Monday, October 13, 2014

Hard Work

 These last 2 months have been a whirlwind of activity at the new house-many past midnight evenings spent working there.  We had a big deadline since our Broadway Street house had sold and the closing date was coming soon.  Here are some photos of the flurry... Clay learned how to use a wet saw to cut tile and cut most of the travertine for our bathroom!
 After hours of prep work of caulk, sanding, and taping windows, Jeff sprayed the trim a creamy off-white.
 Our friend Cash Stricker came to town (with his wife Annie and baby Penny) and we put him to work right away.  The guys set up the doors in our basement so Jeff could spray them too.  They also worked on installing new hardwood floors on the main level.  Here's our neighbor Andrew helping them.  Thanks, guys!
 After hardwoods were laid, cabinets were installed.
 Our house was a mess of tools, dust, and trash bags!
 The painting process... I actually have really enjoyed this part of it.  It's been fun to get color on the walls.  Here I was painting the little boys' room a pale blue.


 We had so many helpers the last few weeks, which we were so grateful for!  Here's Dad Reichanadter sanding the hardwoods in the attic.  Quite a dusty job, as you can tell... Grandma Rack stayed with the kids so that I could work at the house. 
 Here's Jeff and Clayton when they were almost finished with installing the hardwoods. Big accomplishment!
 We painted whatever doors had already been painted, but left the ones that were wood stained as they are. 
 More painting... Ceilings aren't my favorite.  There's the baby bump. 31 weeks.
 Remember those rusty old hinges that we spent hours scraping the paint off of, and had Hudson asking why we couldn't buy new ones?  Here's Jeff's spray paint area in our garage.  He got them looking shiny and new again!
 Dad Lehman also came to town and installed those hinges on the original doors.  He had quite the puzzle to figure out, but he was the right man for the job! Grandma Jan kept the kids entertained at the other house. :)
The day before we moved in was a buzz of activity.  Appliances being installed, plumber, electrician, trim carpenter, etc. all finishing up work.
 And then came moving day.  Ready or not, Capitol Avenue house, here we come! We were so thankful again to have lots of help from friends and neighbors on this big day. We have seen God's provision over and over on this project.  There would be times that Jeff would pray, "God, please send an angel to help us today," and someone would stop by to help, totally unexpectedly, or someone else would call and say they needed work, and could we hire them for the day? Yes!!!
This was our last photo of the Broadway House. A few nights before we moved, we lit some candles, ate a fun dessert, and shared memories of life on Broadway Street.  We remembered sweet neighbors, births of our children, special parties, and all the work that went into making that house our home for the past almost 5 years. In the end, we prayed and thanked God for the gift of that home.  Three of us were in tears.  :)  It was a meaningful, sacred night.