Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Next time they're in Texas there will be three!

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Andy and Bethany called from Michigan with the good news that another Brockman baby is on the way! Due date is end of May or first of June so if you do the math, you'll see that Baby Brockman may be able to claim some Texas heritage!
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A cousin for Lily Belle! Uncle Andy got some practice in during his summer stay in San Antonio.
Aunt Bethany will be a great mom!
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Proud parents to be and we are very proud grandparents to be as well!

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Just in case you missed the round of phone calls and e-mails that went out with this news, we wanted to be sure you knew our happy news! You can keep up with Andy and Bethany and read their announcement at http://backinmichigan.blogspot.com/. We will have to re-do the budget and make a savings plan for frequent trips to Michigan. Being a grandparent is just too much fun to miss out on any opportunity to watch them grow and change!

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The last six weeks have been fairly normal for our life here in Tobin Hill. We continue to have company and try to take care of details needed to finish rooms. The occasion of the "Two Years Anniversary" inspired us to work on getting all the "before" pictures organized so we can match up some good "after" shots of upstairs, downstairs, inside, and out. We just shake our heads to see how bad it was. Bo has been so steady and thorough and it is really paying off as we hang doors and transom windows and give attention to items that are really finishing touches. We even hung two of the shades last week that we bought 14 months ago! The wrought iron fence was installed this month and really makes the house look classy.
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I am going to post a few pictures of visitors and details just to let you know we have not been sitting around watching soap operas and eating bon bons rather than keeping up with the blog.
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Tune in soon for some of the before and after shots.

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Bo's brother Robert and his family visited this month with Byrl and Virginia. Rob's fiancee, Kim, got an introduction to San Antonio.


Steven and Michelle visited and shared the news that their family of four will become five this spring! ..
The claw foot tub is a favorite spot for Lily and Maddie Bo made a shelf for the downstairs bathroom


Friends from church, John, Donna, Christopher, and Charles with Bo

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Installation of the new fence




Here is how the front of the house looks now.


This is how it looked when we bought the house two years ago .







This is how it looked in the mid 80's









Window shades installed at the bottom of the stairway

You can see how much work it takes to get a door stripped down and stained. There were more than 30 in the house
The transom windows had been painted over so the glass as well as the wood needed stripping
Here is what it looked like before


What an improvement!

Bars are finally off the front window.





Saturday, September 13, 2008

Two Years in Tobin Hill!




Andy's new job in Texas did not work out but he had to spend the summer in San Antonio. Bethany visited the first week of SeptemberWe now have a new light fixture and mirror in the downstairs bathroom Andy and Bethany gave Bo a "biscuit joiner" and this frame for the mirror was his first project




Uncle Andy and Aunt Bethany with Katy, Buck, and Lily






Angie, Lindsey, and Andy were at Selvidge Jr. High together in St. Lous. They joined us for dinner and cards with Lindsey's husband, Kenny.
ACU friend Grace, Pat and Grace's friend Brianna


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Lily liked cousin Sharon's soft, sweet voice


Chris and Linda from DallasFinally hauling off the water heaters and scrap metal
We visited the first Starbuck's at Pike Street Market in SeattleCool enough for jackets when we all went for a walk Pat finally got to meet her sister's grandchildren-Baby Owen, little Beau, with nephew Ben and his wife Amalea



This month marks our two year anniversary and you can see the visitors are still coming and the work is still going on. We took a break and went to Washington to visit Pat's family. The cool weather was a welcome relief. (More later-it's after midnight)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Already August!

Katy and Lily host birthday celebration for Pat, Diane, Mary Dean, Dee, and Dani


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Andy removes transom window in den



Bo takes down transom window in Pat's office Pat does Young Lives camp in Williams, ArizonaFourteen teen moms, twelve babies, and six leaders with our supporting castSure was glad we memorized Psalm 121 when I did the ropes course (He will not let my foot slip!)Balcony door with hardware before cleaning
Balcony door gets polyurethane stain






Leo gets invited for coffee on the porch Leo needs coffee to go with his muffin
Circle of love and life-Wilma and Lily Belle. She took care of Buck when Andy was born and was there for us when Jay was born as well.




Andy helps clean windows


Loyd and Bo work on installing the mechanical doorbell Buck and Lily join us to finish the day with "hand and foot"





Coffee on the porch with Mary, Loyd, and Wilma
Summer is baseball season and Lily Belle is a St. Louis Cardinals fan like her dad
FOR THE WEEKS ENDING AUGUST 1, 2008
HIGHLIGHTS
1. Everyone made sure I had a happy birthday July 16. I had lunch with some very special friends and got to have cake and ice cream with Lily! Katy made a delicious Ghiradelli chocolate brownie cake and served it with caramel sauce and ice cream and even had Key Lime pie since I couldn't decide which of those were my favorite. She spoils me. So do my husband and sons. Bo had ordered a bath caddy for our cast iron bathtub and he, Andy, and Bethany had conspired to choose all kinds of bath soaking goodies to stock it with. Birthday week continued with a Friday night visit to The Melting Pot. It was my first time to do fondue and it was fun and very, very good.
2. Doors and windows have made up most of the last month's work around the house. Bo and Andy have continued to work on sanding and staining doors. The prettiest one yet is the door leading out to the upstairs balcony. I think this one took three or four times as long as the others with all the little grooves in the decorative border. But the result was worth it. All the transom windows have been taken down, the glass cleaned and replaced as needed, and the wood part scraped and sanded well enough to stain. It really adds to the beauty of the door to have the window frame stained rather than painted, but it is a lot more work to do that. Andy, Loyd, and Bo also worked hard to clean most of the windows around the house. What a difference! That old wavy glass looks better than ever.
3. I went to Young Lives camp at Lost Canyon Camp in Williams, Arizona for a week. More than 300 teen moms were there from all over the country with their little ones. Volunteer child care workers helped keep the children part of the day while the girls got a chance to have fun and learn about God's love. Getting away to such a beautiful setting and having some one on one opportunities made it possible to have conversations that could never happen in our weekly meetings after school. I appreciate all of those who prayed for me and the girls.
4.Our friends Loyd and Wilma came to visit and help and we were blessed by them as always. Our friendship goes back to 1979 when we moved to Houston when Bo first started with the telelphone company. They have spent about the last 10-12 years with Sojourners, a Christian group that travels in their RV's to help at camps, children's homes, schools, and churches. We are glad they keep us on their list.
5. Our good friend Mary spent a day here in San Antonio with us before returning home to South Padre Island after a trip to help get ready for son Mark's wedding in Seattle. She stocked up on mosquito repellent to take back since Hurricane Dolly had stirred up the mosquito population. We are glad their home received little damage.