A Day Off !

Well, we finally took a day off this summer - kinda. We didn't start playing until after 3pm today but did stay out until 9pm. The Hartman's invited us to their lake place to swim & tube and then stay for dinner. We had a wonderful time! Richard decided the new mandatory tubing wear would be goggles - as both Audrey and Emma were sporting them and they looked marvelous! We all took turns tubing: Conner/Emma, Emma/Audrey, Audrey/Sam, Sam/John and then Audrey/Emma one more time. When I got out in the tube I could see the wisdom in having the goggles on as the water sprayed me in the eyes more than once. It was great! Then we went inside to have steak, corn on the cob, pasta salad, watermelon and pie. And if that wasn't enough, we started a fire on the beach and had S'mores. It was a nice way to end the summer - Thanks Hartman's!

Uncle Don

Mom called to tell me my Uncle Don Vanderholm had passed away on Tuesday. Actually he is technically my great-uncle as his wife is my Grandma's sister. I have fond memories of my Uncle - he was a great guy. We went to the funeral that was held on Saturday. It was a wonderful service with the Eulogy by his son Donnie. John actually got to know Donnie better because they both served their missions in the same area at the same time (New Mexico). It was nice to see a lot of relatives and friends that I had not seen in awhile. I remember as a kid going to visit Grandma during the summer and she'd take me to the Riverside ward on Sunday. I thought it was so interesting that I was basically related to the majority of the congregation (all the Vanderholms and Steeles). Similar case today at the funeral. I ran into my good friend, Cheri (Argo now Edwards) and got to visit with her and her siblings Roger, Debbie and Linda. Uncle Don is Cheri's uncle also because her mom is Don's sister. Cheri's sister Debbie did not know this fact and after visiting for awhile asked me how I knew "her Uncle Don". I said "because he's my Uncle Don too". Then she looked at her sisters Cheri and Linda and said "Did we know that?" and of course they said "Yes". I also ran into a sweet man, Dana Morrill, who was our custodian at Millwood grade school when I was a kid. We would always chat at lunchtime and I would also see him when I visited with Grandma. I found out today that he and my Uncle Don were childhood friends and actually would skip school together (by hiding in the ditch until the school bus passed them and then they'd go fishing). It was good to see him too.

First Day of School

Audrey wouldn't let me take a picture of her on the first day of school. She let me take a picture of her shoes. They are school colors (Orange, Black)!! Then I tried to take a picture the 2nd day of school as we have had a tradition of taking this picture on the huge rock outside our front door. She said "It's not the first day of school" and zipped away...

Camp Review

Audrey went to the Post-Girl's Camp fireside today. My favorite part of this event is the $1.00 picture CD with something like 700 pictures. They have different people take pictures throughout the week so that you ultimately end up with a few pictures of each girl and some different perspectives. Here is my favorite picture of their Canoe Trip: They also have a tradition of taking pictures of relatives together. Audrey had us watch the Camp DVD also and they came to the relative pictures. There was one with all the Demars sisters and their kids. I said "Oh look, the Demars" and then Audrey tells me I'm wrong, "That's the Lakes" because of course, the YW Stake President is Jenna Lake so that was how Audrey had known her. But since we've been in the stake so long and knew them when they were growing up, it was "the Demars". I also made her pause the DVD at other pictures so I could explain how Jill and Krissy were related (for instance). It is kind of funny how we all seem to be related somehow...So here is Audrey with Mariska Gramlow and Angela & Christie Heerdink. Do you know how we're related ? : ). One of the evenings during camp is Bishop's Night. The Bishop (and usually the Bishop's wife) along with YW Leaders come up to camp. They come up for dinner and the group fireside, and then break off into their own ward groups for a fireside put on by the Bishop. I don't think I've seen a larger group picture of our ward at Girl's Camp, counting the times I would go up as YW President and any of Audrey's years at camp. Look at this group!!!

Olympics 2008

Though we did not catch many events during the August 6-24th Summer Olympics, it seemed every time we had the TV on, we caught Michael Phelps winning a gold medal. I guess when someone earns 8 in one Olympics, we were bound to see a few (without even trying)!

Mower

Last week Audrey was asked to mow the front and back yards at our house. We came home and the back was mowed, but she had not done the front. Then she went on to tell us how hard it was to mow, that the wheel wasn't moving right. We told her we knew the power drive was not working, "But just push a little harder and it will be fine".

Today John took the mower over to Lacey to mow. A little while later he gave me a call. He was chuckling and told me we had to apologize to Audrey. He had started pushing the mower and the wheel broke right off! It is going to be about $100 to fix all the things wrong with the mower (and get a tune up).

So when Audrey was telling us that it was really hard to push, she wasn't kidding! Sorry Audrey for not listening better!!

Date Night

John and I had a date night tonight. Kind of reminded me of my young adult years. First, it was about 7:30pm or so and had started getting dark. And here we were heading to get something to eat. We stopped and got take-out (Panda Express) and then headed for Mission Park. We took our food and sat at one of the picnic tables and ate in the dark, and talked. Then we started getting back to reality and went to Shopko to pick up a plunger...

Les Mis !

Audrey and I went to the CDA Summer Theatre production of "Les Miserables". It was fantastic - wonderful - mesmerizing - stunning - awesome. Words just don't adequately describe how good it was. The production was first rate with a group of very talented individuals. I don't think it would have been better on a Broadway stage. We had a great time!!!!!

For Sale !!

We finally put the sign up today - yeah! If you know anyone that is interested in a SEVEN bedroom & Three bath home, send them our way. We even created a website for them to check it out.

www.laceyhouse.blogspot.com

John took this picture from the top of the garage roof. Crazy boy!

Scrapbook Retreat

A group of us started to scrapbook together quite a number of years ago. We went to Mary's house each week, religiously. A few years ago the numbers dwindled and it really got down to just me and Mary. About once a month one of the others would be able to make it, but it wasn't the same consistancy. So we took about 6 months off.

We got together today to have a mini-scrapbook retreat to catch up! Mary graciously let us use her lake home for the event. It was a potluck salad, swim if we had time, and scrapbook evening. Amy, Jessie, Kathy, Mary and I were the originals and then we invited Angela to join the party, too. Due to some last minute scheduling issues, Amy & Jessie were unable to make it and Kathy had to come late, so Mary, Angela and I started the party by the lake. It was very relaxing. Angela was the only one that actually got into the water, but she looked like she had a good time : ) We had Taco Salad (Mary), Potato Salad (Angela), Fruit Salad (Sam) and Chicken Salad (Kathy) for dinner. We thought later we should have made dessert, but I don't think we would have had any room? I got quite a few pages done, had a full tummy with yummy food, stayed up past my bedtime and got a chance to visit. Good evening!

The Perfect Summer Salad

This is the salad I brought to our scrapbooking retreat. I had never made it before, but decided it looked great for a warm summer evening.

The Perfect Summer Salad

1 lb romaine lettuce
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup pecans or slivered almonds
Poppyseed dressing (I used Caroline's Orange Poppyseed)

Slice fruit, combine with lettuce. Dressing can be on salad or served on the side.

Kitchen - Lacey

John completely gutted the kitchen and started with bare walls and floors. That is, except for the one built-in cupboard. That stayed intact and that is what he based the two new built-in's he made, as well as the cupboard fronts. He wanted to stay true to the 1911 style of the home, but include newer amenities (like the dishwasher). Hopefully this picture gives you an idea of what he did.

Girl's Camp

Audrey had left for Girl's Camp at 6:30am on Monday morning. This was her last year. She had committed to 4 years and this was it. Each year she really, truly did not want to go. This year we had hopes it would be more enjoyable as they had their canoe trip (Monday morning until Tuesday afternoon) with just the 4th year girls. When she came home on Friday I had asked her how it was. She would not say she had a good time, but she did not complain at all. So I took that as a good sign! And then when I got to talk to some of the leaders on Sunday who had also gone to camp, they mentioned that Audrey always had a big smile on her face when they saw her. And then Audrey did mention the pudding fight... and the really cool Pocahantas tie-dye shirt that her tent leaders made. I did hear from a very good source that Audrey refuses to tell me she had a good time in case I go back on our deal and make her go a 5th year. I won't - I promise!

High Priest BBQ

The annual High Priest barbecue was held at the Mattoon's back yard today. It is truly beautiful and peaceful with all the landscaping that they have done. Today the high got to 100 degrees, but they had set up mister sprays along the yard. Plus there was plenty of shade to keep us cool so we really did not feel the heat (until on our way to our car to leave). Lots of yummy food - steak, chicken, corn, salads, rolls, desserts & drinks. Alicia mentioned she loved my Pesto Tortellini Chicken Salad (with pine nuts). I offered to print up the recipe for her - she said, "No, I don't want the recipe, I want you to bring it to the barbecue" - so I did. It did not even make the complete line before it was gone (the sign of a good potluck item). About 68 people were there, so lots of good conversation too. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

Lifestyle Remodel

As the Safeway stores are remodeled or upgraded, they do it according to the Lifestyle model. It includes wood floors in the produce, indirect lighting and more specialty departments. It ties in well with the various Safeway branded products that they have introduced over the recent years, like the Safeway Signature soups. My favorite is the Tomato Basil. Well, finally, the store that I shop at was remodeled. The grand re-opening was today. They have a "party" atmosphere with lots and lots of samples, coupons and great deals. We headed over after work and nibbled our way slowly through the store. Soup, meat loaf, macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, pasta salad, Artisan bread, cookies, drinks, seafood, pineapple and steak. And I don't think I remembered everything! About half-way through Audrey asks us where we are going to dinner... "This is dinner!"

Lacey - Bamboo (finished!)

John, with help from Shaune, got the bamboo floors done today. It really looks awesome! They extend from the entry hall and include the floors in the front parlour and the dining room. Nice job honey!

Garden Tour Review !

This post will look suspiciously like the one I put on my RS blog, but I did have fun, the food was great, and I already did the work to make a picture collage. So, sorry for any duplication! The Griffins (who live in the house across the street from where my Grandma Carr used to live) have an incredibly beautiful yard and gardens. I cannot remember exactly how many plants they said they had, but it was in the 100's for just a single variety of flower. Anyway, as you can see, the flowers were stunning. And the gardens were not only picture-worthy, but peaceful and serene. I could just take my book and lay there all evening, every night of the week... After we toured the gardens and learned lots about the different flowers, we enjoyed our potluck and sat on the deck and just talked. It was a very nice evening!!

Gathering

The Gardner's are in town visiting and suggested a potluck and get-together. We had a lovely time just relaxing, eating lots of food and catching up. Drew let us crash his house (his wife was at girls camp) and the Gordon's were also there. It was a great idea, thanks Lori!

Lacey - Bamboo

John started installing the bamboo flooring this week. It is looking great! Cannot wait to see the finished product. It will be in the entry way, the parlour and the dining room.

Girl's Camp

Well, Audrey went off to 4th year Girl's Camp this morning at 6:30. They start by doing a canoe trip and won't actually get to the camp until Tuesday mid-day. I think (and hope!) that she'll have a good time.

Lacey - Front Porch & Parlour Window

Below is the picture of the front parlour "during". You can see the two tiny windows but you can also see the outline of where the original window used to be. Evidently when this house was a tri-plex, they had erected a wall between those two windows to make the parlour into two bedrooms. That way each room had a window. Here is the picture from Monday when John started to remove the windows in preparation for the new window that we had ordered. And after the new window is installed. Looks like there is nothing there, doesn't it. We stayed and worked quite a few hours after this and every time we walked in the room, we had to stop and stare... And of view of the new exterior shot of the front porch with the large window installed.

New Calling

I got a new calling in church today. Besides still being the choir pianist and the 4th & 5th Sunday organist, I'm now also the Relief Society Communication Specialist. One of my duties is to make sure the announcements and a summary of the lesson gets to the sisters who are not able to be in Relief Society that Sunday. I created a blog to do just that. Feel free to alert sisters in the ward about this blog so that the message gets out there!

http://15thwardrs.blogspot.com/

Lacey - Porch

Below is a picture of the front porch on the Lacey house. The railings are done and don't they look good? On Saturday we went and got plants to put in the urns so that the house has more curb appeal. Hopefully they won't die, I'm not a particularly good gardener...
Next up - see those 2 tiny windows to the right of the picture on the front porch. That will be restored to one big picture window next week. The window was on order and should be in anytime.

Lacey - Shed/Garage

The shed/garage at the back of the property was kind of sad looking when we first purchased the Lacey house. It was also full of a ton of stuff. After a few truckloads to the dump, we were able to clear it out. But it still looked a bit pathetic. Below is what the garage looked like on Friday. John had installed windows to make it more of a shop. When in the shop, underneath the windows, John installed a long work bench. Above the windows we will put a row of cupboards that used to be in the basement. So the space will be easy for the new homeowners to use as a shop or garden shed & also to store tools. Plus, they will be able to work there and see the little kiddos in the backyard playing. Audrey had a great idea when they were working on the trim to duplicate the trim-work from the house. All the trim has that little topper so John did that on the shed too. I think the garage looks quite cute now!

Bamboo!

We told you earlier that we had hoped to re-finish the wood floors in the living room, parlour and front entryway of the Lacey house. In fact, John had rented the sander and spent about 15 hours doing just that. Well, unfortunately, they were too far gone and would not have looked good. So we thought and thought and got just a teeny bit discouraged. Ok, a lot discouraged. And then I suggested bamboo. John looked into it and found some. The bamboo is tongue and groove and installed just like our oak hardwood floors. It is actually just as tough too. The planks are finished, so after dropping a few bucks (quite a few), we will have a lovely bamboo floor in the Lacey house. Evidently you have to let it "sit" in the new environment after you open the box so that it will not contract or expand after you have installed it. John will install it sometime next week.

Oreos

John usually leaves to work on the Lacey house at 6am. Sometimes that is a little too early for Audrey to get out of bed on a summer morning. Today John left but asked that I drop her off on my way to work (I work about 10 blocks from the Lacey house). But I work at 7AM, so not a lot more time for Audrey to sleep in. I gave her the last "I'm leaving" warning at which time she told me she had not even had time to eat breakfast! And of course there was "nothing" to eat in our house (according to Audrey). I usually have a lovely breakfast of hot Zoom every morning, but she thinks that does not sound yummy. In desperation I said "Just grab some of those Oreos and some milk, that will at least get something in your tummy". This is the funny part, especially knowing my daughter...

"Mom, Oreos aren't healthy!!"

Yeah, tell me something I don't know!

Painter Chick

So, my little painter chick, Audrey, was out on the front porch painting one day when someone stopped by. He told her she did good work and "Would you like a job?" She basically told him she was working for her dad and would be starting school soon, so "no thank you". But we were very proud that her hard work was noticed by someone besides us. She has been a HUGE help on the painting of the house, especially the trim and detail stuff. She has a set of painting clothes that she wears and I kidded her the other day that all the pictures I take look the same!

Lacey - Kitchen

OK, I've been a little too tired to update my blog as we've been working our tails off to get this house finished before summer ends. The kitchen is probably my favorite room. When we first purchased, it was probably my least favorite room. Might have had something to do with cleaning up others messes? Below is what the kitchen looked like after the renter departed. Nice, huh? One of the areas that John has spent a ton of time on are the kitchen cupboards. The kitchen did have a built in china cupboard and he has added two more built-ins to match. He also made all the door fronts on the cupboards in the same style. Here is an example of what one corner used to look like and what it looks like now: Below is another picture of the kitchen. This showcases the island and counters that John built. I especially liked the kitchen lights we chose. We still have some touch up painting to do, but the kitchen (except the original built in) is all new. We put in new faucet, sink, counters, door fronts and tile floor. Also installed a dishwasher (none before).

Hell Boy

Sheesh, what a scary sounding movie... Anyway, the Par-Tay van took a road trip to Newport, about 50 miles up the road. (The Par-Tay van being driven by Grandma) We went with Grandma, Mariska and Dakota to the Roxy Theatre in Newport Saturday night. It is a place that holds some fun memories for me as "my" Grandma Whisler would take us there when we stayed at her house for a week each summer. This movie was another (on the list of movies) that I personally would not have chosen to see. But I was (again) pleasantly surprised. The basic premise is that Prince Nuada breaks an ancient truce with the mystical world and the humans in order to rule the Earth (and release the Golden Army), so Hellboy and his team must save the world. Hellboy's team includes his pyrokinetic girlfriend, Liz, an aquatic empath, Abe, and a protoplasmic mystic, Johan. It wasn't scary at all. More of a sci-fi action movie with a bunch of comedy thrown in. It was pretty funny. Take the time that Abe and Hellboy were commiserating over their loves and started singing along with Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You". Our audience was great as they sang along also. In fact, the closing credits were to that song. ...Can't smile without you. I can't smile without you. I can't laugh and I can't sing. I'm finding it hard to do anything you see I ... (Yes, I was a big Barry Manilow fan while growing up and did not have to look up those lyrics at all).

Lacey - Dining Room

Here is the BEFORE picture of the dining room. Had cream colored carpet that was ruined by the tenant with the two Rottweilers, three cats and her cigarette smoking habit. You can see where her throw rug saved the cream color in the center of the carpet, but it was literally black along the edges. Funny, the rental contract called for no pets and no smoking. The ceilings were painted a really dark burnt mustard orange and the walls were a beige/yellow. Afraid I have not found a picture showcasing this ceiling color in my archives. Sorry. Some items that were fixed in this room were: Widening the doorway between the dining room and kitchen (so the folks in the kitchen don't feel left out); Changing the old apartment entry door to just an entry way; Fixing a couple of broken window panes; and removing the bedroom door (as the layout of the dining room had the bay windows on one wall, pocket door on the next wall, two doors on the third wall and a doorway on the fourth wall. Way too many things on the walls leaving no blank wall space for even a picture). The main floor bedroom had two doors, so now it has one that goes into the hallway near the main floor bathroom. DURING picture. We just hauled away the last of the old carpet last week (it was really handy to use as a paint tarp) and we were able to see that the wood underneath might be salvageable. The edges looked like the linoleum floor had been adhered there, so we were hopeful it would eventually come off. John spent time with solvent working on that. STILL DURING picture. This was after John spent 15 plus hours sanding the floor with various sizes / grits of sandpaper. This picture is funny to me as the walls are actually a light beige, but in this picture they look yellow, and almost the original color. They are not. Next step: stain and varnish the floors. The floors extend from the dining room into the front parlour and into the front entry hall so when they are done, it will look marvelous!

Lacey - Front Porch

To get the TRUE picture of what has been changed on the front porch (and how much work has been put into it), I thought I'd post this picture of what the porch looked like days after we bought the house in June 2007. Below is a collage of things that Audrey & John have been working on. Some of the items that have changed: the OSB sheeting that used to be the flooring on the porch was replaced with 6" tongue and groove; cement cores were poured underneath all pillars so that the weight of the house was not resting on the porch; all the pillars were wrapped with smooth sheeting & trimmed out (see detail); the old 2x4 with 1x1 post railing was replaced with a new railing (slats, trim pieces, router details, etc). We still have the second coat of paint on the rails and the deck wash & seal to do next week. But I think it looks much better!

Dark Knight

Audrey and John worked all day on Lacey (and got the front porch railing on), so to relax and have a treat, we went to see the new Batman movie "Dark Knight". It was great! Lots of intensity and action. Plot was excellent. We had a fun time as a family. Audrey even treated us to popcorn and pop, what a great kid!