The Stairs are Clad!

There was quite a bit of back and forth over whether my parents would come this weekend or not, but in the end they decided to come on Saturday. Terral and I rushed to get the protective coat on the stringers before they came because the coat that goes on the stringers is different from what goes on the steps, and the two can't overlap at all. Luckily it all worked out and we were able to get it done just in time.

Terral had a race in St. George, so he wasn't here for the first half of the day. Things went much slower this time because dad needed breaks and mom and I weren't skilled enough to do the precise measuring and cutting. But that was totally fine, because of course I wanted dad to take his needed breaks, and there was less that needed to be done.

Here's a picture of the stairs with the newly-cut risers and a few treads put on. You can kind of see the color difference between the risers and the railings. Once the railings (that we love!) were up, we felt that the stain turned out a little too orangey-red and it made the other wood tones in our house look. . .different. . . so I tested out a couple scrap pieces and we decided to put a coat of walnut stain on top. It didn't make a stark difference, but it tones down the red and I think fits our house better now.

 And here's the view from the top with just a couple treads put in.

 As dad cut the treads, mom and I glued and nailed them in. Mom was thoughtful enough to make sure there was photographic evidence of me working on our stairs. :)

 Ethan spent the morning with Terral's parents, and I met them in Cedar to watch the storybook parade when Terral came back from his race. Ethan really enjoyed the parade, and I did too. The floats were way better than what you see in the 4th of July parade. But mostly I just had fun watching Ethan.

 He was so tuckered out afterward that he fell asleep in the car within 2 minutes!

When we got home,  mom helped me put some wood filler on our cabinet fronts, and dad installed an outlet and switched out a broken one to make our kitchen more functional. Terral and dad finished off the drywall and some more trim on the stairs. Dad was pretty darn beat by the end. He is such a trooper. I'm very lucky to have the parents I do.

There is still plenty of work to do (sanding, staining, filling, topcoat, etc.) but we love our new stairs! I think they are beautiful. Even covered in construction dust. :)

Birthday Weekend

It was lovely having my birthday fall on a Saturday this year. In years past, I have almost always been in school or working or both, so it was really nice to not have obligations like that.

After a somewhat leisurely morning of sort of sleeping in and eating made-from-scratch cocoa oatmeal muffins, we loaded up and headed to Delta to visit my parents. I had told Terral that's what I wanted to do for my birthday when I found out about my dad's fall.

We had a really nice weekend. We were hoping to help my parents out more than we did, but they couldn't seem to think up many jobs for us. My mom recently purged and reorganized their office, and she had me help her hang some pictures on the newly painted wall. And dad had a little job or two for Terral, but one of them was actually for our garage. My parents are so helpful to us that they help us even when we're helping them. ;)

I tried to take a picture of my belly, but it didn't quite work out. 

More belly, less head.

For some reason, dad's newly poured concrete by the garage has tilted up and is causing problems, so he had Terral dig out some gravel from underneath. Ethan was excited to get in on the digging action.

 Dad supervising. 

 My mom was really sweet and made me a pumpkin coconut cake for my birthday. She and my dad sang "Happy Birthday" to me and had me blow out a candle. Terral was absent because Ethan was crying his head off and wouldn't go to bed. He hadn't gotten a nap because he'd been too excited to play at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and he has a few teeth coming in. That's all we can figure could have caused his unusual behavior. 

 Here's a look at my dad's damaged foot. When I talked to him today, he said his ribs are not bothering him quite as much, but his foot still has him a little worried.

 It was really good to see improvement in him just while we were there. He is in a lot of pain, and he had a coughing episode at dinner that just looked excruciating, but his healing seems to be on track, and we are very grateful for that.

Sunday afternoon we had a nice surprise when the Keck family showed up. Ethan had so much fun playing with his cousins!

 Grandpa even got in on the action. :)

 We were planning on coming home Sunday, but we ended up staying that night and leaving in the morning. I

Ethan is very into letters right now, and my mom sent us home with this magnet set for him to play with. It was a very good thing to have in the car!

It was really a very nice weekend. We played games and we visited. It was good to just spend time with my parents.

Broken

I just found out that my dad took a big fall today. I don't know many details yet, but I was able to talk to my mom briefly as they were on their way home from the hospital. She said that he cracked three ribs clear through, but they aren't poking into his lungs or anything (thank goodness!) and that his ankle is badly sprained. He's hurting, and I'm sure bruised all over.

I hurt inside for him. And for my mom.

But I'm so grateful it wasn't worse. I don't know how long it will take him to recover. I love my daddy so much. He is a hard working, caring, righteous man, and I'm so lucky he's my father.

Stairs In Progress

As I was going through the pictures I took over the weekend, I realized I don't have any of the current state of things. So I'll have to take some more pictures tomorrow to finish documenting what was done.

One last look at our stairs in their "pre" state, minus the temporary railing up top.

 A look at the landing, since it was going to be a big change.

 Ethan helping his daddy dismantle the old railing.

 Gotta love hammering!

 T is for Terral

 This is one of the things that prompted a whole staircase redo instead of just putting in new railing. some of the steps had been cut out for the old posts.

 Hooray for removing yucky carpet!

 Matt tearing out the wall beneath the stairs.

 Ethan was fascinated by all the destruction. And he loved hanging out with Karalee too. :)

 And the crow bar becomes a gun. Bang!

 Sorry for all the dust particles. The flash had to go off and it really highlighted all the junk in the air. It was pretty amazing to watch Dad tear down the drywall under the stairs and see pounds of dirt fall to the ground. Um, gross. Did they never vacuum?

 Matt and dad cutting into the old floor to make room for the new landing.

 Mom and Karalee did lots of sanding and staining. Terral and I jumped back and forth doing lots of things, but we spent quite a bit of time doing this too.

 And here are the beginnings of our new stairs! Dad and Matt really figured things out well. All our needs were addressed without making the stairs too obtrusive into the narrow family room. As Matt said, I really did hit the family jackpot. We really are so grateful for their willingness to share their time and talents with us!

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A couple funnies from this weekend:

1) Mom was trying to complement Terral, but she made us all laugh because she kept saying that he is very easily entertained. She meant that he has a creative mind, and was surprised that most people mean that someone is simple minded when they use that phrase.

2) Ethan has a little tape measure he got at a white elephant party last year. It's a tape measure for dumb blonds and has pictures of feet instead of numbers. Matt needed to measure something, and mom apparently hadn't woken up completely yet that morning because she brought him Ethan's tape measure instead of a real one. She didn't even realize it until she saw Dad laughing.

Little Jay

Today we got to meet Heather and Chris' new little son, Jaymon. They had set up a time with Terral and were in Cedar, and Heather, Natalie, and Grandma Hunt came to visit us. Heather is doing amazingly well, and Jaymon is filling out already.

I could not get over how incredibly tiny he is! He was almost a pound lighter than Ethan was, and of course I'm used to Ethan's current size.

Speaking of Ethan, he got a little jealous when he saw me holding the baby. (Don't worry, he got over it.)

 So, so tiny!

We are very excited to welcome this little cutie into the family. :)

Conference Sunday

We had a really lovely day today. Terral made pancakes with a really yummy apple topping for breakfast, and we got to spend a little time just hanging out with my parents and watching conference with them. They stayed for lunch afterward, but then left for home because my dad had to drive to Heber today. After the second session of conference, we finally went up into the mountains to enjoy the fall weather. It has been so long since we've been in the mountains! We had a great time, and Ethan seemed to have tons of fun. I've got some pictures of our outing, but I'm way past tired and don't want to do it now.

Happy dreaming!

Weekend with BlaBlams

My parents (Ethan says blablam for grandma as well as grandpa now) came down yesterday evening to help us some more on the house. Today, Dad finished installing and trimming the garage door, and he and Terral poured cement so that our sun room no longer has a risk of termites. Mom fixed some loose stones in the entryway, and helped me to take care of the old windows we still had sitting out. We threw away the glass and saved the aluminum for recycling. She also did some dishes and weeding and various other little projects. I'm so happy her health is improving! We all spent some time scraping and brushing paint off the house too, and we even got started painting on one side! That was very exciting for me. Now that the cement is done, all we need to do on the required repairs list is finish painting the exterior, find out if our temporary railing will fit the bill, and install outlet covers. We're so close! And so far it has cost much less than we estimated, and that includes some extras! We're feeling very blessed. :)

We listened to Conference while we worked, which is not my favorite way of doing it, but we were very grateful that Mom and Dad could come help. In spite of the distractions, tears came to my eyes a number of times. We missed President Monson's talk because the time got away from us, so we were wondering what the announcement was that the other speakers kept referring to. Finally, Elder Nelson recapped the announcement, and Mom and I just looked at each other sharing the moment. It was one of those electrifying times. Young men will now be able to serve a mission at the tender age of 18, and young women at 19. I couldn't help but wonder a bit how differently my life would have played out if I had been able to serve at 19 instead of 21. But I know that Heavenly Father has guided my life and that things happened when they were supposed to for me.

Being able to turn to Him and rely on the Holy Ghost is one of the biggest blessings in my life.

Family, Friends, and Babies

Yesterday, the adventure-loving volvo became officially registered and we drove it down to St. George for a midwife appointment. Baby and I seem to be doing fine. I have finally gained a little bit of weight back. And as usual, we had a nice long discussion with our midwife about various birth-related things.

As we were leaving, we passed someone on the street that looked familiar to me. I craned my neck to check and suddenly said, "Hey! That's my friend Gina!" We were really good friends in middle school, and it's been several years since we'd seen each other. So Terral pulled the car around and we went back and ended up having a really good visit with her. Turns out her husband has worked for Terral's uncle for about seven years, and we had no idea! It was a very fun surprise meeting.

After that, we went to Chris and Heather's house because they were kind enough to be willing to watch Ethan for us while we went to the temple. They said he behaved really well, which is good, because I think he wore Heather out even when he wasn't being tiresome!

Before we went in the temple, I had Terral snap a picture of my much more evident baby bump. 16 1/2 weeks!

 I thought we'd better get one of both of us too. :) Not the best picture of me, but hey, we're happy!

We had a really nice time at the temple. We did sealings, and there was a super nice couple in the room with us. You could just tell by looking at the wife that she was a kind person, and Terral thought the same thing of the husband. Someday I want to be like that—so kind that it just shows in my face. I think I have quite a ways to go, though. The couple was really sweet to each other, too. I found out talking to her later that she has a daughter just a few years younger than me (which I wouldn't have guessed by looking at her). Even though they'd been married that long, their love for each other was still very much in evidence, which is another thing I hope to emulate.

After the temple, Heather and Chris invited us to eat dinner with them. Who could refuse and offer like that? So we had a really yummy meal with good company.

At one point, Heather said that she was ready to meet her baby. Turns out that she got her wish! Little Jaymon Hall was born this morning, and we are very excited for his arrival! He was 5 pounds and 13 ounces, and 19 inches long. I think his mom was about the same size when she was born. :)

Today we went into town to get our old Volvo and work towards getting it road-ready. The good news is that now we know what needs to be done and Terral was able to fix a couple little things. The bad news is that there really wasn't a whole lot of headway made, and we are without a car. Nothing could be done with insurance until Monday.

I went to the General Relief Society broadcast this evening. It was really good! And I was very emotional. I think I have a big cry in me yet—who knows when it's going to burst out. But I was very grateful to listen to inspired leaders.

There's been quite a stir among my family's friends because of this.

It's a picture that was taken when my mom and two of my sisters went to the General Relief Society meeting in SL two years ago. It was in the Ensign, and now it popped up as the banner for this year's meeting. Fun! It's a great picture, isn't it?

Henke Gathering

We had a Henke Family Reunion on Saturday, so we set out for Delta that morning. Unfortunately, I lamely left the camera in the car and didn't take any pictures of the actual reunion. We didn't get there as soon as we would have liked to, but once we were there we had a good time. I enjoyed talking with some of my cousins that I hardly ever see, and Terral and Ethan did a lot of playing. Ethan was very much being a daddy's boy that day, which worked out fine because that meant I could do more visiting.

We had lunch at the park and then we spent a couple hours swimming at the pool. We haven't done hardly any swimming this year, and Ethan had a blast. I would have enjoyed it a wee bit more if the water had been warmer. :) But as I said, we all had a good time.

Afterward, we headed back to my parents' house. It was fun to see Ethan play with his cousins because even since the last time we got together, he's become much more just one of the boys and less of a baby.

Terral, Ethan, and I got to take a little ride on the "wheeler". Ethan sure loves four-wheeling! Funny how you enjoy doing things just because your offspring likes it. It really was a nice evening ride though.

We talked, played a game or two, and watched a movie. And then on Sunday we got to attend the second session of the Brigham City Temple dedication.

We were the last ones to leave on Sunday. Reluctant to leave a good time, I guess. :) Ethan had taken a really late nap, so he didn't fall asleep on the ride home, but he did really well. We bought a little potty when we decided we were serious about this potty training thing, and it has turned out to be a good investment. I always thought a seat to put on the regular toilet would be good enough, but Ethan likes being able to do most of it himself, and I think it makes it more special that he has his own potty. Plus, it seems to be much more comfortable for him.

Anyway, we brought this little potty with us to Delta, and on the way home we stopped a couple times to accommodate Ethan's cries of "potty!" He just looked so cute enjoying himself there on the side of the road, I couldn't help but snap a picture.

The Garage

Saturday afternoon Dad decided it was time to work on the garage. This was one of those "that would be nice" projects that I didn't expect to get done so soon.

Here is the before shot of the shed, which will now officially be the garage. We like the look of the barn doors, but they are pretty decrepit and not very functional. So when dad told us he had a free garage door from a job he was working on, we said, "okay!"

Before I move on, please note the lights at the peak. We couldn't figure out how to turn them on. There was also a mystery light switch in the house that we didn't notice for a while that seemed to go to nothing. I asked dad if he thought he could help us figure out the light switch Friday night, and he was outside looking for something, when suddenly he pointed up at the lights on the garage and said, "I bet it goes to that" and all of the sudden they turned on! It was like magic. ;) I just never made the connection before because the lights are motion activated, so they didn't turn on with just the flip of the switch. It sure will be nice to be able to use them now!

 The garage door is bigger than our opening was. If you compare this picture to the one above it, you can see how much the opening was widened. **edited to add** I can't believe I forgot to mention that while Terral was helping dad move the beam on the left, it came down on his foot! He was hurting quite a bit and we worried it might be broken. But he borrowed a boot from a friend and put some essential oils on it, and now it's doing much better, thank goodness.

 Dad had to cut through the cement. Very handy that he had the tool for that!

 It was a very dusty job. And he had to do a lot of it because we didn't have a sledge hammer. (I actually did finally manage to locate one at the neighbor's, but the job was done by the time I brought it over. Bummer!)

Trimming out the new door frame.

 Ethan sitting contentedly on the lawn watching the action and munching on an apple from our tree. (PS That's the compressor we scored at the garage sale!)

 Here the garage door mostly installed. We ran out of time, so dad will finish it next time he comes down. But it actually isn't any taller than that, so we'll have to fix the gap. Dad forgot after he dismantled the door that it's a certain brand that doesn't do standard sizes, so the door is actually wider and shorter than the opening they made. Darn it! But luckily dad is handy and can figure out solutions for things like that, so it's not that big of a deal. And if we ever decide to replace this door with a newer one (I'd love a carriage style!) then it will be the right size for that.

 And finally, here's another little discovery we made. Dad brought things to wire a place where we could plug in the dryer because we could only find a gas set up and ours is electric. I've been line drying our clothes, but that has been a little tricky with all the rain we've had, and now cooler weather is coming and the sun doesn't reach that side of the house as well. I started looking at the water softener to see if I could move it, because I would rather have the dryer next to the washer if I could, instead of at a 90 degree angle like we thought it had to be set up. Well, I moved the big part of the system, and lo and behold, there's an outlet for a dryer! Very cool! So that was one less thing for my dad to do. So we brought in the dryer, but it's still not hooked up because our the cord on the dryer has the wrong sort of plug. So we bought a new cord, but have yet to install it. Oh, and we have to get a little creative with the venting because the dryer will be on the "wrong" wall. But it shouldn't be too much longer until I have the option of using it! I'm very excited about it, if you can't tell. :)

Before I forget, I also wanted to share a couple cute things about my dad's visit that aren't house related.  When he pulled up, I told Ethan that grandpa was here, and he started to say "grandpa" for the first time! (Actually, I think he had a word for it at one point, but he hasn't said it for months and months.) It morphed the first several times he said it, but then it settled into it's current form: blablam. So funny!

He became pretty attached to grandpa this visit. At one point, Terral's parents were at our house too. They had taken Ethan for a little while and were bringing him back. Well, as you know Ethan is currently obsessed with baseball and he wanted to play. There were plenty of people willing to throw the ball to him, but no one would do but blablam! We all tried to toss it to him, but he just hugged his bat and turned away. Then he'd come and get the ball and take it to grandpa. Sometimes he is very particular.

Windows and Roofs

A lot has happened in the past few days! We'll see how much of it I can get through tonight.

First off, here is the beast that we took down from our bedroom window. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to not have that hunk of metal in there anymore!

 And here you can see where it used to hang on the house.

The main thing that Dad did with Terral yesterday was replacing five of our windows. Four of them were broken, but the fifth was one we decided to do now so that all the windows in the "tower" would match and be functional, since you couldn't open any of them.

Here's dad working on the window in the storage room.

 And Ethan helping Terral in the guest bedroom.

 Both windows from the outside.

And the new ones put in and calked!

 Here's a close up of one of the tower windows. Because of this little damage, we got to buy the window at half off! We were going to put it up high, but dad got going and didn't notice which one he grabbed and it ended up on the bottom. Oh well! We'll sand it and maybe fill it in with something. It still looks so much better than the old one!

 Here's one of the cracked upper windows. It had a ton of dead bugs in it, and I was always worrying about the kids because it's a lower window and they could touch where the glass was broken.

 Besides the cracking, the old windows also had film and condensation on the inside.

 Dad trimming the space so the window will fit. (Incidentally, this window seems to be a favorite with kids because they feel like they're on the roof. :) )

  And here is the new lower window! It is such an improvement. We didn't really expect how good the white windows would look with the trim on our house.

 After the windows were all in, dad and Terral did some work on the garage before it got too dark. Here Terral is removing a strange cat walk thing made from crown molding. Bye bye!

 While he was doing that, dad was filling in some screw holes that got missed on the roof last time.

 I am so impressed that my dad can do moves like this at nearly 67!

 My honey getting some more edge screws.

 Then today, they put all the final touches on both of the roofs. (Well, almost all the final touches. Terral still needs to put tar under some of the old shingles so they will last longer.)

Doesn't that metal roof look so nice? They do great work! And even though my dad says he gets tired fast than he used to, I'm amazed at what he does. It makes me tired just to watch him. I tried to pitch in here and there where I could, but mostly I took care of my house duties and Ethan. I'm so grateful for all the work dad and Terral did! Dad has been so very generous to us. I'm so lucky to have him for a father. :)