Cindy, this one is for YOU!

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To Some of My AZ Friends...Love, Natalie

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House Day 120... Kitchen Complete

WOW! Here it is...the kitchen! We are so happy with the way things turned out.

I have been painting all day everyday and Dan has been working everyday--both trying to prepare for this move in thing. There is so much to do.

House Day 117 Painting Day!

Yikes, am I getting old. I feel it! After prepping her room last night (the professional painters said they NEVER tape and ended up having to take the tape off the baseboards in order to caulk), we spend all evening tonight painting. I am wiped out. My hands were sweaty I was so nervous I did not want to mess up. Please! I was also a bit stressed trying to keep her from the paint. She helped roll and had a great time. We were both SO ready to go home and eat after 4 hours, yes, that is how long it took us. But I think it turned out well. The color is something Natalie repeatedly said she loved, even as we were rolling. I am happy. Certainly bright for my taste but it will go with her decor. I still HATE the runner on the stairs. I am half tempted to call the flooring people tomorrow and see if we can change it out. What a nightmare--the first thing people see when they come into the house will be the obnoxious green runner. Ahhh! It makes it harder to like the color we picked for the walls in the hallway when we have that green mess running up the stairs. Anyway, enough--here are some pics of the paint job. We had only ONE major goof. I probably should have washed the walls down before painting--duh! Hopefully the rest of it can cure and actually stick to the wall not to the dust on the wall.

House Day 116

WOW! For someone who is OCD, painting could never be my profession. I believe we spent hours just taping Natalie's room. I did not even make it over into Everett's. I now know that straight lines are a miracle and as often as I taped and retaped to make perfectly straight lines--I KNOW there will be plenty of mess-ups. It was fun though. Natalie played pretend--that her father was doing something with nails and 5 of them "fell on" her hands, she had them all bandaged with scrap tape I threw on the ground. Then she called her buddy Yoann!

There is not too much left to do on the house...

They put insulation in the basement, finished the woodwork around the tub, putting the sink on the cabinet as well, they also put the green runner down the stairs (oh, how I wish we had gone with something more neutral--that green is going to get old fast). Anyway, things are clipping along. From our view as homeowners (rather mortgagers) they still need to do the kitchen countertops/sink, bring in the appliances, touch up paint, and paint the baseboards. They also need to clean...other than that it seems nearly completed...guess it should be considering when we will be moving in......

Thanksgiving

I do not have many pics to show for the holiday. Suffice it to say, it was a typical wonderful Swavely Thanksgiving! Natalie and Everett had a wonderful time with cousins and we enjoyed the friendship of siblings and spouses.

Cousin Isaac came to visit for a sleepover and playday. We introduced him to Blockus. Considering his father has an affinity to spatial stuff I was not too surprised to see that Isaac caught on pretty quickly.

We also had our yearly family bowling party with extended Swavely family relatives. No pics.

Natalie said (this morning)...

"I have been waiting a long time for my friends in Arizona to come and visit me. Kendall, Genevieve, Austin, Kaylee, Jessica, Yoann, and Jocelyn."
There you go guys, another official invitation to come and visit. She was quite sad when she said this and I had to think, yea, it HAS been a long time since she has played with one of her friends. Know that she loves you and thinks of you often.
So do we!

Barry and Eileen star in this one!

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Danny and Debbie star in this one!

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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

If you have not seen this--WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY! It is absolutely intriguing! What a powerful story. How much more important for us to be part of the story in our own way!
http://www.expelledthemovie.com/

House Day 101--Here are the cabinets!

YEA! The cabinets look great--we are quite happy. Check out the drawer contraption we had them make for the kid's bathroom. The drawers have an insert (removeable) that the kids can stand on in order to make actual use of their vanity. Then, once done using the steps, the inserts can be removed. The maker also installed a sort of lock, so once pulled out the drawer does not slide back in.

House Day 97...Here come the cabinets!

So the day I have been waiting for is nearly here. Nope not the move in date...the kitchen date! I am SOOOOO excited to see the kitchen. They delivered the custom cabinets. Made by, yet again, another Mennonite artisan. They are BEAUTIFUL! A bit darker than we thought they would be but considering the wood takes the stain differently we expected some variation. Nonetheless, we love the darker color too. The kids had a ball running the floors, sliding on the floors (check out all the dust), and Natalie was even in the dining room making "dust angels". Yea!

On the down side, there will be no seeding until spring.

Landis Valley Farm Museum

Two bachelor brothers, last name of Landis, in the late 1800's started a collection of German (PA Dutch) items. They did so to preserve their heritage (ours also) and culture--considering the lifestyle of the country was changing with the onset of the industrial revolution. Their collection was so big it turned into an actual "living" museum. Today both original and replica homes stand in the Landis Valley as well as oodles of actual artifacts from their collection. Artisans show how things were done way back when. We had a wonderful Veteran's Day with my parents celebrating our pioneer heritage--at least the German part of it. And of course, the best part for the kids was the FARM! Those horses were HUGE!

Dan was abe to sleep in too--for an hour! What a holiday!

Note: The hawk was ACTUALLY that close. He was nice and full after such a great meal--a squirrel! Yup, he sat there only feet from us. My father said the closest he's ever seen one in the wild. Must have been on overload from the dinner.

Also Note: Beloved (the movie with Oprah) was filmed here.