First Upholstery Experience...

My mother-in-law has asked me to reupholster her kitchen chairs several times.  She wanted me to go just pick some fabric for her.  Um... No!  I don't do that for anyone.  I have a very odd style and I never want to make people live with what I choose.

Like I said, she has asked me SEVERAL times and each time I tell her to pick out her fabric and I would do it.  *Note: I have never reupholstered anything* I was slightly afraid that it would be harder than it looks.

She finally got sick of the old fabric.  It's quite stained and doesn't match anything else she has in the kitchen our the neighboring room.  So, on Saturday when I got home from work, she asked if I would go with her to Joann's to pick out some fabric.

She was pretty shocked when we got there because she had no idea how many  patterns and textures they have, just in the upholstery fabric alone.  After seeing it she forgave me for not just picking one for her.  :P

She wasn't really sure what to get so she asked what I would get.  This is my philosophy on picking fabric...

1.  Never ignore your first response to a fabric!
2.  Texture!  I love fabric that makes me want to rub it!
3.  Realize that the "rule book" on home design and pretty much been thrown out the window.  Pick what you like!  Try to find one that fits in with the color choices in the room, but if the pattern is modern and the room it will be in is traditional.  WHO CARES!!!  It's will just make it that much more fun to look at!

Needless to say, she found a fabric that she really liked, fits in with the room colors, and has AWESOME texture!  SCORE!

Now, the hard work...

I learned really quick that there are a lot of staples used on upholstered seats!  A LOT!!!  That was the first job....

To accomplish the task, this is what I needed...

Getting the staples out was the hardest part!  First, I used  a steak knife to pop them up a little, then a screw driver the get one side out, then the needle nose pliers to pull it out...

The rest was cake.  Eyeball the fabric around the guts of the cushion, cut it and staple it on.  Since these chairs were bought the previous fabric on them, it came with this black mesh that went over the back to make it looked finished underneath.  So once I got the new fabric stapled on I reattached that black stuff so it looked all nice.

I will give fair warning to anyone thinking of tackling this project.  Whichever hand is dominant, that one will get pretty beat up.  Just to show you (Which pictures don't do it justice to how much it hurts)  I took a picture of my right (Dominant) and left hand so you could see the difference..

See the skin how it's just kinda bunched up..?  That's normal...

This is the messed up one.  It's all swollen and hurts something fierce!

ANYWAY!

Lets get to why all this time and pain and such was worth it....

The Finished Product!

She is probably going to change the color of the chair, but for now, I don't think it looks too bad.  It fits in so much better, and is not all gross and stained. (Plus all new stains will be hidden really well) ;)

Well, that's my first upholstery experience.  I can say that I will not have a hard time doing it again to maybe a chair I get or what have you!

Yay, for having some free time from work to do such cool things!

Baby Gryphin

Our family is so happy to welcome Troy and Scheli's newest member!!

Gryphin Troy Hatch
Born September 13, 2012
12:59 pm
9lbs 5 oz
19 1/2" long

When Scheli found out she was pregnant again, it was a very happy moment.  We joked with Troy that he was going to get himself another girl, and they would have to try again for a boy.  Lucky him, he got his boy. You couldn't slap the smile off his face, he was so excited.  Phynix was very happy to have a sibling to teach new things, and help take care of.

Not too far into the pregnancy it was apparent that he was going to be a pretty big boy.  Scheli was measuring way above what she was supposed to.  Towards the end, she was getting bruises to prove how big and strong he was.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from Troy saying that they were at the hospital and that she was far enough along to have her epidural, so it wasn't going to be too long.  Sure enough not 3 hours later he was here.

Angie came down for a wedding in St. George, so it was perfect timing for her to be there to see him.  Phynix spent the morning with Angie, Brian, and Jace at the zoo, and when they got back we all went over to the hospital.

Phynix knew she was getting a baby brother, but I don't think she realized she was going to see an actual baby, not just her mom's tummy, when she got to the hospital.  She was kind of nonchalant when Troy talked to her on the phone and told her.  When we got to hospital and she was able to see that there was an actual baby there she was in total aw...

She couldn't stop touching him.  Almost as if she needed to make sure he was really real.  It was so adorable.

I got photo's of everyone holding him.

Proud Daddy!

Aunt Angie

Slightly baby phobic Me... 

(I'm getting better!)

 Proud Grandpa

 Adoring Grandma

We are so happy to have him here.  They are such a cute little family!

P.S. That little seahorse in the first picture was from me.  Phynix told everyone that it had to be by him to calm him down.  :P  She knows how these things work.

Oktoberfest and Other Adventures...

I'm so glad that I have friends that are well informed about the fun things to do during the year.  I swear, work makes me live in a bubble.

With that being said, Brynn and Justin wanted to go Oktoberfest, up at Snowbird. Saturday was the best day so I needed to hurry it up at work so we could get headed up there.  Lucky me, I was on the easy route so I was able to be done and heading home at around 1:45!  (That's a really good day!) Houston had to run to Provo for something, so we left at around 3.  Once we arrived we had to search out things to do.

There were tons of people with hug mugs of beer everywhere.  That was something we didn't want to indulge in, but we knew there had to be other things to do.  We got some "sweet waffle"  then headed over by the ski lifts.  We wanted to do this thing called the Mountain Flyer.  It's pretty much a little two seater contraption on a lift cable.  They pull you up to the top and then you come flying back down.  We had to walk around and in the process we found what I was looking for.  Face Painting!!!  They also did henna so I did that instead.  Brynn got a black cat and moon painted on her face (regular paint)  I got a lotus flower on my arm in henna.  The boys didn't do any painting.  After that we did the Mountain Flyer.

Brynn takes such good pictures!

It doesn't stay looking like this.  All the paste chips away to leave the lotus pattern underneath.  It only will last about 5 days to a week. 

  Then walked back down and looked through the little booths.  I ended up finding a tile magnet with the Swedish Dala Horse on it, and of course had to buy it.  :P For good reason...  Both Houston and I's families hail for Sweden.  Go go heritage!

After that we took our pictures. And went into the food tent to listen to the polka band perform.

Then played a bean bag game, that you just try to get it into the hole of a board that's about 15 away.

Brynn was the first to get it in the hole.

 Yeah, I'm sporting only one sleeve because I'm still waiting for the henna to dry and can't touch it. 

After that, we decided we were good to head out.  The boys had talked about going to The Pi for pizza.  Mmm.... I love The Pi.  Funny thing, Houston and I, and Brynn and Justin both ate The Pi for our first dates. Ha ha!  (All the cool people do it)  If you ever get a chance to go here though, get the Pizza Pull Aparts (without cheese)  They are awesome!

We went to The Pi that's in South Jordan so.... I asked if we could take a little detour home...  :)

Most everyone who reads this knows why I wanted to visit this place.  It was also just the right time of day to get some good pictures too. ;)

I give you...

The

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

The next pictures taken here we will be in much nicer clothes

After we took some pictures we decided to drive around through the neighborhoods around there and see all the nice homes.

On our way out, I had to get one more picture of the temple....

So pretty...  We are really excited!

Seattle/PAX 2012

Houston likes something called Penny Arcade.  In Seattle they have the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)  Pretty much what PAX is, is a big expo where gaming companies come to show off their new games. Houston wanted to go so... We did.  We have friends that live there so, that makes it even easier to go.  I took a bunch of pictures of our adventure at PAX and elsewhere.

Here are the picture I took at PAX

Sony had a new Alien game so they had this huge 

thing that could sit in and have your picture taken.

Houston playing a Sonic the Hedgehog racing game.

Houston and Sam standing in the midst of the crazy.

Lots of people came dressed up as different game characters.

This was a pretty serious costume!

I had to take a picture of this guy.. 

I wonder if he wears his hair like that all the time..?

Houston playing Playstation's All Stars Battle Royale

Our pass to get in.

Oliver couldn't come into PAX with us so Chuck got him a Gandolf hat. 

One thing you have to know about whenever we go to Seattle.  We get taken to the best places to eat.
Photos of those places too...

We dared Oliver to put an Ice cream ball in his mouth.  It was about the size of a golf ball...  I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. 

This place a conveyor belt sushi place.  You watch as plates of sushi come around on the belt and take the ones you want.  The plates have different colored rims, and that tells you how much they are.  

Next stop Korean BBQ.  So good!!!

Houston and Chuck

Sam eating Octopus

Sam convinced me to eat some too.  I would only eat a leg.  I was pleasantly surprised, it was actually pretty good.  

Are you hungry yet...?

This is one of my favorite things.  Boba.  Those little black things are tapioca.  So good!

We had to hit Pike's Market...

The first trip Houston took to Seattle like 5 or 6 years ago, he took a picture like this.  The last time they went on the guys trip, everyone took one.  

Now it's my turn.  :D

The best part.... The Flowers!

Here is a few more random photos....

Houston and Sam love to play Magic... Dan is also an avid Magic player.  So Dan took us into the card shop he goes to.  They lady who owns it was nice and gave us all a free starter pack.  Houston taught me how to play and I won my first game!

All sorts of Asian candy can be found in Seattle.  The White Rabbits are sooo good!

The Seattle guys! (Minus Bee)  

From left to right..

Wendy, Oliver, Dan, Robert, Andrew, and Chuck.

We were up so late our last night there.... Houston was way tired. 

On our flight home we passed by Mt. Rainier.  We weren't supposed to have electronics out yet, but I couldn't resist taking a picture.

We had such a good time.  The guys in Seattle are so awesome to taxi us around all over.  Now we can look forward to our next trip there.