A few pictures of our house in New Harmony

This is one of the bedrooms (i think) but as you can see we had to rip out all the old drywall which revealed abode walls. It looked way worse than this. At one point I just went back and sat in the car because I was freaking out that it would never be livable.

The siding on the house was peeling off and had not been updated in probably 40 years. As they pulled up the floor Justin found old newspapers from the 1930's, that they used as insulation, under 7 different linoleum.

These pictures aren't great since Justin took them with his camera on his phone but you can get the basic idea that it went from bad to worse to AWESOME! The kitchen is not very big but it gets the job done. Well, so far, the microwave is great. We haven't used anything else.

This is the final outside picture!! A few months ago Justin drove his little brother, nephew and brother in law up to lay the sprinkler system and grass. It looks great and smelled even better.

Visiting Santa

While in Utah last weekend we decided to go see the Live Nativity in Tuacan which is hopefully going to become an annual tradition. We had a great time. The play is only about 15 minutes long but it helped to put us in the true Christmas spirit. Prior to taking our seats we stood in line to see Santa. This is always a little scary because my kids like to change their minds at the last minute and ask for something random that hasn't even been mentioned until then. This year we had no surprises as Tanner asked for an iTouch and Madisen asked for Zhu Zhu Hampsters and all their stuff.

After the play we took a couple of pictures of us in front of the big Christmas tree and stumbled upon wooden cutouts of elves and the nativity. Who can resist putting their face in a wooden cut out?

Meet Santa's special helpers below!!!

A weekend in New Harmony

My three favorite people

Madisen, Sterling and Emma

Snow bunny Madisen

Me and Justin

Tanner

Madisen and Me

Got to love the pink headband that Madisen wouldn't wear so Justin did!

I think Tanner did the most sledding.

DeMille Family

Madisen sledding on her belly.

We took so much time apart last year fixing up the house in New Harmony Utah and now it is time to enjoy some weekends there. The kids were more excited about this weekend than our last few trips to Disneyland and this cost way less! We loaded the car up with all our recently purchased snow stuff including heavy coats, snow bibs and pants, gloves, scarfs and hats, Thursday and headed out of town. After a short visit at Grandma and Grandpa's house we drove the rest of the way up the mountain to our house affectionately know as "Harmony in the Hills". At our arrival Justin got our and turned on the gas, power and water and started up the heater in the house while the kids and I sat in the warm car. After about 20 minutes we went in to the house which by now was a very brisk 50 degrees. We quickly changed into jammies and snuggled down in our blankets to get warmed up and get some sleep. The next morning we dressed and waited for the Vivier's to get there. We then drove Cedar City for a quick bite to eat and a stop at the local Wal-mart for some sleds. Up the mountain we went to Brian Head for some sledding!! We found a spot at the end of a closed road and hike in about 100 yards to find a great little sledding hill. The kids had a blast. I thought for sure the kids would be done playing after about two trips up that hill but we lasted almost two hours playing and laughing as we all took turns sliding down the hill whether it was on a sled, our bellies or bottoms. We can't wait to go back. Maybe next time without the kids so I can learn to snowboard!!!