The Cramers Go To Washington

*Here we are,so excited to start working! Little did we know....*

At the end of March we were able to take off to visit Russell's parents in Washington state. We went during his dad's spring break (he teaches school) so we could help do some home renovations and of course visit! We went for 9 days and had big plans! We flew into Seattle on a Friday and drove 3 hours to Russell's home town of Othello. Seattle was beautiful and it was a pretty drive. Russell hasn't been home in over a year, so it was nice to go back and have a little vacation.

We knew that we would be working most the time we were there, but we were super excited to help out doing anything we could to help update the house a little. My in-laws want to move in the next year and realized that they hadn't really updated a whole lot in the 20 some years they had lived there- so we definitely had our hands full! Unfortunately, my father-in-law had his appendix burst a few weeks prior to our visit and still was not feeling well. He was not able to help us as planned because of his health, but we still got things done anyway!

We mostly did painting throughout the house. Now I LOVE to paint, but this was a little much! We painted their living room, entryway, guest bathroom, kitchen, dining room and family room. We wanted to do the 3 bedrooms and other bath but we just ran out of time (and energy!) We stuck with a pretty basic color (we just couldn't convince them to do something a little more drastic) but we did convince them to do 2 accent walls in a really pretty brown. The rest of the walls were a really light brown/cream color. It looked really nice when we were done!

This is one of 2 accent walls in a pretty mocha color- it was one of my favorite walls to paint! My mother-in-law loved helping too. This was her first time painting!

We also replaced light fixtures, hung new blinds and drapes, replaced the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and did lots of cleaning/dusting! It was fun to decorate someone elses house- especially when it came to the shopping! It's much more fun to spend someone elses money :) We worked all day long and most nights well into the night. I couldn't believe how sore we both were and how tired we were! But it was for a good cause!

*such cute paint clothes!*

Besides all the work going on inside, Russell was able to help with some major tree trimming outside and we managed to squeeze in a few visits from Russell's brother and his family. We got to see our nephew that we haven't seen since he was born, and we soon became the favorites of almost 3 year old Matthew. They are both so dang cute and it was fun playing with them and visiting with Douglas and Mandy.

*Matthew having a snack*

*Smiley Mark with Grandma*

We even found a few moments to relax here and there

*Russell and his dad*

One night when we were getting ready for bed I kept hearing a funny noise and was asking Russell what it was. After much searching, we pulled back the shower curtain to discover this:

Sammy apparently is a big fan of the water from the tap.

We had such a good time and can't believe how quickly the time passed. We got most of the things done we started but had to leave a few unfinished projects behind. Thanks to Douglas for helping finish them! We can't wait to go visit again and maybe tackle some more fun projects!