Trees in the Bedroom

It was a good weekend with lots of activity. Here are the highlights:

A few weeks ago Erin had the idea to paint a tree on Evie's wall. Saturday she recruited a couple of art majors to help; Jenny and her dad. The three of them painted a very tasteful and cool looking tree.

Our cabinets came in and the kitchen is starting to take shape.

We gave Evie spoon food for the first time on Friday. She was very excited at first, probably because she thought we were allowing her to eat something she shouldn't. After about 5 bites her expression suddenly changed to "oh, this tastes kind of nasty."

Her appetite quickly prevailed and she happily ate as much as we offered. She wasn't even that messy.

"Feel the Zeel" - I suddenly feel like a Zeeland native. This weekend was Zeeland's annual Pumpkinfest with lots of family activities. I ran in "The Great Pumpkin Chase" 5k Saturday morning and the activities culminated in a Pumpkin Parade on Saturday afternoon in downtown Zeeland. We dressed Evie for the occasion and she watched her first parade.

Evie was a grump. She needed a nap and was not happy about being dressed up for our amusement.

Vagabond No More

Our family of 3 has been without a home since May 19. The first 3 months of house shopping in Zeeland were frustrating and fruitless. We made low offers on 5 different homes, but weren't excited about any of them. We only made offers because we knew it would be a good investment if we got it for the right price.

Finally in late July we saw a house that seemed perfect. It was our #1 neighborhood choice, a ridiculously good price, and a layout we loved. The only problem...it was repossessed and buying from a bank is notoriously bad.

After more than a month of delays and a lot of angry phone calls we finally closed yesterday and are no longer homeless!!

But...we can't exactly move in. The previous owners took EVERYTHING, hence the ridiculously good price. We need new utilities - furnace, water heater, AC - the carpet needs replacement,

and oh yeah, the kitchen is missing a few things.

I always said I wasn't the "fixer upper" type of guy, but I guess I am now. So no big adventures for us in the next 2 months. We'll be working hard. I look forward to posting the picture progression.