LOOK AT ME!! TWO POSTS IN AS MANY DAYS!!

Our house is covered in boxes, so Ty-man playing in one is not a surprising thing! He was so cute doing "peek-a-boo!"

 Here is Lenna's "Cheese" face---she is so animated!

Dad and I went to the Bellagio gardens. Their "Chinese New Year" is beautifully done. Peaceful Chinese music in the background, and the scent of orange blossoms---from real orange trees in bloom! How they pull this off is amazing to me.

 The clothing for these dolls is made totally out of flowers. Exquisite!

AND NOW....(drum roll)....NEW HOUSE UPDATES IN JUST A DAY!!!
To the left are the roofer guys are putting down new paper and taking off all the old tiles. Albino, the roofer, is keeping all of the old tiles, thank goodness.

 On the right is the back of the house with the temporary wall built 3 feet into the family room. This wall is for my peace of mind. Then they ripped off that part of the back of the house in anticipation of putting up family room walls.

To the left are the roofer guys, who were enlisted to help lift the framed east wall up in the family room!! Thanks roofer guys!! That framed wall is heavy!

To the right you see the framing for the family room and patio. So many boards going all over, it's hard to distinguish stuff, but it's there.

Here's another view of the back of the family room. You can better distinguish the three windows and and patio beyond them.

This shows the Living Room (on the left)/Kitchen area (on the right). There is a  temporary wall for security, which will be removed when the family room wall beyond it is enclosed.  Notice the living room windows, because in the next picture, they are gone. Happy face.

Now the living room window is one instead of two! Presto-Westo!! 

Here is the living room looking from the front door. You can kind of see the family room wall going beyond it toward the back yard on the outside. It takes off from the right side of the living room wall. See it? And you can also see the beam that will support the patio ceiling/roof.

On the right is the door handle I want for the back french door that will go from the family room to the outside patio.
It's so pretty: antique bronze.

 Now on to some more Christmas break pics:
Kelsey and Whitney are huddling by the fireplace (because it was SO cold there for hours after our arrival...you all know what I'm talking about. I was huddling over on the kitchen counter by the big fantastic heater!) Dad is just sawing the logs, oblivious to the cold or goings on. The girls are playing a game on Whit's kindle...some mystery house game, I think. Very intent, they are.

Here is Whit in one of our vast supply of snow apparel.  The apparel is obviously not size 1.

Kelsey models some better-fitting apparel. We now have lots of snow clothing---even for little people---so everyone can be warm and dry!

We went for an afternoon walk. Snowy, chilly, and very fun. Dad, Kelsey, and Whit.

Dad, Kelsey, and me! Chilly outside, but toasty warm inside!

Here's a beautiful winter picture of our beloved cabin.

I'll throw this one in because this little guy makes me so happy!   Grandma and Trent!!

 Every now and then I get to do Kaitlyn's hair! I get a nerdish glee from getting to do hair again, and her hair is so pretty and fun to do. Brings back lots of memories of school mornings!

Kaitlyn fits in that red toy barrel/basket thing.
She looks like a widdle baby! 

Raquel's hair isn't as long, but just as pretty. Here is a fun style we did one day. I have beautiful grand-daughters!

Adam obviously loves pizza!!

House and Christmas and Visitors. What a month!!!

In December, they first flattened out the garage base of dirt and "type-2" gravel stuff.









Then they put rebar (reinforcement bars) in a grid pattern for strength.
Then they bring out really cool heavy trucks with cement, which the kids LOVE!!

Then they smooth out the cement. And hope it doesn't freeze that night. ...Which it did. Sad face.

Now the framing starts for the garage. This is looking from the backyard toward the street.

This is the back of the house.

Now, THIS is the back of the house. What differences do you see?

Our fantastic work crew (Kim, Polo, and Jaime) are securing the trusses in place. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

 And now they are adding the trusses that connect the new garage roof to the existing house roof. I love this forklift!!!

Lenna was brave enough to go up in the forklift with grandma!
But she was extremely concerned as we went higher and higher!

The garage has plywood on the top!! (Just in time to get rained on!)

AND NOW, DECEMBER UPDATES:

We got to take Daniel and Lenna to the Christmas parade. Everything is better through a child's eyes.

Thanks, Ashley, for the use of your front yard for the perfect front-row seat  during the parade!
And for the hot chocolate!!

Fall is not complete without a fantastic leaf pic. Nadine is loving it!

Weston and Trent spent a lot of time sitting on this foot  ledge---perfect for kids.
And they love pushing the little car around!

We made a trip down to Cornville to see Papa and Carole. Nani and Weston could have spent the rest of their lives throwing rocks into the creek. Whoever said kids have a short attention span didn't live near a creek.

Trent, Maren, Nadine, Jen, Papa, Weston, and Carole. What a great trip.
They always make us feel so very welcome! Thanks!!!

One of the best things about Papa and Carole's home is the doggie door---easy access to the outside world!!

Kristin and Earl's home is one of the most wonderfully decorated Christmas homes I've ever experienced. Earl sets up this elaborate train set with three trains going around---one with candy just for the taking. A kids dream!!

We had such a great time when Megan, Jenae with Eli, and Carissa...and even Bubbles (Brandon) came out to eat crab at our house. Such wonderful cousins, these "kids!"

And we got to celebrate Nolan turning the big 1 this year!! WooHoo! His face says it all!

Wait...THIS face says it all! There is nothing like demolishing your very first birthday cake!!!

We got four of the five girls in one picture while we had Jen, Maren, and Kelsey home.
Left to Right is Kelsey, Lindsay, Jen, and Maren.
Man, I love my girls!!

We got to enjoy a wonderful dinner at mom and Wayne's home with all her kids and spouses. Here is Gregg and his sibs.
Left to Right: Gregg, Danny, Laurie, and Kristin.  There's never a dull conversation when this crew is together!

I love this picture of Daniel cuddling with Trent as they watch a movie. Very sweet.

Nana is such a sweet great-grandma to these little ones.
Weston was concerned that she didn't have a necklace that evening and thought someone should buy her one! 

Lenna is thrilled with the one-on-one time with her Nana.

Kelsey made her fantastic chocolate log for Christmas Eve dessert. Mmmm-mmm. 

Christmas Eve included music and LOTS of noise with seven little kids running around. Here Lou and Kelsey are playing "Oh Christmas Tree" and the kids are dancing with their "tree" sticks. They loved it!

Ahhh. We did get Whitney in a sister shot! Hi, Whit, Maren, and Kels!!

And here is Rikky doing his "balance your baby on your hand" trick.  Amazingly, it works.
Don't you try this at home.
It is only for professionals.

 And, that's the official update!!!