Demo

Come on in...the house is open. Really...just crawl under the window; we dug a trench for you! Actually, the plumbers jackhammered through the foundation to replace the old pipes. It's a mess.

Dan is checking out a wall that needs to come down. Darn, it has pipes in it. We'll have to redirect those to another wall so we can open up the entrance to the family room.

Here's the ceiling (roof, rather) in my master bedroom. The spot in the middle of the photo is a load bearing point without any support. That explains the sagging ceiling! Glad we discovered this so it can be fixed before I sleep underneath it!And this used to be a bathroom. It's going to be a walk in closet soon!

Now we are just waiting for the permit approvals for the remodel plans. Hopefully the next house pictures show new walls etc.

Nick's Wedding

Nick Degenstein (Dan's high school friend) and Sarah Hodge were married this past weekend in Tulsa. We enjoyed our weekend (Lydia stayed behind with my mom) and had fun catching up with high school friends and "swimmer parents."

Me, Lindzi Timberlake, Sandra (my mother in law), and Maureen (Lindzi's mother in law).

We had a three hour break between the ceremony and the reception. After trying to find something to do in Tulsa, we eventually found a shaded parking place at the reception and took naps in the car. Dan was passed out.

I'd never seen this idea done before, but it was a huge success! Here is a picture of the instructions. You just take your picture in the photo booth, keep a copy of the pics for yourself, take a copy to a page for a memory book for the couple, and write a little note next to your pic. Some people got really creative. The photo booth was the most popular spot!

Dan loves to dance. Me, not so much. I warmed up to it eventually. Good thing too, the dancing lasted for hours. Here's a funny pic of Dan making moves on me!

The happening dance party.

This is the best part. Nick has a large extended family. 35 (and several of this number small children) of his relatives hired a coach bus and drove from Wisconsin for the wedding. After the reception, they changed into pjs and loaded on the bus to drive through the night back home. Isn't that the nicest thing? Was I glad I had a hotel room waiting for me instead of a coach bus!

Wait...don't trash that!

It's time to demolish most of my "new" house to make way for my really new house.  Dan and I agree...demo work must be sooo satisfying.  Seeing all this old and outdated stuff makes me want to grab my hammer and get to work.  But, we'll leave that to the pros.  I did enjoy walking through the house to see if anything was worth salvaging.  And here she is...this most beautiful chandelier will continue to find it's home in this house.  

What do I do with this strange light fixture?  Do you think it's some one's treasure?  Should I post it on Craig's list?  If you're wondering, this is the corner of the master bath vanity.  Could you imagine applying mascara next to this thing?

A chef's delight....30 years ago.  I just had to show you the cook top with punch controls.  I'd never seen these type of controls before.  Look how clean it is after so many years!

A New House

It's there, behind all those trees, I promise!  Today we close on our new house.  It's not exactly move in ready (unless you like rainbow wallpaper, mirrored wet bars, and mauve carpet).  I'll keep my blogging buddies updated on our renovation progress!  The house has been owned by a sweet woman named Joan for many many years.  She raised her daughters in this house and has special memories attached to it.  We are so pleased we got to know Joan and her family a bit before taking over the property.  We know it's been well used and well loved, and we hope to continue the tradition with our own family and friends.

Baby News!

Not MY baby news!  Ha!  Christina and Brett (and Josh and Matt) welcomed Brenna Renee Long into their family this morning.  Congratulations Long's!

Where are Nanny's glasses?

Just a silly picture of Lydia in Nanny's reading glasses.

I taught her this!