A Trip to the Bluffs

We took a quick half day trip to some nearby landmarks - Chimney Bluff State Park and Sodus Bay.  During the summer, I get half day Friday's every other week.  These half days have generally been used for housework but this time we took a break!

The park and bay were about an hour and a half away and we took the "scenic route" to get there.  It was actually really nice driving through small towns rather than on the thru-way.  I have to admit I fell asleep on the way but Clay was kind enough to let me snooze :).

The bluffs are located right along Lake Ontario, and there is an easy hiking trail that lets you look out over the bluffs and over the lake:

Sodus Bay is about 25 minutes away from the state park and is just a small little summer town.  We visited on a Friday afternoon in mid-July and the place was so active - lots of people out on the lake, walking through town, getting ice cream, and just being outside.  There is some sort of historical lighthouse that we walked out to.  In the picture below, you can just barely see the bluffs out in the distance.  This is my "I conquered you" stance:

Clay conquered them as well but he was friendlier about it:

I wasn't going to include this picture, but I realized it has the lighthouse in it:



Just to include a couple other things..we had our usual staff dinner at the end of June.  Clay and I decided to compare our growing bellies:

Also in early July, we helped out with VBS at our church.  I have to admit, I was dreading VBS week.  Clay is awesome with the kids from the neighborhood (and many of the little boys love him!!!), but I struggle to feel comfortable with them.  Almost everything I've known to be normal when working with kids at church or school does not hold true for the kids from our church neighborhood. 

Because I waited so long to volunteer, the only non-floater spot left open was with games.  Yes, games.  Of course the Lord would have me work with games :).  Overall the week went well and I'm happy that I helped out.  Clay was a group leader, and the VBS organizers specifically gave him and his team leader the rowdy or difficult kids.  I so enjoyed watching him interact with the kids and just showing them love.  It may not have been the most organized VBS, but it means so so much to these specific kids to have adults that love on them and give them attention.

Below is a (blurry) picture of Mr. Clay, his fellow team leader Mr. Nick, and several of the kids from his Blue group:

Thanks for checking in on our summer!  A new kitchen renovation post will come soon!

and then there were three..

Well, in case you haven't seen the pictures of our little baby that will be joining us in December, here you go! 

Our little peanut at about 9 to 10 weeks:

It's incredible that there are already little arm and leg bumps! 

 The little baby at about 20 weeks:

His or her two feet that we think look rather large/thick - so we affectionately refer to them as bear cub paws:

A sweet, sweet little face:

And now what the little baby is looking like from the outside!

9 weeks:

15 weeks:

16 weeks:

18 weeks:

It was in between 18 and 20 weeks that I started feeling the baby move!   

20 weeks:

 
We are feeling so very blessed!  I have been feeling really good and our baby reports have all been good so far!  Please continue to pray for a safe and healthy baby and mom and that Clay and I would prepare to become parents (however you do that...).

Kitchen Renovation, Part 1

Our kitchen has been going through quite the makeover!  We are so excited with how it's turning out..and my kitchen Pinterest boards are getting to come to life in our home!  My parents came out to visit in June and it was once again a non-stop weekend of working.  Someday they will come and just visit..but until then, they will work!

This is going to be a long post of pictures but hopefully it will tell the story of our kitchen progressing along!

The before picture: tools are kind of out and ready to go (we were already in the midst of painting our kitchen cabinets so those are primed and the doors are taken off).

Dad gets a burst of energy and decides to start demolition about 10:00 Thursday evening:

Clay and Dad Friday morning taking out the closet walls; the previous owners housed a washer and dryer in this closet and had two rows of wire shelving above for either laundry items or pantry items:

Dad ripping things out; Mom and Clay cleaning up debris:

 The closet is almost out..just a few random hanging boards left:

The closet is out so replacement drywall must go in!  Although this re-enactment picture doesnt capture it, holding a ceiling up can be rather difficult.  I was on one end, Clay on the other, and Mom in the middle while Dad does whatever needs to be done to hold it in place:

With the closet in good shape until spackling, the next project begins: removing the awkward jutting-out countertop.  The space behind his head was all just open space between the cabinets.  The previous owners actually preferred a sideways cabinet that not only wasted space under the counter, but also jutted into your walking space:

The cabinet has been removed!  Next up, the countertop.  Note that Mom just works around the mess by nicely making breakfast on the other side of the kitchen.  We ate outside for literally every meal this weekend and were beyond thankful for a grill to be able to avoid using the oven during demolition:

The countertop must wait until after breakfast Saturday morning!  Fresh strawberries on waffles!  I'm sure you've noticed that Dad does not waste time acknowledging pictures.  His waffle was really pretty:

 Pretty Mom!  Her waffles were nice too:

 Clay..he wasn't actually grumpy..just enjoying his breakfast:

The countertop has been cut off!  This was to verify that we liked it this length.  I think this was a slight fix of the sink and also preparation for it being removed:

Wow!  Look at all that space!  Two people used to be tight in the kitchen: 

Clay (above) and Dad (below) working on putting the sink in our new countertop!  Clay and I had been going back and forth on which countertop to get.  We had pretty much decided that we would need to custom order something when we made a last minute decision to purchsase this in-stock version!  We both are very pleased with our decision!  I think it was the quickest semi-major decision I've ever made:

A view with our new countertop in place:

An action shot of Clay and Dad working on another part of the countertop:

Caulking the roof.  Yes, Clay is barefoot.  Yes, I expressed my disapproval at that: 

A view of the new side of the kitchen!  I feel as though both our cabinet and countertop space is almost doubled!  These cabinets will be painted white as well and the wall color that you can see behind the curtains will continue over.  We are considering adding a window on that wall but are more realistically planning on adding some white open shelving.  Anyone have a flush-mounted ceiling fan that we can replace this one with?

 

A view in from our family room!  Do you remember the first picture when it was a fairly narrow walkway to  fit between the closet and the jutted-out countertop?  We are so pleased with the new space!  And, we really don't feel like we gave up anything in changing things around.  Anyone have any lighting suggestions here?  We are planning on putting a small bench seat against the wall where the cabinet sticks out a few inches:

The view into the other side of the kitchen!  We would like to eventually replace our applicances with either black or stainless steel:

Thank you Mom and Dad for all your time and hard work!  We are absolutely thrilled with the outcome so far and can't wait for the whole kitchen to be complete!  A special thanks to my dad who spent his whole Father's Day weekend being the greatest Dad I could ever imagine!  I am so proud to call you Dad and realize I am blessed beyond my understanding by your commitment to being a father.

Sadly, we again never took a nice picture of all of us.  Next time you come, we will do something other than work the whole time!  One run to the flea market was not enough :).