New House!

Our house tour:

Maryland style rowhouse




This is the turtle in our neighbor's yard that Elle and Seb check on every morning after breakfast. They pet it, give it a leaf to eat and then cover it up with bark for a nap.
We told our realtor the one thing we did not want in a house was a split-level entry. Oh, well.
Still working on getting the pictures in.


Our entryway decor- Katie and Kresta's wedding present, the rug I made at Jacob Lake (with a lot of help from a local navajo woman), and our musician sign from the French store (sadly closing in Sept. 09 after 100 years) in Rockefeller center. We had a great time getting Elle and Seb French children's books there. Kelly gave us a framed picture of The Woman's Tonic, Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription as a house warming gift. It's the painted barn in Wellsville near the highway leaving Logan.





Our kitchen. The woman who lived here before us remodelled most of the house and then got a job offer elsewhere. Lucky us.
Eleanor used to eat like a bird until we made this family picture wall. Now, she'll sit and eat for a long time as we talk about everyone in the family. We're missing a few people (hint, send us a picture) and we're already going to change the paint color over the term break.
Our kitchen opens to the dining room and the playroom.

Logan temple.
A friend at Jacob Lake painted this picture of the Grand Canyon for me at the lodge's Chrismtas in July gift exchange. And, a sandpainting from the giftshop.


Gabe's maps of Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
Boston Commons.


Thanks for the carolers, mom!
The most-used room in the house: the playroom. We put the playroom on the main level and the living room in the basement. It made sense since it's more sunny, we are back and forth between the kitchen and the playroom all day long, and the basement has a fireplace that Seb couldn't stay away from.

The most-used corner of the most-used room in the house: my all-time favorite invention of a pegboard craft corner.
We bought pegboard from Home Depot, spray painted it yellow, got the buckets from hookstore.com and filled it with endless hours of fun crafts. Elle and Seb sit at the little table drawing and making things most of the day. I like that the buckets are easy access and easy clean-up. You should make one, too.

We named Eleanor after Eleanor Savage, a darling little girl in our old Kensington ward. Ella's mom, Julie, gave us the book ABC USA to me for my baby shower. I loved the book so much that I decided to frame it. I ordered two more (since the pages are front to back), got 9x9 clear clip frames from IKEA and Gabe did the measuring and hanging (his type-A personality pays off on projects like this). It's my favorite wall in the house. Thanks Julie!

Elle loves owls but we call them hibous (Ee-boo) in french. Picasso, of course, had the best rendering for the room.

Sebastien loves two things in life: books and balls (puppies could be a third thing). He's either reading a book or throwing balls down the stairs to see how high he can get them to bounce.
Thanks to grandma and grandpa for the violin mobile from Argentina. It's survived many moves. Petit Prince came from the French bookstore in NY, too.
The other side of the playroom. I love the maps and Elle and Seb really are readers. They love having easy access to the books.
The tent is endless hours of entertainment. It's always a surprise to clean inside the tent. I never know what they've put in there throughout the day.
We bought this great original art at Red Tree in Hampden, Baltimore. Don't go there unless you're ready for an uncontrolled addiction to fun things.
Elle knows where Maryland is and where Utah is- leaving soon for a visit! Can't wait!
Our view from the playroom. It's nice to back to trees. Just beyond where you can't see through the trees is a dream park....pool, brand new playground (tot lot and bigger one), huge sandbox, baseball diamond, and basketball court. We are either at home or at the park if you need to find us!
I have my eye on a runner for this hallway, but until I get it, we are learning how to hopscotch. Elle almost has the first part, Seb falls over every time.
The main level half-bath just off the playroom. Elle has been going in there and saying, "Mom, shut the door, okay?" I can hear her 'washing dishes' and asking someone if they'd like a drink.
United States Capitol dome and Grande Central Station, NY.


We finally got Elle's 1-year pictures framed. Seb's may take just as long to get framed, or longer since he's the second child.
Our basement. This is where I teach violin lessons- it's where the magic happens! It's nice to have a clean and untouched place to bring someone if they just happen to drop by unnannounced. My students come in the front door and head right downstairs- nice set up for lessons.
Ah, the framed bowhairs, our closest connection to famous string players. If you can't meet them or get a signature after a concert, find their leftover bowhairs on stage and frame them! I asked Carter Brey to sign the back of his bow hair frame at a subsequent concert. He said, "Where did you get this?" I told him I licked my fingers and ran them across the stage floor after he played and found his broken bow hair. He laughed and said, "I'm so glad it's in good hands!" and then signed it. The picture on the top left is Elle's first quartet concert.
Some of my dad's pottery displayed, as always, on top of the bookcase.


I made these silhouettes of the four of us. It was a little tricky getting the perfect side shot of Elle and Seb. I printed the photo, painted it black and taped it to a paper and framed it





Our quilt from Hawaii when we were kama'iana (locals).
Gabe's 5th wedding anniversary present to me. Always wanted a clock.

The quad at USU and NYC.
A favorite print, keeping the cello dry.


Don't look too closely. We haven't finished this room yet. This is where Gabe is most of his life. If he's not working at work, he's working here and studying late into the night and early in the morning. He calls it his bat cave. The treadmill was our gift to ourselves for buying our first house.

I got this for Gabe for his graduation. It's a picture of when he's little. He was watching TV and his mom told him to turn it down because his sister was sleeping. Typical problem-solving Gabe turned it down but listened to it through a fischer price stethoscope.

Full bathroom in the basement. Guests, this is yours!
Elle's room. Elle and Seb were fine sharing a room but now at least Elle doesn't wake up and then go to Seb's crib and yell, "Seb, wake up, Seb!" Seb is getting more sleep these days in his own room. We are going to paint her room and I already have plans to rearrange all of the pictures. She loves her bed and she says good-night to moon out the window every night before going to sleep. If you look closely, you'll see I haven't yet cleaned the vaseline she rubbed all over the window.
Michelle made this for Eleanor.
Great-grandma Shurtliff made this.
Seb's room- unfinished but we took the picture anyway. I'm going to frame the pictures in the book, Agate: what good is a moose? for his wall. Great watercolor pictures- get the book.
Seb loves this firetruck mobile. I had to put it in the corner because he could reach it from his crib and really loved to give it a whack.
Elle and Seb's bathroom.
Peggy Chun's signed prints from Hawaii.
Our bedroom. Our only unphoto-ed place in the house is our bathroom. I love not standing in toys to shower.
Big Sur in California.

Michelle's photos of Logan canyon.


We hope everyone can come and visit soon!