Thanksgiving

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We finally had the house ready to fit the cousins from Seattle. Maryellen and Mel's brood stayed with us, including Will and Elise's boyfriend, Brian.
The family gathered for our long awaited reunion. Lisa and Rob showed up with Tommy and Trevor, Walter and Kindle arrived with Jeffrey.

Our newly finished kitchen was filled with an abundance of food and family. Preparations for the Thanksgiving feast were in full swing.
Paul covered kitchen duty preparing a host of appetizers before dinner.

Maryellen made sweet potato casserole and Mel made Banana Foster for dessert. There was no shortage of food for this hungry crowd. Everyone pitched in something and the meal was delicious.

Paul made the turkey that Rob later carved and the family devoured. Here is a picture of two turkey butts, both proud and golden. Twenty one pounds of bird meant there were plenty of leftovers.

Leave it to Lisa to bring some wimsicle fun to the party. She brought fun gifts for the younger cousins, here are AJ and Brian comparing their loot.

The dazzling Elise shows off her stunning Holiday ensemble with her new beau, Brian. Brian fit right in with the family and he was a welcome addition to the party.

Before the day was over we were required to pose in front of the house for family photos. Here is one that includes the entire group after dinner.

Pictured in order are (top) Pitoune, Lee, Lisa, Paul, Kindle, Will, Maryellen and Elise. (bottom) Rob, Tommy, Walt, Mel, Jeffrey, AJ, Brian and Trevor. Click on the picture for a clear view.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

The cold weather was approaching so any work we need to do outside or that involves letting the heat out was getting more urgent. The paint needed on the exterior rear entrance will have to wait until Spring.



In the mean time, we located a second hand upscale sliding door for the dining room that matched the new windows but we needed to install it ourselves. That meant ripping out the old door, which we did to get the refrigerator in, but we needed to remove the frame as well.


We installed the new door with some difficulty but an not insurmountable effort. The one problem we ran into was the seal had broken, so the door that we picked up for nothing would end up costing a few hundred to fix, but we were still way ahead of the game.


We invited a house full of company to spend Thanksgiving and we found ourselves short on time with plenty of work still to do. In order to make room and clean up boxes that were still everywhere and we tackled the master bedroom first.

We laid an off white carpet, it looks great, but how long will it look that way? Originally, we wanted paint the room a warm dark golden color but ended up with a brighter tone that reflected the sunlight nicely. Pitoune found it comfortable.

We were going to make two guestrooms, but decided on one and a den. We did not have time to paint, but we cleaned up what was the "staging room" where we had done all our construction prep and prepared a comfortable place to sleep.

We decided to name the guestroom "Darlene's Room", since she insisted on a room of her own in our house, but Paul's cousins, Maryellen and Mel will be the first to sleep in here and the room will be set aside for all of our special guests.

We added a few personal touches that focused on family, a couple of plants and some knic knacs. Even though the room isn't done, its ready for our Thanksgiving guests as well as anyone who drops by before we can paint and decorate.

We purchased a futon and put our desk in the den. The futon sleeps two and doubles as a couch. the underneath drawers add storage space. There is room for a television in the future if we decide that's what we want.

In the mean time, the sun room houses the TV and also has a roll out sofa for guests. The living room also has a roll out and will sleep two more. If needed, we can throw down an air mattress and we have room to sleep eleven. Wow! We are ready!

In the kitchen, we still had to install the toe-kicks beneath the cabinets and put down the remaining baseboard, moldings and floor transitions. It seems these little touches go unnoticed but when they are not done, the rooms are noticeably incomplete.