Renovation & Relaxation

Last week we finally started the bathroom remodel. It started with a day of gutting it all out. It was a mess. It didn't take too long and several trips to the dump later, we had a gutted bathroom. After some initial prep work with the plumbing, we put in a new window and a new tub and it was ready to put back together. This is what it looked like at that point.

Tucker and I had planned a little getaway and it just worked out to be during all this mess. It was actually great timing. We left last Thursday morning, dropped the kids off at my parents home and headed for St. George for the weekend. We had planned to have the walls prepped, tile done and have it all painted by the time we got home, but things never go as planned. The tile was finished when we got home and it looked GREAT. Hopefully the rest can be finished up this week and we can at least have a functioning toilet and tub again. The cabinets are still not done so we have a while before its all completed.

Tucker and I had a wonderful and relaxing weekend together. It was a much needed break and fun to be just the two of us. We commented on how quiet our drive down was. It was nice to have uninterrupted conversations all weekend.

Our first night there we got tickets to see Footloose at Tuacahn. We loved it. I haven't seen a show there that hasn't been really great. The main guy in it, "Ren", was played by a guy who was on So You Think You Can Dance last season. He was incredible.

I enjoyed not having to cook a single meal the whole weekend. We ate at some of our favorites places...Pizza Factory, Capriatti's, In-N-Out Burger as well as trying a few new places. We met some friends for lunch at a Mongolian BBQ place that was really good and finally tried Twentyfive Main Cafe for dinner and dessert. They're cupcakes are so good, I wanted 3 more.

We also decided to go horse back riding our last night there. I haven't been for probably 20 years so I was a little bit nervous, but we had a great time. We met our tour guides Patty & Mike and had our own private ride at sunset near Snow Canyon. It was perfect weather and fun to watch the sun set on our way back. I experienced a very sore bum for several days after though.



Other fun things we did...hung out with our friends Adam and Jenny at there lovely home in Cedar City, saw The Proposal in a completely empty theater, enjoyed afternoon naps, read an entire book, free Iceberg shakes (courtesy of Facebook!), a little bit of shopping and lots of peace and quiet.

By Sunday we missed the kids and were ready to go home and give my parents a break. We were smothered in hugs and kisses and "I missed you's". Somehow my kids seemed as if they'd grown up in 3 short days. They had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa going to the zoo, a ward carnival, and a family reunion. A huge thanks to my mom and dad, I know how exhausting they are and I'm sure they were ready to crash by Sunday night.

It's amazing what a few days away can do to recharge you and make you a much more patient mom.