RV There Yet? » Family

Quiet

steph — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:37:10 +0000

Ah, the end of the holidays. We’re still hanging out in Waco – parked at Midway Park on Lake Waco, but spending most of our time at DD Lara’s house. Everyone’s back to work today, so the house seemed pretty empty – just us, the two dogs and three cats. So I guess empty is a relative term. How about the house is empty-ish? We’ve really enjoyed our time here, though it’s been less than a traditional “holiday” season. We’ve had some ups and downs, but I’m happy to report that the Ups out weighed the Downs.

Ups -

Christmas with Lara! It was a quiet day, just the three of us. And since we’re all “watchin’ what we eat”, we had to (sadly) forgo our traditional Conrad Sticky Buns. But we did enjoy some yummy eggs Benedict Florentine that helped make our morning special.

We finished off the day with a lovely Christmas dinner at friends of Lara’s – and since we were there last Christmas too, it’s like we’re family. It was a good day – sometimes it’s hard not to be with the WHOLE family on Christmas, but we were with family, and in that regard we are blessed. Hope your day was filled with hugs and kisses and calories, and special reminders of the birth of our Lord.

But Christmas was only a small part of our time at Lara’s. Gary, of course, had a long list of chores he wanted to accomplish and Lara and I decided that we needed to have some project fun of our own. So we decided to tackle painting some furniture that she had collected over the years.
The first was a pink dresser that originally had magazine pages decoupaged on both sides and the top. Quite the design element. Once we got the paper scraped off, it was clear sailing to a pretty fine and functional dresser that now is the happy home to part of Lara’s yarn stash!

Then there was a plant stand that seemed to need a little refreshing -

But I think our favorite “re-do” was a little cabinet that had been in the family for probably 20 years and when we got it it needed to be refinished. By the time Lara got it, one cabinet door was broken and soon after the other door bit the dust and so it was definitely in need of some refurbishing. We not only refurbished it – we re-purposed it!

And in case you don’t instantly see the re-purposing, it’s now the cats’ private eating station. Safe from the prying eyes (and appetites) of the two dogs that share the house!

Pretty sweet, eh?
But of course, Gary never stopped moving. He had three big jobs he wanted to accomplish – build a better gate to the alley, re-screen the screened in porch, and spruce up the garden enclosure using the old wood from the deck.
The gate turned out great -

And well, the garden “upgrade” is quite impressive!
I don’t actually have an “official” before picture – but here’s a shot when he built the boxes and enclosure last fall.

And here’s a glimpse of it from October of this year when Gary was working on the fence -

And here it is now -

Now if those Brussels Sprouts would start producing……

We kept finding other little jobs for him to do, like lowering closet rods and adding shelving and building dog bowl decks,

so the screening is still a work in progress. But all in all – he’s been one busy dude!
And there has been one other major distraction –

And this definitely goes in the “Down” category!
What started out as a suspicious “sewer-y smell” turned into a cracked drain/sewer pipe under the house. Ugh. And Ugh again.
Lara’s house is “post and beam” construction – with about 8 inches between the dirt and the floor joists.

Gary did his best, but Lara had to call in a plumber.

The house was without plumbing for 48 hours – and folks were getting pretty creative in finding places to shower and (ahem) pee. We even had a little gathering here at the campground, cause hey, we can flush! And there’e a bathhouse for multiple showers! The plumber and helper (who also happened to be one of the housemate’s new fiance!) spent Friday in the dirt under the house (literally), and by the end of the day all drains were working. Phew. There was always the risk that the back bedroom floor would have to be removed to do the repair, so to get everything back on track without floor damage was a huge relief. Thank goodness for determined (and small) plumbers!

We’ll be in Waco until Friday morning when we head down to Giddings, TX and Camp Tejas – our January project. But we still have a bit of fun to look forward to before we leave. Like helping Lara celebrate her birthday tomorrow!
And then of course, there’s the porch screening to keep Gary happy for the next couple of days!

2012? Really? Have a Happy, Healthy, and Blessed New Year, everyone!

Back to Back

steph — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:42:57 +0000

Where does the week go????!!! Our project is going great, but before the weekend starts, I wanted to share about Last Weekend. We’re doing Back-to-Back Waco Weekends, and I hate to get too far behind! It was a pretty full weekend – with lots of fun stuff going on!
First on the agenda – Building The Ultimate Bed.
Lara has a pretty small bedroom (with the smallest closet in the house), and has spent the last year or so searching for a platform bed with lots of storage underneath so she could get rid of her dresser and maybe even find some extra space in her closet. She finally decided on The Ultimate Bed, with a total of 16 (!) drawers! Six on each size and four small ones running down the middle that you access from the foot of the bed. Quite amazing, really.
There was only one small problem.
It came in 9 boxes with 35 pages of instructions.
Really.

We got started on Friday night -

building the drawer units.

And while it’s true that Gary did the actual “building” (after all, he’s the expert with the power tools), he couldn’t have done it without Lara and I. We kept the screws organized and kept track of the bazillion parts that were needed. And occasionally we were the “could you read those directions again? Do they make sense to you?” helpers.

Clementine was a big help too!
After the drawer units came the actual drawers…..

The sections were joined together and the center drawers were added.

And finally, the mattress platform was installed.

And by noon on Saturday -

Lara had her very own Ultimate Bed!
Just in time for us all to get our rain gear on to go the the Baylor-University of Texas Game!

We got there early and enjoyed watching the warm up

and we got to see the Baylor “Line” -

which is actually anyone (it seems) who has a gold/yellow shirt on running on the field to greet the players as they come out.
There was lots of team spirit

and it did rain off and on for the entire game

but in the end, it was a great game!

And, yes, Baylor WON!

The Big Event this coming weekend is Lara’s Second Annualish (did not happen last year due to the fact she had no kitchen) Cookie Baking Extravaganza! Definitely seems like a worthwhile reason to hustle back to Waco, doncha think?

Anatomy of a family picture

steph — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:50:36 +0000

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? I hope so! Ours was wonderful . Our grand girls (ages 4,7 & 8.75) are getting so grown up!

We enjoyed every minute of our time with them.
But this year, I must confess, the two little boys, Noah (15 months) and Weston (4 months) certainly stole the show! Or, if not the show, certainly the camera! Noah was totally enamored with little Weston, and was right at his side at most every opportunity.

Noah seemed to instinctively know that he and Weston needed to stick together with all those girls around!
And of course, we did have Denali around to further add to the fun!

I did not have the camera out too much (well, except for excessive pictures of the little boys), but I made sure that I got a family picture. There really aren’t THAT many of us – only twelve – but trying to find a time that both little ones were awake, and the girls were in the house and all adults were accounted for took a little doing. I finally just started directing people to the sofa.

It’s a start – Abigail, Weston and Hayley

Good, there’s Ellie joining the group.

Yes! Papa Josiah is in his rightful place.

Yea!!! Aunt Lara has arrived!

OK, there’s Pops and I’m convincing Noah that he wants to join the crowd….

We’re getting close – up to 10!

At last – we’ve all made the picture! And it turned out pretty well, I think!

I sure do love these guys!

The Birthday weekend in Waco

steph — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:39:49 +0000

We’re back at work today at Charis Hills Camp, but I wanted to share about our very fun long weekend in Waco. I’ll pretend that we went to Waco to celebrate my birthday, but the reality is, we returned so Gary could finish up that fire pit! So let’s start there -
So this is how things looked when we left back in October -

By the next weekend, the fire pit kit had been delivered

but it was still a long way from the backyard – and from actually being usable.
We just let that ol’ fire pit just sit there for a day or so while Gary continued on the prep work and the hearth.

One of the smartest things he did this weekend was take out a section of the fence in the back so he could drive the truck (and all those pavers and bags of sand/gravel/cement) up close to the deck. Man, those babies are H-e-a-v-y!

Once he got the three hearth rows down, he tamped them all into submission….

checked to make sure the opening was a good size for the ring

he started building up the sides of the pit.

What I don’t have pictures of is him putting mortar between the blocks in the hearth or how he cinched each level of the fire pit stone to make sure it was perfectly round and good and tight. But here it is – with one happy homeowner waiting patiently for the burn ban to lift!

And just in case anyone down the road wonders about it -

It’s signed, sealed and delivered!
But the weekend wasn’t ALL about the fire pit! Lara did have some of her friends over for a little birthday pot-luck for me on Thursday. (Of course, it might have just been a ploy to get those fire-pit pavers to the back of the house….). As often is the case, sometimes the most unusual items become the most interesting of the night. In this case – Lara’s Yarn Swift and Ball Winder….

Who knew? And it wasn’t even the kids who started wondering what those “things” were for!
Here’s our group picture from the night -

A fun group – and a fun evening!

By Saturday the construction project was over and we spent the early part of the day running errands. I know that Gary loved the trip to Lowes (mostly returns!), Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight. But I LOVED our stop at Kohl’s where Lara and I left Gary in the truck to go in and look for a new top for me. It’s my birthday after all! What started out as a simple shopping trip, soon turned into the “reveal” portion of “What Not to Wear”, and I walked out of the store with….drum roll……a new dress, sweater (basic black), dark dress jeans, a classic long black skirt and SIX tops. All for $156.00. Ok, I know that’s probably TMI for some of you – but SOME of you are delighted to hear of our shopping prowess. You know who you are! Lara and I had such fun, and since I can’t think of the last time I had so much fun with my own personal dresser, I had to share!

The weekend ended with a safe trip back to our spot north of Dallas, and we were blessed with this beautiful sky as the day drew to a close.

Yes, indeed, dear friends, it was a very fine birthday weekend. Calls from the family (even a Skype call from Ohio!), mushy (and silly) cards from my precious sisters, and time spent with Lara and the gang in Waco. Very Very Fine.

Birthday Blessings

steph — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:10:38 +0000

I have five very wonderful and very precious grandchildren. Five! I’m in love with them all. Today, since it’s her 4th birthday, I thought I’d share a bit of why our little Maddie has such a special place in my heart.
1. She and I are share “birth order”. We’re both the third daughter and after a lovely reign of being everyone’s baby, we were usurped by a baby brother. Not that we don’t love that baby brudder, mind you, but still. It is what it is.
2. We almost share the same birthday. Today Maddie turns 4. Tomorrow I turn the “new 40″.
3. In a family of dark haired beauties –

she’s a little blue eyed blonde! And that, my dear friends, comes directly from her daddy’s side of the family. And we take full responsibility for that!

Happy Birthday, precious little one!

How quickly you have become

the little imp that melts our heart!
We wuv you.

A Waco Weekend

steph — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:30:52 +0000

One thing our kids have learned over the years (especially since we’ve been “on the road”) is to have a list of chores for their Dad when we come to visit. It really makes him crazy if there’s no room to paint or faucet to install or stairs to build. He’s helped Toby build a deck and basement shelves, helped Josiah install windows and outfitted the baby’s closet with shelves, and if you’ve hung around this little blog you know he did a little kitchen thing last year at Lara’s! Well, we spent a nice long weekend in Waco with Lara last weekend and let me tell you, there were tools involved! There’s always a long to-do list when you live in a house built in 1919 so it was just a matter of picking the right job to fit the budget and the time-frame. This time repairing the fence seemed to be the chore that fit the bill. And since there are three dogs that live at Lara’s and three at the house next door, a fence repair DEFINITELY seemed like the way to go.
Of course, I don’t have a true “before” picture, but here is one in the early stages of the re-build -

And here are the boards that we were removing….

And here is the fist section completed.

The neighbor (with the OTHER three dogs) was so pleased with the results that he said he’d pay for all the material if Gary could replace the rest of the fence along that side. OK, that was a no-brainer!
The next day, the rest of the fence came down -

and by the end of the day Friday – Voila!

Pretty sweet, eh?
But the weekend wasn’t all work. The three of us played at the Waco Food and Wine Festival along the riverfront downtown on Saturday and it was a perfect day for the event! Bright sunshine, not too hot, gentle breeze……

We each had our little plate and wine glass – and had a grand time sampling food from many local restaurants and wine from local wineries and shops. Lots and lots of choices – but I was especially happy to see an iced tea choice at one of the booths!

Since it was a fund raiser for the Waco Humane Society, there were lots of adoptable puppy dogs hanging around too.
We joined some of Lara’s friends toward the end at one of the “reserved” tables -

and then later we all went to a local eatery for dinner (please don’t ask me why we needed dinner after grazing all afternoon…….). It was really fun to hang out with all the youngun’s. And I don’t think we embarrassed Lara too much.

Well, I don’t think so, anyway!

So it was a great weekend all around. Gary had fun doing his “thing”, Lara and I helped him when we could (mostly in debris removal), we had some good play time with Lara’s friends and we even got in a couple of HGTV shows (for those of us TV deprived folks!). We’ll be back toward the end of the month….I wonder what will be at the top of the list then?

A bit of randomness

steph — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:02:18 +0000

Really. Has it been a week since I’ve updated this little journal of mine? Not quite, you say? Hmmmm…. It seems that sitting in three days of board meetings is much more mentally draining than you might think! The last week was largely spent either in meetings, thinking about meetings, eating with fellow board members where we TRIED not to talk about the meetings, or falling exhausted into bed amazed at how tired you can get sitting in a nice comfortable chair for hours on end. (Ok, so there might have been a trip to the DQ in there somewhere. Maybe.)

But I must tell you – it was a GOOD meeting. I really feel that the current board is exceptional in their dedication to the ministry, their willingness to serve, and their clarity of thought. And the office staff (who does a great job of actually implementing the decisions made by the Board) is also exceptional. We might not all agree on all the finer points of how things should work, but we are all on the same page when it comes to the integrity of the ministry and the desire to do it all to the glory of God.

I am honored to serve with these folks!

But since this post is about randomness -
How about those new tires?
Old Tires -

New Tires -

Thankfully those OLD tires never looked like this one -

Phew – I think we were closer than we realized!
Here’s the house looking a little toothless -

And here’s a shot from our tire day that I’m sharing just because it reminded me of the movie “Cars”.

(We’re being random, right?)
After the new tires came the alignment.
Do you know that in order to align the front tires of an RV it has to be driven over a pit on two little tiny platforms?

Ok, so they aren’t actually “tiny”, but even the experienced mechanic took it pretty slow. Gulp.

Wanna see the underside of our house?

See those pretty new tires? (Any questions about what anything IS under there should be directed to Gary!)
We had one more maintenance stop to make before we reached Texas, and that was at the ArTex Truck Center in Texarkana,AR (which is right next door to Texarkana, TX – go figure.) They checked a couple of items for us, and Gary watched while they did some maintenance (so next time HE can do it). I really felt like Lizzie (the house) was out playing with the big kids.

All in all I think we’re about done with our heavy-duty maintenance schedule for a while. But, the ol’ girl is 8 years old, has traveled 60,000+ miles, and has been used full-time for seven of those years so we are beginning to see some good old fashioned wear and tear. But we still love her!

Ok – one more bit of random goodness -

Little Weston at 10 weeks! Be still my heart!

And in real time…..
This afternoon we head to Waco to spend a long weekend with Lara and the folks/critters at the Parrott Ave Zoo!
See ya next week!

The Vermont Bite

steph — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:14:47 +0000

So, Vermont.

I could have easily done multiple posts about our time in Vermont, but my life is promising to get pretty busy again starting Friday, so I’m putting together a Reader’s Digest Version.

The Preface
We had a quick afternoon at the cabin before we drove to Lancaster, PA to meet our new grandson, Weston. My nephew and his family were just settling in at the cabin for the week, and we were delighted to be able to join them (along with my sister and hubby) for a quick lunch after church.

Not seen in the picture is Mike’s wife (she’s behind the camera) who is expecting twins any time now. I think they did their first vacation at the Cabin (since the kids) just in time!

Chapter One – The Projects
No Cabin visit for us would be complete with Gary tackling a variety of projects. Let’s face it, I’m content to sit in front of the fire with my coffee until 10AM, do up the breakfast dishes, make a sandwich for lunch, read a couple of chapters of my book, take a nap, put together a salad for dinner, pull out the book again and then call it a night. On a sunny day, you might find me wandering down by the pond or suggesting a ride into town for ice cream. Gary, on the other hand, starts every day with a list. This year he was concentrating on doing some ground work for the shed rebuild next summer.

Since he was replacing some supports, he decided to do some improvement to our outdoor shower.

First of all, let me say that I LOVE this outdoor shower. I marvel at the miracle of a hot shower at the cabin every time I use it! And now, we can use it without getting our feet muddy coming and going!

He did a little additional shed organization/cleaning -

and worked on replacing some rotting supports on the cabin and porch.

So, it’s safe to say that Gary was having a great time at the cabin. And he even got to pull out a giant rock or two!
(lucky for you, I can’t find that video!).

Chapter Two – The Friends!
We delighted that friends joined us for the last part of our Cabin time.

Gord and Mar had driven all the way from Western Michigan, so we had a great time showing off the beauty of both Vermont and New Hampshire. From the Trappe Family Lodge (think “Sound of Music”)

to the Dwinell Homestead in East Calais

to covered bridges

to scenic waterfalls

to the top of Mount Washington -

to evenings enjoyed by the fire playing cards, it was a GREAT way to wrap up our time at the cabin!

Chapter Three – The Beauty of it All!

Conclusion – A Wonderful Time Was Had by All!

It was a pretty perfect couple of weeks at the Cabin. I’ve skipped over the chapter about my quilting day with my buddy Lynne, and the mini family reunion with my brother and his family, my sister & hubby, and my niece and her kids, or the lovely afternoon shared with the ladies’ fellowship from my sister’s church. All 30+ of them!
Needless to say, there are lot more pictures that pertain to our time at the Cabin and our drives through the countryside. If you’d like, please check them out for the “rest of the story”.

Cabin Projects
Fun with Gord and Mar
Vermont Sky
Mount Washington
ALL the Cabin – Sept. 2011 pictures!

Thanks for hanging in for this (not so very) condensed version of our time at the Cabin! I know it’s been fun for me just to review what a special time those two weeks were!

That first bite

steph — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:25:29 +0000

OK. I decided to start “eating that elephant” with our recent visit with the Ohio Conrads. We hadn’t seen these guys since late March, so we knew we would be in for a wonderful time of getting reacquainted with our cuter than cute grandkids and catching up with our son and his beautiful wife. I know we shouldn’t be surprised that these kids are growing up fast, but really – WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN???!!!!
Here’s Ellie -

She’s the oldest, in third grade and will be 9 in February. NINE. She is so very smart and creative and shoulders the responsibility of being the oldest with grace (at least most of the time!). She loves doing crafts and is even asking for a sewing machine for Christmas. Yes, a girl after my own heart!
This is Hayley -

She’s in first grade and will be 7 in November. She is our “just want to have fun” girl – she’s brave and adventurous and loves to play teacher. Oh, and just about any game that you’ll agree to play with her!

And then there’s Maddie

She’s still home during the day and is LOVING the extra time with Mommy! She’s quite the outgoing young lady and ALWAYS knows what to do when she hears a camera turn on! Although she’s three years younger than Hayley (she’ll be 4 in November), she is always trying to do whatever the big girls are doing. And oh, my – what a charmer!
And finally – there’s Noah!

He turned one earlier this month, and is just beginning to toddle around the house. His sisters adore him, and it was so much fun to get to know him a little better. He’s too young to remember us, but we surely will remember him!
We weren’t there for very long, but we managed to fill our time with lots of fun!
Hayley and Maddie and I had a good time at the local playground -

and while the big girls were at school one day, the rest of us went to the zoo!

Like I said, she knows what to do when she sees a camera !
And as a whole family we did some geocaching.

Tammy was the Rock Star of geocaching, finding all but two of the caches. Here she is going the extra mile .

Everyone seemed to have a good time – and the hunt even ended up in their neighborhood! A very fun afternoon!

Before we left we buckled the girls into the front seat and drove them to Walmart -

And once Daddy came to get them home, we gave Noah a shot at the driver’s seat -

“Can I drive it home, Papa?”

Yes, it was a great little family visit with a great (not so little any more!) family!

(ah, the joys of trying to get a family picture!)

There are more pictures of our time in Marysville HERE if you feel up to the cuteness!

See you soon for another bite of that elephant!

It’s also a birthday

steph — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:50:28 +0000

Today, September 3, 2011 is not only our 40th Anniversary, but it’s also our first grandson’s FIRST birthday. We feel honored to share our special day with this special guy, so here’s a Birthday Shout-out to our little Noah!

Happy Birthday, big guy! See you in just over a week!!!