Coming to an end

Statuary Hall and the restored barrel vaulted ceiling

Senate Lounge
Senate Chamber

Goernor's Office

The dome from the central rotunda.

The central rotunda

The building exterior

A new meeting room in the new underground wings.

The new underground wings

As most of you know I have been working on the restoration of the Idaho State Capitol Building for most of the time we have lived in Boise. After 120 million dollars, and about 15,000 hours my project is quickly coming to an end. The Grand Opening, which was last week, lasted three days. The final day of the grand opening festivities was for the public, and after all the speeches ended the public was allowed to stream into the building. The building has been empty for almost three years, and it was great to finally see it alive and full of energy.

We saved as many of the historic elements off the building as was feasible, and I think that the original Architects would have been pleased. The beauty of the building had been slowing covered over the years as spaces were remodeled. We found lots of old memorabilia, and artifacts hidden deep in the walls and attic spaces. We also completely replaced the mechanical, plumbing, electronic, and technology systems which were badly outdated and inefficient. The amount of money the tax payers will save with these updated systems is immeasurable.

In about a month I will start on a new project. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'm sure it will be vastly different from this one.

Christmas 2009

Our daily visitor

The boy's first snowman

Caulder with Grandma and Grandpa at the Zoo Lights

Kesler playing in the 'dig' area at the Children's Museum.

Kess posing on a mossy tree.

Caulder and Kessler sporting their new BSU jerseys.

Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas this year in Portland visiting my parents and extended family. We arrived in Portland very late on Christmas Eve and then woke up early Christmas morning to a huge sea of presents under the tree. Needless to say the boys were a little overwhelmed. We cannot thank everyone enough for the wonderful presents. The boys have had so much fun playing with all their new toys, and we've had fun dressing them in all their new clothes! We went to Christmas dinner at my cousin's house. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, and the boys were treated to more gifts. They especially love their new Thomas the Train sets!

Unfortunately, our drive back to Welches went from a 30 minute drive to a three hour fiasco. We made it to within 15 minutes of my parents house and found the highway , closed. Apparently, an armed maniac was at large along the highway after killing his mother. We were forced to drive all the way around Mount Hood, and again arrived at my parents house late at night.

But our long trip couldn't dampen the two exciting pieces of news we received for the Holidays. My sister's boyfriend, Joe, proposed to her on Christmas. We are thrilled to make a trip back east for the wedding next fall! Congratulations Denice and Joe! We also found out about a week before Christmas that Mat's brother Chad and his girlfriend Shauna are expecting a baby in April! Caulder and Kessler are about to have a new cousin, and it's a girl!

The rest of the trip was much less eventful and much more relaxing. We took a trip into Portland to the Children's Museum and to the Zoo to see the Zoo Lights. It was a cold night, but we all had a great time. Mat and I left the boys with Grandma and Grandpa, and headed back into Portland for New Years. We went to dinner and then to a concert at the Mission Theater. We stayed downtown in a hotel that night and even slept in! It was a very fun night, and a much needed break.

It's winter

Hanging with buddies Owen and Collin

Culder at the indoor play park

Kessler sporting his new winter hat

Caulder helping shovel

Kessler bouncing in the new jumper they got for their Birthday.

We've been so bad about updating our blog lately. The holidays have been busy. I'm trying to make up for being tardy with the blog by posting multiple posts. Here are some winter photos.

Happy Second Birthday boys!!!!!

Kessler and Caulder trying out their new toys.

Caulder wearing, I mean eating cake.

Blowing out the candles.

Keaton riding two horses

Caulder, Kessler and Grandma Katie.

Kessler and his Mr. Potato head

The monkey cake.

Caulder the monkey

Caulder and Kessler are now two!!!!! We can hardly believe it! We had a small Birthday party for them with a monkey theme, which is very fitting for our two little monkeys. We were joined by Grandma Katie; Mike and Keaton Dahlberg; Ryan, Robyn, Owen, and Collin Morris, Uncle Chad, and Kevin and Ruth Schultz-Early. The boys had a great time and received many fabulous gifts. Happy Birthday Caulder and Kessler - We love you very much!