Where do we begin?...This started out as "Mom and Dad, you guys need to tear that wall paper off and paint instead. " When Jeff moved in we snatched the perfect opportunity to put him to work removing the wall paper. 
Mind you, we had a LOT of wall paper. And why stop with the dining room and kitchen when the bathroom is right there, and that paper DEFINITELY needed to come off, this has all been the same for the full 15 years of this house. Christi got the ball rolling by asking other ladies their opinions on what colors we should go with. OK - back the train up - Christi saw a couch she liked so wanted to base the colors around that, but also did not want to go with one color throughout. Next, we needed to find a week that I could take off work to get going on this (what I thought was a) small project. With all the weddings planned in our church this summer, that meant we had to back it up to the last week in July. 
Some of the painting could get started before that last week in July...you can imagine my thoughts when Christi came home with ALL THAT PAINT, and I asked what ALL she had planned. I shouldn't have been surprised when she said we needed to paint ALL the halls, and up the stairs AND the upstairs hall. This was my least favorite spot to paint - you can see how high it is. I thought when we painted it 10 years ago when we moved in I would never have to do that again. 
SURPRISE!!
When we bought a new refrigerator a few years ago I knew I would eventually have to shorten our pantry because it was so tight and the refrigerator really needed to be able to 'breathe' so that was the main project for that last week in July. Little did I realize I would end up taking the whole pantry out and building a new one.
I already had a few cupboard doors made for the fronts of the other cupboards, but needed to make a few more. You never think a project will take as long as it does, and at times it was very frustrating because there didn't seem to be an end in sight and my week ran out before the project was complete.
Christi had a hard time keeping Charlie out of the pantry without doors on it.
Oh, and I forgot - the very first night working on the pantry I asked Christi to hold a board while I cut it and it (an 8' board) landed on the top of her left foot.
OUCH!!! So she was no help...thankfully it wasn't broken, and thankfully we have a helpful friend who pitched right in for a couple days to help Christi with the kids and regular tasks.
Thanks, Melissa!
this is the darkest shade of brown we used for two walls in the living room, there are four shades of brown all together. This is another shade of brown in the dining room 
Add a splash of 'Raisin' and it really sets it off, 
along with the black handles on the oak cabinets. 
To top it all off our washing machine died and we had to go get a new one. We fully planned to go get a white, front loader to match the dryer, but when we got there we found a great deal on a last years floor model set. - But RED?? yes, red! it nearly matches perfect to the raisin accents of the doors and bulk head. Was it going to match the green paint we had already purchased? You bet! What a blessing - and we love it!!
Project complete? NO - we needed to switch out the old style light above the table - it was pink you know, and had to go...
If you only knew what a bugger this light was to install you wouldn't be laughing at this picture of Christi and I standing on the table. Eight hours later - yes, Ken - it took me 8 hours to install a light, so don't feel bad.
and of course, the rest of the lights all have to match...
So our pocket books are a bit emptier but we are loving the new changes.
Oh - what is a new paint job without new furniture?
Couch, actually two rocker, recliners.
New Photo Collage and sconces above the second rocker, recliner, filled with photos taken this past summer at the beach of the whole family.
New TV stand and big screen TV (yes, our old TV died too and we were using Jeff's TV.) Notice the little wall decor` on the brown wall...Christi is hoping to put some wall words here and there to complete the updated look, but we did get some new frames for the old pictures. 
We are so thankful for the heritage our parents have handed down to us.
Hopefully this will be the last project for a while... Don't tell Christi
Dale
MIssion Complete!!
It’s Fresh-from-the-garden-Breakfast at the Waite’s
As you know this is raspberry time of the year again, and I have a couple of small rows from Dad’s original plants. Saturday I went out and picked some and Christi said she would make raspberry pancakes for breakfast.
She made up a great buttermilk recipe and added a pint of the raspberries I had just picked minutes before, and in the pan they go.
And onto the plate and into my “Big” mouth. Oh they were so good they practically melted in your mouth. I bet you can almost taste them as you are reading it. Thanks, Dear, for the great breakfast, and thanks Dad for the raspberry plants.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Today is my mom’s 82nd birthday!!! We are all so thankful that she and my dad are still with us and enjoying life so much! Vicky was down for a visit so we thought what a good time to throw together an impromptu picnic at the local park.
Charlie came with me too, and he wasn’t quite so sure about all the new faces but he sure does like little Daphne. Allison somehow missed getting in the pictures but Charlie liked it when she was holding him too.
Tyler had fun riding his bike around the parking lot, and somehow he missed getting in the pictures as well.
It was a great day to spend at the park and an extra special occasion too!
Christi
The 4th Of July A Couple Of Weeks Late
Sorry I am just getting this posted, but better late then never, I guess, in this case. The 4th fell on a Sunday this year so seemed a little strange. We had church in the morning but not Sunday School or evening service. Our family came over for supper around 4:00. Joey was not able to come as he was with Melissa at her Grandma’s, and Jeremy had to work.
It is a Waite tradition on the 4th of July to always have Chicken Licken chicken. We did this way back when Mom and Dad were still with us. Well we have continued it since then, but this year there was one change… Chicken Licken Restaurant burned down and was not rebuilt, how sad, we were hoping they would rebuild as no one made chicken as good as they did. So this year it’s Family Fare chicken.
Julie makes great Baked Beans so we always ask her to bring them and Gracie helped get everything ready. Also Christi had picked up some Black Sweet Cherries and Gracie was helping her Mom by eating her fare share. Oh and by the way on the plate you can see Potatoes salad which I made from scratch. My potato salad was good but not near as good as my mom would have made, at least in my memory. 
After dinner and sitting around a little while to chat it was time for our annual game of Croquet. We had to introduce Jessica to this family game and she did quite well. But in the end Jeff was the big winner. 
Gracie is still a little young to play but was a great sport in watching the action from the sidelines. And she made sure no one was cheating. 
After Jeff and Jessica left and it became dark out it was time for a fire and some ‘Smores for Tyler and Gracie. A little too warm for a fire but it was a special day and had a hard time saying “no”. We even were treated to several neighbors illegal fireworks displays.
Hope your Fourth of July was as fun as ours.
Dale
