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Saturday, November 24, 2007

Thanksgiving Take 2

So, in retrospect, we could have all had one Thanksgiving together, but it turned out we had two. On Thursday, at my mom's house we shared it with our friends from out of town, then Saturday we shared it with family on David's side from Medford and friends' family from out of town. There were over 20 people--I lost track. It was fun, though. Grandma Voyla and Aaron shared pictures and video from their trip to China. We all cooked together in the Raynors' kitchen. We met Stephanie's parents for the first time since her and Ken got married. We were happy that Kelly and Brandon were able to come down to share it with us.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving


Holidays are great! Especially when everyone is off work. We were so blessed that everyone was able to spend this time together. Thanksgiving morning started out with watching the Packers play the Lions.. and WIN! Woooohoooo! We were able to watch most of the game on Rich's big-screen TV at my mom's house. Immediately following the game, we hooked up the PS2 to the big screen and we (mostly Dave and Nathan) played Guitar Hero until more people started showing up. My mom had some family friends there from California, Julio and Diana, who are like family to us. They brought the "turdunkin". Their daughter, Laura, goes to college an hour north of us so it works out to have everyone together. Rich and Julia were there as well as Marie and her children. Grandma Voyla and Grandpa Hal were also there. Everyone pitched in with the food. We were actually able to all fit in the dining room, which I didn't even know was possible.

[ photo removed to avoid copyright infringement ]


Monday, November 12, 2007

Busy Weekend

This last weekend just flew by. We had a great time visiting with our friend Tiffany and her children, from out of town. We got to show the house to some friends and take some measurements for furniture and such. Dave and Dave O went up into the attic to check that the wiring was up-to-date. We ran all the faucets to check water pressure. I forgot to take my camera for more pictures, but I'm sure I'll get another chance. The inspection is today. I hope it goes well.

Yesterday Dave and I decided to check out some of the antique and used furniture places. We found some end tables that we both really liked. They have some interesting angles, kind of retro. I can't wait to put them in our living room. I hope we don't find anything too big because I don't know where we'll store it until we move. We saw some beautiful desks and vanities, but none that we could afford right now. It is a gradual process but it is fun to look for just the right piece.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

We Are Moving

We have been blessed to have my mom buy a house for us to live in. It was a deal we couldn't pass up and Dave and I were not ready to buy yet. For now we will be renting it from my mom and helping to remodel it.

We look forward to moving in about a month. We have lots of packing to do! It is 2.5 bedrooms (the third bedroom is very small), large kitchen and bathroom, laundry area, car port, living/dining area with high ceilings. There is no back yard, but David looks forward to fencing in the front yard so we can get a dog. It has a lot of potential.

Thanks to Rich for calling us when he saw this place on the market!

Here are some pictures I took in a rush the first night we went to see it, I will get better pictures up when I get a chance.


The House



Kitchen



Living Room

This is not the best picture. There is a huge window behind me and two south-facing windows to the left.



Master Bedroom



Bathroom
It is bigger than it looks in this picture. There is room for a piece of furniture to the right on the inside and shelves just in front of the door. It is kind of L-shaped.


EDIT: 12/3/2007 Move-in date has been pushed back to the end of December/first of January. So we'll be moving after Christmas.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Play-Dough and Coloring

Well, we got to spend some time with our nieces and nephew today, since Marie had to finish a school paper. We brought coloring books and Play-Dough to their house to keep them busy for a while. Ian noticed right away that we had some colorful stuff with us. He asked us "that?" (as in, what is that). We told him it was stuff so we could play with him and Cara. He liked that idea. First we got out the coloring books and the washable crayons. We got a Bob the Builder coloring book for Ian and Cinderella for Cara. We talked about the colors and the pictures, we traded crayon colors. We drew some pictures. Ian told David to draw a dolphin, and then he told him that his drawing was good. Then he told him to draw a whale, a sea star and some fish. Cara doesn't talk much yet, but she would scribble a little bit and then throw her arms up and yell "daaaa" and start laughing. We just played along and yelled "ta-daa" with her every time, but later Marie said that was her word for "star". Oh, well, we had fun with them. They colored for about 45 minutes before Cara was rubbing her eyes, the hint that she was ready for a nap. I was surprised she lasted that long.

Then Ian said "other?" meaning that he wanted to play with the other thing we brought. I told him "why don't you show Uncle David your cars, then we will play with the other thing we brought?". It gave me some time to clean up the coloring stuff. Well after about 2 minutes, if that, he said he was done with the cars and he was ready to do "other". So we got to introduce Ian to Play-Dough for the first time. He thought it was the best stuff ever. We got a kit that had cookie cutters of animal shapes and geometric shapes. It came with a spaghetti maker, which Ian liked because it made "worms". I made him a spider by attaching 8 worms to a ball of dough. David taught him how to use the roller and cutters and they made lots of sharks and "sea stars". I made him a frog and I asked Ian if he and Dave could make a lily pad for it. He got really tired by the end (about an hour later) but didn't want to stop playing when it was time for his "quiet time". We told him that we would bring it again another time. Dave put him down for a nap.

They are such bright children. Marie thanked us for sitting with them and giving them some individual attention. We had as much fun as they did.