"If you give a cat a cookie" Mantle version

When we were designing our home we knew we didn't want a TV above the mantle, so we put it on the east side of the room where we now have J's KC 135 picture. We had an entertainment center and TV for a few months until we decided to not have a TV on the main level and have a couch there instead. We love this, until Audrey. It's nothing against Audrey, but she and her friends would watch TV in our room and ate in our bed all. the. time. Crumbs and kids in our bed weren't our favorite. We didn't want to move J's picture, so we decided to put a TV over the mantle. The only issue was that there wasn't wiring to do that, so...

In order for us to have a TV over the fireplace we had to take off the old mantle and surround along with the floor tile, create a PVC pipe channel for the wiring to go to the cupboard on the left of the fireplace, sheetrock, have stone added along with new flooring. It was a project, but we LOVE how it ended up. 

 

We got a great deal on the mantle, but it meant trying to stain a stained mantle and then going back for an unfinished one. Still, we love the completed work. We used Karl Zeeman again and he did a great job. After he finished the tiling Mike got our frame TV up. I'm blogging from June, so I can confidently say it's been a big hit. 

Audrey starts piano and has her first piano recital

 We tried to have Audrey learn piano from Sarah, but she quit as soon as she heard there would be a recital. We thought she might be ready and decided to go to Ruth's teacher, Miss Kara, in hopes that it would help her stick with it. At her first lesson she learned there would be a piano recital in two weeks and decided she wanted to play in it. We were surprised and pleased at her decision. Sometimes kids just need a little more time. 

Starley Family day at Hogle Zoo

 We took advantage of Hogle Zoo's Veteran's Day free admission and brought along the grandparents. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day in November. We saw all our favorites and were grateful for the opportunity to go together. 

Random October

We took Audrey on a walk in Yellow Fork to enjoy the fall leaves. I love how close we are to this gem. 

Mike likes to pretend he didn't want the cats, but he gives them hugs as soon as he gets home. He even made Buck a mask. ;)

Audrey loves her General Conference forts. Whatever keeps her content works for me. Conference is my favorite, but it can be a big ask for small kids. Audrey did really well. 

 

Halloween Fun

 It's always fun when we get to set up for Halloween. Audrey talked us into setting up at the end of September instead of the beginning of October. Mike must have been out of town, or else he would have protested. ;) 

Sarah and I went to see Thriller at Odyssey Dance Theater. Good show, good company. 

We carved pumpkins on the 25th and just let the girls do what they wanted. On her birthday, she dressed up in her costume and went to her friend Hazel's birthday party and held a giant snake. 

Steven let Audrey try on his costume. He 3D printed the mask and pieced together everything else. 

When the big day arrived we got Audrey all done up and she went to school. Her class sang some cute songs and did a mini parade since their PM Kinder class missed the big parade in the morning. I didn't get any pics at the ward Halloween party, but we took some in front. 

Sarah had a good time at SUU and shared some pictures (Too much fun if you ask Mike) ;)