Friday, November 25, 2011

6 Months!

Today is Jared's 6 month mark! He is currently serving in the Fulton area, and has been there since October 19th. Fulton is more like Blackfoot, smaller city with a lot of outlying area. 


He sent the memory card from his camera when he was transferred, so here are some pictures I don't think I have posted before.
New mode of transportation for missionaries?


Josh's Baptism

Wonder if he was able to teach this guy while he visited him at the zoo.

This next picture is from Fulton.

Trenton's baptism. He didn't say who the people are, I'm assuming one of them in white is Trenton, and Jared's companion is Elder Banks.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Windows are finished, really this time!

I jumped the gun! I would have waited to post about the bedroom windows if I thought the blinds were coming this week, they were scheduled to come next week. They came today! And Blake had time to install them today! Yay! Now everything is finished and looks SO nice!
Master Bedroom


So lovely! (I know, I know the walls and ceiling need a little work in this room, but I'm afraid it will have to wait til next year.)

Sewing/Crib Room



Office


I have wanted blinds like these for a long time and couldn't have them because they wouldn't work with the old windows. I have learned something through all this....there are a lot of shades of white! Who knew, I thought white was white! Oh well, the picture makes it look darker than it really is, but the blinds are a little different white than the casings. I love the new windows and new blinds though!




Monday, November 14, 2011

The last amazing transformation!

The first time my brother, Randy Chambers came over to get some ideas for the renovations we wanted to do in our home, he commented on the sagging roof above the garage. As he finished up the work inside the house, he and Blake decided to see what could be done about the sagging roof. Blake also wanted to sheetrock and paint the garage. They got to investigating the roof and rafters and found that it had sagged at least 7 inches. So they came up with a plan to "raise the roof".
They got a pole and jacks and literally "raised the roof". They thought they could use this red metal pole, but it was not quite long enough, so they devised another plan using a wooden one. 
This time it worked well, and the roof was raised!
Then they got looking at some of the other rafters, they decided that they needed to be reinforced and jacked up some. After lots of hard work up in the rafters, the roof is no longer sagging!

Blake started to clean out the garage, so it could be sheetrocked. Our cat "Baby" was really old and sick, she had not got out of the way and Blake had backed over her, but she was still moving around a bit, but she really didn't like everything being taken out of the garage. Finally after a few days, she became really sick and Blake had to put her down. 
Blake started ripping the sheetrock that was in the ceiling down. It made a huge mess!
What a mess!
Next, Blake insulated the walls, this was kind of a scary place to be!
Then we had professionals come and hang the sheetrock. These guys were little teeny men, and were really strong and funny. After they got the sheetrock up, we had someone come and blow insulation into the attic. Then they had some different people come and perfatape and mud the sheetrock. Then Blake painted the ceiling.

After the ceiling was painted, Randy came back and helped put lights up. Funny story about this picture....Randy is not really fond of working with electricity, and I used a flash to take this picture, after the flash went off, Randy said "what was that?!?" He thought the electricity was going to get him. We all had a good laugh.
They put the garage door openers back into place, and also did all the trim work around the windows and baseboard around the edge.
Then Blake painted the walls.
I even helped paint the trim.
The garage floor was so dirty, covered with the white powder from sanding the sheetrock, so Blake devised a sprayer for the broom, worked really well.
We decided to move the fridge and freezer from the basement and put them in the garage. It was a very hard job! Thanks Randy Purcell for your strong muscles!
Blake wanted to put some cupboards up, so he ordered some from Lowe's. He and Randy spent a whole day putting them together.
Courtney helped by reading the directions to them.
Randy Chambers came back for the final installation of the cupboards. Blake is using the pole in the middle of the garage to lean on to watch Randy do some more magic.
They really have made a good team.

Now for some "before and after" pictures.

Before....The west wall of the garage.
After...the west wall!
Before...the east wall.
After...the east wall.
Before...the south west corner.
After...the south west corner.
Before...in front the of stairs.
After...in front of the stairs.
Before...the garage doors.
After...the garage doors.
Before...the wall by the door.
After...the wall by the door.

It truly is an amazing transformation! Once again, a huge thank you to Randy Chambers! Blake absolutely LOVES his new garage, it's just how he always wanted it!

Another Project Finished...well almost

After we had a new window installed in the living room, we decided that we should put new ones in the three bedrooms as well. So, finally last Monday, November 7th, they were installed. It was a cold day, but we didn't freeze too bad. The new windows are wonderful. We don't hear the wind as much, or the cars going by as much either. We have ordered blinds, but they won't be here for another week.
This is the "sewing room" or the the room with the crib. The man installing the window tried to duck and get out of the picture, but I was too fast.
After the window was installed, before it was trimmed.
All trimmed and finished! (Randy Chambers the magician came and trimmed these windows too.)
The office window before being removed.
I think the hardest part of the office window was moving the desk out of the way!
New window, just waiting to be trimmed.
All finished and so nice!
Master bedroom window before being removed.
No window, looks really weird. Felt really cold!
New Master window!
Randy and Blake didn't get to the outside trim until it was dark, but Randy can even work his magic by flashlight!
From the outside, don't they look fabulous?