Oops...more house photos!

Well,  modern technology is great...if you know how to use it!  We are struggling (and learning as we go along!) with photosharing.  This is something new to us, so you have to bear with us as we maneuver through this technological and photographic minefield!  We are all taking photos with our phones, then uploading the ones we want to share into a group photo album.  The trick is that we are trying to do the uploading only when we have free wifi, so some photos are coming is well after I have written a post!  I'm going to post some pictures here of Marrit's and Hans's home...Lenore and Gary both took some great ones that just now popped into the shared photo album!  Enjoy!

This home is truly amazing.  The fact that it has been in Hans's family for 4 generations and is a warm, functional home...not a museum is remarkable.

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The house has 4 rooms with big dining tables!

This original wood burning stove with gorgeous silver trim was amazing!  The home is filled with so many museum quality things...everywhere you looked there was something interesting at which to look!

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There were several of these beautiful painted chests.  I kept forgetting to ask what they were for...my guess is that they were hope chests for each new bride in the family.  Fun fact:  every male is named Hans or Bernard, alternately...not open for discussion!  Hans and Marrit's delightful 29 year old son, Bernard, will name his son Hans!

Marrit has redone the kitchen, but she said the only room she really redecorated.  She more or less, left the other downstairs room untouched.

Fantastic staircase (the big moose head is on the wall directly opposite the painted blue chest.). And that doorway under the stairs is a little Harry Potter bathroom!  Very cute!

This is Hans's favorite reading corner.  There are fabulous old family photos everywhere you look in this house.  

This is the barn below. And the smaller little house was used as a playhouse by Hans and Marrit's kids, but in generations past it was used  for what sounded like viewing vigils before burial of deceased family members.  It sits right on the front "lawn" between the White House and the barn.  The barn is huge...shaped in an "L".

This is the home on the farm property where Han's mother lived after Hans and Marrit were married and moved into the big house. Currently this house is being rented out to a Polish family.

The orchard in front of the house with the beautiful ribbons of fog moving through!

Hans's tray of akvavit and beer to be served at dinner..Hans and Marrit each prefer a different type of Akvavit, hence the 2 bottles!  Also, there are many ways to spell it...Aquavit. Akvavit, aquavitae, okovita, avevitt.  It is a potato liquor, flavored with caraway or dill, although it has a very mild anise taste.  It contains 40% alcohol

Marrit serving up the delicious dinner of Smalmatt (notice Lenore's glass of beer and the tiny glass of Akvavit to the left of her beer!)

Their beautiful home...