House Update...

Even as I wrote that title, I realized that I am missing a photo of our newly painted kitchen and dining area [splendidly accomplished by our friends from Hungary]! So... these are a few updates, but not all... :)

The above photo is what our living room area now looks like... after getting my desk and bookshelf out of my room! It is seriously such a huge desk... and now my room feels incredibly large; but I like having the desk in the living room with the kiddos... and they informed me that they liked it a lot, too!

My room... pre-tile, pre-paint, pre-holes filled, pre-choking red dust, pre-sleeping on the couch for a week... ;)

[it's a super-comfortable couch, though!]

The crack in the bedroom wall; the team from Gridley (who helped with most of the renovations in my room) cleaned it out (where they found a dead lizard crushed and stuck in the cement... sort of gross), and then Joel re-plastered over it [I hope that's the right terminology! :)].

The black-widow-stopping candle in the wall [please refer to earlier blog post if you're confused]...

... filled in with foam!

The bathroom... pre-tile, pre-paint.

And... operation in progress. :)

A couple of the men thought the tiles might not stick to the cement, so they ground it up first... which caused A LOT of red dust... ;)

Check out the red paint/dust in these guys' hair... ay, no.

And... tiling!

[the hope is that the ants won't be able to come up through this as easily!]

After tiling, the team started priming and then painting. Two years ago I had chosen a color to paint my room, but then never used it for various reasons. I honestly couldn't remember exactly what the color was... and when we opened the base coat can, I thought I might have to vomit.

Seriously.

The above photo shows the hideous pink color that it was, and Ginny Wulf modeling it -- I think she "liked" it as much as I did! ;)

Relation -- through some strange and incomprehensible [for me] genealogical channels! Actually, I really enjoyed these ladies: (l-r) Lucy, Norma, and Ginny.

Norma had a little bit of a "love war" going on with the female single staff. It all started by a simple little crossing out of the heart she hung on the wall... and it was on. :)

I'm pretty sure Norma delighted in the pink color of the room...

... and helped decorate by taping all these little hearts up.

How sweet.

Are you sick to your stomach, too??? ;)

The finished product... sort of. :)

Jon & Amy are here visiting right now, and are staying in my room, so we made my twin into a king-size... ;)

Another view...

The other direction...

And... the new bathroom!

I am so thankful for all the work that was done... the Gridley team, Joel, Gale & Sonia, Jenna, and even my kidlets! :)

Please pray for our kids and staff right now; that God would be glorified through all that we do, and that He would teach us to rely upon His strength, embracing His light instead of Satan's darkness. Pray that He would reveal Himself to us and use us how He desires to work in the lives of these kids. Thank you!