New Year's Day

(Better late than never)

Christmas and more

Christmas flew by this year, as it always does when combined with catering. Jessica and Jesse flew down for a few days to celebrate with us. The entire week was chaotic, and here's a quick summary:

1. Crazy, crazy rainfall and flooding prevented me from getting to the mall (or anywhere else for that matter!)

2. Thursday night was the Warr family Christmas party. We tried to do a White Elephant gift exchange this year to switch it up a bit. Kind of hard to do when no one will/can be quiet, but it was still fun. Glory be, Ava bought Ellie a new tutu!!!

3. Because of the rain all week, I still hadn't finished my shopping on Christmas Eve. Jessica and I went to Fashion Valley on Friday morning, and my car was hit by the biggest ditz (idiot) to have a driver's license. I kid you not....she rammed into the BACK of me then got out of her car and started yelling at me "Didn't you see me?!?! Why did you hit me?!?!?" It was really, really difficult for Jessica and I not to start screaming back. Wow. Stupidity is one of the worst genetic flaws to have. She didn't even apologize for ruining my car and my weekend. Anyway, my car had to be towed and we blocked a lot of traffic in front of Nordstrom for 2 hours while waiting for the tow truck. But we still went shopping! :)

4. Friday night we decorated pre-fab gingerbread houses with the girls.

5. Christmas day! Presents, a hike, dinner. Goes without saying that it sure was fun with the girls this year.

Christmas Stuff

Very excited to decorate

I threw almost all of the old xmas stuff away when we moved but they found a few strays

This is the cutest and bestest tree ever! :)

Hi Molly!

These are the gingerbread men that the girls made

"Mom, I'm really good at this."

Caught on camera: our dumb dog found a way in through the new fences that block him from his favorite place....our new grass.

Here's a slideshow of the past 10 days of our lives.

1. Ronnie decided to rip out the old chain link fence on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It poured all weekend. We have a dog, so the new fence had to be finished on the same weekend.

2. Ronnie had to finish a bathroom to accommodate 17 Thanksgiving guests.

3. Ronnie had to put up a new wall around the new fireplace, texture and paint it.

4. My mom and I had to clean up the mess made by all of these last-minute projects. Sheesh.

5. I'm tired and I don't plan on making Thanksgiving dinner again for a very long time.

Big Sink, Little Buns

Couldn't resist sharing.....

Fireplace

This post is about the fireplace, a 5 month project. Here is a picture of our living room on the day we moved in. Wow. Ugly. Focus on the white painted bricks and the weird wood burning stove insert where there used to be a fireplace.

Many, many hours of labor went into the time between the above image and the below image. Way back in the summer Ronnie and my mom had to first remove the wood burning stove...no easy task. Then a few weeks ago Ronnie and his bro had to demo all of that brick on the wall and the bench. Ronnie slept for 13 hours straight the night they did that. In this picture they're removing the old fireplace insert that was too damaged to use.

Who is going to lift this out?!

A broken back and a gouge in my new floor brings us to this stageThe work between the above picture and the below picture is unknown. When Ronnie started cutting drywall to make the new insert fit, I left. Ellie and I went in the family room and watched Cake Boss. Next thing I know, Ronnie has a fire burning in our living room!

Here's Molly, "chillin' by the new fire" (her exact words)

Now, any ideas for a mantle or brick or stone work?

Halloween Weekend

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.