Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Random Moments...Enjoyed
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Did I mention.....
Did I mention that we had taken the shingles off of the roof?
Well we did. The weather was okay for a few minutes and then the very next day it snowed. Yes really. And when I say snow I mean like 4 inches. As a farm girl I am constantly praying for rain and watching the skies but I will admit that I was praying for sun and checking for leaks through the day and well into the night. Since the roof was not completely bare we didn't worry too badly and since our roofer would surely be there the next dry day we didn't worry too badly.
Did I mention that we were blessed with a very wet month?
Well we were and as the next couple of days passed by dryly we wondered where the roofer was and when he would get there. As a true weather geek I knew that weather was coming so I slept little and wondered where in the world the roofer was. Well, a brisk wind storm later he still was not there and so with blue sky shining through the roof we called and had the roofer come and put a blue tarp on the roof. I am not kidding. We actually were those people with a blue tarp on the roof. I thought we should just own it and add some sequins for bling, but alas no, it was just the blue tarp.
Did I mention that we had heard that the interest rates on mortgages had dropped to 4.... So we had that ball rolling too?
Well, we did.
Well, they did. Since it was a rainy day and our roof was covered with a blue tarp we decided to re-schedule the insulation. (Just for you engineer geeks our house had an R7 and code in like R30. Yup, we needed insulation.)
Did I mention that the weather finally cleared up and the roofer stopped by and let us know that the shake shingles that were on the roof probably wouldn't hold the nails after all and needed to come off, and oh, by the way the roofing supply company had delivered our shingles to the wrong house?
Well, that's what happened. So again we needed a 2 day window of good weather and Morgan had to go to the steep roof again.
Did I mention that we had several people offer help with our roof? Our bishop, my dad, the neighbors including our Tongan neighbor who is not small and also afraid of heights (I appreciate his offer the most because of the smile the picture of him on our roof put on my face)?
Well they did, but we just didn't dare have anyone up on the roof. It is so steep that although we have 1200 square feet of house we have 2500 square feet of roof. And since the house was built in the 40's there was not plywood and tar paper under the shake shingles, there were 1x6 boards with a 2 or 3 inch gap between each one. Needless to say the weather was a big deal at this point.
So, Morgan went back on the roof. Unlike the asphalt shingles the shakes had to come off one at a time. There were so many nails and so much dirt. We filled two trailers and were helped by a neighbor who wouldn't take no for an anwer. He climbed up the roof to talk to Morgan about helping and when he got up there said, "holy cow, this is steep, I might as well help, cause I'm not getting down!" So, I was trying to keep the shingle on the tarp and painting everything that I could while Morgan stripped the roof, again.
Did I mention that the weather the next day was beautiful?
Well, it was, and the roofer did not show up. The next day was supposed to get a little rainy and crazy so we didn't know what to do. As Morgan and some friends were getting ready to go to the dump with all of the shakes the roofer showed up and said he would be there first thing tomorrow. Uh, okay.
Anyway, the next day dawned windy (and I say dawned because by this time I had realized that if I got up as soon as it was light I could get a lot more painting done while everyone else slept). I painted and waited and the roofer did finally show up. He was trying to put ply wood on the roof so that he could cover it with ice and water tar paper and hopefully keep the rain and snow out for the next few days. Crazily, this was also the day that we went to Brock's baseball tryouts and to the Bulkley's for our Easter Egg hunt.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
I'm Fine...
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Perfect...
There is a Kenneth Cope song about Tiny hands and feet and hoping that earth can be pure enough for these tiny hands and feet to live with us so we can have our babies back. As I held her and loved her I was overwhelmed by these tiny toes. They were PERFECT!
I am so thankful that I chose to spend my life and my eternity with a man who is so large in spirit. When my RS president came to check on me today she asked what I needed and when I said we would be fine she commented that of course we would because I have Morgan. It is true. I will be okay because I have Morgan and these beautiful children to help me through the hard days. Thanks again for your love.
Disneyland, The Happiest Place on Earth!
We wondered if Avery would be afraid of the characters...she wasn't. It just seemed that I was not fast enough with the camera. She would run in and hug and be out of there before I could even push the button. She also was not into waiting in line. When we saw Pooh bear she ran in hugged, waited in line for approximately 2 seconds and then butted in line to hug again. Sorry kids!
Brock was hilarious on the Autopia cars. He could not get the hang of pushing the pedal and driving at the same time. He had such a lne up of cars behind him. He would go about 10 feet and then stop and then go 10 feet and stop. Finally the nice worker man jumped in to help. When we asked him about his experience he just looked at us and confidently said, I was a good driver.
While some of the more adventurous riders were doing their thing the rest of us took every opportunity to have a snack (yes dad, I know you are proud). Halle couldn't wait to find a spoon to eat her pudding so she just went whole hog.
Shelby was a natural. She was very serious about defeating Darth Maul.
I don't think Brock smiled at all until the whole thing was over. He tried so hard and was so into the whole thing. I still wonder if he knew it was all pretend.
We had such a big day, and so much fun that when we went to the Cheesecake Factory on the way back to the Hotel both Avery and Jaxon fell asleep before they even brought out the food and we ended up just taking everything to go and left without cheesecake. Tragic!
We started day 2 at California Adventure. The crowds were so thin that we could get on anything we wanted to, even ride them twice. They loved the River ride and the "fifty foot drop". Jaxon's favorite thing the whole day was the sprinkler park. He would have stayed there all day if everyone would have let him.We had such a great time. The kids had so much fun and it was really fun to see the different stages of Disneyland. Shelby and Brock were just old enough to enjoy the adventure and thrill of the rides, Halle and Jaxon were so excited and just overcome with the magic of it all (Halle, while watching the firework show was the only one around laughing, oohing and aaghing and clapping, but she didn't care, she thought it was the best thing ever). Morgan was the best dad ever as he was game for whatever the kids wanted to do and do again. Avery and I were just content to watch the joy and enjoy the moments. What a blessing this trip turned out to be and what a great memory we will have.