Wow, what a day yesterday. We were in the car for 14.5 hours for what is usually a 10 hour trip, and we also really almost could have been killed. We drove through the freezing rain "event" that moved through IL and IN yesterday, and lost control of our Suburban not too far into IL. It had started raining about the time we crossed the state line, and DH had slowed down a little, (from 65 to 55) knowing that it was bound to get slick since the temps were below freezing. All of the sudden a gust of wind caught us and we were skating from one lane to the other, angling every which way, with no way to control the car. It was very, very, very scary. We hit a stake on one side of the road, which sent us hurtling across to the median, where we finally came to a stop and were able to get out, which was fortuitous because there were lots of iced over puddles down in the ditch where we were. We actually had to wait quite a while to pull back onto the road because there was so much traffic, although by some miracle there had been NO ONE around us when we started sliding. I was *sure* we were going to roll the Suburban and was yelling the whole time at everyone to sit up straight and hold onto something (no idea if that would have been helpful, but I felt like I needed to do something to prepare). The stake dented our car and ripped out our tail light, but DH was able to pop it back in and it still is working. Shortly after we got back on the road, the windshield started icing over, so we cranked up the defroster and then watched in surprise a few minutes later when a crack began on my side and ran completely across the entire width of the windshield. We pulled off at the next exit to eat and take stock, and decided to keep going after calling my in-laws and checking the weather/traffic reports. We were through the worst of the icy conditions by then but it was pretty tense driving the rest of the way across IL. We crossed into MO and thought we were good to go, and then hit this http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?aid=90227 east of St. Louis. (The link is supposed to be to a story about how I-70 was closed for several hours due to a fatal accident.) That event is what caused us to lose so much time, but we finally made it back onto the interstate, watched the temperature gauge like a hawk, and made it to my in-laws late last night. We woke up to several inches of snow this morning and are so glad we don't have to get out in it!

I have had a leisurely morning and had the chance to upload photos so I can post some here!

This is our front door. The newest development is the stair newels and railing. The trim carpenter has been working for about a week, and I love the way things are starting to look.


This is the great room fireplace.


This is the kitchen, showing the pantry area. There will be a built-in bench to the left (as you look at it) of the pantry.


This is the dining area, with the back view beyond it.


This is my laundry room (LOVE the color!) and you can also sort of see the cabinets that will be installed in there.


This is the master bathroom tub.


This is the master bathroom walk-in shower.


This is the master bedroom fireplace.


This is another view of the master bedroom. The darker wall is the wall where our headboard will be, and this room will have a chocolate brown frise carpet....I am very excited to see it come together!


That's enough of the house for now! I would love to take some pictures of the basement, but it has been so cloudy that there hasn't been enough light down there to take pictures when I have been at the house. I think once the trim guy starts down there, there will be more lighting plugged in and I will take pics then.

We celebrated Christmas Sunday night. The kids loved the stuff they got and we had a nice time. It was a little weird to celebrate early, but worth it to not have to transport everything to KS. Here are my goofy boys:


My goofy husband (so handsome, despite his goofiness!):


My goofy self, with the goofy dog:


And finally, a picture taken by a parent at my choir concert a few weeks ago. This is my 7th grade choir, all 75 of them, who rocked the house during their part of the program.


Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah/Happy New Year to everyone![/QUOTE]