CLICK ON THIS LINE IF YOU WANT TO SEE ALL THE ORNAMENTS AND OTHER PHOTOS FROM THIS MONTH
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
One of our New Year plans was to photograph our entire collection of HERSHEY COLLECTIBLE ORNAMENTS so our kids can know what they are fighting over when we die )
We happened to start buying them annually beginning the very first year they came out so we have a complete set...21 years worth!
You can see them in the link above.
We have another house to clean...and it is bigger.
We got our vinyl plank flooring installed the beginning of January and we really love it! It was SO DIRTY after all the workers installed it that I was attempting to clean it up before it got covered with paper the next day.
The highlight of our month was getting to have Jenna and Klay and Cassidy come spend a week with us!
Klay was a great little buddy and we went all over while he was here!
We stopped by the Provo Temple because he wanted to see the fountain!
He was so excited he got to throw in a dime we had just found.
And this "monster face" will be seen a lot in upcoming photos!
See what I mean?
We took Braden and McKenna and Jenna to lunch at Costa Vida and then I took Klay and Cassidy to the museum while Jenna got a haircut.
He loved the giraffes!
We had lots of creative time at home and I was happy to see him playing with some of my new toys.
Very cool magnetic building set!
And, he took a picture of me!
The next day, he got to come to school all day with me!
He was the perfect little student!
I let the kids re-create our TOWER OF GROCERIES so Klay could participate in that with them!
We danced to ROCK AND ROLL FREEZE and he was into that!
Our theme that day was CANDY STORE (yes, I chose it by design) and we had so much fun graphing M&Ms before we ate them!
Jenna had a little get-together with old high school friends at the house and that was a lot of fun to see them grown up and some with kids.
Friday Klay got to go with Grandpa to work in SLC for a while. He had been looking forward to this train ride for months!
See the open mouth again???
And again???
So exciting to be on the train!
He got spoiled at Grandpas work with treats and toys and had a great time!
They took a little walk over to Temple Square and visited Jesus.
And the Salt Lake Temple.
Then we picked up Scott and Klay at the train station in Lehi and went to the DINOSAUR MUSEUM...another of his requests for the visit.
We had a wonderful time exploring and letting him see and do what he wanted.

Then we visited Grandpa James and Carolyn.
He loved the creepy SPIDER PUPPET there!
Jenna and I did some BOW SHOPPING for all the little girl bling you can find easier here in Utah.
We made a trip to BYU BOOKSTORE for Jenna to get some shirts for the boys who did not get to come on this trip.
Some Auntie Breanna time!And, on Saturday, we made a visit to show Jenna and Breanna the progress on the house.
My cute girls!!!
And our little explorer Klay found out what drywall dust looks like!
We loved getting together with FAMILY!
Saturday it was with JAMES FAMILY
Here are Cassidy and Lucas getting to know each other.
Cassidy checking out Great Grandpa James
And the Jensens with Gpa and Carolyn
And Cassidy with Gpa Taylor
Nathan and Daniel love babies and were entranced by Cassidy!

Sunday night we got together with TAYLOR FAMILY at Loris and Klay loved Vivian and Violet so much!
Cassidy with Grandpa again.
With Braden and McKenna
And Klay with Collin and Lilly.
We just could not get enough grandkid time!
Klay with his puppy friends and Lori
Cassidy with Great Grandma Olsen
Bre and Elliot with silly Klay
Jensens with Gma Olsen
And with Gpa Scott too
It was such a wonderful week having the house full of kids for a change! And a great excuse to get together with both sides of our family to celebrate!
The following Sunday we hosted a ARIZONA PHOENIX MISSION dinner with some great kids!
Our Mission Family is growing to include lots of grandkids!
OK...here is the latest progress on our new house.
This month we installed the kitchen cabinets and got cover panels installed and built drawers and put on doors.
Our painter painted all interior doors.
Then he painted all the trim, ceilings and walls.
In this photo you can maybe see the light gray tone we chose for the walls. We love it!
The hall bath has white shiplap on one wall and the rest is the gray. Hard to tell from the photo, but it is really nice!
And, on a few warmer days the very end of the month, our painter was able to get outside and start the exterior paint.
Here he is doing trim and the white porch posts.
This is after all the white trim on the front.
The shower door was installed this past week too. So pretty!
And, we have made MULTIPLE trips to IKEA to get parts for the kitchen or furniture using coupons...whatever the excuse, we head to IKEA!
And, MY labor was to paint my kitchen island.
This is with the gray primer...and caulked.
Here it is after a couple coats of the navy blue paint.
It was 2 coats of primer, 3 coats of navy blue and 3 coats of polyurethane water base varnish.
I wish I could say it was easy, but it was hours and hours of work and lots down on the ground in the dust!
Then, lots of effort to get up the tape and trim that all up and do all the touch-up there.
But, I was under deadline to get it done because COUNTERTOPS are coming Monday morning!
And, Beto was able to get the front of the house done in the two-tone gray we chose.
It is really coming to life!
Thought the grandkids might like a video of him painting with a spray gun. Where was this when I was painting all those cabinet doors and the island!!
So, the front of the house is completely painted now. He has removed the plastic but it has been so cloudy and dark that we have not taken a photo so you can see how great the navy front door looks...this photo is bad, from inside my car with glare, but it is an idea of how it looks.
I will try to add a photo so you can see the white trim with all this done...it looks great!















































