This December has been a very busy one for our family. Aside from all the fun and activities of getting ready for Christmas, we finished a home improvement project in our kitchen - one that we started 3 years ago (we seem to only work on it in December). Everyone contributed to the project and now that it is finally finished Emily is especially thankful that "everything is back to normal". We finished the last of the project during the day on Christmas Eve, just before our dinner guests arrived. James' two cousins live here so they came over and the missionaries joined us too. We ate a delicious dinner, watched the girls act out the Nativity and decorated cookies for Santa. Christmas Day was wonderful! We attended a great Sacrament Meeting, opened presents, played relaxed, visited with family on the phone and had the missionaries over for dinner. It was a super day! I love Christmas and the days right after - nothing on the schedule, lots of time to enjoy being together and opportunities to catch up with loved ones. The girls are upstairs happily playing together as I write this post and Jacob is reading the new books he got yesterday. James is already planning his next project - it looks like bookcases are in our near future. Here are some highlights from the day and the 'big reveal' of the kitchen at the bottom of the post. Merry Christmas everyone!
Kathryn volunteers once a week at the local dog pound. Through this service we have become a foster family for puppies and kittens that are too little to stay at the pound. We brought Gracie home a couple of weeks ago and planned to foster her through the holidays and then send her back to the pound. Everyone fell in love with her - including Buster! James and I wrapped up a little collar and leash and put it under the tree for the kids, they were so excited when they opened it - Gracie is a permanent addition to the family. Isn't she cute!?!
James and I found these great stuffed horses for Emily and Samantha. We could not resist when we thought of our little horse lovers sitting on these to watch movies. They were so excited! They spent the entire day sitting on them and playing with them.
5 books in 1 - Emily has already started reading them. Note that Emily sat on her horse to open all of her presents.
Samantha lounging on her new horse.
Kathryn looking grown up in her fancy new sweater.
Sarah got a beautiful furry vest - she looks great in it. The girls always love the new clothes they get for Christmas.
Buster always loves to see what Santa left in his stocking. He did not seem to mind sharing his toys with Gracie this year.
Tools for Christmas = a very happy man!
Love the new books!
Such cute scarves from grandparents!
The girls made James and Jacob fleece hats.
James gave me this beautiful sweater from Ecuador - I love it!!! I am wearing it right now and feeling cozy and loved - it looks even better when I wear it with something other than sweats.
Now on to the kitchen:
This is what the kitchen looked like when we moved in.
The first improvement we made was new counter top. The old grayish/blueish laminate counter was starting to peel so we went for a more neutral granite.
Right after we got the granite counter top James put in under the cabinet lights for me - love them!
Beautiful back-splash done by James.
I think it turned out great! We are still looking for a replacement for the light over the stove, but that is a job for another day...
Wishing all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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