Ordained

Roman and Ezra were both advanced in the priesthood at church in January.  Ezra became a deacon and Roman a Priest.


Grandma and Grandpa were compelled to come out and be here for it.

I can't believe how quickly they are growing up!

Beard

Shane worked REALLY hard for years and years and came up with this:

 He was proud.

I like it better this way... but what do I know?

Tile

When we were having the floors done.... for weeks. I decided I was going to tile the backsplash. I've wanted to do it for a long time, but I've always been nervous about it, unsure of what I wanted etc. 

Well with the stove in the piano room for weeks, I figured now was the time. Only we settled on some tile that I had to have shipped, and the uncertainty of the floor made it impossible to do at the same time as the floor.

I did get some guts together and I tiled the smaller section of the backsplash. 

This section was much easier and a good warm up for the rest of the kitchen. 

It's not perfect but I am really happy with it. 

I am putting off putting the other section off simply because I want a good chunk of time to just knock it all out quickly. Spring break is taken with vacation so it may just have to wait for the week before school is out where the kids are still in school but I'm done working. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.  We'll see. I'm excited for that too.

I was all about the safety gear at the beginning, but by the end it was bugging me!

And I made sure this guy was at work while I did this cause I don't like "helpers."

Christmas 2019

How is it that another Christmas has come and gone!? 

We all went to Star Wars Christmas Eve morning. Everyone thought it was a good.

That afternoon we did the traditional gingerbread houses. Roman worked hard and made his very neat and well thought out.  Ezra put strange words on the side. And Marisa was creative.

I'm glad the kids look forward to this tradition. It helps the day go by a little quicker and is a fun creative outlet. 

The traditional PJ's were opened. Roman doesn't really wear jammies so he got some shorts.

Christmas day was fun and regular. The kids got gifts they enjoyed.

Roman got a phone. He thought it was  cruel joke.  If you are ever wondering where Roman is. it's either right here.... or at volleyball. At least he is easy to find, but we have to remind him about life outside the little electronic square sometimes.

We had fun playing with Ezra's little hover star, playing in the snow and putting together my new sewing chair. 

It was a lovely day and a nice relaxing Christmas Break. 

Giving Machines

Grandma sent us some money and asked us to do something good with it.

We decided as a family to go to the giving machines that our church sets up. These things really are the best things ever!

We decided to buy some blankets for the women and children in crisis center as well as some chickens and a water purifier for someone in a developing country.

It was nice to think about the things we would like to have and give them to someone who needed them. Marisa would love to have some chickens so that was on the top of her list.

I want to make this a yearly tradition. It would be even better if the kids earned the money for it.