The Bulk of the Work is Done

The holidays came and went and I did not meet my goal for having the house done by Thanksgiving.

The house was still torn up in December so we didn't decorate for Christmas. 

It was a strange but wonderful Christmas. 

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandpa Moon's.

Uncle Bobby went with us.

Jill and Craig were there and the guys did some target shooting.

The kids played games, watched movies and the weather was great so they played outside too.

The kids woke up Christmas morning to Aunt Megan's 4 foot tree set it up in our bedroom surrounded by gifts.  They loved all their presents and didn't care that Christmas was simple.  They are all just so happy to be in this house.

We had a delicious Christmas breakfast with Kevin's family and they spoiled us with gifts.

We went to church with my parents.  

Dad sang a solo, Oh Holy Night, and did amazing.

We are grateful for all the blessings of the year.

It's now February and the bulk of the work in the house is done, but there are still a million little things.

My favorite is the big long counter.  It is so fun to have the kids sit around the counter and talk to me while I'm making meals.

My least favorite thing was flooding the kitchen.  We had just put the floor in when the dishwasher malfunctioned.  I must have said damn and hell 100 times.  

In other news, Jackson turned 12 February 21st!

He's decided to grow his hair out.

He got braces last month.

Did you know?

One set of braces = $3500

Times that by 5 kids!

I can't think about it.

We celebrated Jackson a bunch!

He and his cousins, Karter and Kaitlyn share a birthday so they celebrated at the cabin.

Grandma Jan's birthday is just a few days before the kids, so we celebrated her too!

This was an extra special birthday for Jackson.

He was ordained to be a deacon in our church and we had our first family gathering in our "new" house.

Grandpa Moon was able to be there for the ordination, along with his uncles and grandpas.
Kevin ordained him and gave him a beautiful blessing.

Did I mention I've been teaching the kids piano since last year?

I also teach Makenzee, from our old neighborhood.

We had a little recital at my parent's house and they all did so well.

They also participated in federation and did awesome!

And we are all so happy Jackson decided to have me cut his hair.

We also had violin federation.

I totally faked it and played for Emmy.

We usually hire an accompanist but I decided to save a few bucks, practice 100 hours, and play for her.

Have I mentioned how much Kevin loves the move?

The location is perfect for his business.

He can get to his police calls so quick!