Happy New Year

Monday and Tuesday we worked on the house. Tom got the old bathtub out and prepped the place for the new tub. He moved the wall in the small bath and got that sheetrocked, except for where the plumbing needs to be changed. On Tuesday I finished getting the last of the layers of contact paper off the shelves and sanded the cupboards and trim in the kitchen, dining room and laundry room preparatory to painting. It's possible to see progress, but the prep work doesn't have the satisfaction that painting brings.

Most of the week has been taken up with FAMILY!!! Miranda came to visit on Tuesday. Thursday we went to Silver Dollar City with Andy and Kera, Miranda and Dan, Nathan and Madalyn and Isabelle and David. We also took a young man from our ward since we had an extra ticket.

The weather has been pretty mild and so it was a nice day at SDC. Jonathan and Kristy dropped their two off on their way to our house. So we didn't stay late. We headed home to be with them... after a few stops.

When we went up to SDC, we stopped at Menards to buy a few more things for our new house and to return some ceiling popcorn spray that didn't work. Then, after SDC, we stopped at the Tool Store to buy a new drill and battery, since one of Tom's died. And we'd hired a guy to paint the ceilings in the house. He called to say he'd run out of paint. So we stopped in Harrison to buy more paint. I think our young man thought he'd never get home.

After SDC, Andy and Kera came to spend a few nights, and Nathan brought his girlfriend, Madilyn Home for the family to grill...er... meet. So there has been much merrymaking and hilarity at our house... and a few squabbles. People brought board games and tasty treats. 

Friday morning we went out thrift shopping and took a detour by the new house for some paint color advice and for Kera to see the expanded bathroom that she had recommended last time she visited. Friday night Tom took Isabelle and Katie to the youth night-before-New-Year's-Eve activity. They seemed to have a good time. We had time to talk with Nathan and Madalyn and bestow words of advice on them. And they seemed to take it well.

The kids had a good time playing together and then Andy and Kera and family left about 1pm on Saturday. Nathan went to work and then followed them to Russellville so he could help return Madilyn to her family in Mississippi on Sunday.

Jonathan and Kristy helped create their traditional New Year's Eve feast of all kinds of snacking foods. So we played games, watched movies, and munched on goodies. Most of us stayed up far too late... some past midnight. That made for a slightly grumpy Sunday, except for those who napped.

We had a lovely fast and testimony Sunday. One lesson was on Lot's wife. We talked about looking back to times and places where we were comfortable and the need to look forward to growth and change. We can't become more Christ-like, if we want to focus on the past and stay where we are. The message was to learn from the past and grow into the future.

I think 2017 will be an exciting time! I'm looking forward to it.