Attic Renovation - Paint & Bathroom

It has been a very long week. We got all the priming done and all the painting done. We agreed to let the girls pick the colors for their bedrooms. Emma picked "Magical" purple and Ana picked "In the Pink". Both  are bold colors. We tried to persuade them to pick a lighter shade but it didn't work. Their rooms have been painted and the colors are growing on me.

Today Cameron and I set the floor tile for the upstairs bathroom. It went pretty good with only one setback. There was a bump on the concrete board joint. Cameron tried to level it and we worked around it waiting for the leveling to dry. So far it's been a good experience. I learned how to use a tile cutter and a wet saw. We work good as a team.

Rest of the tile goes down tomorrow and   grouting. I'm  sure the shower subway tile will present challenges but we'll take it one day at a time.

First Thanksgiving with Aurora

Since my parents are in town,  I got extra help with Thanksgiving dinner. My mom made her special stuffing that everyone loved. Kara brought a chocolate pie that was delicious. Aunt Jan is keeping Gramp's tradition alive and brought a tray of shrimp.

What made this Thanksgiving special was meeting cousin Quinn's and Kara's  four month old baby daughter Aurora. She's precious and easy going. Emma and Ana loved holding her and making her smile.

Mamá Nena as a Girl

My aunt just shared with me this old picture that shows my grandma as a child. She's sitting far left with her parents and siblings. We are estimating her to be six years old (1939).

Abuelos are HERE!

First Smoked Brisket

Cameron and Dan smoked their first brisket today. It was on the smoker for six and a half hours and it rested inside a cooler for another hour and a half. The guys did a great job! It was full of flavor and tender.

Bats

The girls got dragon wings as a party favor a couple of years ago. They still play with them and the other night they came up with a new trick. Hanging upside down and pretending to be bats. Hilarious!

Volunteer Day at New Church Building

A local nursery donated trees to our local church for its new location. Volunteers were needed last Saturday. It was really muddy but the crew got 20 trees planted in one hour and fifteen minutes. It was fun seeing the little kids get excited about helping out.

Rebecca (pastor's wife) and I each made a crockpot full of soup to feed the crew. We had a great time and getting ready for next Saturday when the weeping willows get planted.

**The church's steeple went up today. It looks great!