May 27th through June 2nd

May 27^th through June 2^nd:  Monday, John B. and I spent the day cutting holes, pulling wire, and installing new can lights, 26 in total, in the 3 upstairs kid’s bedrooms, bath, and hall.  Last Saturday we did the master bedroom.  

Lights cut and wires pulled in Jake's bedroom.

The hall is ready for the new can lights to be installed.

John B. had to climb up into the attic and drill holes to fish wire to the switches.

In the evening, Mom hosted a BBQ for Alex and Charlotte’s family, Bryce and Kate’s family, and John and Jill’s family.  Hamburgers and hotdogs are always delicious when cooked on the grill.  

Everyone was scattered all over for our BBQ.

Tuesday I started the demo of the music/craft room by removing the carpet, pad and baseboard moldings.  I laid out the placement for the new can lights and started cutting the holes.  Mom had to go to work.  

Music/Craft room ready for new lighting.

Wednesday I removed the carpet, pad and baseboard moldings in the front room and then went to the dump.  When I got back I laid out the placement for the 15 new can lights and started cutting the holes.  

Front Room with carpet gone and ready to cut for the new lights.  This room is 22 feet long and 15 feet wide.  It did not have one light on the ceiling.  It will have 15 when I am done.

With John B. at work, I had to cut the holes for the new cans.

Thursday I finished cutting all the holes and started pulling the wire for the new lights.  Chris and I went to lunch with Doug Thayne, his new fiancé, Debra, and Lee and Connie Crayk.  Doug, Lee, Chris and I all served in the Quito, Ecuador mission together when we were youngsters and we served with Connie and Lee in the Cochabamba Temple when he was the temple president there. It was so nice to be with these great people that we love so much.  Doug and Debra look very happy to have found each other.  She is a lovely person.  After lunch I went back to wiring and taking out part of the wall where the stairs are located.  Wiring new can lights when you don’t have access above the ceiling is a lot harder than when you have an attic above the ceiling.  Also, doing it all by yourself is much harder than when you have a helper.  

We are taking out and opening up part of the wall by the stairs.

Wires pulled for the new cans.

Friday I got the front room lights wired and the dimmer switches installed for the two 3-way switches that Jill wanted.  I also got the wires pulled for the 10 new cans in the music/craft room.  

I had to demo a lot of this wall in order to get the 2 new 3-way switches installed. 

Saturday I got up early and started wiring the cans in the music/craft room.  When John B. got back from a 32 mile bike ride, he worked with me to finish the wiring, removing the crown molding and patching where we had to cut holes in order to pull wire through the joists.  

The lights are all installed and they work.  That is always a good thing.

We then went to the dump with a load of wood and sheetrock.  On the way home, we went to the storage unit and got a load of cabinets.  When we got the cabinets in the house, I took Moose to Home Depot for building supplies and then we went to lunch at Chick-filet.  Moose ordered a 30 piece chicken nugget meal.  On the way out, he said that he now had the answer to one of his questions.  I asked him what question was that and he said “Can I eat 30 chicken nuggets for lunch?”  He certainly can!!  He had been a big help in carrying in the cabinets and tearing down the crown moldings.  

Part of the cabinets.

After lunch we, John B., Badger, and I, made another run to the storage unit for the 5 pantry cabinets we needed.  They are incredibly heavy and without Badger’s help we would not have been able to move them.  Thanks Bader and Moose for you help Saturday.  

More of the cabinets.

John B. helped me build one of the pantries and then we went to Home Depot to get heat registers to install in the toe kicks of the cabinets that were going to cover the floor registers.  

The lights are finished and we have one cabinet built and only 27 more to go for these two rooms.

In the evening, we had a nice visit from Wally and Martha Cooper.  We appreciate their friendship.  Sunday I got up early and went to a stake meeting with the Stake Presidency for all the Temple and Family History Leaders, Elders quorum president and the counselor over T and FH.  After Fast and Testimony meeting we drove into Salt Lake and picked up my brother Van and then drove to Heber City where we met Tad and Tove and then drove with them to Altamont to see Hidden Springs Ranch where we are going to have our Norman family reunion in over the 4^th of July.  The ranch is great and we are all so excited for our reunion.  We have about 150 descendents of my mom and dad signed up to come.  

The main house is enormous. It sleeps 122 people in beds.

Looking down from the bedrooms on the second floor.

We got home at 6:30 pm.  We got a good start on the work on John’s main floor and my goal is to have it all done by the end of August.  In two weeks we will demo the kitchen and laundry room/half bath.