Moving - Phase III

A terrible thing happened!!! 

The end of August arrived and suddenly our magnificent crew of workers had to go back to school!  And even more than that, three of them had to be on their volleyball teams too.  So not only were they gone during school time, but after school and before school too.  And then they started saying things like, "I can't help, I have to do my homework!"  

But we couldn't complain - they were so awesome and worked so hard all summer!!!

But then they started to complain about their living conditions.  For example, "It's hard to get ready for school when I'm sleeping in the camper, my closet box is in the house, my dresser is in the workshop, and my grooming stuff is in the bathroom!"

My complaint was, "It's getting cold out!" 

So this is how the house was looking while Rich was doing baseboards - fine little dust particles of MDF everywhere!

I was actually cleaning a lot to help keep the dust down while he was doing it.

Rich wants you to notice his knobby knees as he's there doing baseboards!

I think they're cute!

Anyway, once he got the baseboards and casings on, he went back to work (the type of work where you make money, not working on the house, because he certainly wasn't 'not' working all that time!)

Then my job was to get the house cleaned up so we could move in.  First I moved all the tools out of the way, and then the cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.  From washing windows to vaccuuming out cupboards, it all had to be done before moving in.

Once the great room was reasonably clean, I made a TV corner for my two little ones to help keep them entertained.

One countertop still loaded with tools, but the rest is looking good!

And the view from the dining room window - that's either Omar or Sahara!

And the swallows on our dirt pile looked so cute I decided to play with my camera - turned out pretty good!!!

Oh yes, back to Moving - Phase III

Richie's all excited about moving!  The challenge in this move is the fact that the only doorway that has stairs leading to it is through the garage that is filled with tools and house stuff.  So he built this little ramp up to the front door.  The move began at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept 17.

We finally had to call for help and had Kevin and about five wonderful guys from our ward come and help us with all the heavy stuff for just over an hour.  John and Randy are passing the mattress up to Rich and Jas.  Also helping was Craig, Colton and Rob, but they weren't lucky enough to be captured on film!

And through the door it goes!

The view looking out the front door.  We'd fill the cargo trailer over at the workshop (where we were living) and back it up to the front door.  The new fridge wouldn't fit through the door and they had to dismantle it.  I was wondering what was taking that load so long - I was afraid the fridge wasn't fitting in it's new location, but it did!

Marty came over a little later and helped Rich move furniture to the actual spots where they were going to be.  We sure were grateful for all the help.

By the end of the day we were so tired.

So we ordered SASH pizza for dinner and sat around in our new living room, resting our weary bones and enjoying the comfort of our new home.

That's Jordyn there in the black Champions t-shirt.  She missed the whole move as she was away at a volleyball tournament.  Obviously they won as they came home with the winning shirts!

A few weeks later, here is a view of the kitchen, living room and dining area.

Oh it's so clean!!!

Lovely paint job on the kitchen walls eh?  It's actually all going to be beadboard someday - it'll look sweet!!!

Still tons to do but we're in and very comfortable!!!  It fits our family perfectly!!!

Those splashes of orange are autumn decorations!!!  Gotta decorate for the seasons ya know!

A few weeks before our move, Chelle moved into the bonus room, so there was another move and clean-up happening through all this (we'll call that Phase II.V).  Yeah - Chelle moved back home to save rent money as she started her second year of college.

I'm SO DELIGHTED that we are FINALLY LIVING IN OUR NEW HOME!!!

The Baby turns 2

Seriously?  Two already???

Little Miss turned 2 on a Friday in September.  And from looking at the background of the pictures, we were still living in the workshop.  So it was that crazy time of our life - which is probably why we didn't celebrate her birthday til Sunday, and never did make her a cake!!!

This card was the first thing she opened, and she loved the kitties so much that she didn't feel a need to open anything else!

But we were able to get her interested in other stuff.  When she opened her new Sunday shoes, she wasn't letting go of that card, and used her feet to try to get the shoes out of the bag! 

Or maybe she was just trying them on with them still in the bag!

Looking good Kenz!!!

Katia passed on one of her old dolls - can't you just feel the love?

And a book that makes sounds - definitely won't be going in the church bag!!!

This is a stuffed emu - which I believe Grandma and Grandpa got on their trip to NZ/Oz.  Kenzie loves a Wiggles DVD about Australian animals so here she's giving herself a beak to do the "Good Friend Emu" song . . . I don't know, but I'm telling you he can run the pants off a kangaroo . . . 

Actually, I really like the emu!

And then there is a Curious George book.  She loves this book!!!  Whenever daddy would tell her to get and book for him to read to her, she'd bring this one.  I mean, it's a fun book with George going to a costume party - but eventually daddy asked me to hide it so she would start bringing something else for him to read.

I find great delight in Mackenzie - we all do!!!  She's adorable and fun and sweet and kind and snuggable and agreeable and smart.  She is such a delightful blessing to our family!!!

Should Not Have Done That!

Nope!  I definitely should not have done that!!!

So, let me tell a little story.  In the process of building our house, there were all sorts of tasks to be done.  Rich had installed a bunch of doors and suggested that I could put all the door handles on.  Now I've never actually put door knobs on before, but I knew I could do it once I was shown how.  So Rich suggested that I come and do the bathroom door first because that's where he was working, doing plumbing stuff. 

 That way he was right there to tell me what to do and answer any questions I might have. Made good sense eh?

So the first thing I did was screw the plate onto the door jam (hope I get all the terminology right!)  Then he suggested I stick the whole lock thingy through the hole in the door and see if it lines up correctly with the plate that I had just screwed on to the door jam.

This is the lock thingy in the hole.  Anyway, to see if it lined up properly, I actually shut the door.  It seemed like the most logical way for me to see if it was lined up right.  But you see, I should not have done that - primarily because I had not yet installed any door handles to open the door with!

But the good news was . . .

it was lined up properly!!!

So now we had Rich, Jas and I locked in the bathroom!  I wasn't too concerned because I knew that Rich knew how to solve any problem and knew the mechanics behind any gizmo that might be causing us problems.  And the rest of our family was on the other side of the bathroom door, able to fetch things he required.  He called for his wallet so he could use a credit card to open the lock.  We were all enthralled to watch how a credit card is actually used to open a door - but it didn't work!  Not sure why - it works in the movies.  Maybe we should have tried a debit card instead!  (Actually, it was because there is a casing in the middle of the door jam that the door stops against, and the card could not bend around that casing.)

Then we tried taking the door off the hinges, but that didn't work either.  It could not be done!

And of course Chelle got the camera to document this event, and was taking pictures of us through the door knob hole and through the door hole - the part that eventually gets covered by casings!

Rich tried to do some jimmying with the lock mechanism, but that didn't work either.  You see, it's a bathroom door so it is a lockable door.  I needed to turn something before putting the handles through, but obviously I didn't do any of that.  So he couldn't make the darn thing open - a regular unlockable door handle would have opened though!

Then Rich had the brilliant idea to have Chelle fetch a piece of wire.  His plan was to feed the wire around the latch piece (you know, the piece that moves in and out when you open and shut a door!) and be able to push/pull the latch piece in, so the door would open.  Brilliant man!!!  It took him quite a while to be able to thread the wire where it needed to be.  And then, with all the pushing and pulling and maneuvering of the wire, it still wouldn't open!

By now we've been locked in the bathroom for about half an hour.  Rich is making a cell phone call to the local fire department to come and get us out!

No - I'm just kidding about that! 

But he was totally frustrated by now and was thinking that he was going to have to actually dismantle the door to get us out.  He took his frustration out on the poor little wire and yanked one end of it out of the door so hard that . . . lo, and behold, . . . the door opened!

We were free!!!

And for the other 17 door knobs I installed, I was very careful to actually have a handle through the hole before I closed it, and to make sure I was on the outside of the door so I wouldn't be locked in a room somewhere, just in case something went wrong!

You know, properly installed door handles are quite delightful things.  Ours are black, they all work properly, and I love them!!!

August at the House

So . . . with the walls painted, it was time to get some flooring down.  The office was our practice room.  We didn't want a noticeable pattern in the floor, but didn't want any "bricking" so we planned our starter sizes and the pattern repeated every ninth row.

That's pretty easy to understand right?  Start with the 3/8th piece, than the 7/8th, then the 1/8th, and so on . . .

Rich lounging around on the new floor.  Laying the floor actually went pretty quickly because we were such a hardworking and highly efficient crew.

Before we could do the kitchen, we had to move all the cabinets to the living room side of the room.  And there is Aunt Kaylene who came all the way from Taiwan to supervise us!

Break time for the crew!  Won't the kitchen sink look nice above those pipes?

Okay you lazies - get back to work!!!

I love this action shot of all the cabinets getting moved back to the kitchen side of the room so we can continue on with the floor.

Lifting an upper cabinet into place, and then realizing the plug above the cabinet was too low.  We'll do that cabinet again another day.

Back to the floor . . .

We did this perfectly - the kitchen and mud room fit exactly right, so the first row conecting the two areas could not possibly have fit better - phew!

Such a cute view from the window.  Katia was such a good babysitter for Mackenzie while the rest of us worked inside.  (They weren't actually mowing the lawn!)

Rich and Jordyn worked on her room, while Jas, Kaylene and I worked on the master bedroom (the much bigger room!)  Carlee and Jenna were the runners and Richelle did all the sawing.  We were having a little race getting these two rooms done.  That sure got those rooms done quickly as our runners were flying back and forth from the rooms to the saw with the boards.  It was such a close race - it really doesn't matter who won!  The fact is, we all won as those rooms got done so quickly!!!

Chelle on the saw, which was in the family room.

Someone entertaining herself with garbage.

Can't quite tell who it is!

This was the hardest spot in the whole house . . .

. . . the master closet and little hallway.  The hallway was diagonal so the end of each board had to be cut on an angle too.  Thank goodness for baseboards to hide any imperfections.  Of course, this hardworking and highly efficient crew would never have any imperfections!

Kaylene came all the way from Taiwan to scrub our freezer!  Everytime we see the clean front, we think of you Kaylene, and are so grateful that we didn't have to do it!!!

When we finished our final room (Jasmine's room) . . .

. . . we had one board left!  How amazing is that?  But how could such a hardworking and highly efficient crew possibly have anything but such a perfect estimate?

What's next?

Well, it appears to be kitchen countertops.  Had to get the base cabinets installed and countertops on first, because some of the upper cabinets were resting on the countertops.

A view across the great room (that toilet isn't actually going to stay there!).  We didn't paint the kitchen walls as the whole backsplash is going to be beadboard - someday!

Bathroom cabinets need countertops too.

And look at that floor!  Woot, woot!!!  We didn't do it - hired a guy to lay the linoleum.  Hey, we can't do everything!

The painter doing a rather large spot that she missed!  Rich is working on the kitchen sink.

The rest of us were hanging out in the background, doing amazing things like painting baseboards and casings.

And now, upper cabinets are appearing . . .

. . . and handles (which actually takes a lot longer than you might think, and is messy!)

Look - baseboards!!!  Amazing how that finishes a room, even if it's not finished!

This is the view from the corner of the kitchen.

There are cabinets on either side of the fireplace too - great storage spot!!!

View of the kitchen from the dining room.

Cutting the baseboards made such a fine dust that got all over everything - big clean-up job coming soon!

Jenna installing switch plates.

Don't you love our temporary railings?

And there's Sweet Pea - helping out by sleeping.  The little Angel!

I delight in the memories - probably because memories are in the past, which means we're not doing all this work right now!!!  But it's nice to look back and think  "Wow - look what we did!"  

Reminds me of a scripture in Alma 26:12  "In His strength, I can do all things". 

And that's delightful to know!