Sorry this took so long to get posted to the blog, but I finally got around to posting it tonight. Thanks so much to Phil & Sherry for faithfully every year buying flowers to go on Mom’s grave for Mothers Day. They look so beautiful and Mom and Dad would have loved them as they both loved the colors that God colored this earth with.
Love Dale & Christi
Woke up this morning to find a fresh layer of snow on the ground. Only seems in Michigan can you have an all time record high for a single day a couple of Sunday’s ago of the mid 80’s, to 31 degrees this morning and snow. The good thing is that this time of year you know it will not last long. It is funny though as I have seen neighbors putting down fertilizer on their lawns already and our tulips are already about 6 inches high. Another good thing is it has overall been a very cold spring, other then a day here or there, so the trees are not budding yet. Well Easter is coming this Sunday so no matter how cold it is today, Sunday is coming when we can celebrate Christ’s rising from the grave and giving us hope for tomorrow.
Dale
I almost always have my Monday’s as a day off from work at the church, so I try to stay busy with projects around the house. Christi has been asking me for quite a while to fix the floor around the slider going out onto the deck. It must be getting moisture in around the floor and finally rotted out the oak flooring around the slider. When her little Charlie who is a cute little day care boy, but he likes to get into anything he can, started eating at the floor she said I better get this fixed soon. Here is a picture of the floor underneath and you can see how rotten it was. I had to go all the way down to the floor joists because the subfloor was rotten too.
I ended up taking out about 5 Oak planks. I could have done up to 9 of them as that is how many new ones I had, but once I started I quickly learned they do not want to come up very easy or clean. They are locked together and glued so I stuck with just 5. I had to put a new subfloor down next and then a 1/8” layer on top of that and then finally the new flooring. I had to trim all the planks because I would not be able to interlock them like they were when installed new.
And here is the finished project. Does not blend in too well with the old floor as that has faded over the years but at least it’s solid and we won’t have little Charlie trying to get his daily fiber off from the floor.
If you have hopped over here from my Creative Crew blog I told you about how several of our family members had recently bought "new" condos in the Hudsonville area. And you saw this card that I made for each of them,
and then I gave each one a Rose scented candle as a house warming gift.
It is so nice to have these cousins, Aunts and Uncles living closer.
Dale, my dad, and my Uncle Duffy all helped my cousin Cathy with painting, installing, electrical, etc. so I thought it would be a fun idea to have a progressive dinner so we could all see one another's homes. Our home isn't new, but we did recently do all the paint and remodel on our main level. We started out at my cousin Robin's condo...
where she had my Aunt Allie and Uncle Mike move in with her so she could help out with my uncle health care. Robin (with the help of her sister Karri) served a delicious salad,
This is Karri, Robin, my mom, and Cathy
I chose to make spaghetti and home made garlic bread - YUMMO!!
It was fun showing them around the house while Dale and my dad pitched in to get the spaghetti and garlic bread on the table.
I just love a man who will work in the kitchen!!
for dessert. Cathy is a self professed "non-cook", but she still did a great job picking out DELICIOUS desserts for us to enjoy.
This is my Uncle Mike (my mom's brother) and my Aunt Allie with my mom
This past weekend Dale and I took advantage of a Groupon Coupon for the Kingsley House Bed and Breakfast in Fennville, MI. Technically we bought it for our anniversary, but the expiration date was too soon to wait for our anniversary in June so we decided to redeem it between our birthdays.
It's a beautiful older home remodeled to serve up to eight couples.
We stayed in the room called "Jonathan". All the rooms were titled after different varieties of apples like "Golden Delicious", or "Northern Spy." This is because the B&B is right in the heart of apple orchard country.
Dale really liked having a little fireplace in the room which he actually got the room hotter than he even likes it.
A little old with the new in the bathroom
And check out the goodies that awaited us. We actually swapped out the Fennvalley Wine for Sparkling Grape Juice, and there was cheese as well that they kept refrigerated for us until we wanted it.
The beautiful sitting room and Dining area that greets you when you first walk in. On Saturday morning they served us a delicious breakfast of french toast, sausage, quiche, sweets and fruit.
We arrived rather late Friday night so had a late dinner at a local authentic Mexican restaurant and then enjoyed watching a movie from their well supplied DVD case.
After breakfast on Saturday morning we drove to South Haven and saw the South Haven 
Lighthouse, and walked the main street shops before heading back to Holland to watch a movie and then meet friends for dinner.
Needless to say, it was a wonderful time away. If I hadn't been fighting a cold I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more, but there is just something about getting away from your routine even if only for one night and one full day.
Thanks Babe for a great weekend.
Christi
Is there such a thing as "good noise?"
I would say "yes!!"
Yesterday our home was filled with "good noise" as we were so thankful to have our nephew and niece along with their three kids visiting from New York.
Add to that mix another one of our nieces and her three kids, my daughter, my sister, my parents, and Dale, of course, home for lunch.
I also had two of my day care kids in with the mix. Thankfully they slept most of the time making it very easy on me.
Thanks to my friend who popped in for two hours in the morning so I could get things done, and Marcy and Julie did ALL the work of the lunch and clean up.
So let's see...that made 8 kids five years old or younger. Whew!! Yes, it was very noisy but what a happy noise it was. I am so thankful to be a part of their life even though they live so far away.
A little drama at lunch time when the girls ALL wanted to sit next to Vivi, and NOT by a boy - poor Riley really felt left out so we let him sit at the big table. Vivi did her best to make everyone get what they wanted but it just could not work unless all three girls were sitting on the same side.
LOTS of yummy food all prepared by Marcy and Julie - Thanks girls!! it was delicious!!
A much needed nap for Elijah and daddy Brad.
Christi
Two weeks ago as we were preparing our Sunday dinner I (Christi) inadvertently set a plastic splatter cover (the kind you use in your microwave) on the stove and then turned on the burner. I meant to turn on a back burner but... We have a flat surface range so I did not see a flame (from gas) or the bright red it turns when on. Without warning our entire main level was filled with gray/black/brownish smoke. We opened the slider and Dale ran the attic fan to carry the smoke out. The smell lingered, and although we kind of got used to it, the smell was very evident to those coming into our home. Some of the day care parents would comment and say that the kids came home with their blankets smelling like my melted plastic. That was when I realized I needed to do something about it and called Service Master.
They were "Johnny on the spot" and came out that same day. My insurance guy came out to do his mandatory check and photography and said we were covered - except for the deductible that is. Everyone was super nice and Friday was the day that they all invaded our home to get it clean.
Wow !!! does this place ever smell clean!! Two men came and cleaned cupboards, behind the stove, and removed the microwave, toaster oven and rugs to be cleaned at their company location. They also shampooed the carpet in the living room and both stairways,
and the upholstery of our new couches.
I wasn't surprised to see the difference just one swipe of his heavy duty carpet cleaning machine made on our carpet.
Don't you just love to see men do "housework?"
Another company came and completely cleaned our duct work. I am sure that this will help with my allergies as well.
Not to be out done - during the boys naps I tackled all the toys, wiping them down or washing in a tub of soapy water. I was surprised that the water didn't come out pitch black, but it was just ever so slightly gray - YEAH! At least all the germs the kids have been passing around should be wiped away. Now hopefully everyone will come back on Monday without colds and runny noses so we can nip this in the bud - I am sick of sick!
Dale - also not to be out done - borrowed a carpet cleaner machine from our friends to clean the carpet in the basement where the kids play as well as the upper level where they all take their naps. Thanks Babe for pitching in!
Christi
