Late Christmas Tree This Year

With all the work that was done on our house after Thanksgiving, we put off getting our Christmas tree until it was finished, which meant we went on Christmas eve.

We cut our tree at a local tree farm most years, and we continued the tradition. Although this year, David and Michael took control of the cutting of the tree.





The stumps on the lot make great places to do the "crane."

Nguyen Family Christmas Letter

We sent out our Christmas cards and annual Christmas letter very late this year (after Christmas). I didn't send as many cards this year and cut the list a bit short, so I'm sorry if you didn't receive a card from us.

We hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas focusing on the Savior.

Sleepy Hollow

John, Michael, AJ, and I went with two other families to look at the Christmas lights in a neighborhood in Torrance, Sleepy Hollow. It was amazing to see all the creative ways to use lights for Christmas. I didn't take many pictures, but our friends took this one of us.

(AJ and Michael were more interested in drinking the hot chocolate than in getting a good picture, but that's boys for you!)

Christmas Lights!

John is passing the torch and teaching Michael to put up our Christmas lights. :)

John's Birthday!

We celebrated John's birthday in the middle of all our construction. We love him and are so grateful for him.

Happy Birthday, John!

Lowe's Kid's Workshop

John and the boys enjoy going to the Lowe's Kid's Workshop together. This December, they had a special 3 week project building a train set. Here are a few photos.

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward had a wonderful Christmas party a couple of weeks ago with the Primary children acting out the Christmas story. Unfortunately, we only got one shot of AJ where you can see his face. Here it is.

Disneyland 2011

We took a little trip to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago (thanks to a dear friend who used her employee pass to get us in for free!). It was a great day...



Except for the trouble with local law enforcement....

Los Angeles Temple Lights 2011

We continued our family tradition of visiting the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Santa Monica Boulevard to see the Christmas lights. We had a great time looking at the beautiful lights and spending time with some friends.

Mostly Done!

Except for a few minor things, the house is done! Our house was in disarray for almost a month, but now it looks lovely with all new flooring and baseboards. Here are a few pictures.

Dry Rot

Two words homeowners do not want to hear: Dry Rot.

Our contractor found dry rot under the toilet in the kids' bathroom. The wax ring on the toilet failed. Not a fun thing, but we are very grateful that our contractor pointed it out and fixed it for a very reasonable price.

Progress

Here are my floors today. Soon the tile work will be done, then onto new baseboards and carpet!


(And, yes, I know my toilet is in the hall. It will go back where it belongs soon enough.)

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and More Pumpkins

At AJ's school Fall Festival, there were several pumpkins on display for a pumpkin carving contest. Some were so unique, I had to snap a few photos.

AJ's Building Again

AJ loves creating things. He uses almost anything you can imagine: paper, cardboard, legos, tinker toys, and (this time) magnetix.

He liked this so much, he took these pictures himself, then he asked me to blog about it. So here it is. :)

It Feels Like We're Almost Done, But We're Not

Here's how the house looks today. A lot of the tile is set, but what's not set will take longer. There are a lot of little cuts and odd angles. But our contractor promised he would be done before Christmas.

We'll see.

Slowly But Surely Sanity Returns

Thursday night.

It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better...

Here's how the house looked on Wednesday...

Let the Destruction Commence!

Yes, I feel like pulling my hair out right now...

We are having all the flooring on the ground floor replaced. Here's what it looked like Tuesday after demo started.