It's amazing how fast the time goes and if I didn't have a few pictures along the way, I would have hardly any idea of what I had done with my time.
I think that as we settle more into a normal routine with "normal" stuff, the less interesting the blog becomes. Since I last posted we took a trip to Mesquite, Nevada. The weather was nice and sunny; we were able to play a few rounds of golf; and most importantly, some former senior missionaries, Bob and Barbara Jones live nearby and we were able to enjoy a dinner or two with them.
We then returned home to begin a big (at least to us) remodeling project. We find ourselves sequestered in the basement with a microwave, toaster and little grill. We've managed to get along pretty good thanks to dinners mostly out with either the Maughan family or treating ourselves.
Our children have been wanting to see how the remodeling is coming, so thought I'd share the week by week progress with a few pictures. The first ones are how we looked with all the furniture moved before demolition began.
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| Main kitchen before |
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| Another shot of kitchen minus Refrigerator |
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| Looking down stairs |
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| Upstairs gathering room |
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| Bookcase, desk, TV cabinet |
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| Laundry room sink |
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| Mud room minus safe |
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| Front entry hall |
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| Main bathroom |
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| Bathtub in main bathroom |
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| End of Week 1, family/kitchen area |
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| Family room, end week one |
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| Another view of kitchen, end week one |
We looked at a lot of granite slabs, and
the winner is:
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| Secret Garden |
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| Secret Garden |
We stopped to visit the twins (the whole family was a little sick) after our granite shopping day. Zach (twin's dad) was such a great help in getting all the colors put together and we needed Sue's input as well. What a relief to have that done! Thanks, Zach!
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| Sue with August and Kiefer |
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| August, are you hiding? |
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| Sue and Kiefer |
Progress by the end of week two:
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| Kitchen/Family Room area |
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| Kitchen area |
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| Down the stairs |
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| Main bath looking through to Master |
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| Master Bath |
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| Laundry room |
A little more progress brings us to the end of Week 3. They finally had to take all the old flooring out down to the original sub floor (about 4-5 layers of old floor) which took them longer than planned:
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| Ryan on his "stilts" mudding |
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| Main bath |
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| Master Bath |
Another week has gone by and I have received a new calling to teach the 9 year olds in Primary. They are bright, fun children and after a couple of weeks, I feel more confident about being able to teach them. Other than doing music, this is the first time I've worked in Primary on a regular basis since I was Blazer Scout leader. Rog is now the Scout Committee Chairman and took time out on Saturday (before fishing) to help the boys with their Utah Food Bank donation gathering.
This past week also brought the sad news of the passing of our dear friend and neighbor,
Tawna Smith. We had done many things together including walking nearly every morning for the past 11+ years.
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| Looking down the staircase |
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| Master Bath |
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| Family/Kitchen room |
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| Family room looking north |
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| Painter Kim in the laundry room |
We're looking forward to Conference and another missionary reunion this coming weekend. It's like a light amongst all the white paint and wallboard dust we're surrounded by. Life is good and we're enjoying it!
