We left Yuma in the early morning hours of December 11th. We had uneventful flights which is always a good thing. The skies were clear as we left Phoenix. I never realized how many mountains are around the city. There is often a haze in the air which I'm betting is caused by being in a valley.
Eric picked us up at the airport in Milwaukee, and we spent the next week at his house enjoying his company and visiting family and friends. We brought nice weather with us, as the entire time we were there it was quite pleasant for December in Wisconsin.
Korey and Cathryn came for the weekend, and we celebrated Christmas on the 15th with my side of the family and our kids. It is always great enjoying time with family. Here is my side of the family, my mom, brother and his wife, and our family. Not a very big family anymore.
And here we are with our kids.
Yesterday we found out Korey and Cathryn have added a new member to their family. They got a Goldendoodle named Remy. He is sure cute!!
A lot of work was completed on our place while we were gone. They installed the new windows and patio door, scraped the popcorn ceilings, textured and painted the ceilings and walls, and installed a new walk-in shower. There is still touch up work to be done inside, but the brunt of the work was completed. We are able to stay in the home while the rest gets finished.
The most dramatic difference is in the kitchen. We had them remove the drop down ceiling and a large upper cabinet. It really opened the place up, as you can see in the before and after pictures. We will be putting another cabinet on the wall where the old one was removed, but not as big and cumbersome looking. We will also be getting a new TV cabinet so it will not be sitting on the kitchen counter.
All of the rest of the kitchen cabinets will be replaced and be higher to the ceiling. The microwave vent will be covered as well. The shorter side will be extended so we can have a dishwasher and another cabinet there.
The refrigerator had a large cabinet structure around it. That was also removed to open things up more. We will have cabinets on the back side of the refrigerator, but not an enclosure all around it. All new appliances are being delivered on Jan. 8th.
The new shower is done in white tile and looks great. I'll post a picture next time as it doesn't have a door on it yet. That is being installed this coming week. In the meantime, we're using a shower rod and curtain, which is fine for now. The new windows also look so much better, and I'm sure will give us better insulation and noise reduction as they are dual pane versus single pane.
We will be celebrating Christmas with friends here in Yuma. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas wherever you may be.
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!
