Christmas letter

We've learned that the PDF of our Christmas letter isn't very legible as its so tiny on most computer screens, so here it is again, in larger print:

 

Dear family & friends (or at least we like to think you are),

             It’s time again, for the holiday letter. You know, the one where we provide you with tidbits of information about how our lives have continued on over the past twelve months or so and expect you to ooh and ahh over our many accomplishments and such. That letter doesn’t sound particularly Minnesotan, does it? Here in Minnesota we pretty much stand around looking at our toes when someone asks us to talk about ourselves. So instead, this year we’re delivering a purely Minnesota letter. One that’s less about us and more about life in general.

            First thing, I suppose, we should introduce ourselves (just in case you forgot who is in our family). There’s me (Alisha), Andrew (my husband, partner, general sidekick for life, -whichever you prefer to call it), and our two boys Collin & Owen. Collin is three and a half and Owen is nearly two. This means we practice humility in our parenting every single day of our lives. Parenting is hard! Why don’t these kids come with manuals? Anyway, this year we’re thankful for a lot. Here’s our list of global ideas that we think are worth sharing (thank-you-very-much- TED).

1.              We’re fortunate to live in a world and community where there are good people all around us. Very often our family experiences acts of kindness that all too often we forget to pay forward. Sometimes everyday experiences eclipse that gratitude is a sustaining part of life. Just this week at work I was privy to a surprise free lunch (yeah for pizza!), our siding vendor offered to drive us around to other homes to view siding colors in real-life (how very nice of him!) and the boy’s preschool let slide that I totally forgot to pay this months tuition and let me pay a few days late without a late fee. Those are all kind and generous acts. We should remember to share more kindness, generosity and gratitude in our lives, and so, dear friend and family, we’re making an effort in 2013.

2.       Even though there are many good people in this world, there just aren’t enough people doing good things. We work to make a difference in this world as a family, giving time and energy to support other families in need and agencies that serve to help others. We actively seek to not only better our own lives, but to better the lives of others. Sometimes, the individuality of our society can force us to feel as though our path is the only important one, but if we are to be happy, healthy and successful, we should always remember that we are part of a much bigger whole. So, this year, we’re trying to do better for others, we hope you are too.

3.         We think our environment is important. Indeed, the environment truly is so very precious and important. We’re trying to become more and more conscious of our footprint in this world. We want the future for our boys to be fulfilling and pristine. We want them to enjoy nature the same way that we have been able to, and to do that we really believe we need to protect our environment. So we recycle, we carpool, we use products made of natural, sustainable things and we try not to be wasteful (In fact, we reasoned we shouldn’t actually write this letter- instead we should send it via email, but too many of you are without email for that to work out well!). We try to be green, to be healthy and to hand our children a future we can be confident will be filled with the wonders of nature. So in 2013 we’re venturing into the world of chickens and trying to live out of our garden for most of the summer.  Canning is the newest hobbie I hope to add to my repertoire.

Really, that’s all we have for you this year. No stories of who did what, or what’s going on in our lives, instead, just a some tidbits about the bigger picture. We hope you find it as a refreshing change from our usual letter.

We hope your year has been fantastic and fulfilling and we look forward to connecting with you again, hopefully sometime within the next 364 days.     

With all our love,

                                                Alisha, Andrew, Collin & Owen

Winter Welcome

This year we took our holiday photos in the fall instead of the winter. We were a few days before Halloween and the last few crisp colorful leaves dotted the trees for the weekend. When we took the photos I wondered if there was any way in the world that Jenn even took one good photo, it seemed like everytime I looked at the camera and Jenn, someone else was misbehaving, running away, being ridiculous...pretty much the opposite of what you would expect for a fruitful photo session.

But, somehow, it the strange and miraculous powers of the talented Jenn Cress's camera is the ability to find amazing photos where you'd think they cease to exist. So, here again, in slideshow fashion are just some of this year's photos (because she always gives us about 400 or so to pick from!)

Happy Holiday's 2012

Click on our photo to make it bigger and in a separate screen. Merry Christmas!
 
This year for the holiday we decided to post our letter online rather than send it along with the cards, so if you are so very interested in hearing our thoughts within the holiday letter this year, you'll find it here! Click on it to make it large enough to read easily.

The night trains

 This year we took the boys for the first time to see the night train christmas exhibit at the Model Train Museum. The actual museum is very very cool, with GIANT rooms completely laid out as miniature cities. During the night trains the lights are all turned off and the cities are speckled with minature christmas lights. A magical light-up Christmas train makes it way through the towns among the dozens of other trains.

The boys thought it was amazing. Especially Owen, who adores trains. He stood watching in a little daze nearly creaming "uder choo choo!!!!" meaning: Another choo choo (train)!

Watch for yourself as we took a little video on one tiny corner of the exhibit where Owen was watching trains.

Thanksgiving 2012

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to brave driving again, now that the boys are a bit older (and because the cost of the train was OUTRAGEOUS!) and make our way to Milwaukee. We hadn't been there since last Christmas-- this year was fairly crazy, but it was fun to be back in the house Drew grew up in again. Sometimes when we are there it makes me feel like we are teenagers, trapped in the room of his youth. Its like a flash back, and even though I wasn't actually there, I appreciate the nostalgia.

The boys had a fantastic visit while we were there, soaking up as much time as they could with grandma and grandpa. 

 Grandma and Grandpa were very accommodating, having the pool very warm for the boys. Everyday there was 83 degree water waiting for them as they excitedly asked to go in the pool. It was the perfect pre-nap exercise, making for restful afternoon slumbers.

We tried on Thanksgiving to get the boys to take some photos. It was a fairly failed attempt, but true to form they showed off their silliness.

 Then we added Uncle Chris to the mix for fun. The boys adore Uncle Chris. He's like the mysterious super uncle. They think that he is the bees knees.

 Owen took many rides on this stationary elephant, mostly because it had a seat on it and he's a fan of sitting on things that look even sort of like they might be a chair. Tables, furniture, not furniture, he'll try it if we can.

 And then of course, there is the many faces of Collin. Take a look at the ridiculous faces this kid made within about a 1 minute period.

 Finally, ending with a smile.

 While we were in Milwaukee we visited both great grandmas- Great Grandma Montgomery and Gigi Hollman. Great Grandma Montgomery was even willing to play horses with Owen, which he was super excited about.

 The three littlest great grandchildren: Owen, Colin and Hilton (Stephanie and Steve's adorable little girl).

 Here's Collin's favorite person: Chelle. For a week after we got back Collin asked when going to bed: Daddy, will you sing rock a bye baby to me? Now will you sing it as rock a bye chelle? He was infatuated with her!

 As with any Hollman gathering, there was lots of card playing. This year I FINALLY managed to really learn pinochle and Collin tried too (although I think he has a few years before he really catches on).

The morning we left (Sunday) we ended a trip with a great photo of grandma and grandpa and the boys. They had such a fantastic time and are lucky to have such wonderful grandparents.

Two sledge hammers & A garage

Two weeks have gone by since our last update and a lot has happened! With the Thanksgiving holiday we didn’t have time to head over to the house much, so when we finally started documenting the process we were surprised by all the work. Since our last post the rest of the concrete went it, the basement was framed in, the interior demo was started and the garage and mudroom were framed in. In tiny fractions of space its looking like a new house. Its really transitioning in my mind now, so much so that the old house barely exists anymore.

When I see the space now I feel like the old house has been totally demolished. I my mind’s eye, its hard to recognize the boys rooms as their rooms anymore, and as I’ve talked about before, that’s a little bit hard for me. The excitement though is starting to really outweigh the sense of loss and as we move forward our anticipation of the new build pushes us toward bright, happy, new beginnings.

While all this magic is happening at the house, our responsibilities in making choices has really been increased. This week we have to pick the siding color, the shingle color, the fireplace and the front door.

That’s a lot.

It’s really hard to pick siding colors. Really really hard. They are permanent. There’ no saying “eh, bad choice. Lets change it.” So we keep going round and round: bold, and dark with some dark color door (maybe red), or muted and more subtle with chocolate or dark stain wood door. White trim (at least one thing is decided), white windows, greying shingles.

We’re sort of wandering between dark green and dark grey at this point I think. The thing is we’re not sure if we want dark bolder green, or middle of the road grey. Its really really hard. I’m leaning toward the dark grey with a red door and white trim. But who knows what we’ll come out deciding on next week. Its changed about 10 times already.

The front door is fairly easy. We’re all craftsman-ish around here, so it will fit in that line, and the fireplace, well, we really haven’t even started looking at fireplaces yet, but at least its on my radar. Add one more ball to the juggling act.

Anyhow, decisions are everywhere, but at least the boys are having fun! They love the construction crew, which they know by name now.

 So here's the basement floor.

 The mudroom, garage and workshop concrete

 The new addition main floor (over the basement)

 The garage walls, being assembled, laying down

 Main floor garage and mudroom are up!

 There are two doors that go straight across, you can see straight through here.

 From the other side of the garage.

 There will be a deck that comes from the house wall out to where the woodshop ends on the far right.

 The new basement

 Running about in the garage

 Demo.

 Main floor demo. Current kitchen.

 Current living room

 Owen's room

 Collin's room

 The upstairs window looking down on the garage and shop.