Good-bye 2025 and Hello 2026

We celebrated with root beer floats!  The girls enjoyed Harry Potter while the boys played video games.  It was a great evening making memories with our family.  Good-bye 2025.  Hoping for a great 2026!

Living Room and Girls Room

The girls worked with me to get more painting done today!  We got the living room done and the girls room.  The colors are turning out so good!  I even got a before photo of the living room to help you see the change :).  We still have the neutral walls to paint, but that will come in the future.

 

Kitchen - GREEN!

We've been living here for over 10 months... and just had primer white walls.  With Sandra in town, it was time to paint!  We got paint for the kitchen, living room, girls room, boys room, bonus room, and master.  The colors are sharing so that helps.  The kitchen green is the girls' room green.  The boys room matches the bonus room, and the master matches the living room.  Sandra got started on the kitchen while I ran to an eye appointment.  She did a great job cutting in the ceiling and corners.  I got to roller it and it turned out so good!  The kitchen feels so much warmer now!  Also, the cabinets pop now!  One room down... lots of painting in our future!  

22 Years Ago...

Our Sweet Grant joined our family.  He has grown into a wonderful adult!  Grant is busy at school and in his calling.  He keeps busy with country dancing and dating.  It was a wonderful evening celebrating Grant!  We sure love you!

 

Family Fun

We did a Williams family get together at Aaron and Leann's house in Baytown (Houston area).  It was a beautiful day and their back patio and yard were perfect!  The girls had fun catching up.  The kids played lots of games.  Thomas and Clayton hung out for a bit before they had to catch their flight to Phoenix.  It was a good day visiting with family.  Looks like we will be doing these visits a few times a year ;).  

Merry Christmas!

We had a nice Christmas.  This year everyone traded names (including Jeff and I) and we set a price limit of $50. We all made a Christmas wish list to help our shopper out.  I think everyone ended up with something they really wanted!  

Jeff gave to Mhari and Mhari gave to Jeff.  Clark gave to Lorna, Lorna gave to me, I gave to Grant, Grant gave to Sandra, Sandra gave to Talmage, and Talmage gave to Clark.  Talmage and Cami did a video call in the afternoon to share their Christmas joy.  I think this Christmas felt a little less about so many presents and more about giving to our person.  We may continue this tradition in the future.  

Merry Christmas Eve

With kids being off to college, it has been a wile since we have had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner with everyone.  Having Sandra and Grant home made the perfect opportunity to cook a turkey and make some delicious pies!  Oh, and an extra bonus, Sandra playing the piano!  It's been too long since our piano has been played.  It was a nice night as a family!

 

Gingerbread House.... Nope, Pop Tart Manger Scene!

I love the idea of making gingerbread houses, however I don't like how hard they seem to be to make.  I saw this idea online about pop tart manger scenes and I thought it was a better fit for us!  I just had to be able to get the pop tarts to stay looking like a manger.  I made the icing and spent time constructing the mangers.  The kids had a blast creating the people and putting it all together.  I love all of the little details and differences for everyone's scene!  It was a fun evening and I can see us keeping this as a holiday tradition.  I love creating things that focus on Jesus during Christmas.  This was a win!