February 12th through February 19th

February 12^th through February 19^th:  Wednesday, I went to work at Home Depot and got off at 2:30pm.  Then I painted the bathroom walls at John’s house.  Thursday, Chris and I went to the temple in the morning.  In the afternoon, I tried to install the light fixture only to figure out that it was too big.  So I went into Salt Lake and exchanged it for a smaller one.  While I was in Salt Lake I went up to Blake and Michelle Rigby’s home in the neighborhood where we used to live.  They had called a few days ago and asked if I was interested in replacing all the baseboard and casing in their house.  I went up to see what they wanted to do.  I measured their house and told them I would get them a number in the next day or two.  I went back to John’s house and installed the light fixture above where the sink will be.  Then I started to install the new mirror and medicine cabinet.  The new vanity is 36 inches tall and the new mirror is also too big to fit between the top of the faucet and the bottom of the light fixture.  When John got home it was decided that I would move the electrical box up about 6 inches to just below the ceiling so that everything will fit.  Friday was Valentines day and I taped some Valentines around our room.  Chris was sufficiently impressed. I moved the box and patched the sheetrock and got a coat of mud on the patch. 

The electrical box moved and the sheet rock patched.

Then I went to work at my real job.  I got off at 6:00pm.  Saturday, I got up early and got another coat of mud on the patch and then went to work.  After work I went back and got another coat of mud on the wall where I had moved the electrical box.  Then we went to dinner at the home of DeVon and Diane Hale.  We have been friends since our girls played basketball and volleyball together.  We love to hear about DeVon’s work in Africa and China.  He has arranged for student exchanges with the University of Utah’s medical school.  He will retire this year and is hoping to teach in a medical school in Kenya.  Diane made some great Chinese food and we played dominos and talked and laughed way past my bedtime.  Sunday was a really busy day.  We taught our Sunday school class and then went to the missionary report of Lynn and Diana Crayk.  We served with them in Bolivia.  They did a great job and had everyone laughing and crying.  We went over to their home after for a bite to eat.  The Winkfield’s came down from Layton and I got a nice picture of the four couples that served together in Bolivia in the temple. 

L to R  Me, Chris, Ken Winkfield, Eve Winkfield, Connie Crayk, Lee Crayk, Diana Crayk and Lynn Crayk.

We then headed to a family dinner at James and Kirstin’s home.  John and Jill were in St. George for the long weekend, but the rest of us were all there.  It is really great to be together and share what has been going on in our lives.  We also celebrated Alex’s birthday.  We have a ton of Feb. birthdays in our family. 

L to R  Charlotte, Kate, and Kirstin

Alex and his cake.

L to R  Emme, Chris and Abby

Emme and Rigby

We left early to go and meet John and Carol Galbraith.  John and Carol were in China with us the first year we were there.  They were called from China to be the first Temple President and Matron of the Kiev, Ukraine temple.  They were in town for the marriage of a grandson.  John got to officiate.  We met them at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake, where John and Carol were to be the speakers at a fireside in the chapel.  It was so fun to catch up with them and hear about their adventures in the Ukraine.  We stayed for the fireside and got home late. 

At the Fireside, Me Chris, Carol and John Galbraith.

It was a long day and reminded me of the mission field.  Can’t wait to leave.  Monday, I got another coat of mud on the wall and then grouted the rest of the shower.  

The shower grouted.

Shower grouted.

I got the go ahead for the Rigby’s trim, so I got all the materials delivered.  I ended the day with another coat of mud.  Tuesday, I installed the vanity and had to install a back splash because the wall was out of square.  That meant I had to rent the tile saw for the 4^th time.  I got all the tile cut and installed for the backsplash. 

The Back Splash installed.

I also got the casing installed on the bathroom side of the door. Mom had a substituting job at Edison for a second grade class.  Wednesday, Chris took me to work at 4:30am because she had a job at West High.  She got done early and picked me up at 1:30pm and I changed clothes and went to work at the never ending bathroom.  I got the tile backsplash grouted and I repainted the walls.  John and Jill decided to change the color.  I also got all the tile except the backsplash sealed.  The plumber is coming tomorrow and I think we will be ready this time.

The walls repainted.

The back splash grouted.

February 5th through February 11th

February 5^th through February 11^th:  Wednesday it became official, our mission starting date has been changed.  We enter the Salt Lake Temple for training on May 12^th instead of the original June 16^th.  We received an email with the new change of assignment.  We are excited to start and leaving in May is great news.  It will get us home in the middle of November, instead of just before Christmas.  Chris and I went to the temple Wednesday morning and then had lunch together and then I had to go to work. Thursday, I rented the tile saw again and got the bottom row of tiles set in the shower and all of the tiles cut for the floor outside of the shower. Mom substituted second grade at Uintah Elementary.  I picked her up after school and then worked for another hour on the floor.  I then got cleaned up a bit and we met Wally and Martha Cooper for dinner at Crown Burger.  After dinner and a good chat we all went to a lecture at the Leonardo Museum on Melchizedek and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I even stayed awake for most of it.  After the lecture I went back to John’s house and mixed up thin set and set all the tiles for the floor.  I got to bed about 10:30pm.  If I had not of gotten the floor down, I would have lost a day. 

The shower floor is just sitting there it is not installed.

The ceiling on a diagonal.

Friday:  I had problems with the tile saw and took it back.  They changed out the blade and then it worked fine.  I cut the tiles for the base board and got them set.  I also got all the tiles cut and set for the shower floor.  The little pieces around the drain took forever to cut.

The baseboards and shower floor.

The baseboards and shower floor.

Chris substituted second grade at Jackson Elementary again.  In the evening, Chris went and tended at James’ house.  Kirstin, James’ wife, had a surprise birthday party for him at a bowling alley.  I went and tended John and Jill’s kids so they could go to the party.  Saturday, Chris and I went and had breakfast at Betos.  I love their breakfast burritos and I get to practice my Spanish.  She then dropped me off for work.  After work we went shopping and I found a new pair of shoes at Nordstrom Rack.  We then went home and we worked on our Sunday school lesson.  Sunday, I had to work from noon to 7:30pm.  So after the sacrament I had to leave and get changed and go to work.  Monday, Chris substituted at Meadowlark Elementary for the resource teacher.  After dropping her off, I went to work.  She called me as I was getting off at 1:00pm and said she was done.  The teacher had 2 prep periods at the end of the day so she was done early.  We went and had lunch at La Fonterra, my favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was the first time that we have eaten there since being home.  It was just like I remembered it, delicious.  I am looking forward to good Mexican food.  We then went shopping; you would think we were going on a trip or something with all the shopping we are doing.  We then went and saw Monuments Men.  It got bad reviews, but we liked it.  After family home evening, I played the game where all the kids try and climb the stairs and I pull them down.  When our children were little we played this game and the game always ended with one of the kids crying.  But I was not as rough with Charlotte’s kids and they loved it and no one got hurt.  Charlotte posted a picture of us and all my other kids commented about their memories of this game. 

"Try and climb the stairs" Game

Tuesday, I went to work at 5:00am, but only had to work till 9:00am.  Chris picked me up and then I worked on the tile.  I redid the shower floor.  I needed to get the drain to twist lower to be just below the tiles, but I could not get it to twist so I did the next best thing, I added another layer of tile.  It now is the perfect height.  I also got the bathroom floor and baseboards grouted.  Chris had a half day of substituting.  We went home teaching in the evening.

January 30th through February 4th

January 30^th through February 4^th:  Thursday, I was able to get the cement board installed in the shower.  It took me all day.

Hardiboard installed.

Mom was back at East High teaching language arts—Julius Caesar.  Then we tended Rigby and Emme while James and Kirstin went out to dinner to celebrate James’ birthday.  Our baby is 30 years old! 

Tending Rigby at John's house.

Tending Emme at John's house with the help of Ellie.

Friday, I worked from 5:00am till 11:30am and then Jill picked me up and I worked on the bathroom the rest of the day.  I got the mudding done on the sheet rock and installed a few tiles in the shower.  I didn’t rent a tile saw and decided I had better wait till I have one. 

The tiles I installed before I decided I needed the tile saw.

Mom taught health at a middle school.  She said it wasn’t as much fun as Julius Caesar.  That evening we went to dinner at the home of Henry and Jeanne Lachowski.  We met them in Bolivia.  They came to the temple one day to photograph the gardens and I struck up a conversation with them. They were in Cochabamba studying Spanish and doing volunteer work with a Catholic charity.  We learned that they lived just a few streets away from our home on the Avenues.  They are amazing people who travel the world doing volunteer work.  They just got back from Tanzania.  We enjoyed visiting with them.   Saturday, I worked all day at Home Depot and mom had a great visit with her best friend, Merritt.  Then she spent the afternoon with Katie’s kids.  Sunday, they had us sit on the stand and then we got to announce our mission call to everyone in Sacrament meeting.  I, of course, blubbered it out.  Mom bore her testimony and did a great job.  We sent an email to the travel department and indicated that we wanted to know if it were possible to get our visas sooner because President Atkinson wanted us to arrive in Oaxaca the last of April or the first of May.  Monday, we got a reply back from the travel department indicating that they thought it would be possible to get a visa by then but that I should call the missionary department and talk to them.  So I called and they said that I needed to talk to the temple department.  They gave me a number and I called and talked to the Senior Missionary in charge, who indicated that he had received an email from Pres. Atkinson and that the group for April was too big, but that they would try and get us in the May group and to expect an email or something that changed the start date for our mission.  Hurray!  We might be leaving a month early.   I tried to rent a tile saw, but they were all out.   So I put a primer coat on the walls and textured the ceiling where I had to patch it, getting the can light in.

Trying to match a textured ceiling and not knowing exactly how they did it.

Primed walls always show a few needed touch ups.

Then I worked on Jill’s list of things she needed fixed upstairs, fixed a couple of cabinet doors, tightened up her kitchen chairs, repaired the front door, and installed a latch to keep one or their cabinet doors shut in the hall. Then she dropped me off at work.  Mom was back at Horizonte teaching English as a Second Language.  She loves going there and working with the adults from many different countries.  Tuesday, first thing, 6:00am, I went and returned the hardiboard I had not used.  Mom dropped me off at John’s and she was off to Jackson Elementary to teach second graders in the Spanish immersion program.  I went in Jill’s car and rented the tile saw.  I worked all day setting tile.  The tile saw was set up outside, by their back door.  It snowed the night before and it was quite a bit colder.  As the day went on, there were icicles hanging from the tile saw.  I had to run up the stairs every time I had to use the saw. By 6:00pm, when I finished the shower, the saw was frozen and would not slide on the rails.  I had to get buckets of hot water and melt the ice so I could clean the tile saw.  I will take it back first thing on Wednesday.  My knees had had it from climbing the stairs hundreds of times.  I had a bad sore throat and felt exhausted.  Mom picked me up at 6:30 pm, just as I finished cleaning the saw.

All that is left to install is the floor and one row of tiles at the bottom.

The new shower.

We stopped and got some throat lozenges.  I went home and took a long hot shower and mom warmed up the taco soup that Charlotte had made.  After dinner I went to bed.  I was asleep by 8:00pm and didn’t wake up until 5:00am.  So here I am blogging in the early morning hours.

January 23rd through January 29th

January 23^rd through January 29^th:

On Thursday I drove Chris to North Star Elementary School where she substituted a third grade class, and then I went to John’s house and hung sheet rock.  

New Sheet Rock.



New Sheet Rock.

Mom only had a ½ day class, so I picked her up and we then had lunch together before I had to go to work.  During work, I got a call that the big white envelope from church headquarters had arrived, so Chris called all the kids and it was decided that everyone would meet at Charlotte’s house at 7:00pm for the opening of our mission call.  Even though we had asked to go to Oaxaca and serve in the temple there, we were still a little nervous because our Bishop had called me in a few weeks ago and said that we should not be surprised if we didn’t get a call to where we had hoped, because of my medical condition. ( I do take a blood thinner because I am Factor 5 (prone to blood clots).  Our stake president had received a call from the missionary department and he had called our bishop to pass along the heads up to us.  I sat on this for a day and then called President Crayk to get his take on the whole thing.  His advice was to immediately call mission medical and talk to someone.  So I did and I explained that I had regulated my blood thinner in China and in Bolivia and was quite comfortable doing it and I didn’t understand why that was a problem now.  The nurse said she would talk to the doctor and get back to me.  She called back and said that if I would get my blood checked right before we leave and right after we get there, then the doctor would approve our going to Oaxaca.   He was concerned that they might be using different reagents to test the blood and that it would give a different reading.  So if the blood tests were the same, I would know it was ok and if they were off, I would know how to adjust for the difference.  So we were very excited and relieved to get our call to Oaxaca.  We had a great time with all our kids here and Ginny, Xela, and Willa skyped in and Sam on the telephone.  We are a little disappointed that we aren’t going till June 16^th but that is another story.  Friday, First thing we called President Atkinson, the temple president in Oaxaca and I told him we had our call and he asked where.  When I told him to his temple he was excited.  He had not received any notice yet.  When I explained we would not be coming until the middle of June, he said, “I need you in May”.  It turns out that one of the missionary couples is leaving in April and he needs us to fill in for them.  He explained that we would be living in the apartment that the couple leaving is in and that it is right next door to their apartment.  I think he is going to try and get us down there sooner than mid June, because we got an email on Tuesday that asked us when the soonest is that we could come down.  It really depends on our visas.  We did get the packet with our visa applications on Tuesday and I mailed them back to the travel department on Wednesday.  I finished hanging the sheet rock and got a coat of mud on the joints and then went to work. 

New mud on joints.

 Saturday, I went to the temple early and did initiatory and used a Spanish card to review the words in Spanish.  Then I went to work at Home Depot.  John picked me up at 3:00pm and I went to his house to install a can light in the ceiling.  Mom went to Orem to go to lunch with a cousin she had not seen in years and years.  She also got to spend some time with Kirstin and Emme and Rigby.  When she got back she felt sick, so I took her to Charlotte’s and I went back to John’s to tend for the evening.  I finished up the light and got the ceiling patched and a coat of mud on. 



New Can Light.

Sunday I had to work from 7:00am till 1:00pm and I missed church.  It is the first time that I have had to work and miss the sacrament.  Chris still felt sick so she only went and taught our class.  I didn’t feel all that great either and ended up in taking a nap for 4 hours till dinner was ready.  After dinner we watched Downton Abby.  Monday I got up early and went and leveled the bathroom floor on both sides of the threshold for the shower and then I went to work.  

Floor leveled outside of shower.

Tuesday I got another coat of mud on the joints and went to lunch with my brother Van.  He and his wife have just returned from a 3 week trip to the Antarctica and South America.  He took a polar plunge in the ocean while on the cruise.  Mom substituted kindergarten.  She says they got their monies worth and she is tired after a day with 25 , 5 year olds.  Wednesday, the plumber came and installed the shower pan and replaced the shower valve.  I poured the shower bed on top of the rubber pan.  

New shower pan and prep for tile.

When that is dry I will be able to install the hardiboard and start the tile.  Mom had another day with kindergartners.  I picked her up and we hurried to the temple for a session.  We saw the new, new film.  It is the second new one introduced a few weeks ago.  We then did some home teaching and finally dinner at Chuck-a-Rama.  We were able to watch American Idol and see my nephew’s daughter, Tessa Norman get a ticket to Hollywood.  We can’t wait to go to Oaxaca and we want to thank everyone who has sent us emails of congratulations.  We feel so blessed.

 

 

Grandma playing with Miles and Luke.




 

 

 

 

Our Mission Call

It finally came.

January 16th through January 22nd

 January 16^th through January 22^nd:  Thursday, we went to the temple and then since we both had the day off we went to lunch with my older brother, Tad, and his wife Tove.  They live in Alpine and met us for lunch in American Fork.  We had a nice lunch and it was really fun to catch up on each other’s lives.  After lunch we went to the Art Museum at BYU to see the exhibition called “Sacred Gifts”, religious paintings of Carl Bloch and others.   My favorite was one by FRANS SCHWARTZ of Christ in the Garden being comforted by the angel.

Christ in the Garden being comforted by the angel.

Then we had to make a walkthrough of the BYU Bookstore. It was a fun day together, wish we had more of these.  Friday, I did the last thing on the punch list. I repainted the ceiling in the front room, now I can say that Charlotte’s house is done.  I will start John’s basement bathroom next week.  Mom had a substituting job and I worked in the afternoon till 6:00pm.  Mom took front runner to James’ after work and then when I got off I drove to James’.  We tended for them.  Rigby threw up a number of times and was not feeling very good.  James and Kirstin came home early and took care of Rigs.  We got home about 10:00pm.  Saturday, I had to work all day till 7:00 pm.  Mom went and spent the afternoon with Kate and made cookies.  Sunday was good.  A couple reported on their mission to the Salt Lake Inner City Mission.  It sounded like they really enjoyed it, but for me it would have been a tough mission.  I am beginning to think they can’t find a place to send us.  It is like,  “What are we going to do with this couple?”,  and then nothing comes to mind so they put it on the bottom of the stack and wait till next week to see if any inspiration comes.  Remember, “patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace, put them both together and have a happy face.”   I now have on my happy faceJ

.  Monday, I worked till 6:00pm but mom had the day off because it is a holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. day, and so no school. Mom spent most of the day with all the grandkids and some of their parents at Hollywood Connection.  She played and I worked.  Just kidding, I know what she did was important.  I would have liked to be with them.   

Fun at Hollywood Connection.



 More Fun at Hollywood Connection.



 More Fun at Hollywood Connection.



Moose doesn't moose around.



More Fun at Hollywood Connection.





More Fun at Hollywood Connection.



Evan riding high.



Good times.



Tuesday, I started the demolition of John’s bathroom and mom taught school.  My body was really tired and sore after a day of swinging a hammer and then a sledge hammer on the floor of the shower.  When the kids got home from school, Badger, Moose, and Evan helped me clean up by carrying all the big pieces of floor up to the garbage.  Thanks to them I got the demo done and cleaned up and they earned a little spending money.  

I forgot to take a picture of the before. the shower is still there.



Half the shower gone.



All demoed and cleaned up.

Wednesday, I got the framing done and the sheetrock delivered.

Reframed.

 Mom made curtains for Evan’s new bedroom.  In the evening we went to the new Jack Ryan movie.  We both liked it.  No news as to where we will be for the next 18 months, so you will have to keeping reading this blog for at least one more week if you want to know where we are going. 

My grandson, Luke reciting the pledge of allegiance.  Nana needs to learn that you can't hold the camera on it's side if you are making a video.