Been Chastized

I have been chastized from quite a few people about not keeping up the progress of our house. We have actually had a lot going on so I will just run through it and give my excuses and apologize.

After my last update we took turns having the flu. And of course, no one had it at the same time. So it took two weeks to get it out of our system. I had to do a walk thru with the electrician and tell him where we want outlets, phone jacks, satelitte cables, lights and switches. Sure glad the electrician knows what he is doing as he was able to give lots of pointers as I don't really don't have much experience in making those kinds of decisions.

Then just as we were getting ready to go to Utah, the plumber at our new house said the garden tub we had picked out wouldn't fit inside the spot, so we had to go and pick out a different tub. Then he told us it would be much easier for us later if we put in the tub/shower in the unfinished bathroom in the basement now instead of later as then he can hook it up and test for the water pressure with that in place as well. So then we went and bought a tub and shower at Home Depot. That in itself was an adventure! We needed to have a two or three piece tub in order to get it down the stairs, so we got one that was two pieces, but at Home Depot they are already screwed together, so of course it wouldn't fit into the back of our van. If they were seperated we could put one half in at a time and take two trips. We didn't have any tools and Home Depot said we couldn't take it apart at their store anyway. Since it was almost closing time we went home and then the next morning (Tuesday the 12th) - before Erin and Brad went off to work, we invited Zach to go with us, all went to Home Depot using a borrowed truck. Once there we loaded the tub/shower unit into the back of the truck and then tied it down, but still had Erin and Zach sit in the back of the truck to hold down the fiberglass tub to keep it from tipping over. They reported that there was no movement, but it was rather chilly. Once out at our house, we struggled to unscrew the screws, except for Zach who seemed to have a knack for it and was able to unscrew the screws alone, while the rest of us were making each screw a two-man job. Then we carried each piece into the house and down the stairs and put it into the right spot. Boy was it a tight squeeze! It fit exactly right - no room to spare, so it was tricky putting it in, but we managed with Erin manhandling the tub and forcing it into the right spot.

Later that same day we left for our trip to Utah. We went down there for two reasons, the main one being to attend Michael's graduation from BYU, and the secondary one to pack up and bring Courtney and Will up here to Washington as they will be going to grad school at Eastern in Cheney. The graduation was great - I will post pictures later and packing and driving up here went relatively smoothly but we didn't get home until very late Saturday night. We were able to unload their truck and stored most of their stuff in our old RV until it is time to take them up to Cheney.

Then we had to get school schedules and do some school shopping, so I have been a bit busy. Before our trip to Utah, we also celebrated Conner's birthday. His birthday was actually the day of graduation, but we told him we wouldn't be able to do much fun things for him , so he chose to celebrate on the Sunday before. He wanted a pinata, so Conner and I made a pinata - a panda bear - with Todd as our model. It turned out really cute, and Conner loved breaking it open and getting tons of candy.

Most of the siding is on - it is pretty heavy duty, the front porch is up but not the banister for it, and the house has lots of wiring running through the walls. The AC/Heater systme is almost in. So progress is being made. Plus we finally figured out what color we wanted the outside of the house to be painted and what kind of rock we want to have installed on the outside. Much of the progress left to do is inside so changes on the outside will mostly be minimal. Here is the last picture I took there:

Bored and Cleaning

Dad has kept us busy cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We have been glad dad goes to work everyday so we could have a break. And it was nice to have to take the kids to the park for swimming lessons, so I wouldn't have to clean, clean, clean. Are you getting the picture that we have been cleaning? Not just cleaning, but scrubbing, polishing, and disinfecting. We put the house up for sale this week. Just stuck the sign up on the front lawn, and now we need to advertise. I will have to get to that this upcoming week. It really seemed sad the first day to see a for sale sign on our front lawn. Now it doesn't bother me in the least. I took pictures of both the inside and outside of the house so we will have those for advertising, but I won't bore you with those as you have seen this house. But it is exceptionally clean. I do need to do the outer windows, but I even cleaned the window sill tracks. Well, enough about that boring stuff. Except we did go over to the new house and clean there too. We just went through the throw away pile and pulled out the good enough to make shelves wood and carried it to the back of the lot. We figured we paid for the wood already, why not put it to use later. Then we also cleaned up a bunch of junk that has been sitting around and began sweeping, but that is really a lost cause until we get all the windows and doors in. Speaking of which, some of the windows are in, and the shingles were begun to be put on today. Our builder is really good and didn't want just some old cheapy shingles on our roof, but the roofing company didn't have 40 year shingles in stock, so we ended up with 50 year shingles. So that is really good. Ken really likes to keep a tight schedule. Here are the latest pictures taken just today. The front of the house, the back of the house, and beginning to shingle.

It Looks Like a House

We all went out to the land on Saturday evening before the Pioneer Day Broadcast. Zach was a bit reluctant - "How long are we going to be there?" "Are the workers going to be there too?" Only a short time - we have to be back to watch the broadcast, and no it is Saturday, a day off. So we all went out and it kind of caught everyone by surprise as to how much work has been done.


This is inside the garage. There are support boards all around in case a strong wind blows through and knocks everything down before all of the support in the house has been built. The kids thought it looked like an artful mess and wanted a picture of it.

Conner parked Todd here and he sat there in the hallway as we toured the house. Then Conner wanted me to take a picture of Todd and I invited Conner to be in the picture. We can actually walk through now and identify rooms and closets and such, so it is kind of fun.

Trusses

We went over Wednesday after swimming lessons and lunch and watched the trusses being put up. The kids were kind of bored. Zach took a nap in the back seat after reading his book for a while. Kylee, Kaitlin, and Conner walked down to the river and explored. Then we had a hard time finding them as Road 76 doesn't exactly go all the way to the river. We thought they might have walked to Chiawana Park as that is what Conner wanted to do, but we didn't find them there so we finally returned to our land and the kids were waiting for us there. They had walked back while we had driven to the park. Oh well. So here are some pictures I took that day.

All of the trusses come pre-built on a truck. The truck has a crane attachment that it uses to load a bundle of trusses to the top of the house. The construction workers then put them in place standing and walking along the top of the house as you will see in the next picture. I would be a nervous wreck walking up there on the beams and then hammer and saw while up there as well.


There goes the first truss.

The whole house is all trussed up. It goes a lot faster than you would imagine. I could stay all day every day and watch our house being built as I think it is fascinating. I wouldn't get anything done all day. When the sewer was being put in at the house we live in right now, the street was all dug up and pipes were laid, and we canceled our normal school day and sat in the front yard and watched. The workers would come over and visit with us periodically and tell us what was going on and we shared our ice cold lemonade with them. It was really a fun school day.

Not Much Time

I thought I would at least put out the latest pictures. We are busy getting ready for the 24th of July ward activity. This year we are BOO-HOO-ING as we once again aren't going to Memorial Pool. Last year we just skipped the ward activity and just went swimming anyway, but this year the activity committee assigned different groups to be in charge of a booth. High Priests have to create a forge and show how to blacksmith, so dad has gone and learned a few basics, but not many other high priests have volunteered to help him, so he may be stuck there the entire time. The Relief Society was asked to tie quilts so I am not sure how many sisters will be there to help, so I will need to check in and see how much I am needed after setting up stuff beforehand. So I may or may not be there the entire time, but I have made two quilt tops in the past two days, cutting the squares, figuring out a pattern, and then sewing them up. One even has a border. Zach and Kylee are supposed to help with the Mutual booth. Most of the mutual kids probably won't help, so they will probably be stuck there almost the whole time. Their booth is where people can put on old-fashioned clothes and have their pictures taken. Then Kaitlin was asked to help with the Primary booth, which is fishing, where you throw the fishing pole over a wall and get a prize. So... Dad was going to invite someone, but decided it would be hard to hang out with your guest if you are having to work a booth the whole time - so there goes that missionary opportunity.


This is the back of the house.

This is a side view of the house, from the Moon's side.

This is the front of the house, with the garage all cemented in and inside walls beginning to be built.

Ken just called and said they are putting the trusses on this afternoon, so we will go over and watch that and then I will have to post some more pictures.

One Wall

We have one wall. Granted it is only a garage wall, but one wall nevertheless.

We Are Above Ground!

Kylee, Kaitlin, Conner and I went out to the land on Thursday afternoon. We invited Zach to join us and he declined saying he didn't want to go out very often so that each time he goes out he is surprised at the changes. So here are a few pictures.

The framing has just begun. Only the front has been framed as you can see from this inside shot.
The kids looking through a front bedroom window. They wanted to climb in through the windows but I didn't want them banging anything around so I made them go through the front door.