entertainment unit

Here is what the livingroom is shaping up to be like. The last thing to be brought in from the moving truck was my Teak Entertainment unit. For those from TB, you will recognize it as the unit where I displayed all my porcelain dolls and cherished teddies collection. The coffee table & red chair came from my dad's condo. Have already watched some tv on my old tele too. Cathy Hillard - it is only shown abit, but I have put the afghan you made on the sectional. It looks great there. The tall wooden shelf in the right hand corner was given to me by a co-worker Sarah Spensley that can store my DVDs, VHS' and CDs. Looking forward filling in the shelves. There will be more photos to come once I do some more unpacking of the boxes.

 

Dining Suite fits!!!

This is the Dining Table with matching Hutch that I was afraid wouldn't fit upstairs in the kitchen nook. We didn't put in the 2 leafs that can fit in the middle of the table, so it just fit - enough to be able to put 5 chairs around it - Perfect size for our future Settlers games.

 

Armstrong the Movers Arrived!!!

Armstrong the Movers from Thunder Bay finally arrived today (Sunday). Their truck broke down yesterday so that was why they were delayed by a day. Got to introduce myself to a couple of neighbours has I had to ask them to move their cars to allow the moving truck in. Now the fun begins emptying all those boxes. It was fun playing bingo with guys as they yelled out the numbers on the countless boxes and furniture. Everything arrived safe and sound. It was quite hot outside today too (+25c) - so they definitely worked up a sweat today. We went through about 2 pitchers of iced tea. Plus I made each of them a couple of ham sandwiches, cookies and Diet Coke as they worked right through the lunch hour - they were appreciative.


Hard at work - George and Keisha (with the blue cap). Both from TB. Very personable guys. Keisha is a graduate from Hillcrest High(Port Arthur end) as I was a Churchill High grad (Fort William end). I had taken the photo from the top of my stairs of the main level of the house.

The move is complete - about 6,800 lbs of boxes and furniture. Keisha and George are packing up their things for the next move - off to Canmore. Keisha has never been this far west and is just enjoying everything about Calgary. Told him, wait till you see the Three Sisters and other mountains around Canmore. Amazing.

 

Messy Bedrooms

This the smaller second bedroom - which is across the hall from the master suite.


Here is the master suite with the big windows to look outside in the future backyard.

 

What a mess Laura!!!

Here is the kitchen nook area of the house

One side of the wall has the fridge and more cabinet shelves


The main cooking area of the kitchen with more cabinet shelves too.


This is where the eatting will occur - in the kitchen nook.

 

The Move begins....

This is what some of the rooms looked like after the
James Family Moving Company dropped off my belongings that
have been in their garage for the past few months.

The living room with the gas fireplace.

This is where the sectional is now - the IKEA chair and stool were the great find at a garage sale. I got the 2 chairs and 2 stools for $100.00 and looked online and the one stool goes for like $90.00!! What a deal I got! Yes these are the chair/stool set that I put $5.00 down and returned the next day to pick them up and pay the remainder. Had the gals at the office laughing a bit at the idea of putting money down at a garage sale. Hey - they are comfy gals!

Future storage room under the stairs for those items I don't need much.

The ideas are endless when you look at an unfinished basement. John Paterson was great and hooked up the washer and dryer for me. I just have to get the air vent hookup for the dryer.

 

Photos from Sara P's Blog Site

I was visiting Sara P's blog site and found these two photos that I had to copy for my future scrapbooking album. Everyone's photos of Peter and Kate's wedding turned out great - they will have plenty of photos to choose from for their wedding album taken from family and friends.

The James Family - (l to r) Mark, David, Jon, Amy, Kate, Peter, Amanda, Sara, Char and Andy

I love this photo of Kate with the flowers girls - (l to r) - Ocean, Kate, Journey, Sierra and Emma

Double Rainbow

After everyone had left, we had another dumping of rain and thunderstorms. We have had plenty of rain this month, but I have heard June is the wettest month in Calgary. The sun came out after the storm and outside my window, I saw a double rainbow. I am so glad that the photo turned out okay. What a way to begin in my new home - great memories already.

 

It's Cookie Time!!!

For dessert, I had waffer cookies and ice cream. (David tells me that Russians really enjoy these types of cookies - must remember that for future care packages to Russia) By the way I took this pic, it looks like Ethan is instructing his cousins Journey, Josiah and Hudson the proper way to eat those waffer cookies. They were a big hit at my house - for kids and adults alike. It has been great to watch all the cousins play with each other too.

 

Josiah

Here is Josiah eatting his hot dog and chips.

 

Amy and the little ones

Amy was the lucky one who got to eat with the kids in my kitchen nook area. Ethan is concentrating on his hot dog that he doesn't see the Mother-daugther moment Amy is having with Journey. These photos gives you a great close up of what my lino looks like. It's cool too as it looks like it is tiles when it's not.

Sierra, Emma, Ethan, Journey and Amy all enjoying their dinner.
BTW - the sliding doors will lead to the patio (probably next summer's project).

 

My First dinner party!!!

On Father's Day, I invited all the James family (my second family) to hamburger and hot dogs. At the wedding, Sara and I kidded with John that you should bring the sectional when you come for dinner ... and he did. One last move with that sectional John - Yeah!!! Luckily, he had some handy guys around to help carry it all in, plus having 9 ft vaulted ceiling helped a bit in the moving it up the stairs. Andy did a beautiful dedication prayer before we ate supper. Just wrote the names out on paper - in total we had 13 adults and 7 children in the house at one time!!! Right after Andy finished the prayer, Ethan came up to me " Lola, Lola - yum yums!!". You had to smile - he knew exactly who to go to, to ask for his supper. Smart guy eh?

Here is Sara, Sierra, John, Guiseppe (a guy helping John build bins this summer) and Garron


Here is Tina (John's mom), baby Solomon, Amy and Chad (another worker of John's)

It took forever for the flash to go - I had just finished saying it takes a while some times and then the flash went , so sorry for that grumpy look. Char (seating in my comfy IKEA chair), Andy and Erin. Some how I missed getting brothers Jon and David James in the pictures.

 

It's official - I am a home owner!!!

On Thurs June 15 at 4pm, Jim from Excel homes handed over the keys to my new home. It was a bit overwhelming going over things to see what areas needed some touch-ups. Definitely a learning experience for me. Right after that - back I go to Chestermere to help transport my belongings back to my new place. Andy James and his grandson Bradley were absolutely awesome movers (I had gone over on my ankle so I was hobbling around so they carried things up and down the stairs). Amanda was great setting up my bed and organized my kitchen abit too. Such major things accomplished in one night. Char was great having things for Sierra, Ocean and Ethan to do to help - they are great workers. It makes them feel important - and you are all important to me. It was so fun sharing my first night with you all. On the Friday, I had taken the day off work, so I just took my time and unpacked my clothes and majority of the kitchen wares - before heading off to the airport to pick up Mark James and head for Canmore for his brother's wedding in Canmore. Since it was only Mark and I in the car, it was a great time catching up with him as he lives in Nebraska. Now I just have to get some window treatments esp in the master suite as I am currently changing in the bathroom, as my bedroom window faces the houses across the back alley.

My First Visitors

I moved into my new place on Thurs June 15th.
Friday morning, this is what I saw outside of my
kitchen nook window - a Jackrabbit. He looked
quiet at home in my backyard.

 

New House

Just to keep you up to date about the house. I moved into my new house on Thurs June 15th. I had some awesome movers. David and Peter James loaded up the Cargo Van I rented. Bradley and his Grandpa Andy were awesome doing the carrying up and down the stairs with boxes that don't need to be upstairs. Amanda was great and got my bed set up and helped get my kitchen organized. Even the little ones Sierra, Ocean and Ethan all helped bringing in things into the house. Char was great keeping the little ones out of way of Bradley, Andy and Amanda. On Friday, I began unpacking my boxes (clothes) and finish off organizing the kitchen. Getting used to the different sounds the house and neighhood makes too. Thanks for all your help moving in. My belongings from Thunder Bay arrive at the end of the week. So I have taken photos of my house on Thursday (so they will be a tad messy with boxes everywhere) and will take photos once all the furniture etc from TB is all arranged in the house. There is something like 6,000 lbs of stuff coming - so who knows I might have to have a garage sale my first couple of months into moving in. I will update my blog with those photos once my computer is all set up. Thanks Sara for letting me use your computer to keep my blog to up-to-date for my family and friends.

Laura with the Bride and Groom

Here I am with Kate and Peter. I was happy to be
a part of your celebration this weekend. It was fun
doing the games at your bridal shower too Kate.

 

Peter with his Mom

Here is Peter with his mom, Charlotte.

 

John, Sara and Amy

After a couple attempts, I finally got John to smile properly
for the photo. Above is John, Amy and Sara.

Here I am with Amy.

 

To our brother Peter

Peter and Kate look on as Peter's brothers (younger to oldest) Jon, David and Mark each shared something personal about their relationship with Peter. Peter is the youngest of the
four James boys. Thanks for sharing your stories and your thoughts about Peter. It made that evening all that more special too.

 

Kate's Heritage

Kate shared with us a piece of her hertiage.
This is a Danish Wedding Cake. There are multiple
rings of danish cake. Kate is Danish on her mom's side.
It was Kate's Grandmother who made the cake - it was so yummy!

This is the Danish wedding cake with
Kate's flowers