DAY 363: Lots of Little Details Today!

 Brent picked up the last of our retaining wall blocks from Redi Rock.  They are now all here and accounted for!

Cole worked on holes for wiring in the garage...

 Brent put in the side door for the garage...

 I mixed QuickCrete and stuffed it in a grout bag.  Basically a frosting bag but industrial sized/strength and rubbermatized inside...

 I piped the delicious QuickCrete under the stair thresholds...

 Made some delicious concrete decorations.....

Then smoothed it all out for a pretty finish under the threshold.  Now I only have four more doors left.  But now that I know what I'm doing it will hopefully go a bit quicker! 

I took a break at 6 pm to listen to the LDS General Relief Society Broadcast http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/general-relief-society-meeting/2012/09?lang=eng .  Feeling excited to learn from these wonderful women for the next few years.  I LOVED Elder Eyring's talk.  I can do better, give a little more, and serve others!  Good Night Saturday!

The two headaches we face this week:  our siding was postponed.  It was supposed to start this week but they are behind schedule.  It wouldn't be a point of concern except that we need to paint the exterior (Hardie Board) before the weather snaps and we can't paint outside.

Other headache: Our (future, yet to be placed) beams on the side porch won't match our concrete in any sort of symmetrical fashion.  We have to get creative with this solution.  Right now I'm drawing a blank.

I'm learning a lot about Blogger.  I'm getting better at it, better than I was a year ago.  One of my favorite tools is in the design section, just simply looking at the Stats.  I think it's fun that people read what I have to say.  I started the blog because of the technology we are using (ICF). I get a lot of blank stares when I describe it to people so it's easy to refer them to the blog and they get a clear picture of how it works.  But back to the Stats....I love looking at the viewers from different countries.  This is wild:  Russia--241 views, Canada--47, Germany--39, Fance--32, India--16, Philipines--15, United Kingdom--12, Malasia--11, South Korea--6.   Pretty cook, huh?  What's up with Russia liking the blog?  That is awesome!!!

Je dit un grand "bonjour" a tous mes amis en France.  J'ai passe 18 mois en France il y a longtemps.  Mais je pense souvent a votre joli pays et je veux bien le visiter encore! Est-ce que vous aimez ma maison?  A bientot!

Day 356: Retaining Walls

 Just in case you wondered if I like everything we do....I do not like putting up retaining walls.  Sometimes we just have to do things we don't like to do.  We spent our Saturday placing eight base blocks for the retaining walls.  Eight base blocks in eleven hours.  It was a frustrating process that included lots of gravel (a couple of tons), a skidster, shovels, levels, string, 2x4s, ramming pole, more wood, lots of dirt, concrete drill, chains, straps, chisels, a hoe, a compressor, drain pipe and eight 1700 pound blocks.  Ugh.  I wasn't able to take action photos since it took all of us, me, Brent and Cole to do the work.  But now we have a base (yay) and placing the top blocks should be (?) much easier.  Eeerrrgggghhh.

My Mom and Dad came over while we were placing the (obnoxious) third block.  We didn't have a chance to chat but my Mom had cooked us dinner for tonight--INSPIRED and it made me so happy.  My girlies (who spent the day at home roaming the neighborhood, "doing" housework--actually the kitchen was very clean, by Sierra--she wants me to tell you, selling chocolate for orchestra--wanna' buy some? It's the "World's Finest Chocolate"...think Elf and my favorite line "Congratulations!  You did it!  World's BEST cup of coffee!!!"  It comes in many flavors and only costs $1.00) were happy to have a yummy dinner.

And so sad, a casualty, from hauling and dumping gravel...Ouch!

One final note:  HAH to the selfish hooligans who tried to break into Brent's blue cabinet to find something to steal, nothing valuable there.  But thanks for stealing the $80.00 plant cam, hope you buy something really nice for me after you pawn it or sell it.  You can leave my gift on the front porch (can you tell I'm in a mood today????)

Day 354: Sheetrock!!!!

Yesterday the sheetrock was inspected and we move along to mudding and taping.  The workers were unbelievably fast putting up the sheetrock.  There was a bit of a learning curve for them when attaching it to the foam/concrete exterior walls.  Every six inches on the exterior of the foam is the marking "BB".  That's where there is a large plastic joint for screwing and attaching stuff. Each of those plastic black webs inside are connected to a strip of 1-2 inch plastic in the center of the foam.  This pattern occurs every six inches on the wall.  

 Once they figured out the pattern it was relatively smooth sailing.  At first many of the screws we put into the foam only and of course the sheetrock pulled away from the wall.

It's fun to see the walls closed in--I can imagine us actually living here now!


Kitchen/dining room view

Dining room facing the stair case

 Downstairs family room

 Our master bedroom.  The window looks out to Timp!

 Our master bath tub and shower (where the cardboard is hanging out).  No, we do not have a large, jetted jacuzzi tub.  I didn't want one (but Brent probably would have liked one).  I have always had zero desire to have a jetted tub.  Instead I opted for a TALL tub that can hold a lot of water for a good soak. 

Kids are happy--the beginning of a mouse house under the staircase. 

 On Tuesday, one very crazy crazy day, we had sheetrock workers and an insulator crawling all over each other.  We needed to get the gables sprayed before the sheetrock went up.  This insulation was the fascinating to watch.  If you are a fan of Great Stuff you would have enjoyed the show as much as I did.  He had a large hose connected to his truck and a spray gun.  He shot out one thin layer of a very liquid insulation and ten seconds later it exploded.  I could have watched for a couple of hours.  We are creating our insulation "envelope".  Next step is to spray the top of all the sheetrock but the mudding and taping is first.

And now....three views from the same corner:

No more views through the house.  (Estee will have more places to hide when it's time for work).

Every day after work Brent stops by Redi Rock to pick up 2 more blocks for our retaining wall.  To the tune of 1700 pounds a block Brent has the hauling down to a science.

DAY 349: Retaining Wall Blocks, Birthday, Homecoming

Another Saturday "Work Day" at our house.  It started with Maya attending the temple for the first time!  Happy Birthday Missie!

 Last night she had a friend party.  After a big swimming party we came home for a crepe bar.  The girls went through more than 60 crepes.  Burp. 

 This morning we picked up and unloaded 8 blocks for our retaining wall.  Each block weighs around 1700 pounds so it's not a simple task.  The first load crashed through Brent's trailer after the weight shifted (can you see the broken plywood on the front of the trailer?).  Brent and Cole were able to fully secure subsequent loads and from there it got easier.  All said and done, it took about 5 hours to do the four loads.

 The Little-Red-Car-That-Could pulls a block to the edge.  Notice how our brand new car has become the new "truck" in our family.....

 After the final load Cole picked up his flowers for homecoming...

 Cole got out of an afternoon of work to get ready for Homecoming.  He cleaned up handsome!

 Later in the evening we partied a second time for Miss Maya's birthday.  For three years in a row she has picked Pad Thai for her birthday dinner.  She can't get enough of the Pad Thai! Dinner was followed by Sour Cream Oreo Cake (her choice). 

 Then a very happy evening with a new skateboard and helmet!  She also got new scriptures (needed). 

I have to go through all of my posts pretty soon.  October 3 marks our one year anniversary of actually physically building the house.  Day 357 is off, October 3 is not 7 days away.  After all these years I still can't count...

DAY 342: Breaking News! The Sheet Rock Has Started! (But the gas line is still vexing...)

Arrived at the house this morning and sheet rock has started!
Sierra's room is covered:  (the snow is actually the sheet rock dust reflecting the light of the flash...)

 Cole's room is covered:

 Here's the beginning of the bathroom.  These guys are like CrAzY fast.  It was fascinating to watch them.  You can tell that they do this for a living.  It's fun to see the rooms take shape. 

 The downstairs bathroom is all covered!

 And that pesky gas line is continuing to vex us.  Brent was certain he found the joint, replaced it, pressurized the whole thing (again), and it still leaked.  He found a spot on a pipe where it had been welded (by the manufacturer) and it was oozing air.  Grrrrr.  We'll get it, we'll get it.

 I told Cole I would post this picture regardless of face he pulled and even if he was wearing my sunglasses.  This morning he worked on putting Bondo into the holes in the door jambs.  Brent put in some massive bolts that stretch all the way to the concrete.  These doors ain't goin' nowhere.  Solid stuff.  Brent discovered that Bondo works better in these patches than the regular wood paste fix.  Sounds like a good idea. 

DAY 340: Time out for the Brigham City LDS Temple Open House!

Yesterday I took the kids up to the Brigham City LDS Temple Open House.  The temple was beautiful, peaceful and inspiring.  I especially loved the running motif of peach blossoms throughout the temple.  We all had fun discovering the blossoms in wallpaper, in tile inlays, in windows, in carpets, in paintings, on chairs.  I loved spending the afternoon with the kidlettes in the temple. 

If you live in Utah I highly recommend visiting the Temple during the open house! 
http://www.lds.org/church/events/brigham-city-utah-temple-open-house-and-dedication-dates-announced?lang=eng

Oh, and our Black Widow count is up to four spiders in two days!  We found one where we live and THREE in the window wells at the house we are building.

DAY 339: 4 Views From the Same Corner/Sheet Rock Delivered!!

Sheet Rock starts on Friday!  In honor of that great moment here are 4 views from the same corner.  When I do this same post again you will only be able to see one room--YAY!!!  (This corner will be the laundry room).

 Today we were informed by our favorite 4 year old neighbor that a "big truck came and delivered lots of boards".  Sure enough, when we visited the house was filled with sheet rock and compound paste. 

 On Saturday Brent rented a backhoe and did a bit of excavating by the garage.  We need to get the retaining wall up ASAP so that we can pour the porch posts at the same time. 

 And just so you know....this is not us moving in.  Two houses on our street have started, completed, and moved in within six months.  Ugh.  Soon that truck will be for us though!  Whoopie!