Downstairs/new couch

Hey all,
Just wanted to show you the finished look of the basement, we just got our new couch. Can't wait to have you all over to watch some movies and "veg on the couch" eh Dad!

Basement Remodeling

Some of you know that we have been fixing up our basement by furring out the walls so we can insulate and put up a vapour barrier. Well, we are getting close to the finished product. Above you can see the soffet we built to hide the heating/cooling ducts and also the copper piping that we ran from our dryer to the fireplace for our gas fireplace.

Here is Betsy putting up the insulationg, lots of fun, no I mean lots of itching. Below, you always have to have a cold Diet Coke to keep the body going.

We have started putting up the sheetrock and are getting ready for the next inspector's visit, we have had 4 visits from the city already, for gas, electrical and framing. We probably could have been done 3 weeks ago if we didn't have to wait for inspections. We will have some updates as we get closer to the finished product!

Anna's Cabin 2007

Hey all,
We got to spend an awesome weekend up at our friend's, Anna and Nick, cabin. Fun times were had by all - fishing, water-skiing, skeet shooting, and other nafarious activities:)

S&B Julien

Our Innocent Digger

It wasn't me...really.

Arbor Day and the Girls

Here are a couple pics, we planted a few trees in our yard for Arbor Day, and the bottom pic is of Betsy's girlfriends at Pat and Tammy's wedding. Fun times:)

Picture from Mark

hey Farkus, thanks for the print man, here it is framed in our bedroom. It looks awesome!

Norman Loves Dirt

Our dog Norman has found a new passion, digging up our new seeded grass. We think he is trying to get the moles in the ground but we don't think he has caught one yet. Sure is fun to clean him up after, it is becoming a daily ritual.

And After!

We did a little upgrading on our floor by tiling and then we stripped and restained/revarnished our closet downstairs. The closet did have 4 shelves but I removed the bottom shelf and made a coat closet so we have a place to put our winter gear during the summer months. We are currently working on the baseboard trim which is proving to be difficult since we are having to drill into a concrete plate and can't just nail the boards up. Overall, we are pretty happy with the results so far:) Now the rest of the downstairs to conquer.....!

Before

Here's our latest home reno project, this is our downstairs mudroom.

More Snow:)

More Snow Pics

More Snow Fun:)

Hey so we got about another foot of snow last night making the total about 3 ft over the last week or so:) Norman just kinda dissappears in it when he walks around the yard. We are having lots of fun:)

GO CANUCKS GO!
The Minnesota Julien's

Norman in the Snow

HI Y'all!
We are covered in about 2-3 feet of snow down here in Minnesota and it's not letting up. Here's Norman enjoying nature's playground. Hope you all are well! We are stuck in our house almost literally, but we have NO SCHOOL OR WORK TOMORROW YAAHOOOEEY!!

Blessings,

The Minnesota Julien's

Watch out pheasants here I come

Canadian Thanksgiving and Norman

 

Quarter II - Tettegouche, Norman, I'm A Gun Owner

Hello Again,

I'm not sure who actually reads this blog since it is updated so rarely, but here's a Halloween treat for all you who may have ventured here.

So...all is well here in Minnesota, we have had a little snow already, but it has been pretty nice of late. The weather man says that Canada is sending down some more cold air, so thanks a lot everyone back home!

Betsy and I have had some fun adventures in the past few months. We went camping up on the North Shore as they call it here in Minnesota, which is the north shore of Lake Superior. We went the last weekend of September so all the leaves were at their brightest peak in colour. (Look below for pics) We were with our friends the Lovas's and the Knight's and we had a blast hiking, cooking, eating, and doing all those fun things you do when you camp. Our campsite was on a cliff that fell straight to the lake so that was pretty amazing.

Norman is growing and growing and growing, he is like a weed, but he is still the teddy bear furball puppy we love to carry around like a baby. He is just a little bit spoiled and I'm not sure if he actually knows he is a dog. We dog sat Conan "the Barbarian" last week and even though Norman was about 4 times the size of Conan, Norman took a beating from the Barbarian as he is rightfully named. We have definitely raised a lover, not a fighter, to my chagrin at times. I just want our dog to be able to stick up for himself. It's actually funny cause a couple nights later we were over at Betsy's uncle and aunt's place and Norman was wrestling with their big dog Tyson, who if Mike Tyson was a dog, he would definitely look like Tyson. I guess Norman just likes a fair fight:)

In the American way and in the Minnesota frontier's man tradition I have bought a gun. I have a Remington 870 Express 12 gauge shotgun that I can use to blast poor birds from the air with the pull of a trigger. I will be going on my first pheasant hunt in the coming weeks after the deer hunters have cleared out so that I am not shot at. Since there are not a lot of places to go flyfishing for trout in Minnesota I have succomb to the hunt. Should be fun, I'll let you know how it goes.

Other than that, Betsy and I are doing well and having fun with life. Hope all of you are well.

Keep your stick on the ice,

Stefan & Betsy

Our Quarterly Blog

Hi All,

Well it has certainly been awhile since we last updated our blog, which never really got off the ground and running, actually it's been limping like a three-legged hippo for quite awhile, so sorry about that for those who have been kind enough to care and look at our page. Anywho, with lots of time inbetween blogs I will have lots to write about.

As you can see we use our blog as an online picture sharer, which I think we are allowed to do on blogspot and if not well they haven't stopped us yet. So you can look at the pics below as I will try and explain them.

Betsy and I have been having fun this summer with our new puppy who is named Norman, he also goes by Stormin' Norman or just Norm. Betsy tried to name him Brit but that was kiboshed by someone mentioning that it was like "Britney Spears", thank you to whoever said that. Norm is a lot of fun, he likes to chew on sticks, toys, chairs, toys, carpet, toys, tools, and more toys. We try to keep it at least 50/50 from things he is supposed to chew to things he shouldn't. He's getting better luckily. He's pretty good at cuddling and he loves to give everyone he meets a big wet smack on the cheek. Pictures below:)

We were recently back in the motherland of Canadia, I mean Canada, living in the USA can do that do you, beware! ASIDE: I recently started reading a book called 'How to Be A Canadian', don't worry I haven't forgot, I was lent it by Betsy's Aunt Julie who met Canadians on a cruise and they sent her this book. Sorry about the long explanation, anyways, it's a funny book and I have kept Betsy up the last week reading it and laughing before going to sleep at night. So back to our trip, we were in Canada for my cousin Spencer's wedding in Vancouver, which was a beautiful wedding and lots of fun for all (see pics below). As you can see from a couple of pics below the Julien family tore up the dance floor in high style with many new dance moves introduced by Mark Julien from his opulent bag of body waggles.

Fun times were had at the cabin in Pt Roberts with the traditional sandcastle being built by the Grimston/Julien clan. We almost conquered the tide this year, a lot of work and engineering from previous years proved insufficient and a new heroic effort will be made next year. So far the count in the TIDE vs Sandcastle is now at an alarming 150 to 1**, this tradition has been carried on for 3 generations according to Dad. (**One year there was a slack tide and the sandcastle was built on the beach above the high tide mark, historians do not include this phenomenon due to unfair advantage given to sandcastle and utter stupidity) We have yet to find an answer to many of the distructive advantages the TIDE has in this battle, namely, little kids who love to run around the sandcastle and break down the walls by falling on them, also seaworms that weaken moat walls by boring holes. Final words, we fought the good fight this year team, don't lose heart, there is always next year.

Apologies to any who have never been apart of the sandcastle building effort for that long and unintelligible story. Pictures also include a young beau of Noni's called Brad who braved the sandcastle effort and day at the beach with THE FAM, kuodos to you.

Ummm, well I don't know what other pictures are of. If you have any questions, especially about the one with Mark's crazy hairdo, don't ask. Hope everyone who reads this blog is happy and healthy and about to do something more fun than reading this blog:) Till another 3 months or longer has past.

Adios Amigos and Amigas,

The Minnesotan Julien's

(Disclaimer: Betsy wrote everything in this blog and all lawsuits and injustices can be sent to her) keep your stick on the ice!

A random mix

The first is a picture of our softball team enjoying a FREE beer, on the house "Big Ten". Next is Papa JJ, Stef and me at the cabin in Summerlad. Then, who's the lucky guy? It was actually his birthday and this is my B.S. gang at Nick's annual Sunkist Party (He specializes in orange sunkist floats and then performs in a rock band for us all!). Lastly, it's Stormin' Norman, our cuddly teddy bear.