Quite the week!

Well, it's Saturday the 29th, and I'm writing this from Greg's parents' house, our temporary home for the next couple of days. It really has been quite the week! Starting with last Saturday...we celebrated Max's Aunt Sheila's birthday that evening, and this was our gift to her. We wanted to give her something unique! I think she liked it. :)

Helping Aunt Sheila open gifts

Playing with the wrapping paper and posing with Aunt Sheila

We left Sunday afternoon for Quincy. Unfortunately, my parents ended up not being able to go. We missed them, but we did enjoy being down there. As we pulled into the parking lot of the Country Inn & Suites we were staying at, it was pretty obvious that we'd have most of the hotel to ourselves. I think our car was maybe one out of seven parked in the lot! It was great, though, because we were in the pool room for at least an hour and not even a single person walked by! Max LOVED the pool, even though we couldn't get a picture of him smiling.

Max in his cool swim trunks

Max and I hung out at the hotel on Monday, making a short venture to bring back some Panera for lunch. Then on Tuesday, we had to check out at noon, so after bringing lunch back, Greg helped me load up the car and Max and I took off for the Quincy Mall for a few hours. (Greg's class was over at 4:30.) It was a nice mall and Max was an absolute angel, so everything worked out just perfect. We headed for home around 4:45 and dropped Max off at Dad and Mom Beutel's. I thought we were planning on leaving him there, going out to eat at Red Lobster for our anniversary (yes, a day early), and then having a peaceful night at home without Max. At the restaurant (to my surprise and delight!), Greg pulled out a gift certificate for a free overnight stay at the Pere Marquett in Peoria. I think I just stared at it and said, "Cool! When are we going to use this?" (I don't always catch on to the obvious.) So, we got to stay in a hotel for our anniversary and without Max! It was so relaxing...I slept SO good....and I took as long a shower as I wanted...ahhhh! (And, thankfully, Max did great for his grandparents overnight.) Then, my dear hubby took me Christmas shopping all day. I was exhausted by the end, but it feels great to have most of our gifts bought. It was nice just spending time with Greg, too, and not have to worry about Max. It was a great way to celebrate our second year together. Love you, babe!

Max at Grandpa and Grandma Beutel's...doesn't look like he misses us!

Thursday was another big day, as we got up and went to church for Thanksgiving service, then went to Gary and Debbie's house for the 1:00 Rassi Thanksgiving, then left around 3:15 to be at Gridley Fellowship Hall for the 4:00 Gramm Thanksgiving. After church, Darl and Janelle Rassi came over to our house to change clothes. Max got to be with Kyla a little bit. They were fighting over her little dangly apple thing at one point. Pretty cute!

And now, the house. On Thanksgiving morning before church (around 8:00), Greg and Dad Beutel hung the painter's plastic and knocked out part of the frame of the room to get ready for the Helitech guys who were coming on Friday. (They bumped us back two days, which was fine with us!) Here's the basement, ready to be fixed:

The crack they're going to fix cuts right across that corner...kinda hard to see.

We ended up leaving Gridley around 7:30, so we stopped by the Beutel Thanksgiving at U. Roger and A. JoAnn Beutel's, too. Three in one day! Whew! When we got home, Max wasn't ready for bed yet, so Greg and I took advantage of the time and moved some furniture around. We put the kitchen table in the laundry room, our nightstand and one end table into the bathroom, and the couch, loveseat, and both La-Z-Boys into the kitchen. We figured this would make the guys' job easier the next day when they went to rip out the carpet.

Max's project while we moved furniture: empty the book basket

Max playing with the curio cabinet...so much more fun now that all the stuff is out of it! (Ignore the dust, please. It didn't look that bad when it was full, I promise.)

The bathroom

The kitchen

The laundry room

The (nearly) empty living room. Say goodbye, old carpet!

We also took apart Max's crib on Friday morning and let him play in it a bit.

Oh, no, Max is in jail! Looks like he doesn't really care. :)

We went to Dad and Mom Rassi's on Friday morning for a 9:30 brunch with the Gramm clan. Around noon, Greg took Chet Wenninger with him and rounded up some other guys to move furniture and rip out carpet. (Thanks to everyone who helped!) It sounded like they had fun and got it done in pretty decent time. I don't have pictures yet of how the house looks now, but I'll try to get some today or tomorrow.

It's such a relief to have the Helitech thing done and our house ready for carpet. I just keep thinking...by this time next week, it will all be done! In the meantime, we're enjoying Dad and Mom Beutel's hospitality and thankful for family and friends to take us in.