And a Merry Christmas to you...

Just thought I'd put a few updates on the blog.  We had a very nice, quiet day today at home.  The kids were nice and woke us up at 8 a.m. So we did the stockings, ate some cereal and then opened presents. Everyone was happy with their stuff and the day vanished.  We wanted to wish you both a Merry Christmas.  We thought about you lot and wished we could've been together, but we'll make that happen another year.  We're grateful for all we have and for the wonderful family we're a part of.  Happy New Year!


Some recent events:


The other night we went and saw the lights at the Mesa Temple.  It's spectacular.  So, so pretty.

We've had quite a time of it with our new "Elf on a Shelf" whom we named Cliff.  He watches the kids' behavior and reports to Santa every night.  Apparently he didn't have much to report on ours so he got into some mischief himself.....


He was found with a missing phone....

Drew funny faces on their pictures one night....

And toilet-papered the Christmas tree.  That's him on top having a good laugh!

Vienna has had A LOT of fun finding him and worrying about him and his reports. We'll miss him (or not!) until he comes back next year.




Christmas Eve jammies.  (The kids had NO idea what was in the wrapping paper for their one christmas eve gift! Hehehe)

The stockings were all placed on the couch with care...

And lastly, we had a brief reprieve over the weekend, but we still need to address these issues this week! We had a hot water pipe leak that was discovered when water came seeping up under the tiles behind our kitchen in our hall. Plumbers were out for three days straight rerouting pipes up thru the ceiling.  Now we need all the holes patched and painted. I guess it's better than ripping up the floor. Just what I wanted for Christmas!  I never want another water leak again. I'd say we've had our fair share.

Our closet. Better on Rob's side, he has less to remove.

                                      Mmm... maybe it's under the hot water heater.  Nope.

        Let's cut out the back of the cabinet and see if it's leaking in there. And add a few more holes to get a better look.

                                                      The scene of one of the leaks.

Yea, I think we need some more holes.  It's just so much easier to thread the pipes thru multiple holes, really.

They also found a leak in Vienna's bathroom so her bathroom looks much like this too.  Aargh!  Done, done, done with water leaks!  So we'll have workers here for several days this week too. Just what I love.  How can you get a good nap in with power tools going for hours in the room?

So, now you know what we've been up to the last week or so. And this too shall pass.... Anyway, we are looking forward to a wonderful new year and many more (good and fun) adventures (we hope!).
Love you guys!