July 2003

I'd have to say that the snorkeling gear was a hit...

Kids wading in the (warm?) water at Sucia, June 2003

Remodels! (2001-2003)

Dining area before, during and after - note the gunk on the floor (2 layers of linoleum, then carpet on top!)

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Kitchen before and after

Between re-modeling the house, fixing up a boat (26' Tollycraft), and working, we still managed to get away and have some fun. Below are some pictures from our trip to Patos Island in the San Juans (summer of 2002). The "portable hot tub" was a hit! It was made by digging a hole in the sand, lining with tarps and filling with water... A copper heat exchanger in the camp fire, 2 50ft garden hoses, a small 12V pump and a battery worked perfectly to make it nice and toasty (about 104F) in 5 hours or so.

Summer and Fall of 2001

It was a fairly eventful summer for us! We sold our house in Sudden Valley and moved into town... lots of reasons, but the biggies being: sun, a yard for the kids to play in, neighbor kids for the kids to play with, sun, closer to work/school/groceries/etc., sun, and sun. We started looking for a classic old fixer-upper house on a big lot with a garage, but soon were disappointed to find that all the decent old houses had already been bought and fixed up and the remaining dregs were not worth the asking price. We looked high and low, considering all types of houses and locations. At one time we even made an offer on a 5 acre farm north of B'ham that had a creek, shop, barn and various other dilapidated outbuildings. God had something planned for us all along tho. It took less than 10 minutes before we knew we'd found what we were looking for! Asking for a three month delay on closing to give us time to sell our house sounded like plenty of time... it ended up selling 2 days after we moved! (just had to take that step of faith?) We squeezed in a week of re-modeling/re-finishing of floors and walls for a week before moving in, and are now in the process of re-wiring, re-plumbing and painting the exterior. Lots of work, but we're having fun!

Before Painting

Carter's latest expedition:

Garage Boating can be kinda cramped....

Portage!

Re-board and continue on!

Great visit to "Gramma Lou and Grampa Willi's"

Both kids are clam fanatics

Fun in the sand at Ocean Shores

Check out the size of that! (spider from the woodpile - Ellie didn't even flinch.)

Carters 2nd Birthday

Carter LOVES his new train... and even gives Ellie a ride every once in awhile

I think this thing's got his interest!

Last updated: 8/21/01

October, 2000

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Carter and Ellie enjoying autumn.

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Halloween - critters at the office

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Ellie's first field trip. A pre-halloween pumpkin-picking outing to Stoney Ridge Farm.

Picture Archives

Ellie at 5 months old sitting.jpg (55709 bytes) and sitting up on her own!

Ellie at 8 months old and standing up!!

Ellie at 13 months old out for a day of waterskiing with mom.

At Ellie's 2yr Birthday Party

Carter Comes Along

Meet Carter Douglas Wilhelm Schmidt. He is gonna be a BIG boy! He weighed in at 8 lbs 15 oz at birth, 22 inches long. He's already much longer, and nearly as heavy at 7 weeks as Ellie was at around 5 months! Ellie is a great big sister, and loves to dote on Carter. She's into painting, watching Disney videos, and helping wash dishes. Carter is mostly interested in eating.

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Carter as a wee thing, and as a not-so-wee-thing

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Ellie taking care of everyone!