Hope v. Calvin

We first played Calvin this year at Calvin, and it was as good a game as the rivalry usually sees. For most of it, I thought they were going to beat us. But they didn't.

Yet Another Cottage Update.

I realize people may tire of the topic, but the Holland project continues, and you will all be privy to the photos whether you like it or not. As Rush Limbaugh might say, "You can always turn the channel!"

Drywall is up, and last week I heard they did cabinets and some other interior work. Personally, I am hoping to make it out there myself one of these days, maybe before... oh, I don't know... summer??

More Connor!

We had a big snowfall and I was supposed to go snowmobiling, but it fell through. At any rate, I did the driveway, then the little man was out and about in his snow suit!

All Connor, all the time!!

Here are some shots of the boy, for those of you who really only come by this site to see him... you know who you are.

Holland Project Update!

People are always asking me, "Hey, how's the lake house project coming??" Well for all your inquiring minds... "It's going really well!" Actually, a friend came out and wired the place for audio, video, phone, and internet, then the drywall went in last week. More photos when I get them.

Living Room "After"

Now our living room is back to being... well, a living room I guess. We still use it, but not so much as a TV room anymore.

Connor's Play Room

One cool thing is that the rocking horse was my uncle's first (in the 1950s), then it was ours when we were growing up in the '70s, and now Connor rides it! Also, the little table was in our kitchen at Lotus when Mark and I were kids.

Lower Level "After"

This is the new media room!

Living Room "Before"

This room was just too crowded!!

Construction

They finally came to put the carpet in on January 5. What a relief!

Lower Level "Before"

This is the space, under construction.

The Lower Level Project!

We decided we needed more space, as our living room, or great room, or whatever you want to call it was serving triple duty: it was our TV room, our living room, and Connor's play room. It got to be too much, so we finished about 550 square feet on our lower level, as it's a daylight basement with four big windows and lots of natural light. The first space is a media room, then there are French doors to Connor's new play room. We're really happy that we did it, as it means our main floor living room has returned to its normal function, and the new spaces came out great. I got Jodi a 42" plasma flat panel TV, and a Sony Playstation 3 for Christmas, as that's what she was aksing for in the new media room. Let me tell you, that girl knows her technology! It turns out the PS3 plays BluRay disks, which are movies in 1080p. (Jodi later explained that '1080' is the number of lines of resolution, and 'p' is for 'progressive', which means that all the pixels light at once--this stuff is tricky!) Also, she had Dish Network come out and upgrade our equipment to HD, which means now we have about 35 channels in high definition, which is perfect for the new plasma! You go, girl!

New Year's Eve!

We got a great offer from MB & Kristi: They wanted to babysit Connor on New Year's Eve! Well that worked fine for us, as we had two parties to hit that night. The first was a bunch of our friends from high school, and that was a great time. We left there around 10:00 and went to a party thrown by one of the gals from Tanaz. She and her husband just build a new house and it's really geared toward throwing incredible parties. So we were there from 10:30 until maybe 2:00, which of course covered the big countdown at midnight. A couple photos from that party, and my two favorite women with me just after the ball dropped!

(Just kidding Holly... she's probably mortified!) ;-)

Random Christmas Photos.

I don't even need a reason!! Just some random shots from around the holidays... the boy loves his bear Timothy, and his spinning top (a gift from his great-grandma). And of course Connor still loves eating dirt!

Christmas at the Wilterinks!

On Christmas Day we go to Jerry (Jodi's Dad) & Wendy's house for a big breakfast and then gifts. This is my second year in a row going, and it gets better every year. It's really geared more toward all the grandkids, but we got a digital picture frame that we just love. Of course Connor did well as always, and the other kids too.

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve came up really quickly it seems like. Unfortunately half of "my Dad & Tina" couldn't make it, as Tina had some health problems that thankfully were resolved with a good outcome. So we still had my brother & Kristi, Mom & Dad, Jodi, me, and of course our little superstar Connor. He was and continues to be the hit of every party or family gathering, that's for sure. He's not quite old enough to understand the meaning of Christmas, but he sure likes tearing off wrapping paper and beating and throwing things. Maybe next year we can explain about baby Jesus, immaculate conception, and that sort of thing.

As a side note, we had to put all our gifts up this year, because if they were under the tree they wouldn't last five minutes with the little man wandering around!