The Reichanadter Journey

This was the "cute" little attic when we bought our house 2 years ago. We loved the angles of the ceiling, but the wallpaper needed to go, and the walls needed insulation. Raccoons and squirrels had made it their home, and if I needed to go up there for any reason, I would bang the walls and make a lot of racket to scare them away first (just being honest here). The wood floors were just the subfloor, with cracks and large gaps in between some of the planks. The guys got started on demolition 1 year ago. Notice the chimney, which needed a lot of cleaning to get those mineral deposits off. After lots and lots of dust, loads of garbage bags brought down many flights of stairs, banging and hammering, here we are. After the carpet was laid, the kids kept doing summersaults and squealing, because this is the only carpet in the house and it's so "soft." :) I love how Jeff cleaned up the chimney so we can keep the brick exposed. His brother Scott framed in the little closet next to it, for added storage.
When this project concluded, it meant that we are finished with the inside of our home! Clayton is asking when he can move upstairs and make this his bedroom. He thinks it's the coolest room in the house!

Emma was recently invited to a birthday party, along with about 100 other little girls. Everyone came dressed in their finest, and you can even see in the back, there were some "surprise" guests...the Disney Princesses. (My friend hired girls who played the parts of Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Arielle, etc.) Em's favorite part was when she got her face painted "fancy." She loved that she had "makeup" and fairy dust on, because I never let her wear it... Quite the memorable day!

Mom had the idea to have the daughters come home for a special Father/Daughter banquet at their church last weekend. The girls came from Birmingham, Cuyahoga Falls, and Indianapolis... We don't get to be together as much anymore, so this was wonderful for all of us!On Friday night, we dressed up in our finest and went to the banquet. Photo Booth Fun... It was a great night of desserts, meaningful conversation, fun dances and the limbo, and time to remember good times with Dad. My sisters and I are so thankful to have a Dad that spent lots of time with us growing up, coming to our sporting events, teaching us how to throw a ball and ride a bike, and modeling for us what it means to love Jesus.
We also went to the Reichanadter's. While the guys made a brush pile to burn outside, the girls were inside making these fun little treats... A mug of "hot cocoa" Were so thankful we don't live too far away, so we can still come up for special weekends like these!

We took the kids down to the Super Bowl Village the other night. Things are starting to buzz in this city. Thousands of visitors are pouring in this week. We even tried to rent our home, because all the hotels are booked, but when they found out we had no internet, it was a no go.

When I was driving on the highway recently, I laughed out loud when I saw the sign, "Welcome to Indianapolis. The Epicenter of Awesomeness." :) Not so sure about that, but there's definitely a lot of energy and people around right now.