January-Happy New Year 2011

The Seely Family made it to 2011! We have been enjoying the cold weather and looking forward to the new year.

To bring in 2011 we invited our friends the Valdez family and Ryan family over to our house for some dinner and games, then we shot off some popping fireworks in the back yard. The kids were so cute and loved pulling the cords with the streamers flying out. Parker didn't like all the noise so he watched through the window with me.

The month brought some beautiful weather, so we took advantage of the sunshine and got some work done around the house. We painted the interior main level. We invited the missionaries to come over to help for community service. One of the elders is Marshallese. He had never painted before, so it was a crash course in trying to get paint on the wall rather than the floor or ceiling. The elders have a wonderful attitude of service and we appreciate all of their willingness. Their painting skills are something that could use some work. During our big painting project, the most frustrating part was the accent wall that would hold the artwork. We had to do 4 coats of paint just to get the rich color we were looking for. We ran out of energy near the kitchen, so at a later date we will finish the main floor of the house.




We also did a lot of work on the back yard. We have so many fruit trees, that they are having a hard time growing for lack of sunshine and space. We decided to take out 2 shade trees and 2 non-producing fruit trees. Darryl was a master with the chain saw. The boys got out the camp chairs and watched the action from the porch. After the limbs came down we made a great big pile and chopped the trunk into logs for our wood pile.

I took on some fun new projects. I recently started interpreting for a new agency called Eaton Interpreting Services. I interpret at 2 community colleges for classes this semester. One is here in Elk Grove and the other in Stockton. The classes are fairly interesting and I like putting my skills back to work. I also registered for my National Interpreters exam and the only available time is in October of this year.

Darryl is still hard at work with the National Guard and KPMG. He is settled into his command position and things are going quite smoothly with the military. During Drill this month his promotion to Captain was official and his unit recognized his new level of responsibility. This is Darryl with Lt Col. Fell.

A new year always brings some thoughts about goals and ambitions, so this year we want to have a baby, work on our house, Darryl plans to take the GMAT for grad school, and I want to pass the NIC exam for ASL. Tanner wants to continue with Gymnastics and learn to read. Parker wants to do everything Tanner does. It should be a busy and fun year.