Last Christmas was Dad's first without Mom, so I thought I should go back and visit an extra time during the year. Last August, the day we arrived, Ernie and Brenda's house burned down. This is the new rebuilt house that we came to take a look at. It has a lot of newer amenities like dual garage doors, brick facade, etc. This is the front porch, where Ernie likes to relax.
Here's Ernie in his new living room: vaulted ceilings and very spacious.
Dad never has enough freezer space, so Ernie lets him use some of his space.
Two guest bedrooms on the back side from the kitchen. Ernie and Brenda are planning ahead for when they get older and might not be able to move around as well, so everything has wide doorframes.
Finished garage, with Ernie going back to his storage area.
Here's the storage area.
He also built a new "shed" for housing his dirt moving equipment.
Dad wanted to submit a picture of the house for a contest with the electric company, where they are selecting a house to do an electric "makeover". I took this picture in case we needed something to submit, but he found another picture that was already printed out.
I've always loved this photo. Based on David's age, this must be 1982?
On Saturday we went to visit Dawn and take her to lunch. We have never been to the house in Newport, as she was always at Dad's house when we visited for Christmas. Occasionally we have been to the Jackson County Learning Center, but never to her residence.
Here's Dawn and Dad on the front porch.
Dawn's side of the room, with the obligatory shrine to Michael Jackson. Her roommate has a similar shrine to Elvis Presley.
Dad working to feed and water this tomato plants. He has this labyrinth around to try to keep the deer from eating the tomatoes.
More "necessary" work around the yard. This birdhouse appears to have the hole gnawed wide, and probably has a squirrel living inside of it. Got to get out the old portable drill and take the roof off and clean it out.
Of course, we use the most rickety ladder we can find. Someone left it here 30 years ago when they came out to put up the barn. Dad called them to come get it, but they said they didn't like that ladder anyway and Dad should keep it. 30 years later, he's still using it.
Vintage Earl: I'm about to hit the road Sunday, and he goes out to make sure I don't have to look through bugs on my windshield on the drive back. Love ya, Dad!