We are official homeowners! We got the keys to our house on Thursday and we have been working ever since. We wanted to paint the entire house before we moved in because every wall was a different color...yellow, orange, green, periwinkle, maroon, etc. It was hideous! I knew painting a house was a big job...especially for two people and to do it in a weekend. But we were determined! Ok, Josh was more determined than me. I didn't think it would be that bad, but it was. I got SO sick of painting:) We started after work on Thursday and didn't finish until late Sunday night. We didn't even stop to eat, sleep, sit down, etc. The only breaks we got were going to the paint store for more supplies. I cherished those breaks:) On Saturday I quit. I had enough. I went home around 11...we worked ALL day so I thought that was good enough, but Josh stayed until 3 a.m. He is a real trooper. I have never seen anyone work so hard! He didn't even complain once...but I guess I complained enough for both of us:) In the end it was worth it, the house looks amazing! Talk about an Extreme Home Makeover! Look at those colors! You may need sunglasses they are so bright. The dining room, we were tempted to keep these colors..ha! We had to tape off everything!! The basement living room. We used 11 gallons of primer in the house! Josh using the spray gun! The Dust Bowl! The spray gun went fast but made it hard to breath! Josh is the MAN! We had new carpet put in our basement yesterday. It looks great! I will post before and after pictures soon! We cleaned up the place last night so we are moving in tonight. The work never ends, but we are excited to have a home!

Guess what??? We bought a house!! We are VERY excited. We have been looking at houses for fun, but we weren't planning on actually buying one this soon. Well, we fell in love with a cute brick house on Grace Street...behind REI on 3300 South in Salt Lake City. It is right across the street from Canyon Rim Park and the neighborhood is great. It also has a huge yard with a garden...a big selling point for us. The inside is great too! There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We love the hardwood floors, gas stove, big windows, etc. We can't wait to make this house our home! Here are some picutres of the outside of the house. We close on August 7th, when we get home from Alaska. We will start moving in on August 14th. Of course there are several projects to do...painting being number one on the list. So everyone is invited to our painting party on Aug. 14th and 15th:) It will be FUN..ha!! That is our big news! Have a great weekend!

The Never Ending Hike On Sunday we wanted to do a low key hike...a nice family hike that Matt's dogs would enjoy. So Josh suggested Grandeur Peak in Millcreek Canyon. He told us it was only one mile each way. Sounded great to us!! So we packed up the cars and headed towards the mountains. We parked at Church Fork and started climbing up the trail. There's a waterfall right at the trail head. It was gushing with water. It was a warm day, but luckily there was plenty of shade and little streams for the dogs to get water. Short Dog and Gwen had to be in the lead! They were keeping us on task. The mountains were so green! This is rare for Utah in July. The wildflowers were also out in full force. They were beautiful! We were having a good time hiking along the trail...but after awhile we started to wonder if we were ever going to reach the peak? We had been hiking for a long time, it was only a ONE mile trail, right Josh??? Well, once we got a little higher and could actually see the peak, we knew it was NOT a mile trail. Josh kept saying we were almost there, but he was WRONG! It turns out the trail is actually 6.4 miles. That is a BIG difference than a mile trail. We were all planning on a leisurely Sunday hike, but Nope!! We were doing a 10K hike!! The poor dogs couldn't take it anymore. It got really steep and they were worn out. Their two inch legs couldn't go any further up the mountain. I don't blame them:) So Matt took Gwen and Short Dog back. We were determined to climb to the peak since we were over half way there. So me, Josh, Ben, and Whit kept climbing! We kept hiking and I kept asking, "Are we there yet?, How many more minutes?" Josh kept answering, "15 more minutes." He said that about ten times:) Well, we FINALLY made it to the top!! It was worth it! The view was gorgeous! You could see all of Salt Lake City...and then some! We conquered the mountain!! It was thundering and Matt was waiting on us so me and Josh decided to run down! It was pretty steep but I didn't care, I just wanted to be done with this hike:) We were about half way down and I biffed it big time! I slid on some lose rock and scraped the whole left side of my body. One word, ouch!!! It did not feel good! But, again, I just wanted to be done so we kept running and finally made it to the parking lot. We found Matt and the dogs...and waited on Ben and Whit. Some of my battle wounds. The worst bruise is my upper thigh...but I am sure you don't want to see that:) It's black and blue and swollen to the size of a softball! No pain, No Gain:) We were all starving after our adventure on the mountain. We made paninis for dinner. They were extra tasty! All said and done we had a great time...but next time I am reading the hiking book. We looked at it when we got home and it does say it is a 6.4 mile hike. Josh just read it wrong...completely wrong:) Good times, Good times though!!!

Fun Filled Fourth Ben, Whit, and Matt came to Utah for the 4th weekend. We had a great time! The fun never stopped! On Friday we went down to the Dewey's to celebrate the 4th. We spent most of the day outside at the pool. It was HOT so I am glad we were able to cool off in the water. The first time I met Lincoln he warned me about these basketball games they play in the pool every summer..bloody noses, bruises, kicking, scratching, etc. I guess it is the Lichty tradition. Well, it didn't sound too fun for me so I tried to read my book and relax...but I ended up watching the game because it got pretty intense. Josh and Ben took on Lincoln, Whit, and Matt. Forget about being a loving family, it was war!! I have never seen anything like this. Luckily, I had my camera. I got some great action shots! Josh and Ben trying to strip the ball from Whitney. Where is the Lichty Love??? Nice Shot! My husband the STUD! Matt wasn't about to let Ben get away! Vicious, Vicious, Whitney! Don't make her mad! Lincoln grabbing Josh by the neck! Still fighting for the ball! I am not sure who won the game...the team with the most points or the team with the least amount of injuries? I think everyone got some good scratches, bruises, kicks, punches, etc. At the end of the day everyone still got along! It was all in good fun! The game of Summer 08! And I did attempt to play on Saturday...but I think they went easy on me:) I still have a couple bruises though! We did get some good R and R in too! We had a BBQ, let off some fireworks, watched a movie, etc. Ben on the slide. Me and Joshua! Don't worry we were protecting our retinas! The Lichty Boys! Josh and Matt on the Tramp! Nice Catch! The Gang! Matt, Lincoln, Ben, Whit, Josh, and Me The Best 4th of July Ever!

NIGHT HIKE/ TRAIL RUN/ SCRAMBLE Monday night Maria left a little earlier than normal to catch up on some rest because of our great weekend which we did nothing but go, go, go. We had a great time with each other preparing for our big day! So Maria went home about 8:00 PM so I decided to go for a little trail run which turned into a hike which then turned into a scramble. I ended up summiting the rocky ridge system above Red Butte Reservoir. It was beautiful. I love night hiking and recommend it to all assuming you go prepared. Last night I did plan on being in the dark but did not take into consideration the Mountain Lion factor. I did not see a Mountain Lion and realize Mountain Lion attacks are very very very rare. Today I did a little research on the Internet and don't know how reliable the sources are but I found a few places which said there have only been about 50 Mountain Lion attacks since the 1970's in the US. Which mostly means the Mountain West and California. As I was scrambling down this ridge I came across literally steaming fresh Mountain Lion Dung! I have never been so concerned hiking. As I swiftly made my way down the mountain I took a slight wrong turn. I know this area extremely well and have spent hundreds of hours in this area, but it is a different story at night. I was also in a hurry because I knew there was a Mountain Lion out there somewhere in the near proximity. Well I made it out fine but I have learned my lesson. Night hiking rules #1 Never Hike alone! #2 Carry Bear Mace! #3 Don't rush and get off course! There are probably more things I should take into consideration but after last night these are what I feel are the most important as of today!

A Night with the Aubers Last night we had a special guest at our house...the one and only Aubers! Crissy and Kevin wanted a night out on the town so of course we offered to watch Aubrey! When she arrived Josh was still at work so she kept asking me, "Where did Josh go?" And then she found his hat so she kept saying..."Josh's Hat!" She even wore it for awhile. When Josh got home the fun began. He is great at entertaining kids! We had cereal for dinner, but Aubrey was still hungry so we made her a cheese quesidilla. She loved it! She polished off the first one, so we made her another one...this time she fed some to Josh. And then we all shared a cinnamon/sugar quesidilla. Aubrey liked the sweet treat! After dinner, we played some more, but then mommy and daddy came to pick up the little one. We had a great night!! Thanks for the fun Aubers!