People and Projects

We've been having quite a few people coming and going here at home, and that's been lovely! We've also been working on various projects for the house and have a few more to go. Here are the details...

It started with Ellen, Gaby and Ramona, cousins and friend of the Wiens Family. Ellen came from Germany and Gaby & Ramona came from Winnipeg for Elona Wiens' wedding and we got to host them at our house.

It was nice to have three girls in the house! They had fun seeing the sights and being together.

The wedding was just lovely and so fun! This is sister of the bride, Natalie, who I've know since she was born. I realized that she and I are almost exactly 30 years apart!

 We've been thinking about updating our sound system and getting all the odd sized and too-big sound equipment out of that bookcase you see on the right side of the picture. We were finally galvanized into action because David has taken over the "middle bedroom" and made it his office, and his office could use a bookcase! So... we bought a buffet/hutch to replace the bookcase for a great price online and it arrived in three heavy boxes. Uh oh...

David went through and got out all the pieces and laid them out. I read over the instructions, then we began....

Hmmm, where is piece F? Oh, there're two F's?

We finally got the two pieces, buffet and hutch, assembled! The top was a bit off kilter, but what could we do? We'd wait to strap them together until we had a place to put it, after the bookcase was moved.

 

Meanwhile, the screens for the french doors were getting their red paint and screening added. We decided that we'd talk to our next guest, son-in-law Jim, about helping to hang them. He determined that they need to have the bottom edges planed off a bit, so David has been working on that and we'll hang them soon.

It's so nice to have another man around to discuss projects! Jim was in town for a business assignment, and we had a super time together!

Of course we hit him up to help see if there was anything we could do about the catty-wampus hutch, and he figured out that a metal strip screwed diagonally to the back would help! Thanks, Jim! And thanks for making it happen!

Sunday Gretchen, Chris and Anders came over for Sunday lunch and to visit with Jim. That was so nice! Erin had sent a suitcase full of great clothes for Anders! With kindergarten around the corner, they were just what he needed.

 Look at all those clothes! Anders was interested in all of them. (See that bookcase on the left that's just bulging with equipment? Can't wait to boot all that equipment OUT and trade it for something SMALLER!) 

Gretchen actually looked really cute in her new maternity top, but you can't tell by lookin' here!

Monday night Jim took us out to dinner at the California Grill. 

 The sun was in David's eyes so he moved next to Jim, which turned out to be a mistake! :-) They were real pills! Once the racks of ribs arrived, though, things calmed down and only the sound of chewing and smacking lips could be heard. Whew!

One of the plates full of rib bones... but we weren't finished until both guys ordered dessert! We had fun!

A couple days after Jim left we went out to Ontario Airport and picked up my sister, Luanne, and her husband Ed, who are in the area (here and at mom and dad's) until tomorrow. They are headed back to the Philippines but have had a very good time visiting most of their kids and grandkids all over the US. It is always so nice to have them stay with us!

Having Luanne around is quite a novelty, so our sister, Gretchen, put together a wonderful two day, one night getaway to the Newport Beach area for us three sisters and our mom. It was so pleasant and we had good times comparing our memories of various events and talking about everything and then some.

Lunch at the Crab Cooker...

Making mom laugh was irresistible! We took about 100 timer pictures here and finally got one or two good ones! (Look at the wall behind us... it's covered with a plastic greenery that is really quite attractive! They took a hallway/breezeway near the pool, covered the wall with that stuff, then installed 4 or 5 cabanas with seating and curtains in front and it was very inviting!)

My next project on the house is turning Erin's old bedroom, upstairs, into a second guest room, since David is using the former one as his office. I don't mind... I'm so happy when I see him in there enjoying it, and it's always fun to make over another room! I've got plans!

School has started and things are off and running at work. It was gratifying to do so many worthwhile and satisfying things during my summer break.

I hope you're enjoying your back-to-school days!