We finally got some snow here in Ohio.  There wasn't enough to make a snowman, though, so Mariana had to settle for making a snow squirrel instead.

Fall in Ohio

We are starting to see the fall colors here in Ohio.  We went to Fort Ancient today and walked around the indian mounds and the museum.  It was a lovely day.

Busy July

We traveled to Las Vegas early in July and then came home and hosted family for most of the rest of the month. John, Denisa, their children and Mom and Dad were with us on the 23-25th. We managed to squeeze in lots of activities like boating, hiking, horseback riding, visiting playgrounds and more. We even had some squirt gun fights in the back yard. I posted quite a few more pictures on Facebook. Check them out. I know Denisa has more pictures. I did not take many when they were here because I was busy driving the boat or doing other stuff.

Our New House

We closed on our new house on Friday morning.  We are very excited to be getting out of this small apartment into our own home again.  We still hope our home in Madison will sell soon, but for now we will be paying for two mortgages.  On Friday afternoon a big thunderstorm rolled through the area and strong winds knocked out power to large areas.  We drove by the house today and saw that a shutter and part of the siding on the eaves had been blown off.  We were out of power in our apartment for over 24 hours.  We are not exactly sure when we will be moving in.  The seller has until July 21 to move out, but they plan to leave before then, so we hope to be moving in a couple of weeks.  Here is what our new address will be:

4447 Kay Ave.
Springfield, OH 45502

 

I finished a big project and had to tell someone. About 15 years ago Anette and I bought an unfinished wood kitchen table, eight chairs and four barstools. We finished the top of the table and and the seats of the chairs in a cherry stain and painted the legs and backs blue. After the blue, at one point the table and chairs were partially repainted with cream-colored legs and backs. After raising four children and starting on some grandchildren, the old set needed a new look. Jenine had done some stuff Anette really liked, so we decided to copy some of her style. She uses lots of French words on her stuff. So we decided to use Icelandic instead, because it is unique. We had to remove most of the old finish, which was a major undertaking–especially on the chairs because of all the spindles and round areas. We literally worked on it all of last summer with Anette doing the majority of the sanding. We had a goal to finish the project before Creed got home from his mission in November and before the holidays. We made it, but just barely. Literally within a week after finishing, I was at DI and found another table with the exact same style. Since we are always short of table space at big family gatherings like Thanksgiving, I called Anette and asked me if she wanted me to get it. She said to go for it. At the time, I could not bear the thought of another refinishing project so soon. So the table sat on my deck until a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I finished the last coat of polyurethane so the project is officially complete. The original table has two leaves that extend it so it can actually seat 12 people. The second table does not have any leaves. I also added two high-backed stools in the process because we needed more seating for younger children. I didn’t take any before pictures, but I got a shot of Jed helping me sand the table top.

We just got back from Memorial Day weekend in Wyoming. We had a great time, even though things did not go as planned. We arrived in Cody Friday night in a snowstorm. We woke up Saturday to three inches of snow on the ground. The snow only lasted a day, but the rain and cold never really left. Las Vegas Laila got to make her first snowman. Jenine and Laila came with us because they had never been to visit Jake and Lindsay at their home. We wanted to visit Yellowstone, but the snowstorm closed the park. Jake arranged for extra horses so we could all go riding in the mountains, but that did not materialize because of the crappy weather. We mostly stayed indoors and played with the children. We celebrated Katie's 7th birthday and Brystol's 1st. We did manage a short, rainy, but successful fishing trip, a ride to see some wild horses and some horse riding around the house during the non-rainy periods. Anette tried to get her picture with all of the kids. She was kind of successful.

Lindsay did a wonderful job of keeping us all fed and warm. It's too bad it is such a long drive, because we would sure love to visit there more often. I should mention that during the drive, someone was telling Laila the story of the three little pigs. When it got to the part where the wolf was knocking at the door, Laila said: "Is it a ghost pirate?"

Seattle Trip

I just got back from a business trip to Seattle.  I visited with Carolyn's brother David and his wife for the weekend, then had some meetings with Boeing.  Seattle is a beautiful city, but very crowded and busy.  We rode a ferry across the sound and the scenery was beautiful.

Here are some pictures from Carolyn's time out west for her Dad's funeral.

Downtown Springfield

Here are a couple of pictures from downtown Springfield.  The statue is of the man who was the Wright Brother's patent attorney, who was a prominent Springfield citizen.  The weather is more like May or June than March right now, with temperatures in the 70's for several days.  There have been more people looking at our house in Madison, but still no offers.

Brithday, grandkids and grandparents

We had a house full this weekend. Jake and Lindsay came down from Wyoming. It was amazing to see how much Brystol has grown. She can stand up on her own and walk along holding onto things. I would guess she will be walking on her own in a couple of weeks.

We celebrated Grey's birthday on Saturday and Mom and Dad came down from Smithfield. We also have Anette's parents renting the house next door right now. Her dad fell a few weeks ago and needed to be closer to someone for recuperation.

Our new (Temporary) home

Here is the front of our apartment.  We are on the left.  It is small, but should work for our needs for a time.  We are unpacked now, except for all the stuff in the garage, which will stay there until we move again.  We've already noticed several things that are buried in the garage, so we will probably have to unpack it and find some things at a future time-- but right now it is very cold and snowy, so it won't be for a while.  Mariana is getting caught up pretty quickly in her new school.  She is happy to have two choir classes and an art class.

Moving Day

   This is just a quick update on our family.  We have rented an apartment in Springfield, Ohio, and the moving company comes tomorrow to pack our house and move us there.  We have had very few people look at our house so far, so it looks like it may be some time before it sells.  The apartment will be our temporary home until we can sell our house and buy a new one in Ohio.  Here is the address and phone number.  (It is now Friday night Feb 3 and we are moved in, although we can hardly walk through all the boxes.)

3930 Wyndover Drive, Apt. C
Springfield, OH 45503
937-717-6876
--Newel

Just a couple of photos of Elaine. There are lots more on my facebook page and on Plano Metropolitan Ballet's facebook page (I am in charge of that one, too). I had to add about $40 worth of crystals and beads to the dress so she was more "sparkly" on stage. You can't tell from the photos, but it did work. I'm thinking she needs a few more on the sleeves, though.
She got an extra solo in her two performances this weekend because the Prince was sick and didn't think he could do the one fast sequence with her. I understand he was backstage throwing up between scenes. Not good, but "The Show Must Go On!"
We also had one of the Princesses miss opening night because she had a concussion. She still danced on Saturday, but very cautiously!
Wish you could all be here to see it. Elaine's dancing has improved so much and she is dancing so beautifully! (she won't like the top photo, because she said she was too close to the prince and therefore couldn't get her leg up as high as normal.)