Faux Fireplace

I was on Pinterest (of course) and got the idea to do a faux fireplace.  One weekend project later, we got this:

Of course, it is decorated for Halloween.  Anyways, I always missed having a fireplace.  (Our last house had one).  But I didn't necessarily want the fireplace....just the mantle.  Voila!  Faux fireplace!  I put the vinyl lettering where the "fire" should go so that people would stop asking, "Well, isn't a fire supposed to go there?"  No, people; it's decorative.  It was a hard concept for some people.  :)  Anywho, we painted the wall darker for an accent, bought a mantle and painted it, etc., replaced the photos in the frames, got decorations for the mantle, and got vinyl lettering (Aaron finally agreed) for the inside of the fireplace.  And all things considered, it was a fairly straightforward project.  And now we have a place to hang our stockings at Christmastime.   I'm in love!!!  So much better than before:

Boring.......

Mud Factor Run

Aaron ran the Mud Factor Run today.  It's a 5k run and obstacle course through mud.  He had a blast with his friends!!  Phil even came down to run it with him.  I didn't do it because it's not really my thing, but I was the "official" photographer.  And thank goodness, because I got some really good shots!

Phil (Aaron's brother) and Aaron pre-race and pre-mud!

Phil, Aaron, and Dave (Aaron's friend).  I love this picture!!  Look at the muddy water!



One of the obstacle courses

The last leg of the race, Aaron had to crawl through the mud underneath wire.  He perfected what he called the "whale crawl" and slid along.

Aaron and Dave.  Muddy and proud!