update

These sonogram pictures are kinda hard to see, but i couldn't figure out how to make them bigger without making them blurry! these were from about 3 weeks ago. Everything is looking WONDERFUL so far and we are getting more and more excited! We go back to the doctor in a week (which is also our FIRST anniversary!) and i will update everyone then!
We made it one whole year!!! I am so grateful that i get to share each day with my very best friend! We feel very blessed to have each other and our first year as a "old married couple" has been amazing!
Also, my dream job as a labor and delivery nurse is everything I hoped it would be. It truly is a dream job....it is so rewarding!! And I leave every night exhausted, but so happy and fulfilled. I just know this is where I am meant to be!
Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying their summer! And Happy REALLY late birthday, Gary!

Update from Lake Whitney

Gary says thanks for the birthday wishes. He is always happy for a moment to sit down to either talk on the phone or read an email this time of year. He doesn't get much sit down time in July, unless you count the time he is having to spend on the mower. And even that is unusual, because normally by now it is so hot and dry that the grass has quit growing.

We're still hanging in here waiting for the lake to go down. It is still over 16 feet above normal which makes boat launching difficult, which makes attracting customers difficult. Any other month it would not be an issue because most of our guests during the other months don't bring boats. This just drives home the importance of continuing to develope a customer base that doesn't revolve around boating and fishing.

Mike & Katie, it was wonderful to hear about your new venture up in Colorado. We'll share tips as soon as we get a few extra minutes.

Alyssa is getting excited about going to the State 4H show in Abilene next week. She is driving over on Monday evening and will be there until Saturday or Sunday, depending on how well she does in the pre-lims.

Sarah, how are you feeling? Keep us posted.

Mike & Katie's Happy Birthday to Gary

Hi Gary

Just wanted to send you a note to say Happy Birthday! I’d sing you a song, but you might regret donating those stem cells! J

Did you know that a resort-like situation, which we call Stonewall View, has fallen into our laps in the past few months?

Katie’s dad, Bob, owns a 4-bedroom house, plus a duplex next door to our house. Unfortunately, Bob and Rita are now in their mid-80s and are rapidly slowing down health-wise. Bob had open heart surgery a few years ago and the loss of blood to his brain damaged his short-term memory. He still has his great personality, but he can’t really handle money stuff anymore. He’s such a great guy, it’s sad to watch. We just keep loving him along the way.

For the past 15 years Katie’s brother-in-law, Andy, has managed this property, renting them out to hunters and gas-field workers at pretty low cost. Because these have been low-end renters, they often have not paid at all. And they have not taken very good care of the property either. It is ugly and in need of lots of repair.

A few years ago Andy & Susie (Katie’s sister) moved from Stonewall to Hawaii with YWAM. At the same time, Andy has been managing the property long-distance and finding it very frustrating and expensive. Finally, in January he handed the apartments over to us to manage.

We tried to sell the property, but couldn’t due to some water-rights issues (the apartments share our well).

So it was either tear them down to get rid of an eyesore (which would cost money and bring in nothing), or fix them up nicely and try to rent them out to higher-end renters for better income. There was some money in the Stonewall View account, so we chose the latter. Even so, we’ve had to take out a mortgage on the house in order to pay for the renovations on the apts.

For the past 5 months we’ve invested tons of time, effort, design & money into making the 2 apartments nice. Once we got into it, we discovered that things were worse than we thought. We actually had to tear out the flooring in both apts due to dry-rot and rebuild the whole inside from scratch. Both apts are now nice and solid. One apt is almost finished and looks amazing. Like one guy said when he saw it, “This is a miracle!” We still have to fix up the roofing and siding as well as furnish everything.

Hopefully we can start renting out one apt by September. We need to recoup some of our investment before we can finish the other apt. In another year or two we hope to begin renovating the house, landscaping, etc.

Anyway, maybe you can give us some good advice about managing holiday apartments like this. We’re complete novices! Any suggestions / ideas you might have would be most welcome! What ways have you found to attract responsible, well-paying renters and keep them coming back?

Well, this turned into a much longer note than I had planned. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Love
Mike (& Katie)

Happy Birthday to GARY !!!

Happy Birthday Gary!
We hope you have had a great day, and that you have an even better year.

We love you and even though its been a tough season down there, we're trusting with you for things to get better.

May God Bless you abundantly!
Love,
Steve and Barb