merry christmas

It's 1:30 am. The house is dark except for the glow of the Christmas lights. Everything is quiet--even John gave up on me and went to bed. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We spent the day visiting friends and neighbors, and then had a very peaceful celebration at my parents' house. It has been years since I've spent Christmas Eve with my parents, and I was only mildly surprised that the routine for the evening is still the same as when I was growing up. We sang Christmas carols, then sang Silent Night in German. We recited Luke 2 from memory, and then read the same verses from the German Bible. My mom added a slide show this year that she had made for a Relief Society class she taught. It set pictures of Christ's life to Behold the Lamb of God from the Messiah. It was very moving and really set a nice tone for Christmas.

When we got home, we found a package left by one of our sweet neighbors. It was a bag of oatmeal and glitter, along with a little poem about Rudolph finding his way to our house. We went outside and sprinkled the oatmeal in our yard. Then as Katelyn and Carter got in bed, we heard sleigh bells outside. Katelyn got a lot more excited than Carter, and actually went to sleep right away with the knowledge that Santa was on his way.

I am so excited to see the kids' faces when they see what Santa has brought for them. Katelyn is at a really fun age to experience the magic of Christmas, and we're trying to make the most of it.

I have so many things I want to write about. We have done some really fun things with the kids this month. But it has been very busy, so I'm quite behind on my blogging. So expect a lot of catch-up posts later on. For now, I'm going to bed to try to push the excitement from my mind and get some sleep. I wish you all a fun and peaceful Christmas with your families.

Looking the gift horse in the mouth

John's Radiology Department Christmas party was last week. We got a babysitter, got dressed up, and went to the Marriott in Research Park to eat yummy food and gamble. Gamble, you ask? Yes, it was casino night at the Marriott. We were each given points to exchange at the various gambling tables. John and I aren't so into gambling, so we sat around and chatted. Finally we decided we should get some chips and play roulette. John wanted to throw all of the chips on one number, but I wanted to make them last a little longer. My first success came when I put a couple of chips on 00 and it hit. The odds are pretty good on that one, so we were excited. A few minutes and a few wins and losses later, it was time for the last bet of the night. I put everything on the number 8 and, you guessed it, we won big! Our winnings were converted to raffle tickets, and we got 20 tickets! Man, am I an awesome gambler! (I know this wouldn't hold true if I tested it in reality, so don't expect to see me in Wendover or Mesquite anytime soon.)

We wrote our names on all of those tickets and put them in the box. The prizes ranged from pencil sharpeners, to $100 Amazon.com gift cards. We waited in anticipation. Each guest could win only once, but our odds were so good, we had to get something! But we didn't want just anything. We're greedy. We wanted something good. C'mon, we had earned it, right? About 3/4 of the way into the drawing, when we were started to think we'd go home empty-handed, my name was called. I had won.................a portable, rechargeable spotlight! The side of the box reads, "Ideal for use in trucks, boats, hunting, construction, camping." We mocked. We ridiculed. We even felt a little sorry for ourselves. When John's name was called and he won a $25 Target gift card, I claimed it as my own and gave him the spotlight. Even then, I offered to trade it for a candelabra we have no use for. We went home with our gifts and put the spotlight in the garage.

Two nights later, we returned home from John's mom's house at 10 pm to a dark street and an even darker house. The power had been out for some time, and who knew when it would be back. Luckily, John had plugged in the charger for our new gift, and we used it to put the kids in their beds. That spotlight has the power of 3 million candles! It almost blinded me when John pointed it at the wall in front of me! And it has enough power to last for days if you use it right!

We called the power company and 65,000 people in the Salt Lake valley were without power. Yikes! So we sat in candlelight and talked. When we needed to go into another room, we carried the handy-dandy spotlight and had more light than we needed. We marveled at what a wonderful gift we had been given and how useful it was really going to be. No more searching the grass with a tiny flashlight for Thomas the Train so that Carter can go to sleep. Now I can light up the whole yard and find things in a jiffy. It would have really come in handy a few months ago when I planted bulbs in the dark for 3 hours and kept having to stand up to activate our motion sensor lights in the yard.

The power came back on an hour or two later. We had a wonderful chat with no need for electricity, and we were ready to go to bed. And we had a new appreciation for our spotlight, which now has a special place in the garage.

I know, I'm an ungrateful dope!

Do you want to see my new white kitchen?

We did it! All of the cabinet doors are painted and rehung, complete with new hardware. Here's how the kitchen looked before:

This is what we did: John textured the ceiling and I painted it. I painted all of the cabinet doors, and John painted everything that didn't come off. We used an antique white, and it actually blends really well with our newer bisque appliances like the new fridge and stove. As for the yellowing old microwave and dishwasher, maybe someday we can replace them and it will all match better. John also painted the green strip above the cabinets. I wanted it to look like there was a wall above the cabinets, instead of cabinets to the ceiling, like they were before. Also, it wouldn't look good with all white connecting to a white ceiling.

Here's the new look:

Obviously we have a lot of work left to do. The ugly yellow strip above the countertops is our unfinished wall. John ripped off the sheet of laminate and the wall beneath it is covered with glue. My job now is to scrape it all off and mud and sand until it's smooth. Then I'll paint it green. The countertops look super ugly now because they're too light. We'll eventually get new laminate. I'm picturing something like this:

Once we get the countertops in, I'll probably tile part of the way up the wall. Our floors are here and ready to install as soon as we're done with the walls. They'll make the biggest difference of all. They're a semi-dark oak with a hint of red to them. The kitchen can definitely use some contrast now. But we can't believe the difference the cabinets make! The dark wood used to soak up all of the light. Now when I walk into the kitchen, day or night, the white reflects light and it is so bright and happy!

Thanks for putting up with all of the house pics. We're making progress, but it takes a long time. Can't wait to post the next update!