Christmas Eve eve

The day before Christmas Eve (the eve of) was the beginning of our celebrations. We were able to finally decorate for Christmas because the flooring and the kitchen were done. Whitney had a blast helping out. That afternoon Bryan's family came into town. Aunt Susan was here from Oregon. I think we had everyone over that evening at some point. We even had carolers come to sing to us (Lloyd and Claudia's family). They even fit into the house, which now seems so much bigger. Here are some pictures from the day:

Hadyen took a picture of Hannah and me.

Susan and Weston

Whitney in a box. (She and Wils loved it.)

Bekah, Susan, and Ethan watching the action.

Heidi munching on her sippy.

BrookLyn caroling.

Angie, Claudia, Kaleb, and Kristin singing.

Mom and her brother Lloyd. I love his hat. (And it's rare that he'll allow a picture to be taken of him, so it's even that much more of a special picture.)

Mom's Remodel

The past few months my mom's house has been being remodeled. The brothers have been busy for sure. They started around Thanksgiving. I was able to 'help' with a bit of the destruction phase. (I say 'help' loosely because I had no clue what I was doing.) Mike finished installing the kitchen last night and Erik will finish the lights today. After that, it's just putting things back to where they should be. Here are some pics of the process that I've been able to see.

Erik knocking out the old insulation from the ceiling. (Nasty stuff).

Mike vacuuming the nastiness away.

The floor had been completely removed and new floor joists installed.

More of the wall-less, floor-less, ceiling-less living room. (We filled a huge trailer with all the wood from the destruction period.)

Putting in the sub-flooring.

Kaleb helping in instal the carpet.

Kaleb and Adrin working on the carpet.

The new wood floor (solid oak). Aunt Susan watching Mike getting ready to instal cabinets.

Mom checking out the first new cabinet.

The finished product. (Almost....still needs some shelves.)

Awesomeness.

Another view of the awesomeness. (Without the sink the Bryan finished installing last night.)

Everything looks so much bigger. I can't believe the change. Mom did a dance of joy last night and let out a huge "Wahoo!" She just keeps walking in and smiling and feeling the cabinets. I think she likes it.