The Finlays

Home Renovation Part 1

When we bought our home a little over a year ago, it was structurally very sound, but needed a lot of updating. We have done a lot of home improvements the past few months. We started by demoing the kitchen and bathroom after Christmas. We ended up completely gutting the kitchen and adjoining bathroom and starting over. Here are some before and after pictures.

The kitchen.

The floor was so bad, it was cracked and peeling in places.

The bathroom.

Please notice the two colored toilet and the crack on the top.

The sea shell wallpaper had to go...

Here's what the kitchen and bathroom looked like after being gutted and the new hardwood floors about to go in.

Ian and I did some of the work ourselves in the bathroom and hired out most of the other work for the kitchen. We learned a lot - like how to tile a bathroom floor.

Life was like this for a couple of months while the kitchen was being finished. We moved the fridge into our office and set up a little kitchen there. We also got well acquainted with restaurants in the area:)

Now, the after pictures....

We are loving our new kitchen!

New Years

For New Years, my little brother and sister (Nathan and Whitney) got to come visit. We enjoyed exploring the Getty Museum. Apparently the dress code was to wear pink and stripes:)

We picked citrus fruit in Ian's Grandparent's orchard.

We had breakfast at the Santa Anita Race Track and watched the horses warm up for their races.

We had a pizza party at Larry and Lisa's house with their pizza oven.

My mother-in-law, Margaret, helped us get in special to see the Rose Parade floats.

They had their first experience throwing marshmallows at cars on New Years Eve on the Rose Parade route.

We then went back in the morning to watch the Rose Parade. I am always blown away with the incredible floats.

Some Spartan fans getting excited about the game.

Ian's favorite part is always the fly over to start the parade.

Ian still has four living grandparents who both came to the parade. It was fun to also spend time with them over Christmas and New Years.

At one point a float broke down and we had to wait a while for the parade to start moving again. Luckily, the Harlem Globe Trotters were stopped in front of us so we were able to get a picture.

We drove down the coast and had breakfast at Las Brisas with my cousin Taylor and his wife Brooke.

Afterwards, the boys did a little surfing and the girls got to relax on the beach.

We sure enjoyed Whitney and Nathan's visit. Come back soon!

Joshua Tree

We enjoyed taking a trip down to Joshua Tree with the Finlays.

Everyone enjoyed hiking and climbing all over the rocks there.

We couldn't pass the opportunity for a dinner at Cafe Rio on the way home.

Christmas 2013

This year we stayed home for Christmas in California with Ian's family. We enjoyed a fun-filled week filled with activities to celebrate the season. We went down to the Los Angeles temple to hear Brad (Ian's dad) sing in a Christmas concert. We also took time to walk around the grounds and see the lights.

We enjoy attending the Brush Family Christmas party every year. The Finlay's neighbor is a food stylist and always puts on an incredible display of food. This year there were over 30 different types of desserts.