Fun at the lake

Annika (1o months) and Bethany hanging out in the hammock

Jon and Bethany

Jenna, Jon and Squirt

Bethany and Daddy

Eric and Megan with their daughter Annika came out to the cabin this weekend and it was so fun for the girls to play together. They did really well and it was funny to watch them grab the same toy back and forth from each other - neither got upset but they just kept taking it away from each other over and over! Jon and Jenna came with their ducks and we heard another boater say "that ain't no wild duck" about Little Jerry following Jon and Dan as they kayaked around the lake. Squirt is just a few weeks old and was funny to watch running around with its little wings flapping and mouth wide open. Fun weekend!

Less than 100 days to go!

Today we have 99 days until our little girls due date. That means I'm entering the third trimester later this week or next depending on how you count. I wanted to get a lot of things checked off my list in the 2nd trimester so we've been scheduling our childbirth classes, finding a pediatrition, sending in our pre-term labor admittance form, finalizing all the Dr. apts through December 1st (if she goes that late), and making a list of things we need to buy. I had my glucose test at the Dr. today and I have one word for that drink: YUCK. The lab workers were very nice and sympathetic but commented that some people can't keep it down and have to drink another whole bottle so I made sure I only had to drink one. It is so thick and sugary and you'd think sugar would make it taste good - it definitely does not. I find out tomorrow if I failed and then you have to take a 3 hr. test so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't have to do that.

Dan's cousin's family was out at the lake this last weekend and we had a great time. It rained Saturday but we made it out for a boat ride and swam and then tubed on Sunday. Their kids are 5 and 2 and very sweet little boys. We spent a lot of time trying to catch frogs, crickets and even saw a bunny we almost caught. They are definitely boys!

Dan's cousin Justin with his oldest boy Zack who wears his cowboy outfit everyday. They stopped at a casino buffet on the way up to the cabin to eat lunch and a guy in the bathroom joked that he was surprised they let Zack in wearing that. :)

Zack, Nick and Justin enjoying corn on the cob.

Hopefully the furniture comes later this week because I'd love to put it together on Friday before we spend the weekend at Amber and Brents helping them tile their bathrooms. Summer has gone by so fast! I can't belive we're already half-way through August and the State Fair is coming up! That always means the end of summer... and cooler weather (how can that be?)

Transforming Cabinets and other projects

Dan's mom came over this weekend to help with yet another project! Friday we started taking off the kitchen cabinets doors at our house in Minnetonka and we just finished putting them back up and its Sunday night. We stripped the old stain, cleaned them off, and primed them on Saturday and today we painted two coats and put them back up. It looks great!

Here is the before picture:

Priming, we tried to tint it black but they wouldn't go that dark so the primer was blue!
Working on the doors in the basement
The finished product!

Now we just need to put on door knobs and pulls and then Dan moved up one of the cabinets so we can have an over-the-range microwave. He ordered it and it should be here in a month. Then when Dan's parents get into their house and order granite countertops we'll do the same and with a new sink and faucet our kitchen will really be transformed. But, this was a big first step!

Over Christmas break, Dan's mom came up again and we painted the living room a delicious color of green called sweet daphne. It really brings out the black furniture and now the black cabinets in the kitchen! It made me so excited to have freshly painted walls that on New Year's I painted the basement!

A couple weekends ago Dan decided to put lights under the cabinets at the lake too. The extra light on the countertops is so nice. Good job, Dan!

Labor Day weekend

We took Labor Day seriously! Friday we had Annandale Rock deliver a load of riprap and fill to the lake to build a retaining wall around our septic in the front yard. The riprap was supposed to be rocks between 6 and 14 inches in diameter but when it arrived there were quite a few really large rocks that were more like 3 feet in diameter! My parents came Friday night so we could get an early start on Saturday and that is when my dad and Dan decided to look into renting a bobcat to help with the project. Luckily Big Al's Rental in Annandale had one available so Saturday a.m. they started tearing away at the hill.

Tom and Becky came that afternoon and then Jeremy and Allison arrived with their kids and some friends. With the bobcat it actually went pretty fast and we got the retaining wall and another little wall around our firepit done before dark. Jon came that evening and stayed over to help us finish up leveling the yard and filling in ruts in the backyard. Dan was able to have the bobcat returned Sunday so we only needed it for one day, when originally we thought we'd need it all weekend.

Dan's parents came up Sunday afternoon with grass seed and some hostas and other plants to get those started this fall before winter. Monday was the work day digging out places for the hostas while Dan tackled fixing the patio.

It was a busy and tiring weekend, but we are really happy with the results. Now we're considering getting some crushed granite for the driveway in a couple weeks, but we've made great progress on the landscaping!

Before picture
Dan digging out the wall
Dan and Tom spreading fill on top of the retaining wall

Allison and Hunter

Tom and Dan leveling the firepit area

Finished firepit wall

Finished retaining wall and view of Roger and Monica planting hostas

Hostas around finished septic area

Jon leveling out the driveway

Cleared out area for hostas

Projects at the lake

This weekend Dan's parents came from Mankato to celebrate Monica's birthday on Monday and mine next Friday. Yesterday we had a couple rain showers, one that came promptly as we were way down the lake on a boat ride :) Today was much better and after church at the Annandale Free Church, we went for a dry boat ride, Monica stained the dock, Roger and Dan dug in the electrical line for the septic, and I weeded the yard.

The septic electrical line thing was a little frusterating because it was the last thing that needed to be done from the construction but our electrician wouldn't call us back to schedule a time for him to dig it in. We've called probably 15-20 times, mostly he doesn't pick up but Dan and I have both been hung up on too. We couldn't have it dug in during the winter so we had to close on the loan and pay the electrician in full with a promise he'd come back, but since he's been paid he's not that interested in coming back... Dan's parents were really helpful and encouraged Dan that we could do it ourselves and it is very nice to have done. Now we can get the rock retaining wall in when the weather cools down and seed in the fall and hopefully have a better looking yard soon.The septic line is covered!

Our freshly stained dock.

Great job, Monica!

This week I'm hoping to get caught up on a lot of things at work after a busy few months of projects. It will be great to get some things checked off my list and then take my birthday off to spend the day with my mom near Lake Minnetonka. I love this time of summer... hot days, being mellow, swimming in the warm lake - soak it in Minnesotans!

Memorial Day weekend and week

Sorry for the delay in posting. We took off some time from work the week of Memorial Day to be with friends and family and here are some of the pictures. Jeremy and Allison came up Friday night and Tom and Becky joined us Saturday. We had a ton of fun fishing, watching movies and watching the hail storm Sunday afternoon. It was too bad all of our cars had a little hail damage, but it was pretty cool to watch the storm. We had no idea it was coming since we were just relaxing and not watching tv, but it came really quickly and then was gone on its way to the tornado zone in Hugo. Luckily we only had hail damage and no tornados, but our grass that was just starting to come in was damaged and washed down into the lake! We might have to wait to plant grass in the fall when there is less of a chance of storms! Other than that everyone had fun kayaking and with the treats Allison and Becky brought we ate really well all weekend.

On Monday everyone headed back, and my parents and Brent and Amber came out for the afternoon and evening. We grilled shish-ka-bobs and pork ribs and the guys had fun kayaking while the girls went for a walk with Bella. The funniest part of the day was Bella trying to jump off the dock. She was a little nervous and crouched at the end of the dock and reached out slowly to dip her toes into the lake. Finally she had enough courage to jump but kept her paws out on top of the water so it was a hilarious doggy paddle. She started learning though, and I think the next time she visits she'll feel more comfortable... maybe the water will be warmer too.

That night Paul and Melissa came with the boys and we got them all settled for the night. It was great Paul III sleeps in a twin bed so that they could have the downstairs level and sleep comfortably. Roger and Monica came Tuesday and we enjoyed walking and fishing, and just relaxing until they left Thursday morning. The kids enjoyed being outside and Paul III kept asking to play in the "sandbox" which we realized he equated to our entire yard because of our loss of grass. He loved looking at the fish that Paul, Dan and Roger caught, holding the worms and the boat ride too. We hope that they can come back for a visit soon so they don't forget the lake :)

After all of our company left, Dan and I relaxed, finished a few projects and came back Saturday to catch up on things at home. It was great to get to see everyone... I feel lonely if we don't have a big group at the lake now! I think we'll have to have guests every weekend from now on!

Allison and Heather fishing - between all of us we caught 50 fish that day and ate the big ones for dinner!

Jeremy in his cool inflatable boat

Allison fishing - we were having a competition about who could catch the most fish... I was winning because she wouldn't put worms on her hook. I only helped after I made her wait until I caught a few fish to get ahead :)

Becky fishing - nice one! I don't think it made the cut for dinner thought :)

Dan, Jeremy and Tom fishing - the girls caught more than the boys!Here is our days work - most of them were too small, but it was fun to count how many we caught all day.The front yard during the hail storm.Tom with the almost golf ball sized hail in the yard

Its hard to see, but the hail was making huge splashes in the lakeCampfire one night

Apparently we only had pictures of Jacob! So, here is an almost smile of him with Dan.

Weekend at the lake

Friday night after work we headed out to the lake for a mini-vacation. Dan thinks I always get sick on vacations (which I do, on the big ones), so his plan is to have us go on lots of mini-vacations to the lake so that I don't get sick when we fly somewhere for our next vacation. We'll see if it works!

It was an awesome weekend. The natural light shines into our bedroom early so we woke up and started our day before 8. After enjoying a breakfast of "omelets in a bag" and playing the wii, we headed out for a walk on the lake. We walked through all three connected lakes and saw a bunch of ice fishermen, bald eagles, and some people cross-country skiing. I wore my boots but those slowed me down a little; I think I got a better work out with them though :)

We cleaned up a little bit, put the new pillows in the shams on our bed, and decorated our master bathroom with some pots my mom gave me.

Cleaning weekend

Friday's closing went well and we were so excited to be done we went straight to the lake afterwards. We picked up groceries on the way to stock the pantry and freezer at the lake. We also brought the tv out and hung it on the fireplace. Dan got a receiver at Best Buy so he could use his new surround sound system and had fun making sure that worked.

Saturday was a fun filled day of cleaning. Dan's parents met us out there and helped wash windows and paint the ceiling in the master bathroom (that one was missed when the rest of the house was painted I guess). Dan moved the closet shelving in the master closet because they weren't high enough for two hanging bars for clothes and I went around with paint to touch up spots on the walls and around the stairs that were touched by the carpet. Dan's parents brought the kotasu (sp?) that we brought back with us from Japan and set it up in the basement. It is a short table with a blanket over the top and a heater underneath that the Japanese use to warm up when they come into their cold homes. It was fun to put our feet underneath and try it out.

The tv was fun to hook up and we found out we get channel 9 in HD. That is good news so we can watch the Super Bowl out there next Sunday!

We are excited for next weekend to get some furniture out there and especially our bed... no more air mattresses!

Closing Day

The day is finally here, we close on our loan for the cabin this afternoon! I can't believe how much has happened over the past 9 months to get us to this point. But, now that it is over we feel relief, satisfaction, exhaustion, excitement, reflection, peace, joy, and happiness to name a few. We are so thankful to God for all of his blessings on us, and are in anticipation for what He has in store for us in the future. For now, we are content to take some time to enjoy being done with school and the cabin for awhile.

We are going to spend the first night at our finished cabin tonight so we can get an early start at cleaning all day tomorrow with Dan's parents coming to help out. Then we're celebrating with a couple of friends for their 30th birthday parties tomorrow night. Sunday will be spent catching up on some cleaning at our own house. It has been sort of neglected for awhile :)

Now that everything is finished, we are set to move things from our house to the lake next Saturday February the 2nd. If you are available to help, and especially if you have a truck or large vehicle, we'd love to have you!

Occupancy Certificate

The inspection passed today and we got the occupancy certificate! The appraisal work from Sunday was done today too, so tomorrow we'll get all the final paperwork finalized with the title company and close Friday :)

Tiling the tub

Saturday and Sunday we were at the lake tiling the whirlpool tub surround. The next three pictures show the access space, then with it on, and the final one is after the tile was grouted (the picture is blurry though - sorry!) The rest of Sunday was spent cleaning before the appraiser got there at 1:00. She was impressed it was as clean as it was! Good thing we have next weekend to finish cleaning with Dan's parents before moving on Feb. 2nd. Here are some pictures we took of some of the finished rooms that just need a little dusting next weekend. Dan was really happy to be out there this weekend because it finally felt like our cabin. No more sawdust and unfinished rooms, and with the electrical and plumbing hooked up it was a lot more fun.

our bedroom

laundry room

kicthen (the chairs fit under the island)

upstairs bathroom cleaned

guest bedroom downstairs

guest bedroom closet