Colton's First House

The Wal-Mart moving van is getting ready to pull out of the driveway. Good bye St. James. Be kind to our cherished friends.

Ten months of Colton's life was documented at this house. (I will post a Spring picture when I find it.) We bought this small farm in St. James, MO three years before Colton was born, and Glen and I had a "hobby." My big project was stripping the beautiful Oak staircase and banisters of years of awful paint and staining and sealing them the way they should have been. Glen's big project was keeping the lawn mowed and killing snakes at the pond. When he would go missing, I would have to look no farther than the vacant 410 spot and the pond. He was convinced the snakes could see him from the water and he would hide like a commando and forge a deadly sneak attack. I'm still trying to understand why he feels a need to show me his victims. Turtles didn't fare too well either. I think he considered them snakes with shells. Anyway, he was my hero when the basement flooded (only after he inadvertently sealed up the outside drain). Once we unburied that drain, we never had another problem! Go figure. I love ya honey. Anyway, this historic home (now over 115 years old--the original Doc James house) will always hold a special place in our hearts. I believe there will always be a piece of us there. Of course, when we remodeled we put our names and significant dates under new floors, walls, and cabinets. Glen carved our names on the tack room wall of our stable. We never pulled up sidewalks because they document so much history. Some of the names and dates were too weathered to make out, but we knew so much had gone on before us. Sweet memories--except when our "welcoming" neighbors told of the hanging from the big tree behind the barn! They sure liked telling that story. Some things are better left unsaid.