Look busy?????



our 1999 car yesterday!!




Agatha Gail is baptised May 26th




family and priest




Faustina is such a cutie, I would say the best picture I have taken of her




Jude, I have never seen such a conversationalist at the age of 3




the same picture with only the wonderful family of 6!

 So much is going on it is hard to write about all of it.  Some things:

• Terry, Travis, John Krause and I have been working hard in the garage.  Travis and I are usually out there a bit before 8:00 AM, Terry makes all the meals for us guys and John Krause has spent many hours working on the electrical.  At this time most of the walls are up, some of the lights are up and it is starting to look up
• We took in Agatha's baptism Sunday with a very nice goodies time after at their home.  Those kids are so much fun.  Jude was so tired that he fell asleep on the way home and a couple of hours later as Terry and I left he was still sleeping in his car seat!
• Aaron and Ruby will be here this afternoon.  After a bit to eat Aaron will leave for his gol outing with college friends and we get to keep Ruby to ourselves until Aaron comes back on Saturday.  They will stay over night and then head to Madison.
• Also on Sunday we will head to 11:00 AM church and then brunch with Terry's former legislative assistant and her husband.  We got together twice with them last year.  I am thinking Norma's husband Wayne, who is a deer hunter, may even allow Norma to grace the table with some venison sausage!  They are about ten years older than us but fun to spend time with them.
• Last evening we had to go for a ride in our 1999 car as it was oh so close to 100,000 miles.  As the picture shows we hit the mark and enjoyed it so much.  I guess some things never change.
• Terry's sister-in-law is very sick with cancer and it appears that she has now exhausted all of her treatment options.  She first had cancer 20+ years ago and then it came back in the last 4-5 years.  I think she has defied the odds by living this long but oh my such a difficult time for all involved.  Terry's brother is a year older than Terry and his wife is about our age.  Any and all prayers are appreciated.
• On another cancer note a friend, Don, who has been battling cancer for many years has lost much weight and his health is not good.  More prayers!

On the home front with Terry and I, Terry has pretty much beaten her cold of two weeks and I am suffering from my more mature age with all this garage work!  Each morning when I get out of bed I can feel that yesterday I was lifting, cutting, pushing, pulling and more!  I am waiting for the shop rehab to be complete so I can think about wood projects. 
Terry celebrated her birthday Monday.  She claims that there is a "birthday month" and has quietly gotten me into that mentality!  So by the time May 27th came around I had no more ideas, no more gifts for her.  We did spend the day with good food, a wonderful walk and a quiet time.  I was so happy to see the day come as she is now the same age as me.  She remains someone I look forward to being with each day and someone who enrichs my life with ideas, smiles, charm, energy and love.
I am back to my old ways.  Travis went to care for Cynthia's children as Cynthia had an appt so I am here writing and drinking FP coffee as usual instead of being in the garage.  No need to worry the garage is calling and I will be out there soon.  For now, no more FP coffee as it was delicious to the last drop. 

Happy birthday Faustina



she came to visit in the bike burley



an afternoon at Como Zoo with Grandpa and Terry and a ride on the carousal

Faustina is 5 today.  She has gone from being a cute little baby to a very pretty young lady.  She was special when she was born and today she is no different, very special.  She arrived 5 years ago as the first granddaughter and this fall will be our little kindergarten student.  I think she is very ready for that endeavor.  As the big sister to Jude, Ben and Agatha she plays the part perfectly.  Happy Birthday Faustina, we love you.

Yes, this is indeed progress!!!

It looks like the progress is in a decline but really it is going oh so good so far.  Travis worked a bit this afternoon and that meant we could wrap up the week with:

• all the ceiling insulation out
• all the ceiling boards out
• all the wall board off
• two pickup loads of junk off to the dump
• one half pickup load waiting to go

Now it is a matter of deciding how the electric goes, what kind of walls I want and then put up the walls.  I will leave the ceiling open.  It is difficult for me to believe that Travis and I got all that finished this week.  I have yet to decide how the walls will go in but I am excited to have a dream come true this summer.  This morning we had to take all the lumber off the rack and put it on the garage floor and then move the rack. I think it took us about 45 minutes but in doing that I again realized how MUCH lumber I have---many projects ahead I think.

A Day at Como Zoo

With Ben

and Jude

and Faustina

we saw tigers

and a giraffe

and monkeys

and a polar bear

and we had fun on the carousal



the kids stayed close to Terry and Grandpa!

It was a grand time.  It started with lunch by the car as Ben slept.  Then it was off to the zoo to view the animals for 90 minutes.  Faustina, Jude and Ben were so good.  We arrive back on Morgan Ave a bit earlier than planned but still for 3 hours it was a super time.

Below are some pictures of the project Travis and I have undertaken.  We have a vision of a transformed wood shop with nice walls, ceiling beams exposed and order for many projects in the future!!



getting there



still getting there



a bit better



the ceiling looks fairly good now

There you have the latest version of Lee's Woodshop 101, evolving into a cleaner, nicer better place to work and get projects done!!!!  So four days and $70 poorer from taking all the boards, electrical and ceiling to the dump we are so excited with our progress so far.



WELCOME AGATHA GAIL ADKINS



Mom and Agatha Gail Adkins




I came into the world Saturday, May 4th




I weighed in at 8 lb 11 oz and here I am 9 hours old!





Mommy and I are doing fine!!

 I waiting until Cynthia and Mike had time to blog about their beautiful baby as I did not want to steal any of their wonderful news.  Agatha is just about the cutest baby ever.  She has dark hair, is so good and looks every bit the part of a super baby.  Cynthia is doing fine and we think Mike is too!!!  Four little ones in the house has to be more than a full time job but Mom and Dad seem to be enjoying it all.
Travis moved in on May fourth and we have been busy getting things in order so that he has a place to keep his belongings and rest his body.  The basement bedroom has new electricity and new ceiling with a small rug on the way.  A super storage place in the furnace room is made of ash and cedar, a project that Travis did most of the work and a great job he did.  It is perhaps the first project in this house with NO outlay of $$!  All the wood and screws came from the garage.  In the end the building Travis did was at least on the level I would have done and actually I think a bit more precise!
We experienced a rainy day here and the grass and trees are beginning to come to life.  A much anticipated event in MN.
Enough for now.