Grace had her second piano recital in December and a Christmas program to boot! She looked really cute for both and did a spectacular job playing her pieces and remembering her lines.
My parents came out for Christmas and that was a huge surprise for us! We loved having them here and Grandma was able to take the kids shopping for Christmas. Which of course they loved. Katey drove on her turn...not sure the Grandma felt comfortable, but everyone made it home in one piece. We were able to get together with some of Jerry's family on Christmas Eve and had a great time visiting and catching up. It amazes me how fast other peoples kid's grow. I know mine have grown alot in a year...but I see them everyday. My nieces and nephews are just stinkin' cute!
After Christmas we started project #1 on Casa de Mathis. STAIRS...NEW STAIRS! When we bought our house in August/September, we knew we would have to put in a new set of stairs. Why you ask? Well...we have had black rod iron circular stairs that lead down to the basement. The room they end in is my bedroom. Yeah...that doesn't work. The movers hated us when we moved in because anything that had to be put downstairs, had to be taken in from the doors in our walk out basement. So they had to walk all the way around to the back. Not fun in August in South Dakota when you have 98% humidity and temps. over 100*. Pretty sure they cursed our names as they drove out of the driveway. So...we waited until we thought the timeing was right and Jerry had gotten to a point in framing in the basement to where the stairs had to get done. January was it. Now everyone who has ever had any work done on their home knows that it NEVER is as quick as the contractor tells you. NEVER.....this one week job turned into three. But oh how glad I am that we did it. The stairs are beautiful and rich in color and perfect! I love them. That is my Valentine present. Aaaannnddd probably St. Patricks Day, Easter, Mother's Day......you get the picture. Now we are just going to have our neighbor come over and take out the circular stairs. He wants them for his cabin in the Black Hills. They will work in a cabin perfectly.....just not my house. :)
I took the picture at the top of the page this morning when I was trying to figure out what new picture to add for a banner on our blog. Since it is the month of 'LOVE" I thought is was kind of fitting to add this one. It is pretty obvious which one is the young kids and the old farts. But dang if they haven't aged well! Our engagement picture was taken in April of 1991 right after Jerry returned from Desert Storm. We were married May 11th. Almost 21 years ago. Between ALL OF THE MILES and all of the moves we have learned alot and grown up. On this Valentines Day I would like my Valentine to know how lucky I am to have him. He's turned into a pretty cool man and a GREAT father. And no honey....you aren't getting a card. The stairs took the card money too.
