The Hotchner Family Trio

Our new house.

Upon entering the house, there is a small reading room off to the left, right before the stairway.

Here is an after shot of our livingroom all put together. We got to trade in our old Pottery Barn rug for a brand new, darker one because of recalls on the backing. Ya hoo! Looks so much nicer!

Here is our new entertainment center. I got to pick out the cool stand up lamp on the side. It maches our living room fan and adds a touch of class to an otherwise dull corner. I should have been a home decorater.

I can't say enough about having family portraits hung on the wall of a new house to give it the real feel of a true home.

Here is a before shot standing in the center of the living room looking out. Brian chose to have the staircase upgraded to this beautiful wood banister. I am so glad he did; it really makes the house look more gorgeous and adds a lot to the value of the home.

This is the beggining of our staircase of family photos. We hope to add more baby photos soon.

This is the reading room. As you can see, we are avid readers. There is one of Brian's Sumarai swords standing against the bookcase. remember what it looks like for the bedroom tour.

I call this my little get-a-way room to hide and read in. We have 2 large dark wooden shelves still to hang on the wall in here. Oh Bretty boy, help?

Here is a before shot of the living/dining room, pre-window shutters or furniture.

Another veiw including the kitchen and breakfast bar area.

This is the after shot of our dining room. I bought my very own china cabinet on craigslist.com.

The broken photo plate in the center was given to me by Mom from Aunt Esther. I was told that it has been in the family for 100 years and has stayed together with years of love and glue.

We actually have two sets of china from Brian's Grandma and are lucky enough to get to use my German china set most every night for dinner.

On the top shelf, I have my crystal goblets and fairy collection displayed.

This is a before shot of our kitchen area.

Here is the after shot. We had Brett's help moving in all of our fans from one house to the next and have Brian's parents to thank for all the new shutters on our windows and sliding doors.

We tried to go with all the same coloring for floors, cabinets, counter tops and appliances as the last house. I think it turned out perfect. For me, decorating has been the best part. On the fridge, you can see Zoey's Job Chart check list. It has been working like a charm for good behavior!

Here is the 'long-awaited' Zoey's bedroom extravaganza! We decided to buy her new furniture once we noticed that she had begun to bend the frame on the poor baby's crib.

So, now she has 'big girl' furniture that will grow with her and yes, she does have to climb to get into bed...it is just shy of 3 feet tall! One side has 4 drawers and the other side is open and empty, as you will soon see.

This is the cute matching dresser with mirror and corkboard...

with a matching bedside table and a hidden underground playland!

Here is the best part...the secret door that opens up into the underground playland! Zoey loves to lay under her bed and watch cartoons from inside.

"Hi, I'm Zoey. I am a happy little girl. My Mommy and Daddy work really hard to make sure that I get to live a very comfortable life. I love my family."

"And I love my cartoons!! Mommy just went and counted them and as of Christmas, I own almost 80 cartoons/movies of my very own. I can pick them out by the pictures on the edges of the DVD case and them load them up into the player all by myself. I'm so smart."

"Here is Mommy sneaking a picture of my messy playland explosion!"

"I guess this is why she was so thrilled to have a little door on my bed so she could just shut it. Outta sight, Outta mind, right?"

Here is the beatiful princess shaped window in Zoey's room...

and the great veiw of our street and neighbor's homes out in front. I love this housing development; it is so pretty and, unlike our last complex, they are actually finishing the building of this one!

This is the cute little bathroom for the "kids" to share. Notice the cool duel flushing system? The button on top has a small/large half moon shape that you push for...well, you get the point.

This is the view out of "Baby's Bedroom Nursery".

Yup! It is already a done deal, furnished, decorated and waiting...

Isn't it beautiful? It is one of my favorite spots in the whole house. We even found this changing table that's an identical match to our Pottery Barn crib and furniture set. It's just perfect!

We already have most everything for Baby already, especially books and toys. I got the cute little pastel cloth toy bin to organize some of Zoey's stuffed animals; she has so many!

Brian and I put the crib together around Christmas time. It was very theraputic for me to take that next step in preparation. It is so hard to wait for something that you want so badly.

I even made the bed, added the ruffles and bumper and every so often, I go in to "check on things" and play the baby song mobile over the crib. It sings, "LullaBye and Goodnight".

Yes, we are all ready and waiting. We are hoping for a boy, of course. His name will be Draygon Samuel Hotchner. If it is a girl, I have a list a page long to choose from. When I get hired for the school district and gain medical insurance in September, we will finally get to begin trying.

Here are all the adorable baby clothes that I hung up of Zoey's that can be considered 'unisex', along with a couple cute outfits that somehow, magically appeared in the closet. Zoey promises she won't tell on me if I buy a baby sleeper once in a while, although she never fails to tell me, "Oh no, Mommy, you're not supposed to buy any more baby clothes...Daddy said so!", every time I try turning into the baby section after grocery shopping. Those little stinker pots...her Daddy's got her trained!

This is the top of the stairs. Zoey's and the Baby's rooms face the front of the house and the office and our Bedroom are on the back of the house. It is a good set up. It is also nice to have locks on all the doors. The Baby's room and Office door get locked each and every night to keep "Little Miss Curiosity" out of trouble in the mornings.

Here is our Office. This is my side where I do all my homework, scrapbooking, drawing and other various projects.

Here is Brian's head quarters...computer central. We both spend a great majority of time working on the computer; me with homework and blogging, him with facebook and anything to do with the NFL football websites, etc.

This is our "pride" picture wall. Hanging are Brian's Church Priesthood Ordinations and our Temple Sealing Certificate next to our picture of the Las Vegas Temple. Next, we have our fun photos of the three best Country Concerts we've been to, including the actual tickets on display.

This is a before picture of our Master Bedroom, pre-window shutters. You can see the way the ceiling slopes, giving the room a cathrdral heigth to it.

This is the difference shutters make. Much nicer looking and helps filter the bright morning sunlight and heat rays.

Here is our bedroom. I have always loved having an Asian theme to my rooms and were lucky to get the bedside table lamps from my best friend, Liz. We plan to hang both of Brian's matching Sumarai swords above the bed once we can find a place that sells the proper hanging equiptment. I'de not like to get hit in the head with one of those falling in the middle of the night!

Here is the matching dresser and armoire that go to the set Brian's parents bought for us in the last house. Everything on my dresser is Asian themed, from the hand painted box to the Japanese latern light and the statue that Mom gave to me when I first moved away from home.

This is the lamp that Brian and I picked out together especially to go inside this room. It is like a great big Japanese house light. It is one of my favorite artistic pieces in the whole house.

Here is a before picture of our bedroom showing this one single window that I call it my special present, that brings us a single ray of unexpected afternoon light. I was so pleased to see it once the walls were all put up in the beggining building stages.

Okay, so here is our closet. My dresses..

All my shirts, and a just few of Brians...

and the rest of my winter clothes and pants. Now, who says that women take up most of the room in the closet?! He,He. Good thing Brian has that big 'ol armior in the bedroom.

On to the bathroom. We are back to a stall shower and roman tub, which I thought I wouldn't like after having it duel in the last house, but I am finding that I truely enjoy the seperation and have discovered that if Zoey hears water running in the tub, before I can count to 60, I have a naked little body running to jump into the bubbles with me!

"Who me?" This is our wonderfully extra tall counter tops which Zoey cannot climb onto with out me helping her or catching her first.

We have double sinks; a necessity and lots of counter space.

These are my great 3$ bamboo trays. I have become way smarter, stylish and more organized with each move.

"These are my pretties"

My other "Pretty".

"Lets go outside, Mama!"

This is the balcony off of our bedroom. It is way bigger than at the last house.

There isn't much privacy from the neighbors, but I can't think of any reason I would need to hide from them either, so, I guess it is fine.

Here is the veiw out the back. We have no houses behind us, just desert. I love it.

Here is a before picture of our backyard. "Nuthin' but dirt!"

Same for everyone on the block...until...

Yeah! I helped break the ground and raked for two hours to clear the space for the tiles that will become the base for the storage shed that we are building. Then, Brian, his Dad and I finally gave up and hired someone to come help set all the tiles perfectly flat and even.

We have a very expensive patch of grass that will never need to be mowed, watered or trimmed and will never grow weeds, have bugs or ants or change colors. It is my gift to Zoey to play on in the midst of the surrounding rock garden. We will be putting in about 15 flowers/plants come springtime along the perimeter, everywhere water spouts are sticking up out of the ground.

This is my favorite part, the beautiful little tile section laid out for our fire pit. I love the design and the extra area it adds to the usable backyard space. Once summer comes with warmer weather, we will unpack and put up the patio furniture, a table and chairs, we have waiting in the garage, as well as, Brian's special patio grill.

Here is another veiw from our patio.

This is the veiw off of our patio and out of our bedroom windows at night. The little "Princess Castle" as Zoey calls it, is the South Point Hotel. It looks absolutely brilliant at night.

This is the best I could do getting a shot of the lights from the Las Vegas Strip. We can see everything from here. Every 4th of July or New Years fireworks show can be watched from the comfort of our own backyard. Just like when I was growing as a little girl in my parent's old house. Yes, this is definately "Home" for us and after moving 5 times in 4 years, I can say with absolute conviction, "We love our new home and we are never moving again!"