Grandpa and Grandma Visit Plus Carpet and Tile

The last 2 weeks brought most of the flooring to our house - carpet and tile!

Not Quite Installed

The house got a lot quieter once the carpet went in and made it feel less like a construction zone. Once Hurricane got home from school on carpet installation day, he rolled on almost every carpeted surface. He was in pure heaven.

The tile looks like this:

Laundry Room

Formal Living Before

First Row of Tile

Finished

The boys are now sleeping in their own room and beds. The first thing we put together was their beds, and they were excited!!! We made moving into their room a priority. Now all their clothes, books, and treasures are in their room. We have pulled out the pictures to go in their room but have yet to hang them on the walls.

One day I needed to be outside and pulled weeds from one of the garden beds. I broke the fork digging in the clay-like dirt.

After a trip to Home Deport, a new fork and 50 tulip and daffodil bulbs were purchased.

The bulbs have yet to make it into the ground because the soil is too wet and must be fixed.

Grandma and Grandpa Locey came to visit and see our new home. We celebrated our family birthday with them a few months late. They took us to supper. Grandma Locey flew to take care of her grandchildren, and Grandpa Locey stayed with us a few more days.

The boys have started piano lessons with a new teacher. Hurricane had spirit week at his school. One day was Nerd Day. He decided to be Phineas from Phineas and Ferb. Another day was Blue or Pink Day.

He had his hair sprayed blue along with wearing blue clothes. The thrift store has provided a desk for the boys to work at for homework.

They are liking the old desk. It was a total impulse buy.

We have been looking for a new refrigerator. Sweetheart found an ad on Craig's List for all the kitchen appliances for the same cost of what we wanted to spend on a refrigerator. We will update and replace all of our appliances. We found this to be a huge blessing.

Be Well.

*****

Hurricane's 2nd grade Class wrote him letters. He was so happy to have letters from his class that he read them to me and then to the entire family. It made his day.

Hooks went up to have a place for backpacks. No longer will they be searched for in the morning before school. Our light switch cover went up that was given to me by my Aunt Kathy when I left Idaho to get married. It has always been in our kitchen.

Rolling, rolling, rolling.... Keep that paint rolling.....

When I was sending the weekly email, Hurricane looked out the front window and said hesitantly, "Jilly." He then began to repeat more and more excitedly, "Jilly, Jilly, Jilly!" He ran outside and saw Kirky too and was stopped in his tracks. He waved shyly and said, "Hi." My parents came on Sunday evening. Originally Jilly was going to come solo and arrive Monday afternoon. While they were driving here, my Dad called and asked if I'd heard from my Mom on her trip. He asked if we had enough supper and if he join us. They changed their plan, and both came. They then proceeded to make a miracle happen.

Monday for Labor Day the miracle began. With rollers in hand, we started to paint every room in the house except the Master bedroom and laundry room. In addition, my Dad pruned the tree in the front yard, and Sweetheart put together the shelves in the basement. They would only stop for food. Scott, my brother, sent his girls to pick us corn and apples.

We loved to eat that manna. Mike, my cousin, was very generous and made us root beer and cider.

I feel so lucky to have many people who shared their love with us.

Tuesday the boys went to school and Sweetheart to work. My parents rolled some more. My Mom became a circus performer by climbing a ladder to get a really tough spot in our stairwell. Tuesday evening around 11 pm the house was painted- rolled and edged.

"Shaving" Hurricane with a "Safety Razor"

What an incredible feat of work.

Wednesday morning they returned home. We are still amazed at what a mountain of work they did.

I continued throughout the week to do touch up work and paint trim. We were told that the tile work would begin on Tuesday. On Monday night we disconnected the washer and dryer and moved them into the loft area. On Tuesday we learned that the person who was going to start the tile work decided to move to Wisconsin, and the tile instillation was pushed off until Thursday.

The man who is doing the tile work is taking his time. He's been here on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and has finished the laundry room.

We are grateful for his efforts, but wish he worked a little bit faster!

Carpet will come this coming week, and we will be able to move into the house. We are currently using 2 rooms.

We attended the Fort Collins Temple Open House on Friday evening.

The temple is beautiful. The Eckert family met us there. It is always good to go with friends.

Be Well.

*****

 Underfoot and Hurricane at Fort Collins Temple

 Fort Collins Temple

Welcome Fall!

School Starts and Painting

Boys started school last Monday. After dropping the boys off, Wendy returned home. Shortly thereafter, the Sheriff showed up. He was serving divorce court papers to the former owner of the house.

After school, Wendy took them for ice cream for their first day.

We have painted and continue to clean the house. On Wednesday, the Boy Scouts (Sweetheart is one of the leaders...) came an kilzed and washed blinds. Tuesday members of the Relief Society, the women's organization in our congregation, washed walls they were amazed by how many buckets of dirty water we went through. We have gone through 3 bottles of ammonia, 1 gallon bleach, and 2 gallons of vinegar so far.

The laundry room had a wallpaper banner of puppies in it. They were removed.

Underfoot is attending the local Elementary School; Hurricane is attending a charter school. The charter school is a little bit father away but has a better middle school than the public alternative. Because Hurricane is already in the charter school, Underfoot is on a sibling waiting list. He is second in line to get into the charter school. Hurricane is sad that Underfoot is not at his school. We hope that Underfoot will be able to switch to the charter school in the near future.

We got library cards this week. Wendy misses the Library Bus.

The Eckerts invited us to the CU/CSU game at Mile High Stadium (where the Broncos play.)

It was a lot of fun.

We took the train. CU killed CSU. The video is of Ralphy the Buffalo.

 

We have a lot more work to do before the tile goes in on Tuesday. We are looking forward to Wendy's mother coming to help us paint.

On Monday Sweetheart sliced his toe open before getting in the shower. He drove himself to the Insta-Care where he got three stitches. His toe is healing nicely. The pictures are below for those who are too queasy too look now.

Hurricane lost a tooth this morning during church. 

We are exhausted with more work tomorrow.

We are living in the master bedroom and kitchen. All four of us are in the master bedroom.

All of our clothes fit into the master bedroom closet, which is extremely large. The rest of the furniture and our belongings are in the garage, waiting for carpet and tile. 

You're welcome to come visit. Bring your paint brush. We have kilzed most of the house and painted the master bedroom and the formal living room. We still have some touch up painting and holes to patch in the formal living room.

After applying lots of kilz, we've pretty much knocked out the smells. Now we just need to finish painting and get everything ready for the flooring.

Hurricane says, "Nothing"

Underfoot says:
We started school last week. We got ice cream again after school. I went to cub scouts. I found a basketball at school. We played a card game called Dominion. I thought it was called Damnation. I mowed the lawn. It was hard. I listened to a book called "The best school year ever." It is by the same author who wrote "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". We made cookies.


Be Well!


Toes pictures below:

Cleaning, cleaning, and living

We have been working really, really hard. After Sunday, we returned to the house to continue cleaning it. We have been cleaning since we took possession of the house.

Once a room is cleaned with the walls wiped down, we try to kilz it. We have kilzed 1 room and most of the floors upstairs. The air ducts in the house have been cleaned as well.

The kitchen is unpacked and being used. The oven took us 3 days to clean the black out of it.

The bathrooms are cleaned. The master shower has a lot of mildew and mold between the tile and the silicone. The silicone will need to be removed and re-caulked before we can start to use it. Sweetheart has made improvements to the house to make it more efficient with motion sensor lights, buying a NEST thermostat, smoke detectors with carbon monoxide sensor included, and a myriad of other tasks.

Sweetheart's employer told him to take the time and to help his family get settled after he went to work the first day. Sweetheart was home the rest of the week helping with the cleaning, painting, and unpacking.

Tuesday evening we met with our Bishop. He interviewed and spoke with our family for about an 1 1/2 hours. Thursday we enrolled the boys in school. Their start date is today Monday. Hurricane will be attending a charter school called Challenge to Excellence. Underfoot will attend our local neighborhood school until an opening is available at the charter school. They are bummed they don't get to attend together. We are hopeful that Underfoot will be able to attend soon with his brother

Underfoot mowed the lawn the first time. He is going to build muscles, patience, and some new skills! We are proud of his hard work!

On Friday, the double oven was fixed. The repairman asked for his check (that was at the Title Company) which sent us on a goose chase to find the check. When Sweetheart called our agent, Jay, to find the check, Jay asked how things were going. Sweetheart told him we had not yet slept in the house. Jay offered to send a professional cleaning company or to have a room painted. I was hesitant. Jay said he would pay for the service. We chose to have the Master bedroom painted.

The painter who came also pulled out our carpets. He told us that the pad was still wet with urine when he pulled the carpet. We have to kilz the main floor still.

The colors on the left are the main colors. The others are accent.

Friday night was the first night we spent in house! We pulled our mattress inside the formal living room and the boys slept in sleeping bags! We have been staying at the Eckert's home. They have fed us, housed us, and provided entertainment for us. We are VERY GRATEFUL for their hospitality and support.

Saturday we loaded our closet with our clothes.

The closet is the bigger than our old laundry room. We now are officially living in our house.

On Sunday Sweetheart was asked to be the Assistant Scoutmaster at church to work with the 12-13 year old young men.

Sweetheart is taking Youth Protection Training with Hurricane on his lap.

Later that day we had the Eckert's over for supper and Dominion. Later we were invited for dessert at our Bishop's family's home. During the evening, where people served an LDS mission came up. Another man in the room served his mission in Panama like I did. He was there 4 years after I was.  That was really exciting to me.

Be Well.

Welcome to Colorado!

Greetings from Parker, CO. On Monday of this past week we signed papers for the sale of our Tucson home. On Tuesday we signed on the papers for our Parker home. Early on Wednesday morning we packed up the last of our belongings and headed to Colorado. Many hands helped us clean the house, pack the car, and helped us emotionally. We are grateful for people's time, energy, and love.

Craig and Grace Earls opened Hotel Earls and were kind enough to let us stay at their home for a couple nights prior to our departure. We were able to sleep in a bed rather than on an air mattress. I must admit that I am very grateful for their hospitality.

The boys finished school at Sycamore Elementary. Mrs. Stone and Mrs. Middendorf, the boys' classroom teachers, have been wonderful as the boys have been moving. The boys celebrated by bringing a white t-shirt to have their classmates sign it and shared a treat on their last day. We have been blessed to be at Sycamore.

The drive to Colorado was long. The Scout did just fine pulling the Prius, and Wendy pulled the trailer behind the Pilot. We averaged about 60 MPH for the whole trip. We stayed at a Worldmark in Santa Fe, NM. It was the tiniest Worldmark we've every been too. They had no pool, no club house, and very little parking. Fortunately we were able to make arrangements with the Japanese restaurant across the street to park the Scout for the night. The manager let us park the Pilot and the trailer in an 'off limits' part of the parking lot because we agreed to leave before the workmen showed up at 6 a.m. I just moved the Pilot across the street and went back to bed. 

I found that the Scout has some carburetor problems. Someday I hope to put fuel injection on it, to make it easier to start. It should also improve the mileage. 10-11 MPG is all we got on our trip. I also had to put a quart of oil in every 150 miles (which is about how often we filled up with gas, too!) The changes in elevation in Colorado are such that fuel injection is a really good idea. I just have to get all the other house projects finished first....

On Thursday night we made it to the new house. The carpet guys were just finishing up the removal of the old carpet. We discovered large animal pee stains all over the sub-floor, which confirmed our decision to have the carpet replaced. The boys ran through the house and immediately discovered the joy of the slide in the basement. My friend Brandon, and his wife Moriah, who also live in Parker, were gracious enough to let us sleep at their house. (We've been camping out at their house ever since- Thank you Brandon and Moriah!)

On Friday we unloaded the truck. Brandon and Moriah came by to help us unload. We had some help from the freight company. The unload took us three hours instead of the two hours that I had originally thought, but we are glad we got the help. The bulk of our possessions are in the garage, with a few items in the basement. The rest of the house is 'naked' because there is no carpet. 

On Saturday I returned the tow dolly to Uhaul and we started working on the house. Wendy and Moriah did a lot of cleaning in the kitchen. (The new house has been neglected quite a bit!) Wendy mowed the front lawn and we took turns mowing the back yard lawn. I somehow managed to misplace the box that had all the painting materials (rollers and paint trays) so I took the boys to Lowes to pick up more rollers. We began painting the subfloor with Kilz primer. Underfoot and Hurricane did a great job painting. Hurricane and I also began removing all the face plates from all the light switches and outlets. We returned home to Brandon and Moriah's house exhausted. Underfoot said his back hurt from bending over so much to do the painting.

Today we attended church at our new congregation. During the second hour, we attended a special sunday school class were members of the congregation leadership introduced themselves. We were also given a chance to introduce ourselves and ask questions. It was the first time Wendy or I had every attended such a class, but it was really nice to get acquainted with a few people. Underfoot and Hurricane were both nervous to attend church, but I believe they have already made some new friends and will be just fine here in Colorado. 

We have not yet decided if we will enroll the boys in school tomorrow or wait a week to give them a little break. They've already been in school this year for 5 weeks, the local school system is only on week 2. Underfoot wants to start school tomorrow, Hurricane wants to wait a week.

Be Well.

Moving and A Wake

We have packed the house, loaded it into the trailer, had a wonderful wake, and will sign on two houses this week.

We have been very busy and couldn't have done it without the help of many, many people.

Sweetheart played games with his friends. He has enjoyed playing Conflict of Heroes. While he played games, Underfoot, Hurricane, and I saw the LDS Tucson Temple construction,

used a birthday gift card for Legos at Toys R Us, used another birthday gift card at Bookmans and played Pokemon there, and shopped for the last few items of food.

Our family birthday was celebrated by packing the attic, garage, and unloading the storage unit we got for showing the house.

Sweetheart had an allergic reaction in the middle and had to stop. We were invited for supper at the Carpenter home and enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs. On Monday, we enjoyed homemade fondue.

Sunday we hosted the last Young Single Adult supper for members of our congregation. We extended the table to its full length, and everyone had a place at the table.

Underfoot and G took a picture at the YSA dinner. They are really great friends.

We really love our table and the memories that have been made around it.

Many hands came to our rescue and aid as we finalized the packing and loading of the semi-trailer. The miracle is everything fit in the trailer. We packed rooms during the day with help. Sweetheart packed the garage by night or worked on the International Harverster Scout.

On Thursday and Saturday, men came to help Sweetheart load the trailer. Because of their help we accomplished a mountain of work. The men were helpful to Sweetheart make sure that the load fit tightly and safely. We are grateful for the many hands and hearts that helped us.

On Saturday, we attended the nicest wake ever. Many people came through to share memories and to wish us well.

R. N., Baby M, and I took at picture at the wake.

We were overwhelmed by the love that was shared.

Underfoot finished his Cub Scout Bear Rank and was awarded the rank this last Tuesday at Pack meeting.

He was given the microphone and shared how he earned some of his awards. I have also been working on the Young Women Personal Progress program. The program is designed for youth ages 12-18 to bring them closer to Christ. Adult women who are interested may do the program as well. I finished this on Sunday, had an interview with my Bishop, and was given the award during our church services.

I was really surprised to be presented in front of the congregation.

The best part of living here is Hurricane! He is our gem from the desert.
 

We have much to accomplish this week. We hope for a smooth week. Prayers would be graciously accepted.

Be Well.

 Wonder Woman Smoothie from a library cookbook

 

 A sunbeam from heaven

Meridale Cider that I took from Pocatello at Thanksgiving

First Day Action

School has started. We came home from Havasupai on Saturday and started school on Monday.

They were happy to start and said that the walk to school wasn't that long after hiking from the bottom on the hill at Havasupai.

At the end of the school day, we went on our traditional getting ice cream.

We invited our friends who are attending the new elementary school. The reunion was a sweet one. Pun intended.

Lance gave his 2 weeks notice at Raytheon the day we got back. He was really nervous to tell, but it went better than he thought it would. He finished his 2 weeks. His co-workers took him to lunch. He started his new job on Monday.

You know on the 1st day of school parents take pictures of their children. Here is Lance on his first day - nerd pack and all.

The boys finished their summer reading program. We decided that they would read as many pages as the Mormon Battalion walked in miles.

Underfoot read all the pages, and Hurricane's job to was listen to and read pages. They both completed their goal.

The sunflowers have been beautiful.

The monsoon has come in full force.

The rain is very welcome and helps keep our house clean outside.

 Both houses have had the inspections and the appraisals. We have started to pack our house. Last Saturday, we packed the canning materials in our outdoor shed. We cut the lids off 2 barrels and filled them then 2 boxes. We didn't realize how many jars we have. We will need to fill every single jar in Colorado.

 Saying goodbye to friends is going to be the hardest thing. On Sunday, we went to supper at a friend's house. Their son thought it was the last night we would see each other.

The Earls family has offered to have a wake for us before we leave. It is August 13 if you'd like to come. Let us know to give you the details. Two weeks from today we will be moving. Hard to image our time is short here.

Be Well!