Family and New Floors

Well, we've been a little busy.  And before more time passes, I'm posting some pictures, knowing you will be forgiving of their fuzzy quality.  Rose and Gary came to visit and help with the hardwood floor in the kitchen and dining room, and to help me finish the tiling in the laundry/mudroom.

First, we removed the pergo that was in the kitchen.

 

And under the pergo, there was linoleum to remove too!  The kids helped a lot!

 

Next we removed the linoleum from the laundry room.

 Then it was time to lay wonderboard in the laundry room...

...and remove the carpeting and tack strips from the dining room.

Then the experts, Gary and Rose, arrived.  We had noticed a squeak in the dining room floor, and they correctly diagnosed the problem and fixed it...

...before laying the hardwood flooring.

Lukas and Konrad helped sort the pieces and made sure that Gary and Rose had plenty of supply to keep working.

 Little by little, they put the flooring in...

 ...and then it was done!

The new floor makes a good drum...and we know it will make a beautiful dining room!

 

Meanwhile, in the laundry, the tiling was going in.  

 

Dominik helped me put in the spacers, when he wasn't holding his ears at the loud saw noise in the next room.

 

The hardwood went in so quickly that Rose helped me finish the tiling and the grouting.  The finishing touch was the bench that Gary and Rose's son, Justin, made for the mudroom half of the laundry room.  Now we can take off our muddy boots, hang up coats, and keep things tidy.

But it wasn't all work...we did some fun stuff too!  We went to see wild raptors one day...

  and another day we went for a walk along the river in 32* weather.

The boys got into throwing rocks into the river, and then it had to be big rocks...

...so Gary pulled big rocks out of the river so the boys could throw them back in for a big splash.

All too quickly, it was time for Rose and Gary to return home.  We hope they will come back soon and not work so much the next time!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today I'm thankful for the veteran's who have put their country and our freedom ahead of their own lives.  Thank you to all the veterans out there!  As a tribute, here's a picture of the veteran I knew best, my kids' grandfather.

2013 Vacation 3

After Augusta, we drove to Charlotte, NC to visit Tom's brother, George and Leanne.

But first we stopped at the Nascar Hall of Fame!

And we stopped at a plantation...unfortunately they were filming a commercial in the back so we didn't get to tour as much as we'd hoped.

We had such a nice visit with George and Leanne!  George is showing the boys some arrow heads, I think.

And we enjoyed worshiping with them before heading to Raleigh.

We were so busy talking the whole time, we didn't get many pictures of them, but one final before saying good-bye.

On the way to Raleigh we stopped at the Battle of Alamance (to throw in a little Revolutionary War history on our Civil War tour).

We had so much fun staying with Tomra and Shane in Raleigh.  Here Tom caught us enjoying conversation in their beautiful garden.

The kids loved the private entrance to the neighbor's chicken coop.  Wow!  A picture of Dominik smiling!

While we were there, we explored the Duke Gardens...not enough time to do it justice, so we will have to come back!

Dominik is again in his "no pictures" mood.

Lukas and Konrad stayed back to watch a stone mason put in dry-fit flag stones.

I couldn't believe the size of those lilly pads:  as big as a large pizza!

The next day Tomra and Ireland joined us at the Raleigh Science Museum and met Niki, Jessica, Jake and Noah.

Then we followed Niki home to their new home, and ate venison that Tom (Niki's Tom, not my Tom) shot with a bow and arrow!  Ok, I think this picture is of brownie and ice cream, but the venison was so fabulous!

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures...but I have to capture these kids before they grow.  And I know they will grow before the next time we see each other.

Niki and me...it was so great to see them again!

The next morning, Tomra served grits with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes, and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  So tasty and colorful!

The kids got their Lego fix before we headed off.  Such a beautiful family room!

Natalie was happy to read a book in the morning light.  Ireland gave her a princess book, and Natalie talked about Ireland and her gift the rest of the trip!

Thanks so much for a great visit, Tomra and Shane!