiving. His hilarious accent and clever remarks entertain us all. We have really come to enjoy the tale of Babar.

The Beginning

The elephant's dead corpse

Going into the city

Going shopping

Babar being careful not to burn his jacket

Like most professional performances, there were no pictures allowed during the reading.

The king desinegrating

Cousins?

The End

Two Thanksgivings

Matt and I went to two Thanksgivings - one with my family and one with his.

My cousin, Beth, holding Kacie's baby, Preslee.
Eric's dad, Steve relaxing on the couch.

Amy preparing her delicious Sweet Potatoes!

Trevor snuck a marshmallow!

Me holding Trevor after he got up from his nap.

Preslee standing with help. She loves to stand and is very strong for a 9 week old!

Me and Preslee (She is wearing Trevor's old Thanksgiving outfit)

When you get her to smile just right, her eyes squint and she has two dimples!





Matt's Family

We're ready to eat!

My niece, Teagan.

"Hope I have room for round two!"

My goofy nephew, Tyler. (And Matt's cousin, Ashley, on the left)

My niece, Kaitlin, 6 weeks old.

Matt's Aunt Janine holding Kaitlin.

Matt and Kaitlin

Kaitlin with a pretty bow in her hair.

Our niece, Aubrey, wearing her Favre jersey and a cute jean skirt.

Matt reading Aubrey a story.

Our Basement is Finished!!!!!

The basement is finally finished after about 2 1/2 years of working on it! It began April 2007 with a meticulous drawing that Matt drew on the computer, deconstruction of the old basement, and then new construction began. He spent almost every waking minute in the basement - including evenings and weekends. Matt did almost everything by himself with occasional manual labor from friends and family. He did the wiring, plumbing, framing, drywalling, woodwork, tiling, installing, and painting. I was usually standing by for assistance and moral support.

The guest room

The bathroom vanity

The tub and toilet (notice the tiled access panel)

The bathroom

The furnished living room

The sitting area

The living room including Matt's Fooseball table

Before - The egress window in the bedroom.


After - the window in the living room. Matt had to cut the wood to size to create a frame around the windows. This was a long and complicated process.


The egress window in the bedroom.

Beautiful polyeurathaned wood.

Before - The stairs

The gorgeous pine column wrap.

Pine baseboards around the column wrap.

Before - the polyeurathaning/woodworking/construction area/tornado zone!

Someone forgot to cover the Fooseball table early in the construction process. Now there's a little clean up to do.

"What am I going to do now that everything's done?"

Before - the living room

Before - the living room

Before - the bedroom

Before - the stairs

After - the bedroom

After - the stairs

After - the living room

After - the living room