Thanks, Walt!

We are so thankful that Walt stayed an extra week (and that Karen gave him permission to do so!), since we are so much farther ahead than we would be otherwise. Check out our progress:

The bathroom vanity is installed, and the sink is purchased, though it's not yet set into place. The plumber should come next Monday to finish that work.

Here's our faux tile (actually vinyl) floor in the bathroom. I like it, faux or no!

Another view of the bathroom floor. The toilet is purchased, though not yet in place.


Check out that kitchen! I'm itching to get out my kitchen things and start stowing them in the cupboards! Of course, there are a few things to finish: Dave still needs to finish putting on knobs and handles, and I need to put all the shelves into place. We also need to get one door replaced -- it was damaged when we took it out of the box. Hopefully IKEA will replace it free of charge.

Walt did a lot of work on this -- much of which wouldn't have been necessary in a new house, but the walls in our house are not square. It's not noticeable normally -- just when you're trying to install cabinets and countertops!

My bothersome drying cupboard shelves are on their way, too! I couldn't find anything like them here (though IKEA in Europe does sell them, but their European cupboards are in different sizes, so they wouldn't fit in our kitchen), so I had my Mom, who is currently in Finland, purchase them for me. She called today and said she shipped them yesterday; shipping cost 48 euros, while the shelves themselves cost 21. They are on their way! That's a relief -- for a while I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to make that plan work.


I didn't get a photo of the finished door frame yet -- that was Walt's last project before he left on Tuesday. As Dave put it, he's the best houseguest ever!


Walt left some pictures, too -- including this one of the kids in the boxes their foam floor came in. They loved to climb into the boxes -- "just like cats," Walt said!


We also had fun with the boxes the IKEA flooring came in -- we built a little fort, then a short tunnel.

Sofia wanted her picture taken when I was documenting the progress. Look at how much older she's looking already! My goodness, they do grow up fast!

... So, the plumber comes on Monday. The tile guys should come in the next two weeks. Before then, at some point, we need to finish the floor upstairs -- or at least it would be better if we did, so we don't have to be in the house when we stink it up with chemicals. But we think after the tile's done, we should be able to move in! Trim work will continue, and we won't have all our appliances -- we're waiting on the "cars for clunkers" program for appliances that's set to start later this fall -- but hey, home is sweet even without all the trimmings!