Fletcher update

Hello Friends and Family, If any of you have missed out on our recent chaos, know this -- we are looking toward adopting some family set of children (siblings) who would like to stay together -- not a specific set -- just that that is what it has been in our hearts to do for quite some time.  It is still early in the process, and we have some major hurdles, the biggest one being this delightful old house in which we live.  We have stepped up the renovations in hopes of being ready for a home visit as soon as possible.  We have had some incredible help.  This is the latest update, but if you feel lost or would like to know more about our process, I would refer you to my blog:  tonnyef@blogspot.com  There is probably more information there than you really want to know. . .:~)   So, the latest installment is this: The weather has interfered with our finishing the painting project we began almost 2 months ago. . . Approximately 1/2 of the house has 2 coats -- a couple of areas don't even have primer yet. . . .The front porch and trim has not really been touched. . . We have turned in our paperwork, so we are trying to get the house ready for her to look at as soon as possible (we're hoping for January, but that might be unrealistic :~\).    Last weekend, Shane and I worked upstairs all day Saturday.  We filled 2 large trash cans, bagged up several more huge bags of trash, took 4 boxes of books to the Book Exchange, took a truckload of yardsaleables to my aunt. . . .and slowly but surely the upstairs is beginning to look like an upstairs, as opposed to simply storage. . . .but that is only the beginning of what we need to do. . . .By the time we finished Saturday night, we had the front room almost ready to tackle.   Friday we went to a tile store in Raleigh-Durham and Shanda is bringing a sheet of tiles for us to look at for the upstairs bathroom.  We spent a while in there making some decisions.  It was a step. . . .   While I was in Durham, my friend Rachel called and said that her husband Randy was going to be in town for the weekend, and he wanted to come give us a hand on the house.  We also enlisted the help of Shane's brother Randy.  So the 3 guys worked in the front room today.  (Shane finished getting stuff out this morning and took trash to the Dump.) We have a closet framed out in that bedroom now, along with some other framing to make the sheetrock work easier (that's the next step.)  Part of the insulation is in, as are the ventilating baffles.  Randy F. was here till just after 4 working and Randy S. didn't leave until 5:00.  He's hoping to come back tomorrow morning and help with insulation and sheetrock (as far as they can get in the time available.)  In fact, maybe we'll have our worship time up here -- maybe Daddy could give them a hand before and/or after devotional. . .   What a blessing it has been to have all the wonderful friends and family to help out that we've had during this process.  Several others have volunteered to come and help with various components. . . .so the progress is beginning to be seen.   Thanks to all the incredible people in our lives.  Thanks to all who have come and helped, donated materials, time, and those who couldn't come but have prayed and been with us in thought.  You are all wonderful and we are blessed to have you in our world.   With love, Tonnye "Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way." Nikita Koloff