First home

Joel and Judith recently purchased their first home. It's a fixer-upper in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Aaron planned to take a break from his own house projects, to join his brother in kitchen renovations last weekend. But the trip was postponed until this weekend, and I was added to the party. Thursday evening Aaron crammed tools, including an air compressor and circular saw, in the trunk of my car. I reserved enough space in the back seat, beside the baggage and cooler, for Libby. We left Michigan early Friday morning and arrived at our destination in the afternoon after spending more hours in the car than is advisable for my mental health.

Lancaster County is beautiful, albeit crowded country. The buds on the trees are bursting into leaves and the fruit trees and crab apple trees are engulfed in white and pink. The smell of freshly mown grass mingles with the odor of freshly spread manure in country that seeks to balance subdivisions and family farms.