Today we are celebrating Jayson's 6th birthday (which was actually yesterday).  How time has flown by with this little guy.  We got him a TV for his room, which hopefully will be in a new house soon.

Afterward, we will join up with our Jeeple at a local restaurant for some food, drink and good conversation with friends.  It'll be a nice getaway from the mess we call our home.  It's a work in progress.  We expect to have the granite and cabinets done in the next two weeks.  The floor should be finished up by Saturday evening. 

 

Our house is a small disaster right now as our project is well underway.  About half of our new floor is down as its going a little slower than expected but it looks really good.  We really like the color and look of the hardwood we chose.

Over the weekend, we went back and forth over our granite slab selection.  We wound up going in a different direction on the color and the slabs we chose have more of a wow factor.  The granite will definitely stand out n our kitchen.  

Removing the tile backsplash did not go well.  The drywall is crumbling as I remove the tile so I'm just going to break it all up and replace the drywall.  That will be the easiest.  It will also give us an opportunity to do under cabinet lighting with a clean wiring installation.

    

We've been busy around the house as we undertake our our "new look" project.  We spent two days tearing out the existing hardwood floor and prepping for the new.  That was quite a task but we are ready to begin putting down the new floor today.  We are excited to see how it looks.

We went to a granite and tile warehouse on Wednesday and picked out granite slabs that we like.  Our Jeep friend who owns a countertop company will be out today to measure and estimate the project.  The granite tops should be installed prior to our cabinets being custom painted.  Once we finish painting the kitchen walls, our home should have an entire new look in the living and kitchen area.  

We won;t be making Frostbite this year but we have several offroading trips in the works.  We may even make a return trip to the Black Hills to explore the many rock crawling opportunities we didn't undertake on our last visit.  We will be going to SMORR and Hot Springs for Spring and Summer trips. 

My Jeep is awaiting the roll cage to arrive and be powder coated but after some discussion, we decided not to do the seats and harnesses at this time.  I don't think I'm ready to give up my current seats.     

We had quite the weekend as we went to Topeka to check on Nemesis and attend the Wrench-a-thon that our off road club has every year.  While there, Jodi got the feeling that we need a better roll cage so she talked to Mike and they came up with a plan to install one in my Jeep, and I had nothing to do with it, really.  She also picked out Mastercraft seats and cam lock, 5 point harnesses as well.  I'm not so sure I want to give up my current seats for the Mastercrafts, although they are quite nice.  We are still in "discussions" about this. 

Yesterday, Jodi chose a new flooring for our house as well.  She has never liked our honey oak looking wood floors and she wanted it throughout the house except our bedroom so that project has begun.  I started tearing out the old flooring late last night.  It looks like granite countertops are on the to do list as well. 

I only need to sell one more lens to finish up my Canon to Sony camera system conversion.  My backup body is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  I'm really excited to use the Sony system for the upcoming year as I think it will definitely change the way I shoot. 

We are suppose to get 3"-6" of snow today.  Fortunately we don't have anything planned but tomorrow I have to work and then we plan to run out to Topkeka for the Wrench-a-thon and check on the status of my Jeep.  I'm hoping it is done but not sure how long it takes to re-tube a driveshaft. 

Jayson turns six years old in 10 days.  Hard to believe that much time has gone by but he sure has grown up.  He gets to sleep over with us this coming Monday and I know he is excited about doing that. 

I spent Monday evening photographing four of my models during a Valentine's theme shoot.  The girls love dressing up in red and pink and we had balloons and other props.  Always a fun shoot.

As I make the switch to a mirrorless camera system, I sold my last Canon body and then ordered another Sony which will serve as my backup body.  I now only need a Sony 24-70 G Master lens to complete the conversion.

Last night we had our last Model Team meeting before heading out to dinner with friends.  We tried the new Summit Grill in Gladstone and we were really impressed with the design as well as the food.  The layout and decor was very contemporary which fit the food offerings.  It was more upscale than we thought, which was fine, we just expected more of a bar and grill type of place.  We ordered poutine, Ribeye, fish and chicken friend chicken.  It was really good.

We spent much of this past Saturday getting ready for our Model Crew meetings to be held on Sunday.  Saturday evening we drove to Overland Park to have IMO's Pizza for dinner on National Pizza Day.  It was great as usual.

On Sunday, we had two meetings for our model crew applicants and their parents.  It was a great afternoon sharing what we do and we are looking forward to selecting our next team.  We just keep chipping away at the long to do list for the upcoming season.  We have already booked more seniors for this year than at this time last year.