John and Christine's Adventures: September 23rd through September 29th

September 23^rd through September 29^th: Monday Mom and I both went to work, Chris as a therapist and me as a remodeler. I started Kory and Amy’s remodel of part of their basement. They had done most of the demo and so I only had to tear out the dropdowns in closing some plumbing. I got the bedroom reframed. The exterior walls had to be furred out 1 ½ inches so I could wire outlets. After I finished there, I was able to pour the last two sections of concrete at our entry.

Bedroom #1

Tuesday I got the second bedroom framed and started rewiring. I stopped early and drove Alex and Charlotte to the airport. Alex has a conference and Charlotte is going to play. Mom went to work and came straight to Alex and Charlotte’s home. I had been tending since I got back from the airport. She stayed the night and I went home to sleep because I had my temple shift and mom got the kids off to school. She subbed last Saturday for the person that took her shift on Wednesday.

Bedroom #2

Wednesday I went to my temple shift and Chris tended. In the afternoon I worked on the rewiring at Kory and Amy’s. I then went back to Charlotte's. After dinner, we went to the Arrow of Light program for Bryce and Kate’s son Kimball. Chris went home to sleep so she could get ready in the morning for work. I stayed at Charlotte’s.

Kate and her three kids at the pack meeting.

Kimball and his dad, Bryce, showing off his arrow of light award.

Nana and Poppa with Kimball.

Nana and Poppa with Stanford.

Thursday I got everyone up and off to school, except for Tilly who doesn’t go to kindergarten until the afternoon. She went with me to Kory and Amy’s where I got a couple of hours in wiring the two bedrooms. I stopped and got her ready for school and after dropping her off, I went back to work for a couple of hours. Chris got home from work and packed for a trip to Washington to visit her brother, Craig, and his wife Pam. It has been six years since they have been together. I drove her to the airport and then went to Alex and Charlotte’s house to tend their kids. I got them fed and into bed and then I went to the airport and picked up Alex and Charlotte. We got back to their home just after 11:00pm.

Lots of new wiring. We are adding 31 can lights.

Friday I worked at Kory and Amy’s house. They had a man come and cut a concrete wall to enlarge a window in the room just outside the bedrooms. I helped him and then cleaned up the mess by hauling out the concrete to the truck. I then spent the afternoon installing the new window. Chris will be at Craig and Pam’s home until Sunday.

Window before.

Window after.

This hall will get new wiring and can lights.

Saturday John B. and I started cleaning out the large storage unit. We loaded some of the cabinets we don’t think are worth keeping to take to the dump and we moved the ones worth keeping to a smaller storage unit that we will have for the foreseeable future. John B. then took a truck load to the dump and I went home to get Jake off to a Primary program practice. When John B. got back from the dump, he took over getting Ellie and Jake to their soccer games and I headed back to the storage unit to finish cleaning it out. When I got done I was tired and so I spent some time watching football. John B. sent me a text asking what I was going to smoke for dinner on Sunday and so I went to Costco and bought 6 racks of baby back ribs. We decided to invite everyone to dinner. So Kate and Charlotte’s family will join Mom and I and John B.’s family for ribs tomorrow. James was invited but won’t be able to come. I went with John B. to see Badger’s water polo game in the evening.

Badger is the tall one.

Sunday I made Swedish pancakes for everyone and then got the ribs into the smoker. I then went to church. It was our primary program and John and Jill only have one child, Jake, left in primary. I gave the opening prayer and it was a very nice program. We then had a combined meeting to hear about the new child and youth program that will start the first of the year. After church, I went to the airport and picked up Chris. She had a wonderful time reconnecting and looking at Craig's art work over the past few years. He is a Master Printer in lithography and has done a lot of impressive work of his own, as well as collaborating with other artists. When we were in China teaching English, he was invited to teach printmaking in Guanlan, China. He helped her to draw her self-portrait on a lithograph stone and then print it. He also gave her some instruction in painting water colors.