My Parents' Visit

My parents spent two weeks visiting us during the holidays.  We had so much fun that the time just flew by!

 

They brought Doni, my mom's 30-year-old horse, with them and we put him in one half of my horses' pen.  Rabi lived with Doni back when I was at home and they certainly remembered each other!

 

My mom and I rode the horses every day for the first week of their visit.  We both accomplished huge personal goals this year - I rode over 700 miles this year.

 

And my mom rode over 600!  (this photo was taken during the 600th mile)

 

While we were out riding, Matthew and my dad worked on some wiring and lighting throughout the house.  First, we got rid of the hideous light that was over the dining room table!

 

And replaced it with a wood-trimmed cloud light.

 

My dad also installed an additional track lighting system over the island in the kitchen.  We still need to by some more cans, but these lights really help us see the island better!  My dad and Matthew also fixed the TV antenna and split up two of the lights on the outside of the house so that they now run off of separate switches (no photos of that work).

 

One day we visited the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum to take a break from projects.

 

We also went to a gun range to practice with my parents' handguns.

 

This was Matthew's first time shooting a handgun.

 

Our next big project was to work on the landscaping around the front of the house.  First my dad dug out all of the stumps from the old bushes and then he dug holes for the new bushes.

 

Then my mom and I planted 12 new azalea bushes.

 

Mom and I also worked on picking up all of the loose rocks that had been a walkway a long time ago.  We dug a trench under the drip line of the eaves and put the rocks there to help with erosion.  You can barely see the line of white in the upper right of this photo.

 

Matthew pulled out the old edging around the rock path and I will be using it to connect the flowerbed in the front of the house with the bed on the side of the house.

 

We ran out of time to go and get some mulch, but here is one side of the house all finished except mulch.  The other side still has a few rocks left that I will continue to pick up over the next few weeks.

 

Dad and Matthew also found some time to re-enforce the Foosball table so that they could play easier.

 

My mom and I visited family and friends in Florida during the second week of my parents' trip.  My dad had to work (he works remotely through his computer and phone) so he stayed with Matthew at our house and took care of all of the horses.

 

Our first stop in Florida was in Tampa to visit my Grandfather and all of my aunts.

 

As usual, our main activity was to go to a nearby park to look at the birds.

 

And I, of course, took lots of bird photos.  Here is a wood stork foraging.

 

And a juvenile night heron on the beach.

 

Our second stop in Florida was to visit our horsey-friend, Louise, and go riding around her place.

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Mom and I returned to GA on Thursday in time for some swing dancing and my parents spent one more day with us before returning home.  Dad used his pole saw on Friday to help us reach a few more branches around the house.

 

While I was in Florida, Matthew found the perfect desk for his "office" at home and he and my dad had it installed by the time I came home.  Aside from the rust stain on the carpet, this area looks a lot better now!