A Cuban Bob Vila
We closed on our new house and one of the first things we did was set the date for the House Warming Party. Now, mind you, we had a bunch of painting and a slight remodel we wanted to have done prior to the party, but, being new homeowners we were optimistic that all this could be done with relative ease and with little money. Long time homeowners are collectively shaking their heads at the naivete of the above statement.
The good thing about setting the date of a house warming party before you move in, is that it forces you to have the house all moved in and ready to go before the party. The bad thing is, things can happen. So, me and the 3 guys from Fountainhead Construction Company (which I highly recommend by the way) were at the house until midnight on the eve of the party finishing the mudding, sanding, painting, cleaning, decorating, sprucing, etc. At 6:30pm the following day, the house looked fantastic, filled with 50 of our closest friends and smelled like fresh paint and a Douglas fir.
A week later we had our first overnight guest. The Minturns stopped over in Memphis to spent a night or two with us. Todd & Carrie served with Lisa at IV during our time in Fresno where they continue to live in our old neighborhood, love their neighbors and give significant leadership the IVCF movement in Fresno and throughout the central valley & central coast. It was great to see them again, and see our boys playing together.
A few days after that, Lisa’s Dad & Grandpa (Papi) arrived up from Miami. I don’t know how long of a drive that is, but unless your running from the law, I don’t think you want to do it in a day. Lisa’s Dad, Oto, is a Cuban Bob Vila. He swirled around our house, painting, repairing, improving and fixing stuff that I didn’t know was broken. By the time he left there were parts of our house that looked completely different and bore the marks of being touched by a true craftsman rather than the simple brush strokes of a first-time home owner. 
They brought with them part of the roasted pig from the Noche Buena celebration two days prior. Lisa headed up to the Hispanic market, returning with black beans, yucca and Pilon and we feasted like generals in Castros court. I’m still smiling from that dinner. This was Papi’s first visit to Memphis since we moved and our first real time together since Abuela’s passing. I was delighted to see him, and have our family spend so much time together. The boys had a blast and it was fun having them around.
We rang in the New Year with Papi & ‘Grandpa’ as the boys call Oto. Then the next day they made their way back to Florida. A day later Robert & Noemi arrived and we had overnight guests #7 & #8 (we’ve been in the house 3 weeks at this point).
Robert and Noemi drove over to Memphis following the Urbana Missions Conference in St. Louis. It was a fantastic visit and beautiful time of catching up and reflecting back. I’ll recap that story in the next blog.
