Our Town

This is the next installment in our "Farewell to Camas" series. Here you see the first house we bought--well the first house that didn't have wheels.

It is appropriate that it was pouring rain when we were out taking pictures...sure gonna miss that Northwest moisture!

Anyone who knows Andy knows that when we lived here, the walls and driveway were spotlessly clean thanks to his connection with pressure washers, and his constant hard work.

He also went to great lengths to make sure all the planters had nice plants and flowers in them. When we first moved in, I was about five months along with Shanna, and Scott and Siara were running around. Our neighbor across the street (who still lives there BTW) came over to tell me:

"How does your son stand up? His head is so big I expect him to fall over!" in a lovely German accent.

That was a nice welcome to the neighborhood. But, as we got to know her and her family, we realized that though she could be blunt, she was a wonderful neighbor and her daughter Antje babysat for us and our kids loved her. Antje gave Shanna her nickname: Nunny.

Note the VERY steep driveway. The kids adapted quickly and eventually would ride their bikes down it and also had fun coasting down it in the wagon. Siara and Shanna each crashed into the tree down the street after picking up too much speed coming down the driveway. Just minor injuries but major drama.

It kept me in good condition as our van would not fit in the garage and I had to carry every baby, diaper bag, car seat and all groceries from the curb, up the driveway, up two sets of stairs and into the house.

Andy completely remodeled that place. It had the brown and gold shag carpet and avocado green kitchen of the seventies. He moved walls, gutted bathrooms and put on a huge addition to the back. Then he completely excavated the backyard and terraced it. Through it all, the kids had a blast playing in the construction mess. Scott earned money for his used bike by hauling debris to a huge dumpster down at the curb. Spencer stepped on nails every time I turned around. Good thing he had that tetanus shot. Seth fell out the backdoor after the steps had been jackhammered away. He just jumped up and started playing in the debris.

I continued to run a daycare here. Don't worry, that was before the major renovations began! I let the kids ride their trikes and big wheels in the big basement. Another favorite activity was putting the napping mattress on the stairs and bouncing and sliding down it.

After Shanna, four more babies came home to this house. We have pictures here of baby blessing days and baptism days. We had many fun birthday parties here--everything from Pirates to Princesses. And many memorable Thanksgivings and Christmas'. We also hosted a lot of ward activities and business dinners and parties and Joy School graduations.

But mostly we just lived here. It was our home for a long time and we have many sweet memories of that time and place.

Any memories you would like to add?

Up the street: The Cracking Spot--basically a place to play in the dirt

Down the street: Savannah and Tori's house--good friends and partners in mischief.

How 'bout "Don't cross Fargo"?