Family Journal

Build it and they will come

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 18:22:46 -0500

The guys all took a day off and enjoyed the new year with family and friends. They they were back at it on Friday. It was another day with quit a few different people. here.

First Bill’s crew was here and they finished laying the sub floor in the existing kitchen, dining, hall, bathroom and entry. The flooring guys were here as well laying the new floors in the new kitchen and both bathrooms in the new portion as well as the floor in the existing main level bath. The floors that are finished look great and the new sub floor brings the promise of a quick return of the kitchen.

The Electrician was also here and went throughout the house, both new and existing, and put all the outlets and switches in. The cover plates are not installed yet as the painters still have to do the final coat in the new house and the trim and final coat in the existing portion as well as the new dining room. He was able to install most of the can light fixtures as well. I would show you how nice the light all looks but we are still without power to the new portion. Thank heavens for the monopoly that power companies have or we might already have power out there.

As all the floors have been ripped up there are literally only a few rooms that we have been able to live in. With only a few activities to be done you can see the kids doing the only thing they can here right now, watch TV and the adults try as best they can to make a make-shift meal in the kitchen with no ability to cook and limited space to prepare. It has been an interesting experience. I have certainly learned that if you chose to remodel existing portions of a home leave while it is being done, if you can.

Over the weekend they also came and laid the drain pipe for the gutters and put up the downspouts. I do not have pictures of this but will get them up sometime this next week.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - They have done some great work in the kitchen and it appears to be level. Something we have not seen since we moved into this home over 20 years ago. There has also been progress in the new portion but it is not really visible with the camera.

They also finished the bricks over the past three days. The seals and all are complete and it appears as though the brick layers are finished. The exterior looks great, now if we could only walk around it and see it for ourselves. The problem is that we have had so much rain that the ground is nothing shy of a mud pit!

Enjoy the pictures, there are a lot to go through and they really do not show much but have fun anyway!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - Today was busy, busy, busy. The house was filled with people, for those of you that are laughing because this house is always full of people the people here this morning do not live here.

Anyway, it certainly was a full house today. We had the trenchers, the painters, the brick layers, and finally the contractor and his crew.

The trenchers came in with there digger/trencher and right off the bat needed the driveway cleared so that they could get to the back yard. They dug right in and trenched, laid the cable and then buried all the lines up. Roo really loved this part and it was all Mom could do to keep him from jumping into the trench! In the process they broke a pipe that they think is to somebody else's basement. Although it does not directly affect our house they will be back tomorrow to fix that.

The painters were here taping and putting on the final coat of paint. It appears from my walk-though after dark that they are about half way done with the new home. They are supposedly coming into the existing house to do the trim and windows in here tomorrow.

The brick layers continued doing a great job laying brick. They have now completed the front of the house and finished the remainder of the west side as well. They have assembled the scaffolding along the last portion of the back wall and it appears the are set to finish in the next few days. Then they will only have the seals to secure and it will be completed on the exterior.

Finally the contractor and his crew were here ripping out the tile in the existing kitchen, the hallway and the entry. They also took all the fixtures out of the downstairs bathroom. All this in order to match the new floor that will be laid in the new dining room. Roo again enjoyed the hospitality of the workers as they let him glove up and hit away at the tile. he has really bonded with the guys and loves helping where he can. This was an added task and although Dad had been toying with it throughout the process is was not until he realized that the contractor could do it while he was away in Texas visiting Little Bro. that he said, “why not” (kidding Dad, I am only teasing you).

Saturday, December 27, 2008 - They finished painting the trim in the new addition on Saturday afternoon. They also bricked a little more of the front of the house. Enjoy these pictures.

They will be finishing the paint and laying the floor in the bathrooms and kitchen this week in the new addition and ripping up the tile in the existing house. Stay tuned for those pictures.

Thank you to all those that gave your input on the floor in Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen. A decision was made and I am not sure what that was. Rest assured Grandma gave her approval and all will be well).

Thursday, December 25, 2008 - This past week was a short one but many things changed there appearance. They took down the wooden doors between the existing dining room and the new dining room. They took out the window over the sink in the existing kitchen and put the trip up through out the house. They have begun paining the trip and will be in with another coat of paint throughout early next week.

They also did some more work on the bricks. With the cold temperatures and the moisture that we have been receiving, in the form of much rain not snow like all the lucky ones out west, the brick has been delayed some. This next week appears to be a dry one through Thursday and therefore much work should occur on the exterior.

The power company will be out on Monday, so we have been told, and they will be trenching for the new power line to the new portion of the house. This will be a much welcomed event as we will finally be able to turn on the furnace and turn off the Kerosene heater that has been used to keep the new portion warm to allow the shackle and paint to dry.

As Dad was herd saying this afternoon on the phone, “ we are now talking weeks until completion and no longer in terms of months.”

December 21, 2008 - We need your input!!! The order for the flooring material to be used in Grandma and Grandpa’s new kitchen must be placed tomorrow (Monday, December 22, 2008). Because there is so much to choose from and so many people to weigh in we thought we would bring it to your attention.

Please click here, you can also view them by clicking on the link to the left, to see photos of the options and then call Dad (Randy) on his cell phone anytime tomorrow (Monday) to give him your input. Some of you that are more intimately involved, Grandma and Grandpa, will receive a call from him tomorrow if you don’t beat him to it.

There are two different shots of each photo and each photo contains three different options. One shot is the options leaning up against the cabinets and the other has the options lying on the floor in front of the cabinets as it will be laid.

Saturday, December 20, 2008 - On Friday they began putting in the trim. Most of the windows now have the trim around them and the floor boards are started. They also put the cupboard doors on and put in the stove top, the range and the microwave.

In addition to all that they have hung most of the doors throughout the house. It is really starting to look like a dwelling someone could live in.

One more thing, there is a NEW walk through video posted. See the kitchen in most of its glory.

Thursday, December 18, 2008 - Today they really took it up a notch and it is really starting to take shape. Because I am not here to witness it and those who are don’t share much with me all I can say is look at the photo album and see for yourself. It is looking great!!

Sorry there is no video walk through. Due to some technical difficulties with the equipment being used I am not able to post it on the site. I hope to be home tomorrow during the daylight hours so I should be able to get on and post it tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - Today much has gone on. First the painter was here and primed all the walls. They put up some brick outside to determine which mortar to use. They tiled the bathrooms. They laid the subfloors and the electric company came out and made us clean up the “white trash” look we had going on in the back yard. I would try to say more but I will have to let the pictures speak for me.

Also I have posted another interior walk through video. This video is about two weeks old so there is much more completed. Tomorrow they will be painting and I will try to get a walk through once that is done and post another video tomorrow.

Sunday, December 14, 2008 - It has been awhile since my last update but things have been moving a little slow and there has not been much to talk about. Why are things going slow you ask? Well there comes a point in every project, construction or otherwise, where time is required. We have reached that stage in the building of Grandma and Grandpa’s new home. They have begun to apply the mud and they cannot go on with the second and third applications until the previous ones have dried. Then they cannot sand that down until all the mud has dried. It is at this point where a picture of one application cannot be distinguished from the second or third application. So while I said things have slowed down I am speaking of the visual progress not the actual progress.

In addition to the mudding they have come out and laid the gas line and cleaned up from the hanging of the drywall and delivered the brick for the exterior.

I have also included a video walk around of the exterior of the house. This video is dated by a couple of weeks and I was having technical difficulties getting it up, but now it is available here for your viewing pleasure.

December 6, 2008 - Today I went through the house and took some pictures of the finished dry wall. I also took some exterior shots so that you can see the progress from that side too. Nothing new occurred today but since they did not finish until well after dark yesterday I thought I would get you updated photos in the light. I hope that you enjoy them. I have done an interior and exterior walk through and am working on getting the video up. Stay tuned for that update.

December 5, 2008 - Once again today you will see lots of different things going on. They finished the insulation, created the closet in the play room (converted from the living room), put up drywall in the bedrooms upstairs that were effected by the new roof of the addition and finished putting dry wall up in the entire house. That is right, they only started the drywall today and finished today. When I returned home from work at 6:00 they were still here and when we left for the ward christmas party at 7:00 they were still here. the contractor said they had a personal goal to finish it today, he was not sure why. My guess is they were told how much they would get paid for the finished job and wanted the money to be for a single days work.

Because it was dark when I arrived home, and they were still working, no finished pictures were taken. You will have to enjoy the action shots of the dry wallers and look forward to the completed shots tomorrow. Also get some microwave popcorn ready so you can sit down and enjoy another video walk through that will be posted tomorrow. Weather permitting it will contain an exterior walk through as well.

Until them enjoy!

December 4, 2008 - Today was an exciting day at the Bland house. What is the reason you ask? Well as you see from the the pictures, the insulation started to go up. They also put the new door in fro the dinning room to the garage. Why is insulation such a great thing you ask? Well with temperatures dropping into the low teens and never rising above freezing during the day you can imagine how cold it could get. Now think of the same temperatures with no exterior insulation on half your house and no weather proof doors keeping the drafts out. That is what we have been dealing with

now don’t go feeling sorry for us, I have been told that I exaggerate a lot and I may have been hamming it up for some attention. It is still cool to see the insulation going up though.

December 2, 2008 - Lots of little things have been done up to this point. The electrician was back again the heating and cooling guy spent all day yesterday doing something and the inspector came and passed everything off up to this point. the dry wall will start to be put up on Thursday and Dad is hanging speaker wire, for surround sound, in the living room as we speak. Things are really looking good.

Many people have requested that we take some shot os f the exterior of the house so people can see the progress form outside. To that end I requested that my photographer get out in the sub freezing temps and snap a few photos, the results can be seen here!

Friday, November 28, 2008 - There was some work done on Wednesday and again today but I have not been able to take pictures of it. It has really only been small things that pictures will not show so i may or may not actually get pictures up. On a more fun note I did do a walk through of the house and have a video of it here. The quality is not the greatest and that narrator was coming down with a head cold but other than that I think you will enjoy a more real time view of the house and its current state. So sit down, grab a glass of hot cocoa and enjoy this little 6 minute video of Grandma and Grandpa’s home.

Monday, November 24, 2008 - For all of you hanging by by a thread I am sorry. With illness, work responsibilities, church assignments, and family responsibilities the old web master was unable to keep up. As such we are disappointed to announce that we had to get rid of that lazy bum. From this point on you will have to suffer through the process with the new guy, we hear at Anything But Bland feel that disclosing the name of this new gal would serve no one and therefore you will be kept in the dark as to who this new person might be. However even though we are now cloaked in secrecy please enjoy the future updates and pictures.

During the past 10 days there has been some impressive progress. Although the photos do not show much change any longer the reason is we are nearing the final stages and each step takes longer. The brick issue is being handles, the electrician has started and in fact is close to finishing. The heating and cooling is finished and the power company has even been by to decide how they will bring power to the new portion of the house.

Dad’s favorite portion of the entire project is getting closer to completion with the front porch being completely roofed in. The remaining cement was knocked off the existing front door area and it is now ready for the cement work, although we do not know when that will commence.

The roof is finished with the last of the shingles laid late last week and from previous posts the doors are on. Some of the work that needs to be done on the existing structure to widen doors was started today (no pictures available at time of posting) and everything is starting to come together.

Stay tuned for some fabulous updates in the near future and until then stay crazy!!

Thursday, November 13 - Monday, November 17, 2008 -
** Surprise ** Also on the 13th we had the crew come inside for a little demolition. As a christmas gift to my parents we had them knock out the beams in the family room we have lived with since moving to Indiana. There has never been enough light in the family room and we remedied that with can lights throughout (13 in all). Check it out!

Today the rain stopped and this allowed the crew to inspect the roof and fix any areas that appear to be less than ideal in rain. They started installing the flashing on the house and put all the exterior doors in except for the back door of Grandma and Grandpa’s. They also knocked out the old sliding glass door and put up a temporary door so as not to freeze us out.

I do have pictures of todays action as my live-in photographer has started to take pictures also. I have not yet received the photos from my other photographer but will post them as soon as they are received.

November 12, 2008 - Today it rained most of the day. The crew put some drywall in the utility closet to prepare for the installation of the furnace.

November 11 - Today they did a lot of work on the roofs. They also installed the final window. Also this evening the last ditch effort to match the existing brick was made. The final sample was obtained and due to popular demand, Dad called from his van on the way to Branson, MO, Pictures have been put up.

**IMPORTANT****IMPORTANT** - PLEASE LOOK AT THESE PICTURES AND COMENT IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE ON THIS SITE. We need to know what you think about the color match and any other comments you might have about the brick in these pictures. The lighting is poor and not natural as the request cam in after dark. I hope to have my photographer take pictures tomorrow in natural light and will post those as soon as they are taken and I return home from my late night at work.

Sorry for the lack of photographic updates, my photographer and I do not live at the same residence. Often times, always, the camera is not left here and I am not around when she is. As such it is difficult to get them unless I get home while it is still light out. Now that the time has changes on us I will NEVER be home while it is light out and therefore until there are lights on the interior and that is where the work is done I will be relying on my trusty photographer to get me the pictures. Rest assured once I have them they will be posted before the completion of the addition.

November 10 - The windows went in today and they finished the roof over the porch. All but the front window, looking out towards that street, were installed. They have also continued work on the roof throughout the entire house.

November 7 - Today was a special day for Dad. Although they began putting the front porch in yesterday you can now fully see how the house will look with the front porch. Also today the finished up capping the roof and the shingles have been delivered. Boy is it coming along!

November 5, 2008 - Today was a great day! Finally the Master Bedroom has light, not only light but bright light. That is correct. Today the guys came in and took out the door from the mater bedroom to what was once the porch off the back and replaced it with a a double window. Now not only is there light coming in but we can see out.

They also took out the windows on the south side of the house (What is currently Roo’s room and Mom and Dad’s room) as the roof over the addition required that they be removed. They did however replace them with smaller windows to that light still gets into the rooms.

November 4, 2008 - Today was a little strange. I had the day off for the Election and therefore I was home studying for the test I have this Saturday. During one of my breaks the contractor opened what used to be the office door, just off the kitchen, to ask for Mom’s advice. This was strange because the contractor never came into the house then all of a sudden he was there. You see the night before we could open the old office door and look out the window into the new house, now we open the old office door and the window is gone, it is opened up the the new addition and it looks nothing like it has for the past 21 years.

As the utility room is now in place the heating a plumbing guys were back at it today finishing up placement for the furnace, water heater and the washer and dryer hook ups.

In addition they cut out the additional window in the living area and so we took a few more scenery shots for you to enjoy.

November 3, 2008 - Today the heating and plumbing guys did more of there thing. You will notice in the photos that most of there stuff is now taking place under the house and I have not been down there to get photos. As I did not even think to get before photos under the house I am certain the pictures now would not mean anything.

Take note where the vents are and how cool they look, really that is the only thing that has changed. They have placed some vents on the roof also. So in addition to the pictures of a few vents and duct work I have included some of the views that Grandma and Grandpa will be able to enjoy looking out a few of their windows, enjoy!

November 1, 2008 - As part of the project we began returning the volleyball court to its original and working condition. Roo had a great time helping, more on that in another post, and soon we will be able to get the court back together. While Trout had the tractor here we also pulled the remaining three bushes from the front of the house.

October 31, 2008 - With the wall up and the roof on the progress is a little less noticeable. There is still plenty going on and some of the pictures in this slideshow will illustrate the progress. The Tar paper has been laid, the plumber has begun doing his thing including the installation of the two shower units in the bathrooms. The heating and cooling guy is on the site now also and although you cannot see much progress in the house the duct work is coming along nicely. You will notice some close-up shots of the vents in the house itself. Also notice the living room where a new window will be added so that it will be lighter and brighter in the living area. All of the supports have been removed as the house now supports itself.

October 28, 2008 - You can now walk through most of the addition and not fear getting wet. That is right, most of the roof is on. with only a few places left to cover it really is taking shape.
You can also get a really good feeling of what windows will be removed and where the door on the second level will have to come out.

Aside from the positive of having a covered structure at this point you will note that they did not some how get the satellite wire between the plywood and the rafters. it is actually laying across the top of the roof, yippee!!!

OCtober 27, 2008 - I want to apologize for the night time pictures again. My regular photographer may have taken pictures but I was not home in time to get the camera from her and therefore I took some after returning from the school Halloween party with he kids. If additional pictures were taken I will add them to the slide show and announce it here.

Today they have almost complete putting up the rafters and will soon place the plywood on covering the entire new addition. You can also see in a few of the pictures where the new roof line will be and how that will affect some of the existing windows and doors on the second floor.

My Rant: So today the builders again put the rafters over the only exterior wire in such a manner that we had to disconnect the wire and re-run it over the rafters. Why it is so hard to see that the line is needed and must be kept above the new roof I will never understand. I hope that they do not place the plywood over the wire, that would be a little more difficult to fix.

October 25, 2008 - Due the fact that it rained most of the morning and into the afternoon nothing was accomplished on the home Friday. Because of the set back however some work did go forward on Saturday. They began putting up the roof. Now we can see how the roof will affect some of the existing windows on the house. We are also beginning to see what the overall look of the completed project will be. It is coming along.

Also on Saturday some interior work was completed. As the room that is currently the office will be used as a utility room in Grandma and Grandpa’s house my dad had to relocate. So he will now be in the pantry that we built almost 16 years ago. When it was originally built it also housed the office as all the rooms in the house were being used as bedrooms. However during its original tenure nothing was done to make it look all that great. No painting was done and the flooring was simply the concrete garage floor.

This time around “The Mom” painted the walls and also the cupboard fronts, the remaining cupboard work will have to wait. We also laid down a pad and cut some of the carpet from the current office to fit in the new office.

October 23, 2008 - Today the lumber to finish off the roof was brought in and they wrapped the house. Not wrapped like finished but wrapped like covered. It sure is coming along. Although we do not have any pictures of it we also unloaded the moving truck tonight.

October 22, 2008 - Today they placed more brackets and cut out the windows. The photographer was working late and could not take the pictures until after dark but you can see what they did. The only thing missing is the great view from the windows. I will have to get that tomorrow and post them in this album. NEW - The plumber, no not Joe, came by today and Dad did a walk through with him. Try as I may there will not be a fountain in the middle of the front room.

October 21, 2008 - After putting most of the rafters up and toe nailing them in place yesterday they finished putting up the rafters and started putting the brackets on. It sure is getting sturdier.

October 20, 2008 - We are now to a stage where less appears to be done each day. However the guys were here early and worked hard all day long. The roof has started to take shape and some big changes will begin to the existing house soon.

October 18, 2008 - When I woke up this morning I had to verify with Gwen that it was Saturday. I heard the sounds of hammers and thought I would be late for work. But Gwen assured me that it was Saturday and although work was being done on the house I had no where to be.

The builder informed me that in order to have the plumber and such here in a week he wanted to get the walls up so they could move on come Monday. He also, under his breath, mentioned what a slave drive Dad is and how Dad was told the walls would be up when he returned from vacation and by golly they are up!

October 17, 2008 - Today the walls were framed and went up. You can walk through the house and tell where things will be. This is certainly a step that makes it take shape and you can begin to see what the final project will look like.

October 16, 2007 - Just another day as usual. Work began early this morning and continued throughout the day. They finished getting the floor boards in and began measuring for putting up the walls. The weather is turning colder and the guys came in sweatshirts today. Dad, the turtle is fine and the whole is securely covered. There will be no raccoons getting under the house tonight.

October 15, 2008 - The floor boards are being laid. The weather is not cooperating as it has been wet and raining off an on. Still the work goes on and all appears to be on schedule.

October, 14, 2008 - Not much in the way of commentary today. The banging started early and the floors began to take shape. Enjoy the pictures of the floor joists being laid.

October 12, 2008 - So this past summer we all gathered in Oregon for the Bland Family Reunion. Again we descended upon Glen Eden Beach and took Beach Combers Resort by storm. I hope to some day have some mention of these great times here as this is my journal. Anyway enough about my excuses. While we were at the reunion it was decided that my Grandparents (my Dad’s parents) will be moving to Indiana. As part of the plan my parents are adding onto there home. Because this is an event that is affecting many, many, many people I am going to try and keep a photo journal of the progress posted here.

Occasionally I might add commentary or a story or two about the process but for the most part it will simply be a photo journal.

Dad wanted to begin In August and although he was able to begin it was not with the builder as he had hoped. He quickly learned that the Department of Public Works held an easement to a good portion of our side yard. Dad had plans drawn up for an addition on the west side and then one that would eat up the entire backyard. For many reasons the west side was the better option. Thus began the fight for a vacation of the easement. It took much longer than he had hoped but finally came through on September 24, 2008. On the morning of Thursday, September 25, 2008 Mom went downtown and picked up the permits and the document indicating the vacation of easement had been granted. Once I knew that the project was to begin I took some photos of the existing house, the battery died before I could get all of the angles that I wanted and our charger was no where to be found so the ones I took will have to do. Click here to view the before pictures. Some of these shot will not change much once the house is complete but I took them for my own enjoyment.

In preparation for construction to begin Dad has some of the trees that would be in the way removed. You may not be able to tell from these photos compared to the others taken but if you have been to our house you may notice where big gaps appear that never used to be there on the creek side. Click here for the post tree removal pictures.

Once the trees were down and the prep work was complete the big equipment was brought in and the foundation was dug. Roo really liked watching this and was even told that on the last day they were there here could get a ride on the tractor. Roo happened to be gone when they packed it up for the last time. He got over it surprisingly quick.

After that was finished they brought in the cement trucks to pour the footings. Because of the nature of cement this took a few days.

After the footing were poured and had time to set the blockers came in. They first had to deliver all the block which was done on Tuesday, October 7, 2008. They began work that very day and finished up mid afternoon on Friday, October 8, 2008. This too requires sometime to set, as such work will begin again on Tuesday, October 14, 2008.

But before the next step could start the foundation had to be back filled. Just before that step was complete Riley was invited to ride in the tractor to finish off the job, he loved it!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 15:50:13 -0500

This year we were planning on a nice quite new years celebration as a family. When I say family I mean myself, the Mom and the kids. My parents had a trip planned to Texas to see my brother and his family, they made that trip without incident. However just before leaving Dad decided that it was necessary to replace the entire kitchen, hall, and entry way flooring to match the new wood going into the new dining room. Sounds great except that the project officially kicked us out of the house. Luckily we have the coolest builder in all of Indiana . . . the world really, and he invited us over to his place for the new year.

It was slightly different getting in a car and leaving for another party as we have always hosted our own, even in recent years when it has simply been family. However upon entering I new this was going to be different. I could feel it in the air. Something special was going to happen!

Alright not really, but it sure was nice to have great food, great friends and alot of much needed fun. The food table was great, even for us dieting type. I mean they had strawberries and apples (both of which were covered in chocolate and I mean lots of chocolate), lots of no bake cookies (if you don’t have to bake them all the nutrients remain in them, at least that is what they say about carrots), vegetable trays with lots of smooth creamy ranch to dip them in, and these really healthy dips for chips. It was a dieters dream and I did not hold back at all. After a few trips (3 or 4 to be exact) I decided that it was time to play some games.

There were lots of really cool games being played, some I had never heard of, and many that I have played before. Roo helped play a new wagering game similar to Chronology. Ren played the dice game in the wooden box, and Fish and I played all sorts of hide and seek games and Daddy I love you and never want you to put me down games! Mom even sat down and played a few games with us and the others that were there.

We welcomed in the new year and then broke out the Euchre cards and karaoke. It took a bit to get others into the karaoke but once we did everyone was joining in. Click here to see the video.

Bowling

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:38:43 -0500

So on the day before the day before the first day of the new year both Mom and Pisha realized that they had bowling passes that were set to expire. The passes had been won over the summer by participating in the summer reading program with the local public library.

It worked out well because with our house being a complete disaster area Mom has not been able to stay here with the kids. They did stay in one day and actually enjoyed playing in their rooms ALL DAY LONG, and that is not an exaggeration. But we knew that would not last. So Mom too the kids to Pisha’s to play. Mom took the older children bowling while the others stayed and Pisha’s and played and then Mom returned and Pisha took the younger children.

On there way out of the alley a woman approached them and offered her remaining tickets as she would not be able to use them. This too worked out great as we had some friends in town and we thought it would be fun to go bowling and then head to the pit for some karaoke. So we got a GREAT babysitter and all the adults headed out for a night on the town. We had a great time and returned for a little vocal expression afterwards.

I do not have pictures of the younger kids, but Pisha might and I will check with her soon. If she has some I will add them to the album. I do have pictures of the older children and even a video filmed entirely by Roo. he caught some great moments on film. You will have to pay attention and see if you can determine who it was the got a strike with out the aid of the bumpers!

There are also some pics of the adults acting like kids as we bowled the night away. To see these great pictures and the video click the photo above.

Karaoke

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:10:22 -0500

As you may have read in the Christmas post the family received a karaoke machine for Christmas. We have had a really good time switching from movies to the Wii then to karaoke for the past few days. Then last night, after the kids went to bed. We got a little crazy. Alright, some of the girls got a little crazy, I just filmed the madness.

I am sure that each of them are now doubting the decision that they made to sing while being filmed but it is too late now. They did not perform an entire concert but they did do five numbers, all of which were caught in there entirety.

In order to allow everyone an opportunity to view the concert the way they want to I have included links to each of the videos separately as well as a link to a compilation or medley of the performance. I hope you enjoy this as much as it will embarrass the participants!

I Want to Dance with Somebody
Grease Lightning
Foot Loose Karaoke Medley
Love Shack
I Want you to Want Me

Sorry that the quality is not the greatest, I am using a third party application, Picasa, to publish photos and video on in order to conserve space on our server.

Christmas 2008

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 20:12:24 -0500

As always you can click on the picture above to view additional photos.

This year Christmas was a little strange. As many of you know Mom and I are living with my parents while we get the Law School debt figured out. Also, known by most of you, my parents are remodeling their home or really adding an additional home onto it in order to allow my Grandparents (Dad’s parents) to move in with us. Although the portion of the house they will be living in is all added except for one room there are only two rooms in the entire house that have not been affected in one way or another. As such we did not really get much decorating done. In fact the tree was only putt up on the 21st. It is a pre-lit tree and we did not put any ornaments on it. Now Mom did her best by teaching the kids to make snow flakes out of paper and Roo would bring things home from school and place them on the tree. But really that was the only decorating that took place.

The exterior of the house has always been adorned with lights and looks really nice. But this year we were not able to hang lights outside as the bushes have been ripped out, the roof is being added to and gutters have been removed and replaced. The area around the house has been a big pile of mud through most of the process as we have had so much rain. This along with the desire to be anywhere but home made it impossible to make the time to decorate and even if we wanted to there is really no where that we can hang lights. We are looking forward to next year though as we will really make the place glow, can any one say “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!”

Even Fed Ex and LoveSac tried there hardest to ruin Christmas for our family. Mom and I ordered something that was guaranteed to be delivered by Christmas day. It was ordered on December 18 with the guarantee flashing in big red letters. We were notified on December 20 that it had been sent to Fed Ex for deliver on December 19. As of today Fed Ex tracking still shows the package in California and that it has been there since December 19. Needless to say it has not arrived and therefore we were scrambling on Christmas Eve to put something else together. We pulled it off and even did so in good spirits. Notice I did not link to Fed Ex or Lovesac as I would not recommend there services or products to anyone right now, there customer service has been, wait they have NO customer service.

Now on to the fun stuff. For Christmas Eve we spent the evening at Big Dog’s place and enjoyed a chili and Clam Chowder dinner. Then we heard Grandpa read the smelling story and Pisha put on a little FHE lesson to remind us of the birth of the Savior. When it was time to go to the tree to open presents all the kids were chomping at the bit to rip off some wrapping paper.

Roo and Ren were thrilled at the pajamas that Grandma Bland gave them and Fish even got into opening hers up, she saw all the others ripping their clothes off to put on the new pajamas and she tried as hard as she could to do the same. You will have to look at the pictures to see what I mean.

I received my fleece blanket with the Utes on one side and the Colts on the other, I will enjoy watching games with that thing wrapped around me. Fish really enjoys wrapping herself up in it with me and I don’t mind the company. I think she takes after me when it comes to things soft!

Roo and Ren bought gifts for each other this year and really enjoyed watching the other open them. Both were equally excited to receive the gift they got.

Christmas morning was here before we knew it and the kids did not want to do anything but go see what Santa had brought. They were good though and waited until after breakfast to go into the room. Roo was thrilled to get a “real” gun and Ren loves her new Barbie. Fish had a good time with a car from her stocking and loved playing with her Noah’s Ark. The family received a dual mic Karaoke set and we spent many hours screaming into the mics both Christmas morning and Christmas evening. Also Roo and Ren received a Wii game of WALL*E and they are having a great time playing it, thanks Uncle Sparkle Farkle!

My favorite part is staying in my pajamas all day long and it sure was nice!

We have been very blessed this year and are grateful to those that have helped us out as we readjust to the working world. We hope that this reached each of you well and look forward to our next meeting whenever that may be!