The Klapmusts: January 2010

The Attic

Chip says hi!

If you recall, our attic used to look like this. Complete with crappy drywall, gross carpet and our unorganized stuff strewn about.

When we took down all the drywall, here's what we found. We knew it was going to look something like this because the drywall and insulation were preventing the roof from venting properly--our home inspector brought this to our attention.

Basically, a lot of damaged wood. In general our roof is ok, but there are some bad parts that we need to keep an eye on.

After getting all the trash out (it was a lot of drywall!) we unpacked what was in boxes, gave some stuff to good will and organized the rest. Here I am mid-organization. Everything is well labeled!

And here's the final product. It's so nice that everything has a place and I actually know where things are in the attic...it only took 2 years! ;)

November

November began with us enjoying the hockey season and attending a game with our friends Tom and Andrea. We saw the Caps beat the Wild, so it was a good game!

I also made my first gingerbread house completely from scratch. Thanks again to Becky for helping me figure out the gingerbread part! It was fun :)

The day after Thanksgiving we went hiking and camping with Matt and Mary. We had a great time, despite some frigid, windy weather. We made the most of it and definitely enjoyed the campfire!!

The group sets off for the hike...

The trail begins across this bridge...

Pretty view of the river

Brothers ready for the hike

Part of the way into the hike, we camped at the shelter area (even though we hiked past it and then back)

Buster was our trailblazer and loved every minute of it!

Waterfall!

Happy hiker (despite having to carry all of my stuff too!)

We made it up to this beautiful vista, but it was super windy and this is about where we turned to head back to lower ground for the night

Cute family :)

Setting up camp

Soooooo happy to be eating this :) And yes, I was sitting that close to the fire. It was cooooold!

Hiking out the next morning...

Happy to be heading towards the warm cars :)

We also did some more organizing in the attic in November, but I'm leaving that for a separate post. Here's Chip's favorite spot and where we usually find him these days. He lays there regardless of whether the heat is blowing or not...it's pretty hilarious!

Klapmust/Crawford Reunion Party

In October, we gathered with the rest of the Klapmust and Crawford clan at Jim's parents house for a big party. Grandma Crawford was turning 95 and Grandma Klapmust was turning 93, so a big celebration was in order. Here are a few photos from the many activities and fun times...

Mary made this family tree (I assisted just a little bit), complete with photos and dates, etc...it was pretty neat to see it all!

Birthday girl #1: Grandma C with her kids...

Birthday girl #2: Grandma K!

There were lots of outdoor activities (even some time on the boat--the weather surprisingly cooperated, but I didn't take any pics out there)....here's some of the backyard games

And piggyback rides were given all around!

The inaugural fire in the new firepit, complete with smores!

And what's a Klapmust gathering without some family rockband?! :)

October

We kicked off October by celebrating Jim's 28th birthday!

That weekend we finally attended our first Mid Atlantic Rover Rally that wasn't completely rained out. The weather was so pretty, this picture looks like a Land Rover advertisement!