The Christmas post!

Oh dear! I feel awful! I have neglected this blog for much too long especially since there have been so many changes. I guess I should start with Christmas since I haven't done a post since then! :gasp: : -)

This is our "much look forward to meal" of the year! We love to grace the table with an abundance of finger foods such as homemade cheese ball, bacon appetizers ( a long time family favorite), mini quiche's, cheese and crackers and veggies. We take great delight in this special dinner.

One half of the table.

The other half.

The bacon appetizer's! Yummy!

Then we opened presents.

And of course we get to hear the Christmas story once again!

The next morning the three little girls enjoy their new friends! Of course there is the naming process which must be taken with great seriousness. They look sleepy 'cause they were! It is hard to sleep-in when you know your little friends are waiting for you!

Daddy got to read to the kids.

Later Grandpa was able to bring Grandma to our home for Christmas dinner! It was a joy to have her and she did very well with all the busyness around her. My mom found a card that was for my grandma to give my grandpa. She didn't really know what it all meant but she knew it was special. There were tears from many eyes in the room while grandpa read it out loud. Then Grandma said "Thank you Ben! That was sweet!" She thought it was for her even though she just gave it to him!
It was wonderful to have her with us on Christmas Day!

Of course there were games to be played!

Sarah challenged David to checkers. By the way folks, it isn't always a good idea to play David! He wins too much!

Some little girl was getting sleepy after all the excitement!

Grandma and I together! She is wearing her new fuzzy jacket from her son Kevin and his family! She loves it especially now that the sleeves are not too long! I was able to fix them for her that day!

David, Keslie and baby on their first Christmas together! I just can't wait for next year! Then we can see the little one in their arms!

Aren't they cute?

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I pray you were able to remember and thank God for His great blessing of sending His only Son to die for us, His creation. He is so good to us.

Floors, cabinets, trim and stairs!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a delightful time celebrating the birth of our Savior with your family and friends! May each of you reflect on the great riches we are given in Christ day by day! Here are a few pictures that have been taken around here the last couple of weeks.

For some reason we haven't been getting all the snow that has been falling everywhere around us, but we finally got a couple of inches! We are hoping for a white Christmas! Snow is such fun!)

Grandpa and Taylor heading to work! Grandpa cut his thumb really bad last week on sheet metal and ended up needing surgery to fix some tendons that were cut. The poor guy is so frustrated that he isn't able to use his right hand to work, so Taylor has become his hands! They said it would be in a splint for 6 to 8 weeks, and there is so much to do. We are praying that God would keep up his spirits and make things easy for him to work.

See the bag over his bandage? He didn't want to get it wet! He and Taylor are getting the heaters set up in this picture and they are up and running now!

The lights in our girls' room! I got these 1/2 off!

Dad working on the first of the wood floors! Yippy!

We needed to get the kitchen done because the cabinet guy was bringing the lower cabinets on Monday since the guys are coming to measure for the counter tops today!

Benjamin napping on the job!

Some snow here at home!

The main bath light fixtures!

The cabinets are here! They will darken a lot in about 6 months.

Bathroom cupboards! Yay!

Dad and Mr. K (who made the cabinets) talking over details!

Back to the kitchen! I love the large lazy susan and it's adjustable!

The main bath cabinets! (I did the grout all myself!)

Here is the trim for the windows! Grandpa is doing a great job and with a bad hand, he is amazing!

Yesterday, the guys started working on the stairs! It will be so fun to see them all done!

All the wood for the stairs!

Getting the island ready to be put in.

Thank you for taking the time to take a peek into our lives!
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! Blessings to you all!

Painting, lights, tile and a birthday!

Grandma E., daddy's mother, with Sarah and Lydia waiting for the party to begin.

Praying for Taylor our special 16 year old!!!

A real coon skin hat just like Benjamin's

Pretty smiles!

Mr. Hughes was kind enough to come over and help begin to lay the tile. He has done a lot of it and was a great help, thank you Mr. Hughes!!

Dad and Mom's room

Ben handing dad the tiles

Mr. Hughes and Dad deciding where to start the tile.

All the tiles that don't need cut are done in the master bath! Yeehaw!

Dad working on outlets in the mudroom. Thank you Y. for your incredible help, you have been quite the blessing!!!!

Do you see the canned lights on in the kitchen area????

The first of our belongings in the attic, just the beginning!

Heather learning to put in an outlet, she did 14 of them today, yea Heather!!!!

The wood flooring needs to have the ends opened so the air can get in and acclimate the wood to the room. Ben and I did most of it ourselves! That was a big job!

Mom took this of me opening the box ends! We were almost done at this point and boy were we cold and tired!

Then I saw Benjamin doing this!!!! LOL! He was opening the ends of some boxes that were under others. He was not posed!

LOOK!!! We have light in the powder room!

Taylor hooking up an outlet

Grandpa worked long and hard today hooking up the furnaces. He made lots of noise banging and pounding all day!!!

Can you believe he is 76? Amazing guy!!!

More of his beautiful handiwork!!!

Lights in the girl's bathroom.

We are so excited at the progress in the past several weeks and anticipate much more to come. We are thanking God daily for our permanent power and Mr. U. who was used of God to help us get it. We are just amazed at how God works and so very thankful!!