January 7th through January 13th

January 7^th through January 13^th:  Monday the plumber came and set the toilet and fixtures in Badger’s bathroom.  He also got the pan liner down in our shower.  Chris went to work and had her first full day of clients.  I painted ceilings.  We drove to American Fork in the evening and had a wonderful dinner and visit with our good friends Mike and Merlene Ellington.  It was great to see them and so nice of them to drive up from Mount Pleasant to see us.  Tuesday, I got up and went to my happy place, Home Depot, and bought 4- 80 lbs bags of sand mix for the mortar bed in our shower.  Badger wasn’t feeling well and had stayed home from school.  I convinced him to help me carry the bags down to the basement and to help me mix the concrete.  We did not have enough so we used some concrete mix that I had left over from the repair of the concrete we took out for the new plumbing in Badger’s bathroom.  

This shower is more than twice as big as the last one.

He was a big help and we got done about noon and so I took him to lunch.  I got cleaned up and went for my orientation at the temple with the supervisor over the sealers.  I got my locker key and will have my first shift on Saturday.  In the afternoon, I pulled the toilet in our bath and framed for the larger vanity we need.  Mom went to work in the evening and came home after I was asleep. 

Badger's new shower.  Chris got the tile sealed.

Floor grouted.

Wednesday I added two can lights in our bathroom and installed the bathroom accessories in Badger’s bath-- towel bar, toilet paper holder, mirror and so on, including the finish carpentry. Thursday I cut the hardi board for our shower and installed the sheetrock in our bathroom.  We took Charlotte and Alex to lunch for Charlotte’s birthday.  We also ended up going to dinner with their family.  Charlotte’s present to herself is not to cook on her birthday.  

Happy Birthday Charlotte

Vanity, hardware and medicine cabinet installed in Badger's new bathroom.
Doors to vanity will come later.

Friday I got the sheetrock taped and all the ceilings got their last coat of paint so I installed all the lights in the 40 cans.  

Sheet rock is up--vanity goes on the left, toilet on the right.

Badger's new bathroom with the mouldings installed.

We have plenty of light!

Saturday John B. finished installing the Hardi board in our shower.  

Our shower is ready for taping, waterproofing, and then tile.

I went to the temple for my first sealing shift.  I really enjoyed being back in the temple.  We went to dinner with our good friends, Paul and Liz Belnap,  and enjoyed catching up.  I came home and did finish carpentry until 11:00 pm.  Being at the temple must have given me added endurance.  So I got my 10 hours of work in.  Sunday we went to church and then we had a great pot roast dinner.  The apartment is progressing, just not as fast as I would like.  We pushed back the delivery of our appliances two weeks and we hope we will be ready now by the 4^th of February.  This next week I will concentrate on the finish carpentry and the cabinets.  Life is good and we are very blessed. 

December 31st through January 6th 2019

December 31^st through January 6^th 2019:  Monday  Mom went into work for 4 hours.  I finished the sheet rock.  Hurray! I also got help from Badger and Moose and we carried the moldings and flooring down from the garage.  The 16 foot material takes up a lot of floor space.  The 19 boxes of flooring are really heavy and we all needed to take a break after carrying everything down and so we all went to Chick filet for lunch. 

Mouldings ready to install.

Flooring has to wait his turn. It will be a few weeks.

I laid the shower floor in the afternoon and started hanging doors. I went to bed by 9:00 pm, no staying up late for this guy.  

Doors are getting hung.

Tuesday I celebrated the New Year by working.  John B. had the day off and helped me finish hanging the doors. We also laid the tile in the Badger’s bathroom.  

Bathroom tile laid, check.

Wednesday I grouted the shower floor and finished the trim tile for the shower. I got the bathroom primed with Kills, a primer. Our beautiful granddaughter, Abigail, turned 6.  She was so excited.  

This is Abbie who turned 6 this last week.

Kate invited us to dinner, but at the last minute I couldn’t go.  I got word that President Nelson approved my activation to be a sealer in the Bountiful temple and I was invited to a meeting for all the sealers Wednesday evening.  I start on Saturday the 12^th 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.  I am excited to be able to be back in the temple for more than a session a week. Thursday I demoed the shower in our bathroom and removed the walls we needed to get rid of in order to have a larger vanity.  It feels like we are starting over.  

This is our shower as I started the demo.

This is our shower when I got done.

This is what we found when it was all cleaned up.

The shower is reframed and larger.  

I also got the new shower grouted.  John B. grouted the bathroom floor and got a coat of paint on the walls.  

New shower grouted.

We also had a visit from Oscar and Clara Flohr, our dear friends from Guatemala.  They served as a counselor and assistant matron with us in the temple.  They are here visiting their son who lives in West Valley.  It was so fun to visit with them for a few minutes.  

The Flohr's visiting us.  We were both in our work clothes.

Friday I framed the new shower and poured the concrete around the drain.  I also got started on the casings around the doors.  

I got the concrete poured.

Doors with casings installed.

Saturday I got the bedroom and kitchen primed.  We took a load of trash to the dump.  I got most of the Hardi board cut and installed in our new shower.  I got the vanity and top installed in Badger’s bathroom.  

Bedroom primed.

Kitchen primed.

Vanity and top installed.

John B. got a second coat of paint on Badger’s bathroom. Mom took 4 of our grandkids to Jurassic Quest. 

Mom with L to R Jake, Kimball, Rigby and Stanford.

The boys seemed to enjoy the activity.

She then went to the leadership meeting for stake conference.  She has been called as the Relief Society secretary.  We went to the adult session in the evening.  Sunday we went to stake conference and it started snowing just before we left.  President Eyring was in attendance and spoke briefly. We live in his stake.  The visiting authority was Elder Holzapfel, an area seventy.  It was a great conference.  When we came out there was about 5 inches of snow and more as we climbed up the hill to John’s house.  Badger got out of the car and started up the snow blower.  He did not have a coat on and he was in his Sunday shoes.  He is such a teenager. 

Clearing the driveway and sidewalks is a lot of work.  Jake and John B. shoveling snow off the sidewalk. 

This week was work, work, and more work. I feel blessed that I can still do this kind of work.  My body rebels once in awhile and lets me know of the aches and pains I am creating.  So I often go to bed sore and with some discomfort, but usually in the morning I am ready to go at it again.  We are so blessed to enjoy good health and have this opportunity to live with John and Jill and their family.  We just need to get this apartment done. 

December 24th through December 30th

December 24^th through December 30^th: Monday Chris got up bright and early to report for her first day at her new job.  She will be working for Blomquist Hale EAP as a therapist.  She was introduced to their computer system and then she saw two clients.  She says she is enjoying doing therapy without having to think about billing, insurance, and scheduling.  I spent the day working on the sheetrock, applying mud and sanding. We had Christmas Eve dinner with Charlotte and Alex and their family and then we read the Christmas story together.  The children wanted to act out the nativity so Tilly was Mary, everyone was an angel, and I was sheep because I kept falling asleep under a white, fluffy blanket.  It is hard to stay awake when I get up at 2:00 am.  Tuesday we headed down to Charlotte’s to see what Santa brought.  We were only 5 minutes away when John B called to say his kids were up and ready to open presents.  We asked him to stall them with breakfast and we continued to Charlotte’s.  Their kids excitedly opened their presents and we hurried back to John’s.  They opened presents and everyone seemed happy.  We then went to Katie’s for another round of presents.  I then took Charlotte and her family to the airport to visit Alex’s family.  We are going to stay at their house and take care of Rico, their dog.  Chris is excited to be out of the construction and sheet rock dust. 

Christmas morning at Charlotte's house.

Christmas morning at John's house.

Christmas morning at Kate's house.

Wednesday was a day of mudding and sanding and more mudding and sanding. Chris helped cleaning up and doing some sanding.  I got the first coat of waterproofing on the walls of the shower.  We went and bought the tile for our bathroom. 

We had another snow storm.  The trees were so beautiful after the storm.

Waterproofing the shower.

Thursday was mostly spent mudding and sanding and we went and picked up the moldings.  In the evening we went to dinner with Kate and her family, John and his family and Ed and Cindy Hansen, Kate's in-laws, all to celebrate Kate's birthday.  

At Kate's birthday dinner.

Friday, I got the second coat of waterproofing on Badger’s shower and now it is ready for tile. I did more mudding and sanding on the sheetrock. In the afternoon I went and picked up the vinyl flooring. 

All the ceilings are textured.

Bathroom ceiling textured.

Hall textured.

Laundry room textured.

Bedroom textured.

Dinning room/front room textured.

Saturday, I got most of the tile set for Badger’s shower and we got the sheet rock sealed and ready for paint. We also went and bought paint, 2 bathroom sinks, a toilet, door-knobs, and a paint sprayer.  We took a break and went to the temple.  

Bathroom is sealed and primed.

Shower tiled.

Sunday we went to church and in the afternoon we picked up my brother, Van and drove to Utah County to see James and visit my other brother Tad and his wife Tove. I have been working a lot of hours trying to get the sheet rock finished.  I can see some light at the end of the tunnel and I hope it is not a train coming at me.  We enjoyed being with some of our kids and grandkids for Christmas.  It has been a long time since we have been able to be with them.  James was in Washington with Kirstin's family and Ginny and Sam stayed home in Pasadena.  Life is good and will be even better once the sheetrock is finished.  

December 17th through December 23rd

December 17^th through December 23^rd:  Monday the inspector came at 7:30 am and passed us off on the rough 4 way inspection.  I started hanging sheet rock.  I even got Chris to help me with a few pieces on the ceiling before she went walking with her friend, Merritt.  Merritt heard what I was doing and called to say that she and her husband, Tom, would come right up and help with the ceiling pieces. Chris left to go for some training with her new job and to see Emme’s Christmas dance program in American Fork.  

Emme was the cutest little elf.

Tom and Merritt were a big help.  I had one accident!  As I was screwing a piece of sheetrock into the ceiling, I put a screw into a copper pipe.  I had to shut off the water to the house and call the plumber.  He could not come and suggested a plumber here in Bountiful.  They could not come until after hours.  After hours means $$$$.  But we had to have water so everyone could get ready for school and work. We just went on hanging in other rooms.  The plumber arrived about 8:00 pm and left about 9:30 pm.  But at least the water was back on and everyone got ready for bed.  I then noticed that it was still leaking.  I shut off the water again and called the plumber and told him it was too late and to come back in the morning.  

The ceiling of the drop down in hung, check.

Tuesday  I turned on the water and just let it drip into a bucket so everyone could get ready and out of the house.  The plumber came and fixed the soldering he had done poorly.  It was a very expensive screw.  I continued to hang the sheet rock on the walls where we had the ceilings already hung.  We stopped about 10:00 am and got ready to go to Rigby’s Christmas program at his school.  

Rigby is in the middle,just left of the girl with a white shirt- "Rockin' around the Christmas tree!"

Click below to see Rigby's program.

Rigby's Christmas program

On the way to Alpine, we stopped and returned some of the samples we had taken home to see what we liked.  We purchased the quartz counter top and backsplash for the kitchen.  When we got back home I got the fireplace framed and covered over.  

The fire place is no more.

Wednesday Tom came back and helped me get the rest of the sheet rock for the ceilings hung.  He then started to screw off all the sheetrock.  

Closets hung, check.

Hall and laundry room hung, check.

Thursday I started taping the sheet rock and once again Tom saved the day and came and finished screwing off the sheetrock.  Thanks Tom and Merritt for all your help this last week.  Friday, mom learned how to fill screw holes and I continued taping.  I went and picked up the doors.  I also got the mortar base in Badger’s shower poured.  

Kitchen hung, check. See those screw holes mom filled.

Here are the doors we picked out.

Mortar base installed and yes it slopes to the center.

Saturday, I continued with taping.  We took a break and went to the temple.   After the temple, I got the rest of the hardi-backer installed in the shower.  John and Jill picked out and purchased the tile for Badger’s bathroom.  I should have his bathroom tiled by the end of next week.  

We even hung sheetrock under the stairs.

Hardi backer installed and tile picked out.

Sunday we went and spoke in the Ensign 6^th ward.  This is the ward where we raised our children.  We had some good friends and missionaries come and support us.  We went to dinner at Cindy and Ed Hansen’s home after our talks.  They are the parents of our son-in-law, Bryce, who is married to our Kate.  It was nice to spend the afternoon with them.  Wally and Martha Cooper came by in the evening and Wally checked up on the progress of the apartment.  They are our good friends and Wally is the architect who drew the plans for the apartment so we could get the building permit.  Thanks again Wally.  We worked hard this last week and I only woke Jill up once at 3:00 am.  We so enjoyed seeing everyone from our old ward and seeing our good friends who came to hear us speak.  We are so blessed and grateful for the many tender mercies we receive on a regular basis.