2013 Christmas Time in Missouri

Baby Logan  is coming up on 4 months old and April says he is growing like a weed!  He looks so much like Brennan did that it is almost complete deja' vu for me.  Mostly since about all I had of Brennan at this age were also photos :)  He is sure a cutie.  April sends us photos and videos pretty often.   I sure wish we were ALL closer.  I saw Elizabeth a few times when she was tiny like this but not very often since.

Brennan and Elizabeth all dressed for winter!

Elizabeth and Rick 

Brennan's basketball team.  He really did great - as always!

April's tree with all the different ornaments from over the years.  It is definitely 1 of a kind :)  Maybe someday we will have the pleasure of spending Christmas with this set of wonderful grandchildren ~

"Grandchildren complete the Circle of Love"

The finished product and move in!

We finally made the move out of the storage unit on the 5th of December.  Hard won progress!  On Monday the 3rd we had movers all lined up and about an hour into the truck loading we got word that we DID NOT have a Certificate of Occupancy or a Final on our permits - so nothing could be moved into the house... So we ended up paying the company to move all the stuff back into the storage unit - and then found out that they were booked on the 5th...  Geez... if it hasn't been for bad luck - we've had no luck at all.  On top of it all - the wife to the contractor is a snotty little ***.  If excuses were dollar bills she could paper the county... and most of it false to boot.  I guess she figured that I wasn't smart enough to find out when the permits were pulled or inspections requested.... NOTHING was done in the promised time frames.

But I digress (me and my soapbox!!!)

We did get our final, called a couple on Craigslist.com and met them - and got all moved, set up, and done before 2 pm on the 5th (the last day so I didn't have to pay for another month of storage!).  Thank you guys for the awesome and happy job!!!!  It was soooo cold!!!  and it started snowing just as they finished!!!

As soon as school was out I had LOTS of awesome help in unpacking!  It was an early release day so the kids were home early.  Bray, Jay, Tetee, Mak, and Caveman all pitched in and worked really hard getting all sorts of stuff unpacked and put away.  Ty came over after work and helped out too.  They worked really hard and it was so great for them to pitch in!  Bray put away all sorts of kitchen paraphernalia while Ty moved furniture and did bathrooms.  Tetee and Caveman helped to move and break down boxes and pick up all the materials that got scattered in the processes!  It was such a great help!

At the end of Day 1 - we had this much stuff washed, stripped, unpacked, organized and put away!  It never would've come together like this without the (can I say it again?) AWESOME assistance of my Grandchildren!!!!  And all without begging, pleading, or coercion!!! LOL  I think we even had dinner ready over at S'te's - so we were in them!!! :)

I will have some more organizing to do - but this has been a great day!!!!
Mak helped me get the TV's up on the wall and the cables hooked up right.... so in 2 days - we accomplished bunches...

AND IT WAS ON TO THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY PROGRAMS!! :)

S'te opens her shop

The showroom for All Ribboned Out as it looked when they first opened.

S'te... well what can I say.  S'te is S'te.  She has more energy and craftiness in her little finger than I have in my whole body!  In addition to coordinating all the 'stuff' for our house, trying to get us moved up there, and being the Mom to 8 children, she has opened her boutique.  For several years now she has done crafty stuff from home... starting with her Daddy Pillows and bows... In fact, Will calls her the bow lady :)  She graduated to an Etsy shop and sold her crafts, made to order, online at All Ribboned Out.  Then she bought her embroidery machine and set up the family room... Then they moved and she had a designated workshop - which it took less than a year for her to grow out of.  By chance there was a wonderful place, in a little strip mall, close to home, with plenty of room for a showroom and her machines and inventory, for close to a decent price.  Her work is so awesome and such great quality that she is now working 5 days per week to try to keep up with orders!
- So now she is a businesswoman... :)


 Some samples of the personalized, custom orders that have been crafted by S'te and Jeanne at All Ribboned Out.

They even have 2 Facebook pages... All Ribboned Out  and All Ribboned Out Bremerton - for those who are in the Bremerton area and can come in and patronize the store!  She has some awesome adorable things for boys and girls!!!

and these are my favorites!!  She made one for baby Logan!!!!

Which is our newest addition.  He was born in August and I will probably have a whole page of photos to share as soon as I get some emails forwarded from April.

"Happiness is when what you think, 

what you say, 

and what you do are in harmony."

 —Mahatma Gandhi