The Outside

Here's the house I grew up in. My folks bought it 30 years ago and mom has spent every year since working on the landscaping. She did a pretty darn good job, if you ask me.



Here's a small corner of the backyard. It was a good shot for selling the house, but it doesn't show the incredible plants and flowers she's got everywhere there isn't lawn.

The Ground Floor

Here is mom's pride and joy. Her kitchen. :-D They just redid some of this ... they refinished the cabinets, changed the counter tops and added the backsplash. When everyone is in town for visits, you can usually find most of us hanging around in here.



Here's the rest of the kitchen, from the other side of the island. (There used to be a grill in the island, but when they changed the counter tops, they had that removed.)



If we're not in the kitchen, then we're all here, in the family room.



This is mom and dad's dining room. One of the requirements for a new house is a dining room big enough to fit their 12 foot dining table.



And here's the living room (and a glimpse for the front entryway). This room rarely gets used, except when someone needs to escape for a little privacy to read or something. Despite the lack of doors, it's surprisingly easy to "disappear" into this room and get left alone.



And here's the "5th bedroom," aka the office. Mom and dad just redid this room about a year, maybe a year and a half ago. It is SO MUCH better than it used to be! The flow is fantastic and two people can work easily in there. Now that my nephews are computer addicts, this room gets a fair amount of use when we're all in also.

The Upstairs

And here is the master bedroom. The closet door is open so on their "for sale" brochure, folks could see it's a walk-in closet. Behind where the photographer is standing, is a huge double-window and on either side of the window are two built-in closets. Those are my dad's. Mom gets the walk-in. :)



And here's the master bathroom. They redid this probably about 4 years ago, maybe 5. Behind the photographer is a little nook where the toilet is and a fantastic sauna shower next to the counter.



Here's the "kid's bathroom" in the upstairs hallway. They -just- redid this space after we were all in for Christmas/New Years. I love the funky sinks mom found. :D



And here's my bedroom. :D Although the dolls that are on the bed aren't mine. I think they're mom's, but I'm not sure.