New TV Project

The second week of January, Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha had a special after Christmas sale.  The sale was for technology that had been purchased after Thanksgiving and around Christmas.  Many items people bought, they took out of the box and used before returning them to the Mart.  NFM couldn't sell these already opened and used items for even cost so some of their items were less than what NFM purchased them for!  There were about 40 TVs, many laptops, iPads and iPods, Blu-ray players and many more tech toys.

Jon went up to Omaha the Tuesday morning that the store opened and waited in line outside the store. When the store opened at 10 a.m., Jon ran to the TV section.  We ended up purchasing a Vizio 42" smart TV (has a wifi receiver in it) for only $219!  Then Jon purchased a mounting kit for the TV for $79.  It was great to get a TV at a price that was way better than what Black Friday would have offered.

We had talked about getting a TV this thanksgiving and then mounting it on the wall in the basement and to buy a sectional couch to create a great family room/den area.

Once the weekend came, our close friends, Benjy and Aaron, helped Jon put the TV up in the basement.

First Jon needed to put the mounting braces on the back of the TV.

While Jon was working on the brackets, Benjy found the
correct tools we needed to put the TV up.

Also, we were able to give the TV stand seen above to our
good friends Kyle and Anglea as they were looking for a
bigger entertainment center.  We were glad we didn't have
to throw away the stand but that someone else could use it!

Jon beginning to drill into the stud.

Benjy double checking Jon's work.  :) 

Feeling like a real homeowner by getting to use the drill!

Benjy making sure the brace was centered on the wall. 

Almost done!

One thing that we also worked on was Benjy put in an outlet behind the wall.  Even though he isn't a "licensed" electrician, he did a great job pulling power from the back of our washer and dryer box (the white thing tucked behind Benjy's face in the picture below).  The reason why we wanted an outlet behind the wall was we were planning on having a clean and flush TV on the wall without seeing any cords.

Benjy putting in an outlet. 

Ace was usually in the way but Aaron did a
good keeping him entertained.  This photo
is great.  Ace stayed on Aaron's feet for a good
5 minutes.  Ace thought he was helping....

Here is the finished project.  The Blu-ray player we bought
also had its cords through the wall and then into the TV
and the outlet.  It looks great Benjy!  Thanks for your
supervision and expertise!

Picture looks great and the TV sits at the optimal viewing
height off the ground of 30" as concluded by the reviews on
Yahoo.com.  :)

Thanks again Benjy and Aaron!  This is the second of many projects where Jon ended up doing most of the work but Benjy was active in his assistance.  Thanks Benjy for MAKING Jon do all the work!  :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

So we know that we are a little behind but it's better late than never right?

We did put a bunch of pictures on facebook and if you also follow Matt and Kim and Jason and Amy's blogs, they also have many of these same pictures.  But, we thought it was important to give you the run down.  

This year, we spent Christmas with Jon's parents and family in Holland Michigan.  We left on December 21 for our drive to Chicago, where we picked up Matt, Kim, Ian, and Ryan from the Midway Airport.  Before we left we received the Vaudt Christmas present gifts.  

These pictures are not in a specific order.  But hopefully you can enjoy them.

Jon received a mug and some instant coffee for his trips!

Chelsea received a book with the Vaudt family recipes in it.

We rented a mini van and stuffed all of our stuff and the Matt Schleicher family's stuff

Andy and Ian.  Ian is wearing his Husker football shirt on Christmas Eve.

And...Andy had drawn Chelsea's name for Christmas so
she received a much appreciated Husker Volleyball shirt!

Christmas Eve at Christ Our Savior, Jon's dad's church

Our four nephews, the four cousins.  So cute!

Mom and Dad Schleicher

We brought Ace to Michigan as well.  He was awesome!
He liked to sniff the babies and they loved him too.

Beth and Jaden

Chelsea and Jaden

Christmas family photo

After the babies went to bed, we broke out the games.
This Christmas, the go to game was Stone Age.

Mom Schleicher and her delicious spread she provided every evening.

At the Christmas Eve service with Josh Jacoby and Rachel Szucs.

On the 26th we played a fun game of "Deal or No Deal".
Here, Matt is displaying his winnings.

Mark and John Donkersloot with Bruce Kraay.
Of course Jon taught them Stone Age as well.
According to these photos, they also enjoyed it.

Ian and Ace were buddies all week!  They also on
occasion wore each other out.  It was so fun to watch them.

Beth and Andy

One dinner time photo.  Our table has grown since last time.
Most meals included at least two adults holding babies.

Jon and Ryan.
Ryan is wearing the outfit we gave him for Christmas.

Chelsea and Ryan.

While together, Chelsea and Jon became very good at
identifying which twin was which.  Now, as we look
back at the pictures we are not always as certain. 
We believe Chelsea is holding Cody
(but correct us if we are wrong Amy).  :)

 Jon's cousin, Sandra, was married in St. Paul, Minn., on December 29.  The whole family left Michigan and drove together to Minnesota.

We couldn't go through Rochester without stopping by the
Maragos household. We also couldn't pass up an opportunity
to take a photo of the three John's (Jon) and the three Schnauzers.
 From left to right: John Zahhos (Tiko), Jon (Ace) and John Maragos (Dimo)

Dad Schleicher, Jason, the twins and Grandma.  Their first meeting!

Jon and Grandma

The brothers were ushers at the wedding.

Grandma with Jon and Chelsea at Sandra's reception.

Dad Schleicher gave the message and married the happy couple.

Sandra, the beautiful bride

Looking good!
The brothers were the ushers in the wedding and Beth sang at the ceremony.

Cousins Dana and Matt Hagan from Atlanta also came
to the wedding.  It was good to spend some time together.

The girls and the babies!  Chelsea enjoyed helping
Kim and Amy during the wedding weekend. 

Jon and Matt took Ian to the pool in the hotel.  Ian also was
able to play in the snow, which he thoroughly enjoyed!