Friends from Japan...

One of Merril's missionary companions, Shun, came to Vegas with his family for a vacation.  While there, he and his wife and daughter, Megumi, drove up to stay at our house and go to Zion National Park.  They brought kimonos for the kids, as well as a bunch of other gifts.  Japanese people are so generous.  Here's all the kids in their kimonos.  Their daughter, Megumi, is on the left.  

They were jetlagged as they left but said they really had a good time in Zions and going to the lake.

Wow! Carpet makes the basement look so nice!

Carpet came on Monday and it looks so fantastic!  It makes the basement look so close to being finished!  

Carpet pad:

Here's the finished carpet.

And here's a crummy picture of the outlets and switches finished.  

The kids have been having such a good time just playing on the soft open space.  Merril and I don't even want to put furniture in it yet because it looks so nice by itself!

Here comes work on the basement!!

The basement has been rolling along!  Painting is almost finished and cultured marble came!  Merril and I have been steadily working on lights, outlets and switches too!  All of which, makes my tummy muscles sore.  I asked Merril, "Why am I always pregnant for these kinds of projects??"  He replied, "You're kind of pregnant a lot."  Touche.

I put in can lights!

The cultured marble for the bathroom looks so nice!

And Maxine and I painted her room a nice turquoise color.  She did most of the rolling and I mainly did trim work.  She only wanted 2 walls painted turquoise and it's a good thing because she was getting tired towards the end.

The other 2 walls in her room were painted white by the painter.  Maxine fought for her 2 blue walls and I wanted her to realize the work that it takes.  So we did it ourselves.  It was just the right amount to be fun and then get tired and finish.

Labor Day plus odds and ends...

Over Labor Day weekend, Grandma C. was going to Phoenix by herself and wanted some company.  So she asked if she could take the 3 older kids.  Juliet and Maxine didn't want to go at first, because of the long car ride, but Grandma talked them into it.  So off they went and Merril, Mikayla and I spent the most serene weekend at home.  There was no mess, no whining, no yelling, just peace.  We've dubbed it our second honeymoon.  We went to the lake for a bit on Labor Day to swim.  Then came home, rode the wiggle car, and grilled some hot wings.

The rest are just some pics I had on my phone.  Mikayla started riding front facing.  She's my most petite of all the kids and has only recently surpassed 20 pounds.

Pretty girl!

Maxine was a lunch lady at school.  ;)  She said it was fun.  She's liking 5th grade, and well, all the kids are liking their teachers.  Juliet seems to be the most satisfied.  In Kindergarten, she complained of being bored a lot.  Now she seems to be enjoying school a lot more in 1st grade, which is good.

And that is all for now.