The next step in the project was to take out the wall. Dad helped with the outlets which were in the way, and Scott hacked into the wall. (When people come over, we put them to work!)

The first step was to move the cupboards (after the wise counsel of Donella and Dustin). This was what we put Nate to work on.

This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on. This is not the end but it is the road; all does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.
— Martin Luther

This is how our living room/kitchen wall looked about two weeks ago. We wanted to have an opening from the kitchen to the living room to allow conversations to continue, and to give us some more room. So, what began as a musing in Seth’s head became more of a reality these past few weeks.

Crystal and I just finished reading Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I would not recommend going into it thinking that it is a sequel to the Narnia Series. That could prove disastrous. It was, however, very insightful. Some of the topics addressed were jealousy, selfishness, modernity and its deceptiveness, desire of a human (here Orual) to envelop another’s life, and many other lesson which would merit our thought.
The key, I think, to the whole book is understanding this quote made in the final pages of the work: “Of the things that followed I cannot at all say whether they were what men call real or what men call dream. And for all I can tell, the only difference is that what many see we call a real thing, and what only one sees we call a dream. But things that many see may have no taste or moment in them at all, and things that are shown only to one may be spears and water-spouts of truth from the very depth of truth.” (Orual in Till We Have Faces, 277)

Last week Paul, Joanna, and Julia all came up to visit. It was great to have some time to hang out and talk. We visited Como Park and Paul lent me one of his lenses. Sadly, he noticed that I still had it before he left, so I will have to try again to sneak it away.

For my birthday back in April, Crystal and I went camping up near Rogers. It was a lot of fun. We walked quite a bit (harvesting many ticks) and sat around the fire. We enjoyed getting out. We look forward to other camping trips this summer, hopefully when it will be warmer!

Some of the projects Crystal worked on this winter.

For some reason he liked sitting in the bird bath. Next time I will have the slingshot ready.