Photo round 2

Look at the next blog 1st. I forget these show up in reverse. After you have seen those come back to these. This is a sampling of one of the bedrooms. They are all about 11x11 and are equal in size.
This is the other side of the kitche. The folding doors hold the washer and dryer. The other door is the back door out to the yard. To the right of the back door is where the stove will go. Literally!
This is the back yard. It is quite nice and will be a great place for Adeline to play if she ever recovers from this trip. Doctors may have to surgically remove her from Anna's arms.
This is a terrible photo. I don't know what the heck I was doing. I was trying to capture the house but I must have blacked out momentarily from euphoria. This is the driveway that can hold 3 cars only if you move them up as far as they could go. The house is there you just get to see the bottom half of it. That is a real shame as it has the cutest upper half and this is the only picture I have. You will just have to stay tuned to future blogs. That should keep you on the edge of your seat! Byeee for now, I am off to the liquor store! Ha ha.

And the Winner IS....

After two grueling days. And I am sugar coating it. Anna and I found a house for her and Stratton and Adeline to move into in Charlotte. New address is 928 Beal St. I would tell you the zip code but we looked at so many houses in so many zips that I am too confused to remember which one it was. After utter discouragement on Wednesday we trudged on Thursday. We eventually drove past a cute little cottage that was not on our list. We screeched to a halt, called the owner, toured the house, chatted at length and proclaimed it the winner. It is the cutest, nicest place ever. A bit small in some areas but no deal breakers so Anna set the papers in motion. If I drank champagne I would have drank a case load! Here is a picture of the living rm and fire place. All the floors have been beautifully refinished as you can see. The dining room is beyond the archway. All new windows and doors and everything. It was wonderful.
The bathroom is gorgeous. It is still small but a bit bigger then the one they are coming from (not hard to do) Notice the high shower head. Stratton will love this.
The kitchen is all new too. Unfortunately this is all of it. The stove will go about under the window you see to the left. Just enough room to open the cabinet door. What you see is it but the wall on the left that you can't see will accomodate a kitchen cart on wheels or something like that, that will give them more surface work area and more storage. The owner is putting in a brand new stove and refrigerator and will install new blinds on all the windows. He was a very nice man.
This picture was taken from the kitchen doorway and looks through the dining room to the living room. You can see the front door in the background. In the foreground is a very tired baby and a very relieved mother. The grandmother was ready to do an Irish jig.

Winter Wonderland

Is this Atlanta? Snow was threatening all day and we were thinking that it just wasn't going to happen as the day went by and still no flakes. I was looking out the window a bit discouraged then about 15 minutes looked again and this is what I saw. All of a sudden the sky opened up. It only took about 15 more minutes and there was at least an inch. Then it kept on snowing and snowing so hard you could barely see across the street. I had never seen that in Atlanta before.
It was so pretty! And it was so quiet as it came down. I just loved the smell and the cold and the quiet. Reminded me of being a kid up north.
\By the time it ended we had about 6 inches of snow. That is the most we have ever had here since we have lived here. Unfortunately it rained a bit after and then a really cold spell hit and it all iced over. Not good for GA. School ended up closing for the whole week. That had never happened either. Everyone was stuck at home and anyone who ventured out wished they hadn't. The roads were a disaster. I am glad we didn't have to go anywhere. The entire neighborhood of children were out playing there hearts out. You could hear laughing and sledding and just plain fun all over the place.
This picture was actually a week later. This never happens. Usually the snow melts after a day or two. I have to say, by the end of the week I had had enough and decided I didn't miss the winter weather all that much. Brrrr has it ever been cold down here. I will hate to get the heating bill that's for sure. Well, thats it for a bit. Will keep you all posted the next time we have an adventure.

A Big Surprise

We were just quietly watching TV on a recent Tuesday evening when the phone rang about 10pm. Bill and I both wondered who that could be so late. It was Adam asking Bill if he could borrow some jacks. Bill was saying to him, "you want them tonight?" Well Adam made up some lame reason why he wanted them so Bill told him he could come over and get them. Off Bill headed to the garage to dig them out. He put them by the front door waiting for Adam to arrive. About 10 minutes later I was putting something away in the hall closet when Adam came knocking at the door and peeking in the window. He came bounding in as usual and we are always so excited to see his smiling face when low and behold another smiling face came in right behind him. It was Ben of course. I think my jaw dropped to the floor as did Bill's. What a wonderful surprise!!!! Ben had been on business to Nashville and decided to rent a car and come down to see us. Now isn't that just the sweetest thing? I can't tell you all how fun it was to see my Oregon boy. He looks so good and it was just the best surprise ever, just wish Ashley and the boys were in his suitcase! He was able to stay until Saturday so we had several wonderful days with him. Bill introduced him to a dump run (See Steve, you aren't the only one with such an honor!) And yes the truck acted up along the way for him too. We just hung out together enjoyed every minute. The time went way too fast and I have to admit I got to feeling a bit greedy that I wanted more time but I quickly realized I'd better be happy with what I got.
It was sure wonderful. Thanks Ashley for sharing him, and Thanks Ben for taking the time and effort to come so far out of the way. Bill and I were sure feeling pretty special!
The nephews jumped right in. They had loads of fun with uncle Ben.
A bit sunny on the Saturday he left.
One for posterity of the mudder too!

A Morning of Surprises

I just love the look on Sarah's face when she realizes what is in the box. It is a Silouette device she had been saving feverishly for. She never expected it which made her all the more excited. It was so fun.
More surprises were in store for Mugs, (she must have been a real good girl this year). Lee got her a new laptop computer. Here she was opening it. I think she had a permanent smile on her face all day. It made me laugh.
The whole Wade family, wading in Christmas paper. Sure was a fun morning.
Here's are two cute Wade girls just relaxing after all the fun.

Off to Mississippi

We made it down to Mississippi before Christmas. Not a bad drive and we were excited to see Sarah, Lee, Amy, and Will. Ok I guess Amy and Will were the biggest draws. Sarah and Lee were just a bonus. Here is Will getting all spruced up for Santa's visit. Gotta look your best you know. He sure loves his bath. He'll jump right out of that Bumbo chair if Sarah wasn't right there. He's a rascal and very eager to move around.
Of course Amy was just too excited for the night time visiter. You can see her expectation of things to come with some of the loot in the back ground. Don't you just love the little tree. I think it would fit in most Christmas stockings. Watch out, next year Sarah is going to steal the Macy's tree for her living room.
Ah yes! It's finally here. Amy checking out a new prize. Things were just getting started.
Bill was enjoying the whole scene too and managed a package or two as we watched the kids. What fun!

Happy New Year

Well, I am finally back. We got the keyboard working last night. Hallalulia. We finally had to buy a new one. Oh well, the other one was a good 4 or 5 yrs. old. In computer years thats an eternity. So here are some pictures we took. These were taken before Christmas. We celebrated early with Lauren and Adam since we were going to Sarah's for Christmas. I don't think anyone minded getting to open some packages early. Since we didn't do a speck of decorating this year at our house, it was nice to be at the other Nagel's to take in the festive time. Lauren and Adam had decorated inside and out so cute. It was very Christmasy and we had a fun evening.
Maddox was determined and very focused.
So was Walker. I'm not sure if he wanted to just watch or eat something, you never know with him.
Lauren got in the fun too as did Adam but I didn't get any pictures of him. Sorry Adam.