Saturday in Auburn with family, Champagne Sunday, cauliflower hash browns?

 Saturday morning we left home about 0730 to head over the hill to Auburn, CA. We were meeting Russell and family along with Eric for lunch. 

Back in December when Jacob came home for the holidays we loaned him our 2008 Jeep Patriot so he'd have something to drive. Now it was time to get it back and it worked out perfectly on a Saturday. 

We had a great lunch too at Old Town Pizza in Auburn. Before you know it though it was time to head out as we don't like to drive in the dark and it was still a few hours back to Carson City where we were spending the night. 

Eric taking the selfie, Russell, Lori, Allissa, Aaron, Ken and me

Kenna is a senior in high school and they had a dance
Saturday night 💖

Sunday morning we were awake early and left the Days Inn around 0745. We got to Betsy's Big Kitchen where we were having breakfast. Perfect time to get there as there weren't many people there yet. Weekends the place is packed from breakfast on! 

We headed home after and of course it was Champagne Sunday. We had an open bottle but he couldn't find anymore! Oh no! 😂 We switched it up a bit and he enjoyed a couple of bloody marys. It was definitely a good day. Nice to relax and have basically nothing to do. 

My mimosa and Ken's bloody mary 😋
He did find 3 more bottles in a garden cart in the garage.
I knew there had to be more somewhere! LOL. 

That doesn't last too long for Ken as he's always finding something to do. 

Yesterday I saw on FB a woman was grilling on her Blackstone and mentioned cauliflower hash browns. Hmmm...so I made some and we had them for breakfast this morning. Not like hash browns, but delicious. Ken told me I can make them anytime I want. Only 2 carbs per serving. Win! 

My egg beaters and cauliflower hash brown 

Ken's been out getting more wood chopped. Good thing we have a log splitter LOL. Now he's working on changing out our electric jack on the Mansion. It stopped working on the way to Arkansas last time. The last two days have been beautiful here. That changes tomorrow. 

Tomorrow we head for Carson City for an echocardiogram for Ken in the am. Then it's Total Wine and Walmart for some groceries. The day and the month will be gone by then. They just go way too fast! 

Have a good evening. Barbecue and a fire out by the outdoor kitchen for us. Does it get any better? Oh yep a glass of wine and a beer! 🍺🍷

The flooring is complete! :) Champagne Sunday

Saturday we headed for Home Depot to get some more flooring to finish up the house.  

Sunday was our weekly Champagne Sunday. LOL.  It was a beautiful day here. Nothing like the last weekend when we had to be inside because it was just too cold. 

Found a place for the sign Mason and Chloe gave us 💗

This is the crust we use for our pizzas. So yummy and I
don't like cauliflower! Frozen food section of Walmart. In the
healthy section. 

All the goodies for our pizza 

The fire just getting started! 

Ken bought this old weight scale when we were last in 
Amarillo, found a place to hang it! 

My pizza :) 

Saturday I had prepped all the fixings for our cauliflower crust pizza. Oh so yummy!  I tried to cook it on the griddle, but it looked like the crust would burn before the toppings were done, so took it inside to the oven. 

We did enjoy being outside, Ken made a fire and it was perfect. 

Later in the afternoon we went next door for an early Happy Hour, even though I was pretty happy before going there! 🥂🍾

Monday and Tuesday were spent on getting the flooring finished. Tuesday at just about 1700 the last piece went down! 😁😁 Happy people here! 

From this 

To this...transition needed here. 

The hallway 

Living room and kitchen 💖 Just under $1650.00 to do 
it all. Sure beats the $3000 to $5000 Home Depot roughly
estimated. Glad Ken said he needed something to keep him
busy!! 😀💙

Today was spent on finish work and I did some painting of baseboards and of course now the door jambs look dingy so gotta get those done. 

Ken was able to get his workshop off the front porch and we're getting things back to normal. Tomorrow is a trip to Home Depot, we need one more transition for the hallway into the laundry room and a few other things. 

Last night we had a yummy dinner. Broccoli cheesy stuffed chicken breasts. Saw this recipe the other day and had to try it. We'll be having it more often. 

Oh so delicious! 

These weeks just go by too quickly! Have a great evening! 

The living room and kitchen are finished (mostly). Hallway is almost done too! Happy Birthday Cheryl! Happy Birthday tomorrow, Wendy and Christina!

Last Friday we headed for Home Depot and picked up 12 more boxes of flooring and some trim we need for around the wood stove. 

Our new floor, Sterling Gray is the color 😁

This is the floor we replaced. Still in really
good condition after 10 years, but I wanted
the kitchen and living room area to match. That grew 
to the hallway and laundry area 😀😀

Saturday we continued working on finishing the kitchen and got some firewood on the porch. With these cold temps, fire is needed in the house. 

Sunday of course was Champagne Sunday so no work was done. LOL. I was really hoping we could enjoy the outdoor kitchen but it was way too cold to be outside. 

Had the wood stove going all day.

The making of Doc's cauliflower crust pizza.
The olives are Ken's. Chicken, mushrooms, yellow 
onion, mozzarella cheese and a garlic ranch dressing

Mine is the bottom half. So yummy! 

I wanted to recreate the pizza we had at Old Town Pizza with Jacob and Allissa. Turned out pretty good I have to say. Good enough that Ken has requested it again for the upcoming Sunday. 😁

This week has been spent on getting the living room completed and as of 1700 on Wednesday it's done! The only thing that's not is the trim around the wood stove as we will need a bigger quarter round. This flooring must not be as thick as the one we took out, even though this is a much better flooring. 

Getting the living room back to order. 

Today, Ken started on the hallway. It's looking good! Not a whole lot left to be done there. We will be making another trip to Home Depot to get some more flooring for the laundry room area and the 1/4 round molding. 

Actually since we haven't been grocery shopping in about 2 weeks a stop at Walmart will be needed too. I've been avoiding going to Raley's, only if I am desperate. LOL. 

We are both very happy with the way the flooring is turning out! Glad Ken was able to do it as he saved us a ton a $$. Now I've got money left for another project LOL. 

Cheryl's Birthday was the 13th. They sent this picture
from a very cold Arkansas! They are still happy they made
the move! 

Grand Nephew, Owen got to go see the Harlem Globetrotters.
He sure is growing up😀

Baby Phoenix at 11 months old 😁

Tomorrow is my sister Wendy and Daughter in law Christina's birthday! January is a definitely a busy month for birthdays in this family! 😀

Time for some more baseboard painting. Happy Hour when Ken's ready! Have a great evening! 

Jacob left today! SNOW overnight! Flooring project has begun :))

 The big news of the week is grandson Jacob left this morning on the USS Theodore Roosevelt for waters unknown to us.  He'll be gone 6 to 9 months. To say as grandparents we are incredibly proud of him, would be an understatement. 💙 Jacob, you will be missed and in our thoughts and prayers daily! Love you! 💖

This picture gets me every time 💖 One last hug before he left. Love the ship in the background. 

He was supposed to leave yesterday but because of some kind of a delay Russell, Lori and Allissa got one more day with him until he had to be on ship at 2300. 

Russell, Allissa, Jacob and Lori enjoying a drink on Tuesday night. 

The proud parents and Jacob 💙

This one includes our sweet Allissa 💗

USS Theodore Roosevelt..Aircraft Carrier! One huge ship!

Russell had to register to get on base. 
They pulled up a photo of him from
when he was in the Marine Corps.
He was 18 and he's 45 now..Yes,
they took a new picture. He looks
like such a baby here 💙

When we went to bed last night it was snowing. We didn't really expect much but woke to at least 6 inches with snow drifts at 12..Cold! 

The stock tank really got a lot considering there was 
no water in it at all! 

Since we only get snow a few times a year, we do enjoy it!

The flooring project has begun! One happy girl here! Since Ken decided to do it even happier that we don't have to pay to have it installed 😀😀 We did buy him a 

new circular saw though. LOL. 

We bought 5 boxes to start, which should do the kitchen. 
Goodbye ugly floor that I've hated for almost 5 years. It 
was supposed to be squares and ended up being diamonds. 
Ken told me from the beginning to get a new floor, but since
we paid a pretty penny for it, thought it might grow on me. 
It didn't! LOL. Living room next! 


Right now it's 23 with a feels like 18, thinking this snow will be around a bit! LOL.
 

We've had a fire in the wood stove all day, so it's nice and toasty here! Looks like a trip to Home Depot soon and more flooring. I'm loving it! 

A quick catch up. New Years, Quick trip to Ca to see Jacob and Allissa, Mason's new to him car, A little snow in Arkansas!

 Time has just gone by so quickly! New Years Eve and weekend was wonderful. We had a small group show up. Adam, Erin, Diane and Jesse came out. Loved having them! 

Thank you Mason and Chloe! We love it! Will find a place in
the outdoor kitchen this week to hang it! 💗

Nephew Jesse, New Years Eve!

Erin ready to ring in the New Year!

I think Gabriel found a new best buddy. He loved Erin!

Erin and Adam..along with Mugsy 💙

Ken, the bartender! 

My charcuterie board. Chris and Eric gave this to me in
2009..these boys are grown now! 💖

New Years morning we went to Karen's and she cooked breakfast for everyone. A tradition you could say :)

This was actually one morning that I cooked! Love that 
griddle! 

Adam and Erin ready to head out! 

Jesse and Diane heading out too! 

Wednesday we headed over the hill to Auburn so we could meet up with Jacob and Allissa before they left on Thursday to head for San Diego. He leaves on the 10th for a deployment 😥 on an aircraft carrier. He's an Air Traffic Controller for the ship. Very proud of our sailor! 💗

Our Sailor! Jacob 💗

😊💙

We spent the night in Carson City so we didn't have to drive all the way home. Thursday we did some running around and looked for some new flooring for the house. We think we found what we're looking for at Home Depot. I'd like to redo the kitchen, living room, hallway and the laundry room area.  I've been saving money so we could buy the flooring and pay someone, but Ken said he needs a job to keep him busy so looks like he'll be doing it. 😊 Hoping next month we can head out somewhere, but darn Dr appts are keeping us here for a bit. 

We've been home most of the week, which is nice. Had a little snow that left us the next day. 

Mason's new to him car. 2014 Ford Focus ST sporty turbo charged 
manual transmission! Be careful Mason! 😀

                                                                 Can't wait to see it in person!

Heber Springs, Arkansas got a little snow. Nope, Daisy
isn't spoiled a bit! 💖💖

Tomorrow we head for Carson and the Tundra's service. I'll take my car so we can run around rather than wait.  Reno for Total Wine, Home Depot for flooring, Walmart, groceries and what ever else we need. 

Just an FYI, this morning was 8 degrees with a feels like 1! Yep cold! 

Saw this yesterday on FB and loved it! Yep, Dance! 💖

Have a great night. Time for bed!