Once Upon a time, there was us.

What have you been up to?

Innocent enough question, yet why bore someone with your day to days when to you it feels like it hasnt been much, yet over the course of time those little day to days can really add up, cant they? Such as if you asked "What have you been up to....in the last week" I'd probably say not much. Again if the question was asked "What have you been up to...in the last year?" Well...a lot really. Last year this time Ash and my Dad were still living with us, and they've now moved on, Dad out to Nova Scotia to finally get the life long dream of retiring, and Ash found the man of her dreams and is now married. Also since a year ago, my sister and her family moved to Grande Prairie from Ontairo and (after a short stay with us) now have house here. In August of 2007 we went on a family reunion cruise to Alaska with Kellys dads side of the family. It was a great way to meet and spend time with them, and looking back it was extra special as Kellys Uncle Sheldon passed away in December, and then 6 weeks later we lost his grandmother as well.

This as the view from the front of the boat, it was sunny the entire time we were there!

In September, we went to see The Blue Man Group. This was supposed to be one of the highlights of our missed Vegas trip so we were very excited that they were coming to Grande Prairie. We were able to take alot of great pictures too.

We have enjoyed living alone again, after 18 months of having friends and family stay its nice to have our own space again, we'd almost forgot what it felt like.

Our home renovations in the last year have been plentiful as well. After missing our trip to Vegas in Feb 2007 (due to the influx of passport applications we recieved ours 2 days after we were supposed to leave) I put my frustrations of missing the trip into painting our livingroom, a very deep/bright red. A bold move some said, but in the end I love it, even though its hard to find stuff to match.

This picture was taken with my cell phone so its not that great, also the picture above the couch was a great Christmas present from all the Watchorns (Kellys Aunt & Uncle and his cousins and thier families). It was getting really hard to find a picture that would work in that spot and Sherry took the guess work right out of it, what a bonus to have some interior decorators in the family.

We also renovated the kids bathroom with a smoky blue color and lots of rubber duckies, inspired by a shower curtain/soap dish combo my sister had found for us .

Over Christmas we took down the shelving in the playroom and painted with the same blue in there as well. We had four 4Lcans (now theres only 3) of this nice blue color due to a communication error between myself and Kelly....good thing we like it lol! During Christmas break we also re-did the closet in the upstairs spare bedroom to arrange my scrapbooking/craft supplies and create more functional storage and and easier clothing access space for a future member of our family.

BEFORE: The east wall of the playroom AFTER: Much less clutter, and more blue too!

BEFORE: Videos and shelving brackets :( AFTER: Clean, clear and blue...now we have bug stickers up there too.

Still a little cluttered, but much more functional than it was.

So if you were to ask us "What have you been up to in the last year?" well....theres your answer.