Floating

Our family at Redfish in 2008...photo by Brant Avondet-Thanks Brant!

The past few months just seem to have just gone by so quickly. Last week I got to go to scout camp with the young men, then also had our Hopkins reunion. It was really good to see my brothers and their families (my sisters' too but they live nearby and we see them often anyway). I have also been working on the basement. I finished the bathroom in the basement(less a mirror, shower curtain and some trim) and have one bedroom about half done. I think we were a little over ambitious in working on the basement. i just planned on doing the bathroom, but we thought, "hey while we are at it we might as well do two bedrooms..." yea, it ballooned! And we learned that bathrooms are quite pricey in and of themselves. I am very happy to have the bathroom done, but I think that the timing was bad as work has been slow all year. Good time to do work on the house...but bad time to work on the house with little cash flow.

TJ got a new foot without a cord tether...he likes that he can put it on and take it off himself now.

We are expecting our 4th child any day now. August 4th is the due date, but Jess has typically been a couple weeks early and this weekend would be a great time to have a baby! The Waddoups family is going to Redfish Lake this coming week and I am planning on going for a couple of days with Christopher, Creedance & TJ. Jess is planning on staying home, but any of that depends on when this baby comes and how Jess is feeling and coping. If she has the baby she may come and camp with us in the bus for a night...but even that is up in the air.

He was very excited about the new foot!

We are very excited for another little one, however are very lost as to what to name the little guy! There are some names that we like, but have too many other relatives with those names. Then there are some that we seem to really like, then we hear someone call for their child with that name and it just sounds a little off...the name works in theory but not in practice. There just doesn't seem to be anything that feels right yet. A bit frustrating.

Slickrock Practice Loop at Moab-Rusty is riding near the bottom.

Life just seems to be moving on as a blur. I do fun things (Moab with Tyson, Rusty, Kevin, Kyle & Dave in May), accomplish challenges (house projects, garden, little on the bus), go to work, and take care of church callings. Life is crazy. I don't really ever slow down. However the last two nights I did sit in the backyard after dinner and watch the shadow of the house grow...and slowly move over the garden and up the fence. That was nice. To sit and watch the garden and grass grow. I worry that while doing this I am missing something else grow, or that I am not growing myself. These weeks, months and years feel (to me) to become a blur. I feel that I need to slow down somehow and absorb what is happening, to be an observer and active participant in my life...whatever that would mean.

Overlooking castle valley along Porcupine Rim.

Nearing the end of Porcupine Rim

Busy weekend

Friday and Saturday were very busy, and very fun. Our Stake had our Father & Son/Priesthood commemoration camp out at Camp Cumorah. I took the boys and we camped in the bus. It was pretty sweet. Saturday morning we walked around a little, watched boys swing on the rope and Topher even swung (a lot) on the rope swing, he didn't even fall into the lake.

On the way home we drove up an old farm road up to the new windmills near Bone. Topher shot his new BB gun at some paper cups and I photographed this old windmill that had fallen down. I thought it was quite interesting. It looks like it was used to pump water from the well. I also shot some with the Holga and 35-year-expired film...I will be surprised if anything comes from those shots, but they could be fun.

Saturday night was the Dance Tech recital at the Colonial Theatre. TJ and Creedance both performed. I was quite impressed with how well they both did. This year has been very good for TJ, I think he had a lot of fun doing it too. I have also noticed an improvement in Creedance.

Having the performance at the Colonial Theatre was a change after years of having it at the Civic Auditorium. I was a bit nervous on it running smoothly. But it seemed to go very well, and Jess said that it went great backstage too. The dancers at the studio seem to get better and better every year. I really enjoyed a lot of the dance numbers...go figure.

Sheetrock!

Closing off the wall really makes the family room take shape.

We have been going pretty strong with the Sheetrock the last week or so. It is nearly done, just a few little pieces left (for the bathroom and one bedroom), and then the fun of perfataping starts. I haven't really done that before, it should be interesting to see how I do at that. I just hope I can get the joints somewhat smooth. As you can see we are still using the rest of the basement to play and watch TV. The kids are great at wreaking havoc downstairs.


The nice little hallway, this would be a great place for elegant sconces and a hall table...but it will most likely be a dumping place for some of the kids' toys.

The bathroom with mold resistant Sheetrock on most of the walls.

Little Bathroom closet...both are very little.

We are insulating the ceiling in hopes to cut down on noise transfer from floor to floor. If it doesn't it will help the heat from dissipating, and keep the boys room (upstairs) warmer. Doubling up the R-13 is just a little more expensive than R-19, and it gives an R-26! I am going to look into sound-blanket R-11 for the rest of the basement...I understand that it is supposed to work better. The family room is where I really want the sound to be cut down.

Topher & TJ's room with walls and a ceiling!

It has been a challenge building these rooms, but a fun challenge. I am really excited to have a bathroom downstairs, and to get the basement moving closer to done. I plan on having the bathroom and this one bedroom done (less carpet I think) by July when family is coming to visit.

Moab: Midlife Crisis Tour!

All of us on Porcupine Rim. Castle Valley behind us.

Last weekend I was able to go to Moab, UT with some friends I grew up with (Thank you Jess, Tammie, Michelle, Suzanne, Brandi and Kathy!). It was Such a great time. Not just the riding, but the time with them.

Tyson looking out over Slickrock.

We left home Thursday morning; Rusty from Mt. Home, Tyson from Houston, Kevin from Fredonia, and Kyle (he flew in from Eugene Wednesday), Dave & I from Idaho Falls. We met up in Provo and headed for Moab. The first, and only, time I had been to there was 8 1/2 years ago. This was the last time we all went down there. Tyson and Rusty have been there several times, but not the rest of us.

Rusty on the Slickrock Practice Loop (Can you see him?).

Kyle climbing slickrock...tires just grab on to it like no other!

Kevin on Porcupine (he was fearless on the full suspension!)

We were all quite a bit out of shape. When we got there Thursday night we wanted to get a quick ride of the Slickrock practice loop in just for a warm-up. That really opened our eyes as to just how out of shape we were! We hurt a lot! That ride is only 2 miles, and we still had 14 miles for Friday and about 10 slated for Saturday!

Me, Kevin and Tyson on the edge of Porcupine Rim, looking at Castle Valley below.

We rode Porcupine Rim Friday. It was an adventure getting to the trail head (we missed it, but that took off 3 miles of rough climbing. I really liked most of Porcupine Rim. Fast, technical, and great views of Castle Valley. It was really cool riding along the rim of a 2000+ foot drop! There were some really fast stretches and some really technical areas that were fun negotiating. The last 2 miles however were very difficult and I ended up walking the bulk of that.

Kevin after another jump on Porcupine.

After finishing Porcupine, Kevin realized that the keys to his car (the only one at the bottom) were in Rusty's van (at the trail head). We ended up hitching rides back to the trail head in order to get enough drivers to recover the cars and get us back to town. It was an adventure that will not soon be forgotten.

Tyson on Sovereign Single Track

Saturday, we rode Sovereign Single Track. It was very technical, but not as difficult as some of the stuff on Porcupine. After we got out on the trail a way, we noticed the storm clouds rolling in (the weather report called for thunder storms) and made the decision that we needed to find our way back to the parking lot and off the plateau! The return route was not the best way as there were a lot of sand traps, but we were not familiar with the trail and did not want to get struck. We did get a few drops, but nothing major. Definitely a trail to ride again!

After our first trip to Moab, we all thought that we would make it an annual trip together. However shortly after that first trip (14 days for Tyson!), we all got married, and it became more difficult to make the time to go. An annual trip is not realistic at this point, as well as all of us going, but I surly hope that it is not another 8 years before I can make it to Moab for riding again.

Yes...this is me...don't laugh too hard!

Moments of our children

Our kids are so funny. This morning, Creedance was upset because Topher was sitting on the heat vent by the table, she didn't realize that there was more than one that she could sit on and be warm. So she went and sat on one for a few minutes, I thought that the morning light coming through the patio door created great leading lines to her tiny body sitting in the corner of the large space (not to say that our living room is a large space, but to our little girl, it is HUGE).

She just sat there for probably 5 minutes before she realized I was photographing her. She looked up once and smiled and then just kept sitting there doing her own thing; looking at her hands in the lights and shadows, playing with the door hinge, admiring her new Easter pajamas, just being a child.

Today was haircut day for the boys. Topher wanted a shaved head for summer, and as a tribute to Kyle, we started off with the horse-shoe. What a great sport. I think I will bic his head for Church tomorrow!

TJ has been improving with his balance and agility. Dance class and gymnastics have been a big part of that. He also just started seeing a new physical therapist. This guy has experience with pediatric amputees, and has been a big help and has given great advice. It is still funny to see how people react when his foot falls off, or when we are swimming and they can't figure out if his leg is broken and it's a cast...or what it is. They are curious, but don't want to seem rude and ask...for our family: Ask, we are not bothered by his foot, we are not afraid of it, we try to make it fun, and just normal life.

TJ's friend, Ted is also in the dance class...he likes to do his own thing a lot of the time. The beat of a different drummer!

Finishing the unfinished basement

So we have started to make a bathroom in our basement. It was roughed in (mostly) for a bathroom, we just had to make it so we could hook the sink, tub and toilet to it, now we are building the walls and running electricity to it. While we were at it (and with lumber so cheep) we figured that we would build the remaining walls too (add a little hallway) and wire the two bedrooms for light and power. We will finish them eventually too. I would like to have the rest of the basement all done within a year or so, but we will see how the cash flow looks for that.

Jess gave me a budget of $600 for the bathroom, which wasn't too bad. We have nearly met that amount and only have the bathroom roughed in, but have the bulk of the things purchased (the only larger item we have left is the toilet now). However I am trying to convince her that we need to heat the tile floor of the bathroom as it will be tile, and such a small space would be (relatively) cheep to add the heating element before the tile ($260 with a programmable thermostat!) She has yet to budge as we will not be the ones using the bathroom in the mornings, just the kids...how mean. Ha Ha!

The kids have had a fun time "helping" me work on the walls and everything. They pick up a hammer and bang on the stud walls and act like they are working hard, then ride scooters around and around the basement. Jess even made a little ramp so they could go through one of the walls.

The first wall I built was a bit tight (only a 1/2 inch!), and I really had to beat it to get it upright and plumb...what a royal pain!

It is moving along really swiftly and I hope to have it nearly done (the bathroom anyway) before I go to Moab (hopefully I can go) near the end of April. I really want to have it done before July, and I mean the bathroom completely done and maybe one of the bedrooms.

Very small bathroom, yes, but it does have it's own linen closet.

I like this little hallway we added, it is actually a bit wider than normal, and also gives us a great place to mount a flat screen TV and creates a place to the side to have a cabinet for DVD, surround sound, satellite...whatever some FUTURE owner may want to have their TV hooked up to. We are too cheep to have any of that fancy stuff, our flat screen tube TV and digital antenna is just fine, I am thinking RESALE.

Here's the wide-ish hallway, room for the kids to stash a few toys and not be in the way (too much).