The following pictures are brought to you by Denovan (because I have no idea how to do it!)
Do you remember when our kitchen/ dining room / living room / hall looked like this?

First to come down was the hall wall paper. I will NEVER paper again!!! And then I brought in the Schaupp Boys to help with the first level of the demolition ( Fun, Fun, Fun)

Yes, even the organ had to go! we couldn't even give it away, so Michal had fun dismantling it.

A special thanks to Michael and Matthew for all their hard work. Also, Kim Richardson and his BIG truck were a wonderful help getting everything to the dump. And Mason Black and his little truck helped with the final clean up.

Because we weren't busy enough, I decided to remodel the upstairs bath at the same time. Again, I called in my favorite go to guys, Michael and Matthew. They even brought in their dad for the more technical work. Thanks again Schaupps!!!

Painting all those stripes was an adventure and a lot of tape!

Sorry that we have no pics of the floor that had to be patched, it turned out great.

The REAL contractors had to be brought in for the heavy duty demolition including portions of four walls. (the 2 windows in the kitchen were made into one large window, the wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed, the doorway into the kitchen from the hall was enlarged and put at an angle, and the doorway into the living room from the hall was enlarged)

Hurray. It is finally starting to almost look like a Kitchen!

As you can see, We have hard wood floors throughout. ( that's a protective cover down the hall until all the work is done) The front door was centered and window " lights" put on both sides. (the door area still needs to be painted.)

Almost done! the grouting was to be done the next day. This view is from the dining room at the top of the new island.

Our new large picture window as seen from the bar side of the island. Don't you love the view? Some of the dishes have already been moved into their new home.

Hey look, no old, ugly chandelier,

Hurray!!!!

This view is from the hall looking through the kitchen to the dining room. Notice the absence of a wall. (the light bulbs in the light over the island were just what we had at the moment not the ones meant for the light fixture)

This view is from the hall at the new widened doorway into the kitchen.

I always wanted pillars, and Lee delivered 2 sets of them: One set between the kitchen and the dining room, the other leading into the living room from the hall.

The new refrigerator was moved to the center and a wonderful pantry built around it. What will I do with all the storage? The protective covering on the refrigerator hasn't been completely removed yet. Lee (our contractor) says we are on the home stretch now. There have been several surprises along the way, but the whole project has really been great. Lee ( general contractor ) has been fantastic, Noah (cabinets) amazing, and Mark (painter) magical. Thank you for all your hard work and patience.

Thanksgiving fun at the Garbett Home! These special turkeys were made for the kids so the adults could eat all the pies and cheesecake. But, the adults enjoyed them as much as the kids.

Okay family and friends, we are finally entering (slowly, very slowly) the 21st century with the help and lots of patience of Denovan. We spent a glorious week in British Columbia and with some prodding, (okay, alot of prodding ) we were convinced to make our own blog site to share our photos. The first slide show is from the Capilano Suspension Bridge in Capilano - of course- just north of Vancouver. Also included are pics from Whistler about 2 hours further north. Whistler will host the alpine sports - skiing, bobsled, crosscountry skiing, etc.- for the 2010 Winter Olympics. We actually stayed in what will be the Olympic Village. It was so beautiful we hated to leave. But, we will return SOON we hope.

We started our trip in Vancouver, British Columbia where we stayed at the Pan Pacific. The Hotel was actually built to look like a cruise ship from the outside, sails and all. From our room we had a beautiful view of the bay and Stanley Park on the other side. We watched the sea planes landing and taking off regularly and the ferries transporting people and vehicles to North Vancouver (the other side of the bay). In the late spring and summer we could have also seen cruise ships docking. The highlight of Vancouver was being able to attend church in Ward that Scott had served part of his mission. We met many who were there when he served, what a wonderful time. Scott was able to find his old mission home which is now listed as an historic sight (privately owned now). The interesting structure that we are standing in front of is an inuksuk, it is a symbol of peace and friendship originating from the aboriginal tribes. It is a fitting symbol for the 2010 Winter Olympics.