Dropping Nate off at TAMU

 On Friday, August 21, Nate got to move into his dorm. He was in Mosher Hall of the commons. He waited until the week of his move to start cleaning his room and packing.  He had over the previous few weeks been slowing getting rid of the electronics he had accumulated for future projects.

The packed up truck.

We got him all unloaded and mostly unpacked.  We then ran to walmart and bought him toiletries and snacks and a few extra baskets.Then we took those to his room and waved goodbye!

It never gets easier to say goodbye!

He was excited because he already had a job working for Dr. Hassan in his nuclear engineering lab.  He had all his classes set and he had already read the syllabi before we got there. All good signs for his future success!

The Cabin 2026

Everyone went out to the cabin for the 4th of July except Ellie.  The first order of business was to help Grammie and Grandpa with any projects that they had.  They were having a problem with bats in the rafters of the ceiling, so the boys donned protective gear and went out on the roof to caulk the possible entry points.  

We thought we got them all because the guano disappeared and all was quiet for a little while. Then about a week later a few droppings appeared and there was some squeaking.  

We also went fishing whenever we could.

And 4-wheeling.  They even went and found a small stream.

Nate is inching closer in height to Michael.  He's not there quite yet.

 

Blue Belt Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Nate worked really hard the last couple of years of high school going to bjj a couple of times a week (when he wasn't in band) and working his way up to blue belt.  He was finally awarded his blue belt at a a ceremony on June 13.  He quit soon after to go off to college, but hopefully he will find a way to keep doing it in college and after.

 

Nate is 18!

Nate turned 18! 

 Nate is fun to have around. He loves to cook- and will often take over part of a meal if I ask him to.  If he doesn't care for dinner, he has learned to eat a little and then a couple of hours later he will be back in the kitchen making a hug meal, often with big pieces of steak and also a big mess! He loves to make sourdough bread, mostly when people ask him for it. He's very smart!  Once he decided to take high school seriously, he moved up in his ranking from 18% to 10%. That took a lot of work and dedication.  He's the most capable person you have ever met.  If you need something done, you can ask him and he will do it.  If he doesn't know how to do it, he will study on the internet and figure out how to do it.  He's thoughtful, if he thinks he can do something to make your life better, he will do it, especially if it involves cooking. He is very smart and has a huge knowledge base.  He knows a lot about a lot of things. He really really loves Marley. We are so lucky to have such a great kid in our lives.

First Lake House Weekend

We decided to have a family weekend at the lake the weekend after Nate graduated.  Joe had gotten a boat and we were able to fix the lift on the boat slip so he could store it on the lake at the house.  Michael and Sydney came down from College Station.  We also invited Ellie, but this is how it went:

Me: We are having a family weekend at the lake house.

Ellie: I want to come, but Darby is in town, can she come?

Me: yes!

Ellie: Well, Darby has a friend coming with her, can she come too?

Me: sure-but doesn't her friend have other friends she wants to visit

Ellie: no, she doesn't know anyone else in Texas

Me: ok

Ellie: oh, and her friend is bringing her fiancee, can he come too?

Me: uh, yes, but we only have so many beds.  We closed on the house a few days ago.

Ellie: ok, we can sleep on the floor

Me: So, you Darby, Darby's friend, Darby's friend's fiancee-is that it?

Ellie: oh ya, also my roommate Riley.  You can just assume anytime I come she will come too.

Me: So much for the family weekend...

Later- Ellie: and Snoopy (the dog) will be coming too!

We did end up buying a huge bed for her and her friends- a twin bed over a queen over a trundle. But still it wasn't enough beds for everyone!

We did get to go fishing! 

Marley came too!  It was fun pulling up to the lake house and seeing Marley in the back door window when we walked up.

Saturday ended up being really rainy.  Joe invited Austin and his family up, but when they got here, it was mostly raining.  They did get to go out for a second to go tubing before it got dark.

 

Lake Conroe House

 Ever since Joe sold his ranch and we didn't move to Austin, he has had a lot more free time. At first he worked on getting his properties in Dayton ready to rent and then eventually to sell.  After all that, he found he had a lot of free time.  I encouraged him to find a hobby. He thought about it and he decided that what he really would like is a project house. We had looked at one a year ago that was on the same lake as our "land" property many years ago.  It was a cute house with a beautiful property and it needed some work.  We contacted the owner and it was still for sale, so we went and looked at it.  They had done some improvements, but we didn't care for what they had done.  Unfortunately, it made the price more expensive and it really wasn't what we wanted.  We started looking for a lake house.

At first we looked at houses that had access to a boat ramp to get us on Lake Conroe. Then we decided to look just at houses that were actually on Lake Conroe. The biggest thing we wanted was a house that was a "project".  It needed to have things that needed to be updated or fixed so that Joe had things to work on while he was there. We spent a couple of weeks looking until we changed our search parameters and added townhome to the list.  This lake house popped up and we went and looked at it.  Right as we walked in, I said- "Joe I like this one."  We looked at the whole thing and then we decided to put an offer in on it. We could tell right away that it needed some work.  The biggest thing was that the bulkhead on the lake was very damaged and needed repairs.  We had a contractor come out to give us an estimate for that, and we also had an inspection done.  The bulkhead repairs came back costing about $60k. The inspector said that nothing major was wrong but there were a TON of little problems.  We went back to the seller to try to renegotiate the price.  We didn't get much off, but we were able to negotiate to have all the contents of the house left.  That gave us furniture and furnishings so that we had something to work with when we first moved in.  We got it!  Then the projects could begin!

Here are the listing photos- this was our starting point!