Anika made her first appearance and visit to the lumber yard yesterday during a heavy rain storm. Gpa Eldon, Big Brother Hunter and Daddy were thrilled to stop their work and have some snuggle time with our baby girl. Elissa’s first visit to the lumber yard was here (scroll down a bit) on December 21, 2007. Amazing how quickly Elissa has changed in 18+ months. It is fun to think ahead to what Miss Anika will be doing and looking like in another 18 months.
Nathan explaining a blue print to my mom. Before stopping at the lumber yard, we stopped at a fruit truck that was selling lugs of Washington cherries. Cherries are my favorite fruit. And all morning today my mom has been pitting, cutting and freezing fresh cherries for us to have on hand. My mother is a gem. We are feasting while she is here as cooks up fantastic meals. Hunter and Elissa love having 24/7 time and attention with their Mama Jane (or Mayme as E calls her). It gives me plenty of time to cuddle Anika, attempt to her to feed more often and sleep just a little less plus my mom keeps me on strict “resting” orders to recover. I NEVER thought I would say I wanted a baby to sleep less but this baby girl is a sleeper which is lovely as long as she is getting plenty of nutrition too!
Anika is one week old today. We cannot use words to express how much love we have for our youngest daughter, sister, niece and grand daughter. She is precious and an amazing blessing.
In early March I posted here about exciting growth at our family business. The building is over one hundred years old. It is the first addition and remodeling that Nathan’s father has done in thirty plus years. The show room area is complete. I knew very little about a lumber yard before marrying Nathan. I thought lumber yards sold wood and maybe some hardware. What I found out was that I very uninformed. The business does everything from planning and design (my father in law is an engineering brain, a eye for design with perfectionist carpenter skills plus forty plus years of experience) to full finishing and completion of every aspect of a project. Literally every single thing in our home was an item that we carried through a supplier to the lumber yard. My mom and I talked yesterday about the show room now is a much more approachable place for women who make many (let’s be honest MOST) of the house design decisions to get ideas about what they want to add or do with a new home or remodeling job. Plus there are plenty of samples for people building garages, business, agriculture or other buildings that are a part of what Nathan and Eldon do also.
This is the lumber yard’s “busy” season (it is always busy but this is the “go” time and more hectic than ever) with numerous projects and jobs running in every direction. Last week while I was in the hospital, Nathan and I actually watched the news together. North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and Bismarck has the lowest unemployment rate of the 373 cities in the national unemployment survey. What that means to us is that business is still good in our remote area. We have not had an economic slow down…yet but recognize that can happen. For now we are thankful for a growing business during a volatile economy.
Eldon has a new office (with plenty of work on his desk). Nathan also has a new office and once we have his new art and pictures hung I will show you his home away from home.
I love reading your blog and hearing about your family! I hope you continue to get rest. That is so nice of your mom to stay with you and help out! Love ya!
Love the new lumbar yard addition