All Together Now

66°f/about 19°C, clear.

Somewhere along the road to Haley's house.

We made the drive north to granddaughter Haley's new place, 10 acres with a large house, pool,  garages, small pond...a country idyll for sure. Haley and her partner Desiree are getting married September 20 and are hard at work getting their place fixed up, although honestly I thought it needed very little work at all! But they are making it their own with paint, etc.

It was a great visit. Son Aaron and his two kids, both in their early 20's, came over so it was a nice gathering. Aaron's son James bought Haley's old house, keeping that little gem in the family, and her new home is only a few miles from Aaron, so our family seems to be developing a little branch in the Fairmont, WV area.

And it was perfect to have Aaron and James there, because Aaron is a jack-of-all-trades and James is young muscle, which we needed to get that big table up many steps and into the house. Desiree and Michaela did a thorough cleaning job on it, and then the work began.

One...

Two...

Three!

And in place!

The four leaves are stored away, but there is room to use them in this space, if needed.

I have to admit, Aaron and Haley did a much more thorough job of it than Larry would have done on his own. There were stripped out holes, missing screws, loose bits, etc. We were happy to leave the head-scratching and problem-solving to Aaron, who absolutely loves a good challenge. He was a patient teacher too, as Haley was right in there with him. It was fun to just watch them figure out how to make the table good as new again.

It did my heart good to see it together again, in a place where it will be cherished as it always has been in our family.

We all went out to dinner afterwards, and then we were back on the road for the 2 1/2 hour drive home.

Driving through Fairmont, we passed the Harrison county courthouse. 

A beautiful sunset, even if we were a long way from home, and it would be well after  dark when we got there.

Passing the NASA complex in Fairmont, which is near the FBI headquarters,  both courtesy of Robert C. Byrd, who managed to get several job-producing government offices located in our state. *I wonder how long before Trump closes them? I mean, Byrd was a Democrate, after all. And he is certainly targeting anything and everything Democrats have done.)

A bit closer to home, driving through Clarksburg.

It was a long day, but such a pleasure to spend it with family. And of course we will be making that trek again in a few weeks for the wedding. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.