Visitors!

Jii and Baachan were our first visitors to stay in the "new" basement at the end of June. They don't get to relax very much when they come to visit us--the girls are eager to play with them and they always end up doing a lot of babysitting. But at least this time they got their own bathroom, and their own level of the house for sleeping (which was hopefully a little bit quieter).

We spent a lot of time at parks the first couple of days they were here. The first day we packed some onigiri and met some friends at Spring Canyon Park.

The next day, we did our second annual trip to the Peter Pan park and H-Mart in Westminster.

After shopping our fill at H-Mart, Jii and Baachan treated us to some mochi ice cream. We enjoyed our treats in the car before taking off to go home.

Later that afternoon, Jii pulled about ten little frogs from our window well. 

 The girls were thrilled to play with them.

Another day, some of us tried kite-flying. We got the kites up a couple of times, but there wasn't quite enough wind. Also, we were hot and sweaty, so this excursion didn't last long. Still, I had fun--I haven't flown a kite since I was a child. Being a mom can be hard work, but it always gives you great excuses to play and relive childhood memories.

 That evening, Mika got some early birthday gifts from Jii and Baachan . . .

 . . . and she gave them big hugs.

On the Sunday during their visit, Jii and Baachan came to church with us. That day I was released from a calling (job/position in the church) I held for almost three years. I got to bring home a pretty arrangement of flowers and Baachan took some pictures for me.

Thank you Jii and Baachan for staying with us and playing with us!

We Got A Bigger House . . .

. . . without moving! We recently finished our basement, adding about a thousand square feet of living space to our home. And since we decided to hire a contractor, we didn't even have to do any of the work. This is likely our greatest home improvement splurge of the decade, but so far we have no regrets.

This is what the basement looked like BEFORE it was finished:

Our contractor began work at the end of March. Here is the bathroom and entrance to the storage room:

Here is the hallway:

And here is the entrance to the second bedroom on the right, off the hallway. The hallway opens up to some living space.

Before long, the framing went up. Here is the first bedroom straight ahead with the bathroom to the right and storage room to the nearer right.

 We requested some demo to open up the stairwell:

By mid-April we had some lights and the tub was situated in the bathroom . . .

 . . . and some drywall was up, too.

Towards the end, we got to make some design choices on bathroom tile, light fixtures, and carpet.

The project was all wrapped up by the end of May. Here is the finished product--the AFTER photos:

 Bedroom #1:

 The bathroom:

(linen closet included)

Hallway:

Bedroom #2:

 Living area:

 Looking back on the bedroom entrance:

Upon completion, we have been busy moving in. Closets quickly filled up with storage bins previously shoved into the garage. The guest bed and nightstand got moved down to the first basement bedroom, so now Paula has her own bedroom upstairs (no more sleeping in our closet!) The old PC is now in the basement living area, as well as a herd of stuffed animals and toy instruments. The girls earned a Barbie Dreamhouse I found at a garage sale, which is taking up some real estate in the second bedroom, along with all the associated dolls and accessories. In another corner of the second bedroom, I claimed a spot to put a small cabinet, desk, and sewing machine. Voila! Craft corner! 

And did I mention we have a guest bedroom and bathroom? With all this new space, we are ready for company--who wants to come visit?