House Flipping

July - 2008

As most of you know, Doug is currently working with his Dad flipping houses. The project they are finishing up right now has been quite the undertaking. Thought I'd share a few pictures.


The Beginning: Jan 2008



The house was in ROUGH shape. The pictures don't do it justice. Close your eyes and imagine one of the worst smells you can think of. Then imagine stepping inside and having to follow Dana and Doug's footsteps EXACTLY or risk falling through the rotten floor. Imagine animal urine and feces visible on the floors. Imagine holes in the walls and collapsing ceilings, and general gross neglect everywhere. Okay...open your eyes and look at it again. That is what they started with. You could barely see the house from the road because of the overgrowth of trees. When Doug would come home everynight the clothes went STRAIGHT into the wash and he went straight to the shower, seriously afraid he might bring something home with him.




Early demolition phase -

Things were still pretty gross, but tree guys came in to remove a lot of the overgrowth, the roof was starting to take shape, and somewhere around when this picture was taken, the insides were finally completely gutted, which was the cause for MUCH celebration. It was a happy day in our home when Doug declared that the house was "fecal-free"!



Reconstruction phase:

Doug and his Dad working on window frames back in April or so.






At this point, all demolition was over and they were starting to build things again. You can see the roof is finished, windows are in, and they are making preparations to start siding soon.

Internal Phase:

The outside is looking more complete. Not "done" yet, but near it. The inside is another matter. At this phase, they are wiring, dry-walling, etc. This is the phase when things get more exciting every day. Stuff happens fast now and each day the insides look more "finished".

Most recent picture:

They are in the final stages now. The house should be finished in just a couple weeks. The inside walls are painted, the kitchen cupboards are in, the light fixtures are starting to be hung, and the carpet guy will lay carpet next week. The project is almost done!

Picture taken 7-28-08 @ 8:00pm

I'm so proud of them. Dana is a miracle worker with "lost cause" houses, and Doug is really loving all that he is learning and doing. It has been awesome to see the transformation. And as often as they do this, I never cease to be amazed at the final product. The finished product is always an adorable "brand new" house with tons of love poured into it. How fun.

Papa's Girl - Easter 2008

Easter 2008 -
I didn't get to post this earlier, but I wanted to put these pictures up.
Danika LOVES her Papa. Doug and I got really, really sick with the flu Easter weekend, and since Danika was the only member of the family NOT sick, Doug's parents picked her up and kept her for the day. As soon as Dana walked in, she ran to him, cuddled up to him, and didn't want anything to do with her sick parents. She looked pretty cute in her little dress....unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood to pose for pictures, and we were both so sick we weren't in the mood to try. But these two are still pretty cute. :)



I also wanted to show off Danika in her cupcake sweater sitting in her favorite chair. Thanks, Emily!

Father's Day Humor :)

Okay...just because I had so much fun sending this card, I wanted to share the joy. :)
This is the Father's Day card I sent to my Dad. I still laugh when I see it. :)


You know you think it is funny! :)

New Truck, New Toys, and a Visit with Nana & Papa

April, 2008 - For those of you familiar with Doug's previous mode of transportation, you are probably aware it was a little....well.....special. :) The little brown truck we called "The Mudpuppy" was a 1989 Toyota pickup truck that we have had for 3 years or so. Doug has beat it around and it has been a good vehicle for us, but when inspection came up this last year, it was a little rough. So, we decided it was time for us to get Doug a decent vehicle. We knew we needed a truck for his job, and we knew we needed an extended cab so our little family can all fit in at the same time. We found a great used Toyota Tundra that was in our price range and met our needs. Its a great looking truck and Doug is thrilled to be driving it.



My Mom and Dad came up for a visit and to basically spoil our little girl. They accomplished thier mission. :)

They brought this great little toy with them that Danika loves. :)





Danika with Papa and Nana at church on Sunday.







After a few weeks with her new toy, Daddy got the great idea to tie a rope to it so he can pull her around the yard. Danika LOVES this new form of fun! Daddy thinks it's pretty fun, too.

(April - May 2008)

Endicott Vacation- July 2008

Here are some pictures of Danika just cracking me up. She is obsessed with her baby doll now. She drags that poor doll with her everywhere she goes.

We were recently on vacation for a week with my parents in Madison-On-The-Lake, Ohio. It was a wonderful time...until my poor little sister fell and broke her ankle. Joanie did quite a number on her ankle and leg...several severe fractures. She is going to be out of commission for quite a while. But, it was still a wonderful time with family. And my Mom got lots of "Nana" time with her kiddos. :)
The Bierer Family - July 2008

The Hoffman Family - July 2008

Joanie, Cory, Josie - 5 months, Brock- 2 years 10 months

Helmet Head - March/April 2008

For those that don't know, my daughter is fearless. The same can not be said for her mother. :) I am the safety nazi in our family, and Doug often ridicules me for it. One of our latest safety adventures has turned into quite the humorous thing in our household. My fearless daughter is only a little over a year, but she constantly tries to keep up with the "big" kids at daycare. Since she keeps trying to ride the wheeled toys at daycare, I decided it was time to buy her a bike helmet. While I initially thought she was going to HATE it, it turns out the my hilarious little girl LOVES her bike helmet. The daycare workers have been putting it on her when she goes out to play, but she is thrilled to wear it the WHOLE time she is out there....whether she is near the bikes or not. She wears it to play in the sand box, to play in the play-house, to go down the slide...whatever. :) She just cracks me up. :) The daycare workers say that since she is so bold and reckless, it might just be a good thing to keep that helmet on her.

Doug speaking

This was an exciting weekend for us. As I have mentioned before, we go to McLane Church in Edinboro and we love it there. Every July they do a sermon series called "Sermons from the Seats". For this series they ask "regular" people from the church to speak and share thier story. Doug was asked to be one of these speakers this year. So, that meant that last weekend Doug spoke at the other McLane Church sites, and this weekend Doug spoke at McLane's main campus in Edinboro for all three services. He did a GREAT job! I was so proud of him. It was a great opportunity for him to share what God has been doing in our lives over the last year to 2 years. I will post a link to the web site where you can hear Doug's message if you are interested when it becomes available.