October 2006: Our house before renovation, wearing its old red cedar shake shingles; the bushes wore Halloween decorations, including cobwebs
October 2006: Our house before renovation, wearing its old red cedar shake shingles; the bushes wore Halloween decorations, including cobwebs
Front of house with siding, which looks grayish here but is a beautiful soft moss green
Another front view
The new front stairs: These take the place of the narrow, crumbling, old cement stairs. There's so much more room now, even though the new stairs are only about 2 to 3 feet wider. No more feeling as if we're going to fall off the stoop when the boys crowd us while we're trying to unlock the front door!
Side view of the new front stairs, which are made from pressure-treated wood so that they're rot-resistant. We won't paint them but will let them weather to a pretty silver.
The redone tiny alcove (used as a holding room for recyclables and bags of garbage) and stairs at the back of the house
Another view of the back alcove and stairs; the alcove door was on order when this photo was taken
The north side of the house. The latticework, like the new front and back stairs, is made of pressure-treated wood. It's been in place for several years and has already weathered to a nice silver
This is the south side of the house, which houses our wood shop. When Ed had his own cabinetmaking business, the shop was where he built furniture and cabinets.
This is our "barn," where, when Ed had his business, he would spray lacquer on furniture and cabinets. Now, it's mostly for storage, but Ed does use it when he makes furniture for us. The red Formica on the doors has to be replaced by the light green Formica we bought to match the siding. The barn used to be covered with red cedar shingles, just like the house.
Even our tiny garden house (what most people call a tool shed) got new siding, and after 30-plus years, it got a new roof. It still needs its dark door refaced. You can see our vegetable garden's fence running the length of the left side of the photo. The ancient, rotting boat at the right was Ed's first outboard, a little wooden dory from the late 1950s that Ed restored; he bought it when he was 15 years old and restored it. The boat, now retired, is older than Ed is. It's been replaced by the At Last! and must be moved to the town dump.
Becky hugs Kathy after receiving
her bachelor's degree in sociology in May 2005
After graduating in May 2005,
Becky went on to start work
on a master's degree in social work.
Becky, our favorite beauty
Becky and Li (Lionel) in 2005; they were
married on August 6, 2006
Meet the families: Li's mom, Ruth,
and Kathy after an engagement party
for Becky and Li in April 2005
There's a baby in there! This is a ultrasound side view of Becky and Li's baby at 5 months' gestation. Anastasia Kathleen Sanchez was born on May 15, 2007, 3 days before Li's birthday and 3 days before the graduation ceremony was held at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where Becky had just earned a master's degree in social work.
The obstetrician measured the baby's head on the ultrasound.
Becky and Li were thrilled to hear their baby's heartbeat, which was recorded by ultrasound.
Our youngest cat, Emily (aka Miss Emily),
age 7 years
Our oldest cat, Snuggles (aka Puma),
age 15 years
Sandy, Allan and Dorie's dog
Kathy's younger brother, Wally (Go here to read about a church service on justice and inclusiveness in which Wally participated—see video clips and photos, too. Go here to read Wally's story.)
Wally looking like a Texan
December snow ices our trees.
Every year, Ed decorates the 45-foot blue spruce in our front yard. This is how it looked before the house was renovated, when it was covered with barn-red cedar shake shingles.
This is the blue spruce after the house was renovated in the fall of 2006. We now have a lovely wooden front landing to decorate with pine roping and Christmas lights. In this shot, you can see the soffits decked out in roping and lights too.
Another view of the new front landing ready for Christmas.
The lovely new light moss-green siding on the house reflects the Christmas lights much better than the old dark barn-red cedar shingles did, making the house look more cheerful and welcoming.
People come from all over our neighborhood to see our outdoor Christmas tree.
Neil in seventh grade, 2006–2007 school year
Watch "Horticultural Guy," a video of Neil
creating floral masterpieces in sixth-grade
horticulture class (high-speed connection and
Macromedia Flash required)
Jared in kindergarten, 2006–2007 school year
The boys at a local park, April 2006
Ed and Kathy in late 2004
Ed the cabinetmaker man made
our white-oak spindle bed himself,
from drawing up plans to construction
and assembly. He even turned the posts himself.
In June 2005, Neil won a
presidential award for
academic excellence.
One of Neil's many K'Nex creations: a Ferris wheel
Jared and Neil at play on the
family camping trip to
Rhode Island in August 2005
Drying off after a backyard swim
Anakin (aka Neil) and Robin (aka Jared) paid a Halloween 2005 visit to our neighbors.
Jared's always pretending to be a superhero.
If you recognize the pattern on his cape,
that's because hospital maternity wards give away
baby blankets with the same stripe pattern.
Jared met Santa in 2005.
Our boat, At Last!
Ed's captain hat for use while piloting our boat
Kathy and Ed, two middle-aged hippies in love
Dorie and Allan, Ed's parents, celebrated
their forty-fifth anniversary in 2003
The wisteria arbor in our side yard
(with a dogwood tree behind it)
Ed and Kathy's wedding day:
July 3, 1993