Heads above water... barely

There are times I feel as if we are barely getting enough air. It's like we are almost drowning, but somehow not.

This week we tackled more electrical. We got to the point of being done running wire, but then remembered that we have to run smoke detectors and a doorbell. Who needs those? So we have a little hick up in our plans, but honestly it's nothing new. We will run those wires this week, and be on our way to an inspection.

We passed the plumbing inspection by the way....... *applause *

Trevor's parents came with a truckload of supplies on Saturday. They brought tons of carpet and a pellet stove which is the perfect size for our house. And hey- we may have to use it to heat the house sooner than later since Mr. Hvac man hasn't yet returned. Ha. Ha. Ha. (This is me not smiling). And then, to return to my story, Trevor's parents raked up our yard, which is no easy task given the size of the tree that needs to be removed.

I'm very grateful for all the help we have received. I can't believe anyone would want to drive up here in the middle of nowhere just to help us out. It baffles me. People must really love us to want to help us. Really. And I'm forever grateful. Truly. I'm so very thankful!

So let's talk about this carpet. The carpet came from their house which was in the bedrooms and living room. It is in amazing shape. We are going to put it in the kids' bedroom upstairs, and then the rest in the basement.

How would we have been able to do this house if not for the donations of our own private re-store? I'm serious. Thank you everyone who has donated to us!

We were supposed to drive to Idaho Falls on Sunday morning for my nephew's farewell talk, but we had a few hick ups like the kids waking up with the flu, and me remembering I had a photo shoot. We ended up not going.

I would have much rather gone to Idaho Falls to be with my family than stayed home. I went to church with Sami and Logan and Trevor stayed home with the sickos. At church, in primary, one of my cute little sunbeams, who was sitting on my lap, kept leaning into me and then eventually spewed forth vomit all over herself and me. I ran to the bathroom and set her on the counter, thinking that we needed to clean her up, and she leaned over and puked about 6 more times. Talk about gag-o-lah. Her mom ran in about that time, so I let her take over with her daughter while I assessed my own damage. Puke in my hair, puke from my lap down to my ankles. Awesome. I washed it all out as much as I could, and went back to class and taught for the last hour.

After church I ran home, changed my puke clothes, and ran to my photo shoot. I still had puke hair. At the photo shoot I found out that their family had the flu and had been throwing up that very day. In fact, one of the boys was about to hurl at any moment. Oh joy.

Immediately after that shoot, I got a call to go to another shoot, so I ran and did that one too, all the while my hair kept blowing into my face.

Heaven help me and keep this flu from my house.

Brad, the hvac man, never came back. But never fear, he's invested. He put ducting into the house, and we haven't paid him a dime. He'll be back. It's just a matter of when...

The house keeps moving forward. Trevor worked on electrical over the weekend. I worked on finishing up the loose ends. I did lots of cutting and nailing, fixing small things that had been pushed to the side over and over. I patched the small stucco areas outside as well. There were about 5 small areas to patch, and I did it in made from scratch stucco, which was a pain. But hey, it's done now.

This week: The plumbing inspector is coming back. Yay. We hope to finish the electrical.

Hopefully Brad comes back. We are ready for him. It is cold here.

So yeah. I'm feeling anxious about getting the electrical done. I'm feeling anxious about Brad coming back. Both of these things are things I have no control over. Nope. I know nothing about electrical.

I just want them done so I can move forward with insulation and dry walling the rest of the ceiling. Then mudding and taping.

Christmas ideas

I've been thinking.

If anyone is looking for ideas for Christmas presents for my family, because... I don't know. Maybe you are?

Well, have I got a good idea for you!!

All I want for Christmas is food storage for my two littlest boys. It worries me so much!!!

So all I'm asking for is freeze dried bananas and maybe, if there is such a thing, almond milk powder. Also, they could eat white rice and freeze dried meat and eggs.

So yeah.

Just some thoughts I've been having.

We had a miracle.

Actually, we had a lot of miracles.

The hvac guy came on Saturday and began installing ducting!!

We passed the building inspection.

We installed the second window well.

We installed both basement windows.

We failed the plumbing inspection.

We fixed the plumbing.

We got most of the outside painting done.

We fixed the front door.

We have a ceiling in the master bedroom and bath.

We installed a ridiculous amount of wiring.

I use the term "we" loosely. My brother in law and sister (Jeff and Wendy) and family came and helped us, along with sisters Alysa and Suzette and brother Kevin. Also my parents came. You should have seen my mom out on a ladder painting my house! Yep. It was an amazing sight to behold.

That was on conference Saturday last weekend that they all came and helped.

Since then, my Dad has been here helping us and we have been moving mountains to get stuff done. We are an amazing team!

I'm so grateful to have such a kind family, who puts aside their own lives to come and help us out. I'm so so so grateful! It's amazing the turn the house is beginning to take.

I don't have pictures of Saturday, but I do have a few pictures of the changes.