A new whole-house fan, and three (!!) rooms ready for guests.
Archive for May, 2009
Ready for Reunions!
Posted on May 26th, 2009 by jj.May update videos
Posted on May 19th, 2009 by jj.Hosting Frenzy!
Posted on May 12th, 2009 by lucy.Our moms made so much extra food for the crew on Saturday that we decided we needed some help finishing it. Besides, our table was already expanded. After church, we invited a bunch of people over, and got Devin, Rebecca, Nathaniel, Rachel, Matthew, Gloria and Max the dog. (6 out of 7 ain’t bad. We missed you, Bethany!). Danny and Anna came too, plus Bill and Janet and our new friend Trevor. They admired my family’s handiwork (and Rebecca’s–she was one of the many from our Bible study who painted the living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway). We ate great food. And then there was silliness.
Max was happy: 
John and Trevor talked blueberries in the comfy chairs:

Rachel did Gloria’s hair:

Matthew and Nathaniel had fun with magnetic poetry (the high school version):

Danny got swept away by the Mother’s Day carnation…

…which I then stole it to give to Anna, who had spent 2 hours taking care of 2-year-olds in the nursery and was therefore honorary Mom for the day. The stem snapped. Anna lost it.
Rebecca, a *real* Mom, felt loved. Mission accomplished.

Whirlwind of family help!
Posted on May 10th, 2009 by lucy.My sister flew in from Madison. My aunts and uncles came from Maryland. My parents and John’s mom came over and catered (and worked on the house too!). Wow. This was no ordinary family gathering. This was a work party of epic proportions. The ten of us put in baseboard moldings. We demolished the cabinets in the way of the fridge, inserted two boards to support the counter and provide an edge to the cabinets, painted in the new wall space, and moved the fridge. We also removed the painted-and-caulked-shut storm windows and cleaned out years of gunk, leaving the windows positively gorgeous. There’s a new faux stained glass window in the bathroom, to replace the Target (TM) bag for privacy, that has already gotten compliments from visitors. And the old, moth-infested air conditioner was replaced with our new one, which took significant carpentry. All in one day. My family = heroic. Such a blessing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Heroic crew after a long day of work
Mom painting baseboards:

which Mike and either Gow (shown) or Lynn cut, and installed:

Uncle Arthur and Richard work on the kitchen project:
Man at work:

Eileen painted the cabinets and the wall:

Looking through the hole in the wall left by the air conditioner:

Working on the hole left by the air conditioner:

Megan and Aunt Lynn work on the window:

A beautiful window! (Thanks, Megan and Lynn):

And then there was FOOD! Hooray for the moms and Megan!
I love my berries, of which there were many:
Eileen made speides (and Raisin lurked behind):

My mom made a delicious strawberry short cake:

Our deepest thanks to all our workers.











