Little Cabinet Specialist

While I was gone to San Fran, Jo and Pepper were busy putting in cabinets.

Fackenthall Reunion 2012

Now that looks like a lot of fun!

Kids headed out in boat races.

Pepper is Daddy's girl.

Fackenthalls: John with his cousins and Aunts/Uncles

The result of so much fun.

This year Pepper went with Daddy and Grandpa and Grandma to Spokane for the Fackenthall Family Reunion. They have it every year on the last weekend in August and it is quite a party! It is such a fun experience to meet new relatives and get to know others better! Jo's grandpa had a lot of siblings, so it is a big family, and of course it continues to grow all the time. I heard that Pepper had a good time watching all the kids and eating lots of soft serve ice cream (way to go William and Amy). I was sorry to miss it this time but I am looking forward to next year.

A Educational Adventure

  At the end of August I somewhat reluctantly embarked on a solo adventure. I had signed up for continuing education class for a week in San Fransisco. Originally I was hoping that Jo and Pepper could come down and join me for at least part of it, but due to the busy house project, that could not happen. So my excitement about the class was a bit dampened by the sadness of being away from my husband and little girl (first time away from Pepper for more than a work day). I missed her and Jo so much but with Facetime I was able to be part of bedtime and give her "kisses" each night. That made it a bit easier to be away.

The city was fascinating. I stayed right in the heart of downtown, very near to a lot of great shopping and restaurants. I spent part of each evening walking around, watching people, and looking for places to eat. Thankfully I found a good Indian restaurant on day two and returned there a number of times. 
Here are some things that I noticed about the city, good and bad:
 1. I love the sound of many accents and languages, so much variety in the crowds of people I passed each day.
2. I do not like the vast numbers of homeless people that are roaming the streets. It makes me sad that they do not have family or friends to take care of them.
3. I do not like the smells of the city. Sewer scents wafting up grates, ammonia scents from people peeing wherever they have the urge, and strong body odors when passing most crowds.
4. I like the energy of the city. It never slows down; lights, honking, people exercising at 10:30 at night, clubs lit up on week nights.
5. I do not like being asked for money over and over, by very sad looking people that are likely going to use the money for drugs and alcohol. I am a skeptic so often do not give them money, but then I feel guilty.
6. I love the Indian food. (Walla Walla is lacking this.)
7. The bottom line is that I became very tired of passing hundreds of people each day, staring right at them, and having them avoid eye contact. To me the city quickly feels impersonal. And lonely.

Give me sweet, friendly Walla Walla any day. The people here are golden!

Where I spent 12 hours each day.

The Palace Hotel is by far the nicest place I have ever stayed, and probably will ever stay for the rest of my life (thank you CME fund). It was beautiful! This hotel is a historic landmark in San Fransisco, originally built in the 1800s and then rebuilt after an earthquake, opened again in 1909. It has an amazing lobby and dining area with an entire ceiling of glass letting light in, even on the grey days. I was lucky enough to get a breakfast coupon for the extensive breakfast buffet, which I took advantage of each day at first break (8:15 am). Yep, class started at 6:30 am and continued most days until 6:30 pm. My room was on the 6th floor so at each break I would hike the stairs to my room and back down to keep from getting drowsy during class. There was also a great exercise room that I used in the evenings.

The beauty was impossible to capture on my iphone.

Flowers for me every day!

 It was different to have my birthday away from Jo and my Walla Walla family. Thankfully, Joy came to my rescue and made my birthday one to remember. It worked out that the class schedule on August 28 was lighter than all the other days. So Joy drove from Angwin to the city (1.5 hours I think) and spent the afternoon/evening with me. We shopped and ate at my new favorite Indian restaurant (I ate there 3 times), and then enjoyed cheesecake before she had to head home. She made my day. I am so lucky to have her as a sister!

Shopping at Union Square

Hearts on each corner of Union Square

Steep hills (walking, walking)

On my last day in San Fransisco I again had a short class day. And once again I was blessed with a visitor. Sarah Takahashi drove from Lodi (1.5 hours I think) to spend the afternoon with me. We had a great time! After doing a little bit of shopping we decided to walk to a pizza place that a friend of hers had recommended. It did not seem very far on our map app, but after 30 minutes of walking we found we were still not close (Sarah and I should never be trusted with ANY map). Since Sarah runs lots of marathons and I would like to run lots of marathons, we were not going to give up. We walked and walked and walked, which made our feet sore but gave us great time to catch up. Finally, we arrived at the restaurant and were rewarded nicely. It was yummy!

Also a little windy (felt like winter).

 It was so nice to connect with a friend that I have not seen for so long. Sarah always makes me laugh. Such a great quality! It brought back memories of all the fun we had in college. Thanks Sarah for risking the crazy traffic to see me.

More Help

We were lucky to have new-daddy Everett to help us with tiling the showers. He does such a great job. 

I can't wait until you see the finished product!

Our Yard

Sometimes after work we hang out in our yard.

               Oh, we cannot wait!

And It Goes On and On and On...

 

Imagine a job that is far more than full time. It is six days a week, long hours each day, and even when you are sleeping you are planning out detail after detail in your mind. That is Jo's job. He has now been spending a number of months deep into the finish work. This is the most time consuming, the most detail oriented, and the most artistic part of the project. I think that Jo is good at most everything he tries, but this is the area that he shines. 

He has spent many hours putting up trim that looks classic craftsman. I think it is perfect.

Keep in mind that almost every piece of wood inside and outside of our house has been milled and finished by Jo, with the help of my parents. That was a lot of time consuming work!

For the trim we decided on a walnut finish but for the floor we are keeping natural to keep the house from feeling too dark.

Jo built each piece of the banister. I am not sure how he got the top part so smooth. 

Now it just needs to have stain and finish. 

The floor is larch plank of varying widths. Instead of tongue and groove, Jo used biscuit joiners with exposed, pyramid head, bronze nails. He hand-pounded every nail into the floor, which covers almost all of the main floor. After the floor was completed we used Tung oil to finish it (thanks Mom and Devin for help with that). 

Jo's right forearm was noticeably bigger than the left at the end of 2 months of pounding nails.

  

The banister is almost complete. 

 

Just when Jo needed it, some awesome help arrived. Devin had a bit of time after a summer in Alaska and before the start of school, so he came down to work with Jo. This really boosted Jo's spirits and helped him get a lot completed! Jo does a great job working by himself, but a lot of time and creativity go into planning out how to do certain projects alone, so it is nice to have another person to help.

Here they are turning the master bedroom into a paint room. Jo had a lot of doors to stain (over 20) so he set them all up so that he could spray them all at once.  

After they were all set up I got to vacuum all the dust off of them. I was pretty excited to help build our house!

Birthdays!

August is a very special month for Pepper's great grandmas. First is Gumby's birthday, then Grandma Dorothy's. Unfortunately, I was gone for Grandma Dorothy's birthday so I didn't get pictures. Pepper enjoys all the celebrations and warns us about the candles, "HOT!". Happy Birthday Great Gumby and Grandma Dorothy! We love you!

A Grand Machine

We found a perfect spot for the treadmill in our living room, squeezed between the rocking chair and the bookcase. Amazingly enough we did not have to rearrange our furniture. Unfortunately we found that there is not an electrical outlet next to the treadmill. Jo fixed that quickly by tacking a large orange extension cord to the wall, around the room, to the nearest plug in. It is not pretty but what a blessing this machine is! We can now exercise rain or shine, early or late. Pepper had a good time helping Daddy put this contraption together...and then she decided to finish the job herself.

Apple

Pepper learned the word apple from the Ipad flashcard game a number of months ago. Ever since, she has decided that all fruit are apples; peaches, pears, prunes, tomatoes. If you try to correct her she just confidently says, "APPLE!".

Walks

A walk outside is a time of discovery for a toddler. 

Every few feet we stop to smell a flower, blow on a dandelion, or talk to the goats.

Summer Treats

Pepper has been amazed to find that the thorny bushes all over Grammy and Grandpa's orchard produce something edible. She LOVES blackberries! Jo and I start picking and it takes about 10 minutes before we can get ahead of her and start filling the bucket. She eats and eats, and then asks for more.

A favorite summer memory for me is picking berries until sunset with my little girl and her dad. 

Purple fingers!