OBVIOUSLY, it's not September....in fact, it's almost November.  We've relly been slacking on updates.  So, I'll be posting catch-up stuff over the next few weeks.

September was very busy.  We have been on a mission to get as many remodelling projects finished as possible before Baby Aberle arrives in January.

Take a look at this picture, now look at the picture below...notice the difference??? You may not be able to spot it right away, but I was so thrilled to see the new windows being put into our house earlier this month!  Dave installed new double-hung windows in all three bedrooms, the master bath, and above the stairwell.  I had no problems wishing the old silver alunimum frames a fond farewell :)  Of course, we had to paint the interior frames of the new windows (next time I'll pay the extra and get all vinyl windows!).  However, they are all painted, installed, and trimmed and make such a difference on both the inside and outside of the house. 


The two pictures below describe how I had a tire blow-out.  We just had new tires put on, and almost a month later I was driving along with both dogs and the front passenger tire blew out in a construction zone.  Wouldn't you know it, I've never had this happen...and it happens while I'm pregnant, with 2 dogs, and can't get Dave to answer any of his 3 phones.  He finally did call me back and came to save the day (there was NO way I was going to crawl on the ground to change a tire with this big belly!).  We did have to have the almost-brand-new tire replaced, but it only cost us $1!  Thank you Costco Tire road hazard warranty!

The past few weeks Dave has been busy getting new light fixtures in the bedrooms, getting the hallway prepped for texture, texturing the hallway, and finally painting the hallway. 
The picture below describes our chaotic garage.  My car has been banished from the garage since the beginning of September in order to make room for the many painting & assembling projects.  As you can see there is a cabinet (primed and ready for paint) and trim below it.  Since we're putting all new door, floor, and window trim up, we've bought countless feet of trim.  All of which is primed & painted ready for installation.  He has also stained & varnished all of the doors (5 total).

Below is a picture of our Living Room as it looked the whole month of September.  Full of baby furniture and storage containers.  Our baby furniture arrived and Dave put it together to make sure everything was OK with it.  I'm so glad he did that, because a part was broke on the crib.  So, we hauled it back to the store and we had a new one the next week.  All of the baby furniture is ready to go in the newly painted nursery (updates/pix on the nursery will be posted soon!).  As of the first weekend in October, the bedrooms and living rooms were cleared out to start refinishing the hardwood floors (check back for updates on the floors).

With every home remodel project there are bunches of things to accomplish, some big jobs and lots of small ones.  Dave has been so awesome about working like a mad-man to get everything finished by the first weekend in November. 

Other things new... Dave started his last semester of his masters degree.  He has 2 classes this semester and then will officially be done with graduate school.  Work is keeping us both busy, including travelling.  I went out to Seattle for 4 days in September - the baby has been there three times already without even knowing it!  We went up to Morton for the annual Pumpkin Festival.  It was so disappointing that it rained most of the time, but it was good to see many of our family and friends.  And of course the pumpkin pancakes were great on Saturday morning :)   

The baby is growing....and therefore so am I.  I'm just getting bigger and bigger.  The dr. says that he/she is growing as he/she should and has a good strong heartbeat.  We're still on track for a January 13th arrival. 

Come back soon for more updates on the house & other fun things we've been up to.  Until then....have a great day!

 

We started out our weekend by getting the boys' hair cut.  They went to the groomers Friday morning.  You'll notice that Max doesn't look like the picture we posted of him when we first got him.  Not only has his hair lightened up, but it also 2 inches shorter.  I'm sure he stays much cooler without his fur coat! 

My parents, Noah & Whitney were down here for the weekend.  Dad & Noah volunteered to help Dave continue working on tearing out the patio.  They worked really hard on busting up the concrete and got alot done on Saturday afternoon.  However, they highly encouraged Dave to get a jackhammer the next time :).   THANKS SO MUCH DAD & NOAH FOR YOUR HELP!!!!

Mom, Whitney & I went shopping while the boys were working.  Then we all went down to the Festival of the Little Hills for the evening.  It was a beautiful evening and we had a nice time walking around to see all of the vendors (literally 100s of them!).   Dave, the boys, & I went back down to the festival today for funnel cake, fried oreos & a lemonade shake-up!  It was a mid-afternoon craving :)

Below is a picture of the patio progress.  Once this is done we'll start progressing on the interior of our house (I can't wait!).

 

Hope you all had a nice weekend.  It was beautiful here in St. Louis and also in Osage Beach where we spent most of the weekend.  Dave & I joined my parents, Noah & Whitney, Nan & Pa, Eileen, and Janet (we missed you Whit & Scott!).  We had a really nice time We had fun hanging out with everyone on and off of the lake.  Dave had us out on the water in the early mornings to do some skiing and wakeboarding (the water was much calmer in the mornings before 10).  Then we'd go out mid aftenroon and again in the evenings.  I took some pix & a few video clips of Dave mastering the wakeboard.  I only posted one picture because the rest were a little too far away and videos will make you sea sick.  Oh well...something to perfect for next time. 

Our boat has been out of commission this summer, but Dave finally has the engine part to get it back up and running.  So for those of you who would like to go for a boat ride in the most retro boat you will ever lay eyes on - just let us know.  Dave has done a TON of work on it and hopes to have it running in 2 weeks :)

Hope you all are doing well.  Drop us a line to let us know what's up with you!

 

Finally!  David has returned home from his temporary work assignment in Seattle.  He had a wonderful time exploring the area there, and I had a wonderful time visiting him twice, but it is more wondeful to have him home!!!  He arrived home Friday, exactly three months since he left.  Of course he went right to work and mowed the lawn and worked on the landscaping.  He asked me if he could start tearing out our upper patio in the back yard, and I politely told him NO.

We did finish our Friday evening by having an enjoyable dinner at a new local restaurant and played the new Mariocart on Wii - I'm almost addicted.  Saturday I convinced him to go to First Watch for breakfast before we began our day full of errands (he again tried to get out of it by asking if he could tear out the back patio). Then this morning we went to the Boathouse at Forest Park (another favorite breakfast place) and went to run a few more errands.  We made it home early this afternoon so that we could get the patio furniture pressure washed.  We're going to stain it later this week.  I decided to come inside to get a few things organized and soon heard a saw...Yes, he got the saw out to start tearing down the upper patio. 

So, we now have quite the mess in our back yard with more messes to come.  We're getting ready to have our hardwood floors refinished and new windows put in.  As they say with remodeling, things must get worse before they can get better. 

Hope you all are having a great summer.  It's my goal to start updating our site more often.  Keep checking back for new pictures and updates.


 

It was wonderful to finally see my hubby after 3 weeks!  Friday morning I left for Seattle where Dave picked me up from the airport.  That afternoon he took me on a tour of the town he is staying in, Mukilteo (muh-kill-tee-oh).  It is a small town on the water and is a ferry town.  People can get on the ferry in by foot, bike, car, truck, camper, semi, etc... and the ferry will take them to Clinton, WA.  Dave gets to wait on ferry traffic to get to and from his hotel, which is right on the water.  There are always scuba divers outside the hotel - morning, noon and night.  Night - I was surprised at how late the sun sets in Seattle.  Right now, the sun doesn't set until 9pm.  As during the middle of summer, the sun doesn't set until 11pm and will rise at 4am. 

Friday night we went into the Boeing plant where Dave works (in Everett).  The building was HUGE!  In fact, it is the largest building in volume (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Everett_Factory) - I checked my facts :)  The planes are amazing.  Dave works on the 787, Boeings newest commercial airplane the "Dreamliner".  They also build the 747, 767, and 777 in the same facility.  It was 6pm on a Friday night and there were people working furiously everywhere.  I got to meet Dave's teammates & boss.  All were so nice and had such nice things to say about Dave.  In fact, they gave him an award that afternoon for doing such an outstanding job (he's only been there working for 2 weeks!).  I was very proud of him!  Anyway, the plant is huge.  It boggles my mind to think about how much tedious work it takes to complete one of those planes. 

Saturday we did the tourist thing.  We went downtown Seattle to Pike's Place Market (the "fish market").  I was so impressed by all of the fresh fish, flowers, produce, and many goods that people were selling.  We also visited and enjoyed a treat from the original Starbucks.  We then took the metro to the Space Needle.  We waited for almost 2 hours to ride an elevator up to the top.  We were able to walk around and see every angle of the city.  As you can see by the first picture, it was a very beautiful, clear & sunny day.  It was amazing how you could see all of the city, the ocean, and the mountains all at the same time.

Saturday & Sunday we went to Dave's usual breakfast place.  He eats his breakfast at noon there every day.  Not only do they have good food, but they had outstanding freshly squeezed orange juice. 

Sunday we went for a drive in the mountains.  It was cloudy and drizzly that day, but the drive was beautiful.  We went south east to Snoqualmie Falls.  The water fall is 100 feet higher than the Niagara Falls, and also serves as a hydro power plant.  You can see the fall from a small observation walkway and deck.  Dave has truly enjoyed exploring the different mountainous views and wonders.

Monday came all too soon.  It was so hard for me to walk away from Dave at the airport.  However, he'll be back in Missouri/Illinois in 4 weeks for the wedding celebrations (my sister and her sweetie are getting married!). 

And for those of you who are curious, MoJo had a wonderful weekend at the Kennelwood puppy resort and spa.  I think he had a wonderful time playing with all of his furry friends and being pampered by their wonderful staff.  He was so exhausted when he got home that he slept all evening and has slept all day today.  I guess Mojie isn't used to partying so much :)

Overlooking the City of Seattle and the mountains in the far distance.  The day was so clear that we could see Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Baker (what a rare treat)!


Eating breakfast at Patty's Eggnest "Seattle's #1 Breakfast".  Dave eats here every day for breakfast (at noon).  It's a great little restaurant with lots of yummy breakfast and lunch foods.  That morning I had french toast with berries & devonshire cream and bacon - YUM!.


On Sunday we went for a drive in the mountains.  We stopped in Snoqualmie to look at the Snoqualmie Falls (behind Dave).  It was a beautiful landscape with gorgeous flowers.


 

Dave is finally finished with all of his training (six full days worth) and is now hard at work.  He saw 2 Boeing 787s sitting next to each other the other day.  According the his reports: The facility is HUGE, the people are friendly and good to work with, and the scenery is beautiful.  He did so much training last week that his supervisor told him to take the weekend off.   In typical Dave fashion, he went exploring the mountains that surround him to the west.  Below are a few self portraits taken during a hike in the mountains. 

There's been a new addition to the Menold side of the family.  Noah got an early birthday present from Nan & Pa - a puppy.  Hank is a six week old yellow lab who already weighs as much as MoJo.  Below is a picture of Hank - he's known to fall asleep just about anywhere, anytime.  MoJo can't wait to meet and play with his new cousin!!

Hope you all have a great week! ~Kelsey