Renovations

This post is mainly for the benefit of Tif and Steph. Only you two will understand the coolness of these renovations. ;)

Dad's quote, "Do you just not want me to run out of things to do???" lol. Too true padre.

This is where it all started,
raked all the junk out, and lined the sidewalk with bricks.
Guys, I know we played with bricks alot...
but I don't remember having as many about, as I found around the yard!

I lied in the last caption... this is actually where it started ;)




Marie came to visit and helped break our old oven, (just kidding)
and so we had to get a new one. O Darn. :D :D :D :D :D :D

Turns out I'm a better raker than a bush trimmer... :(
This huge gap used to be branches

Couldn't ever get it just how I wanted it...lol

Finally got Dad into gear to get a new shower
and of course, once we got it installed,

I wanted to continue making the basement look a little nicer.
Dad's quote, "It's a farmer shower, I'm not SUPPOSED
to have to have a shower curtain!"

Marie and I went and watched the sunrise.
Pictures do not do it justice

List is more impressive:

--new air conditioner

--new shower

--new oven

--new kitchen rugs

--new kitchen trashcan

--new kitchen utensil container!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--new landscape

--new basement decorations

--new roof (partly, and yes, that was a while ago that we got that)

--bushes trimmed

:) BUT, Dad is still not finished. His honey-do jobs still not complete are:

--Install window in Chelsie's room (been waiting almost a year now) ;)

--Transform little shed into garage for lawnmower and 4-wheeler

Well... I didn't realize how short his list has become. I'll have to do some brainstorming. Winter gets to be long, and we just don't want him bored!!!!! ;)

O... and one more picture:

WAY TOO MANY CATS...they are not even
all in this picture. Yuck.

Happy trails.

Ketch-up

And no... not the condoment. :) Well since it's been May since I last updated, and that update was about Tif's "never-returning blog" returning... I guess maybe it's time for some ketch-up. ;)

** May:
- Finished up the school year, and got a call from Human Performance Center in Alva, OK (where I worked before I started working for the Special Education Coop in Pratt), and the PT there was going on maternity leave, and they were wondering if I would be interested in filling in over the summer. There went my plans of lazing about, getting a nice dark tan... lol. No I actually had been waiting to hear from someone on whether I could spend the summer in Haiti, helping out with Prosthetics and Rehabilitation with injured Haitians. Unfortunately I never heard anything from them, and so as Tif put it: "Chel, when God opens a window, you should go check it out." So... I accepted at HPC, and worked there from June 1st until the second week of August. It was mostly part-time, since our patient load was light, and they had hired a PT as well.

** June:
see: http://www.tifanib.blogspot.com/ for an update on the surprise that happened in June. :)
- I can't remember anything else... o yeah, I found an abandoned puppy in June at the Hazelton Coop Elevator, and dad wouldn't let me keep her, so I called my friend Lindsay, and she said she would take her, so I drove her up to Bern, KS. Yes, a devoted friend... or stupid. :) I don't have a picture on my computer at this time, but I'm pretty sure she is Diesel's offspring from his wild and crazy running into Hazelton, getting picked up by the local law enforcement days. lol.

**July:
- Spent the 4th in Bern with Lindsay's family and friends, and it was fun, even though we got rained out of the fireworks display in Bern.
- The next weekend I was in Bern again, secondary to Brian Edelman and Monica Strahm getting hitched. Good times with lots of fun seeing old (pardon the expression Luke, Tommie, Anthony, Ash, and Anna ) Kansans turned Illinoisans. :)
- Finally a free weekend in July, and I most likely did nothing exciting.
- Another free weekend, but I used being gone the first 2 weekends to get out of going to Ohio. :) lol. Sneaky me.
- Kanorado Girls Camp. One word describes this weekend. Awesome. Well add, Blessing, Encouraging, Fun, and Exciting, and I think that sums it up. Very amazed at how these young girls are already getting an eternal perspective and living for Christ in high school. Love it. Makes me so happy. Thank you parents for obviously wanting your children to know and love Christ a priority!!!

** August:
- Worked the first week, and then I went out to Colorado to stay with Tif for about a week, well like 4 days, before school started up again. Fun times. I didn't even have to do the cleaning this time!! Turns out one of her roommates was moving out, and I guess as a farewell present or last hoorah, cleaned the house. :D
- Steph and Tif drove home one Thursday night to surprise mom and dad for their belated anniversary. Of course, I knew the whole time, and kept my mouth shut. PLUS thought up all the different scenarios to do when they got home. A few I came up with were:
--Jumping on Mom and Dad
--Running in and yelling that the house was on fire and they had to come outside... BAD IDEA. I didn't do it...don't worry.
--and the final pick: Have Steph and Tif climb the tree and go get a flashlight and dad and tell him there were some really weird animals in the tree and Diesel was barking at them.
Dad, dreary with sleep and no glasses came right down, no questions asked and just stood staring as Tif and Steph made faces and said "Hi Dad!". Then for the next 15-20 minutes, he would intermittently say, "well i'm dumb... I'm just DUMBFOUNDED!!!!!" It was hysterical.
Mom, dreary with sleep, and questioning why I was getting HER out of bed to deal with a varmint, said, "O my!!! O my!!! O my!!! I just KNEW something weird was going on!!!" lol.
It was awesome. :)

-- End of August, I came home to find Diesel gone. Mom and I had been in Wichita, and it had rained about 2-3 inches. So I took the 4-wheeler to go over to the lake to see if he had ventured over there. (Which he hasn't done since he got chopped...) And then I saw his footprints in the mud. So being the Louis L'Amour fan, I tracked his footprints to the bridge, and then they never went away. I went back to the house, and called Dad, thinking maybe dad came back from his rain-check on the 4-wheeler and picked Diesel up or something. Nope. Somehow, we don't know, he must have gone into the water and hit his head or something, anyway, he must have drowned and we haven't ever found his body. :( Stinks losing dogs.

--Renovations. There have been a LOT around here. I have lots of pictures. But I am tired of blogging... so I will put them up in a different post. :)
Thanks for reading this, and hopefully I'll get those pics up here in the near future.

May God bless your day!