They're caving in on us!

OK, so the walls aren't falling down, they are being put up. After months of being able to stand at the top of the stairs and see everywhere in our addition, it is different to go up and have the view blocked by some pesky walls. We have a plastic wall at our front door, where the stairwell connects with the house - to keep the dust out during this phase of the job. So now when we want to go upstairs, we go out through the garage and then in the front door of our house, instead of going into the garage and up the stairs.

The new entry to the upstairs.

Leo next to the former entry in the garage.

The sheet rockers came today and hung the drywall on the ceilings and walls for the addition. They worked hard and fast - they are almost done with the upstairs, just 3 small sections remain and then the stairs and garage (then the mud and tape the whole thing). Then we put on a sealer coat and they put on the texture, and then we prime and paint!

Stairway.

Family Room

Shower

Sewing Room

Bedroom 2 (Bedroom 1 looks almost the exact same as bedroom 2, so it doesn't get its own picture, yet.)

Ryan's sister, Heather, has helped us a lot with choosing paint colors to put up there. Here are the colors we're going with:


We'll be renting a paint sprayer to get the job done nicer (and faster).

Wanting to be big...

Leo gargles after brushing his teeth. every. night.

I guess it's one of those things he's learned because he has older brothers...

Demolition

I forgot to mention that I got to wield the Sawzall to demolish the wall in our house leading to the stairs. Sabrina even captured it on video for me. Unfortunately, I just did one cut because it was time for me to take the kids to violin lessons. Our builder got to do the rest.

Pink Lightning

I had never seen pink lightning before.

The kids and I were outside enjoying some late afternoon sunshine, when a cold front moved in and there was a lightning storm. Not just any lightning storm, but a late December lightning storm as the sun was setting. It was beautiful! Usually in the summer, when I see lightning, I grab the kids and head inside -I ended a soccer practice early this fall due to lightning. This time I just had to keep watching it! It was getting darker and colder and I wanted to see just one more pink flash.

We did get inside before the hail started falling, though. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture and I haven't been able to find one on the web from December 30, 2011, Boise, ID. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Predictions for 2012

Here are our families predictions for the new year:

Roderic says, "Grandma and Grandpa will return from their mission in New York."
Hyrum says, "We'll go shopping for Oreos."
Sabrina says, "I will move upstairs."
Ryan says, "Uncertainty will increase."
Malauna says, "Mitt Romney will win the GOP Presidential nomination."

And here are milestones I think we'll reach this year:
Leo will start speaking in sentences
Hyrum will start Kindergarten and read with the 1st graders.
Roderic will be baptized and join cub scouts.
Sabrina will go to Girl's Camp!
Ryan will hike in the Sawtooth Mountain range.
Malauna will compete on a race walking team. Portland to Coast Relay on Milaka's team with Ryan!

Looking back on 2011

Leo's favorite things from this year: Sleeping in his own bed in the same room as his brothers. Watching Baby Signing Time over and over and over and over. Going to Nursery with Dad.

Hyrum's favorite memories: Opening "Blacky" on Christmas morning (his new puppy). Going caroling on Christmas Eve. Eating pie on Thanksgiving.

Roderic's favorite memories: Going to Monkey Bizness for his 7th birthday party! Receiving the Lego Toy Story 3 train set for Christmas. Swimming lessons at the YMCA over spring break. Riding on the Arcade & Attica Railroad. Watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant twice.

Sabrina's favorite memories: Going to New York. Going on Trek. Earning the Gold Presidential Academic Achievement Award. Learning double dutch. Catching the bus at 6:32am daily for TVMSC. Getting her braces off.

Ryan's favorite memories: Crawling through the attic to install CAT-5 wire for the intercom system. Climbing Lucky Peak with the boy scouts in June. Becoming an antelope. Having a stairway to Heaven.

My favorite memories: Teaching Gospel Doctrine to the 14-15 year olds. Our Epic Vacation. Watching the framing of our house addition. Singing barbershop with my mom, sister and aunts in Houston. Teaching our family a song to sing together "Sing Noel".

Merry Christmas!

We are having a great Christmas this year! We went to Sacrament Meeting at 9am today. Malauna and Sabrina sang with the choir. Ryan was planning on singing, but wasn't able to because the people we were going to have our boys sit with didn't come in time and because Ryan is starting to feel sick (sore ears, chills, head congestion, etc.). We sang some awesome songs: "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", "As It Fell Upon a Night" (with descant solo by Malauna), "Once in Royal David's City", "Nativity Medley", "Only a Baby Came", "Angels we have heard on High", and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". [Including links to the songs, in case anyone is interested.]

After church (and it was only an hour this morning), the kids were happy relieved thrilled excited that we f i n a l l y opened the presents under the tree. Legos, fire trucks, CD boom box, BYU t-shirts, baby signing time, garlic press are some gifts received. And Hyrum is super-duper excited that fun-pretend Santa brought him a new puppy! (The black poodle puppy is to replace the favorite sleeping friend {puppy} that he lost on our epic vacation. It's a webkinz.)

What a merry Christmas!