An early Christmas for Marleah

Christmas came early to Marleah this year.

This is her third year learning the harp, and she was struggling to find enough time to practice on the harp that finally made it to her middle school.

There are no harps currently available to rent in Rochester, so we took a very deep breath and made the decision to get her one.

It's absolutely beautiful, and we all look forward to years of lovely music!

(And we're crossing our fingers that she keeps this interest for a long long time!)

Dear Dad....

Recently Matt went out one evening and Lucy fell to pieces, needing more dad-time.

Here's what she left for him.

It says "Dear Dad, I don't want you to never go again. Love Lucy

I thought it was something precious to remember.

Christmas in New York City

Matt surprised me with an early Christmas gift- a weekend away from the girls to New York City! A friend of his runs a bus tour so we tried it out. What fun! It was very cold but very cheery- everything was decorated for the holidays. We both decided we'd like to return in warmer months for more city adventure!

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Thanksgiving 2010

For the first time in many years,

Thanksgiving was with the Riker side of the family.

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The food was wonderful.

Jillian was sick throughout the night, but we brought her along anyway. She took it easy on the couch and was very happy to be with everyone.

My dad made a homemade game called Crokinole that was a hit!

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Doing a puzzle has been a Riker tradition forever. We usually start one on Thanksgiving, and keep doing ones through Christmas.

So I brought one of my Christensen puzzles- and I went easy this year, choosing a 500 piece, vs my 1000 or 1500 piece ones! Ha!

Josh and Donna first helped Lucy do her Hello Kitty one, then started this one.

(Josh loves showing off his "Cleatus face")

We did it!!

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We all have so much to be thankful for.

Family, good food, fun traditions and laughter are pretty high up on my list!!

Now you see it, Now you don't

"Honey, we really should replace the nasty 20yr old carpet in the great room."

"Yep, but when we do that, we should chuck the old sofa and loveseat and get a sectional."

"And repaint the walls."

"Well, if we're going to do that, then we really should put in better lighting first."

" Yes! Let's put in track lighting and wall sconces....."

So, I know you know this, but NO home maintenance job is as easy as it seems.

Track lighting installation went fine.

Wiring the track lighting brought us to this gaping hole in our wall.
(Please ignore the hideous state of disarray that we call the rest of the house)

THANKFULLY, we have a professional (yes, professional- don't argue with me!) drywall mudder (well, what else is it called?) in the family.

Enter my older sister with awesome skills!

In a matter of a few days, she and Matt covered the gaping hole, and she artistically went to work making bumpy and uneven smooth and spotless again.



Here's how it looks today.

And yep, she's available for hire!
Donna, we love you!!!