July Renovations Continued

Lyle conquers the water heater. After much struggle, muscle flexing to unhook the pipes, removal of the door to the closet, draining, turning, etc....the beast was finally removed. It is around 25 years old and although still working, it is time to replace this faithful contraption.



Today was Window Day! They finally were delivered this morning. This is the first of the 8 to be replaced. They are amazing. Double pain, Low E, slightly tinted, with screens on the bottom only. Cuts the outside noise and look fantastic!

After popping out the old sliders, and chipping out the wood strips, Each opening was vacuumed, caulked, and new wood strips were cut and nailed to make each one look perfect.
Here's Lyle setting and securing the kitchen window. He completed 6 today. Only 2 to do tomorrow.
We stopped today with the back bedroom after completing the Living room, Kitchen. Each room had 2 windows to replace. We love the new upgrade! Other things are being worked on at the rental that are not photographed.....getting the wood primed for painting, yard clean up, roof caps secured, etc. It is truly a work in progress and seems to be without end!

Other business..... This is Beau. She is 2 and was visiting her California relatives. Her grandma lives around the corner from us. She is a cutie from Casper, Wyoming. She is an amazing 2 year old. Very mature for her age!

Here is Beau's mommy, Sarah. She is an amazing mom. I loved listening to her use complete sentences and huge descriptive words that Beau parroted back to her. (Beau has been enjoying several of my Kindergarten books. She has an amazing vocabulary and is very gentle with the pop-up pages.) They are wonderful together. Beau is sporting our Manhattan, NY apron.
Beau and Sarah are leaving soon...They miss their Daddy and Husband. It has been a long 2 months for Sarah to be away. She is ready to get back home. Best wishes to you Sarah and Beau. Come visit us again! We love you! Have a great trip back home!

WH EL OF F RT NE....

After having driven by this sign dozens of times, I finally had Marlene take a shot of it. I've spent a lot of time wondering about the origin of this roads name. It would be a challenge on the big wheel.

Highlights of Cory's Visit

Cory should be landed in NYC by now. We had a great time and enjoyed him for 15 days. I tried to put some highlights together in this collage. What a great time! Love ya!

More July Events 2008

August 8th Cory arrived from NYC. He had flown into the bay area then took a train to Hanford. We met him at 10:30pm. (Annie had to stay home and finish up this year of teaching.) He was the best man for Jordan Bentley and got in 4 days before the wedding to do all the best man things.

On July 9th - 11th we had Nathan's favorite tree taken down at the rental. It was a giant and had limbs hung over the house and in the wires. It was quite a job to land the branches in our yard without taking out the fence or hurting anyone. Eddie and his crew did a fine job!They cleaned away all the brush and we have a lot of firewood left. The backyard seems empty without it! We miss the shade too! But it will be a relief to Lyle's mind the next time there is a storm.
While in town, Lyle needed Cory's help up on the roof at the rental. He was very helpful getting the shingles up to the roof and getting the swamp cooler down. He helped with major clean up of old shingles. He also tried his hand at splitting wood. (It is still too green.)
Marlene is busy taking up carpet strips, pulling up staples, scraping paint off the floor and filling nail holes to get the floor ready for refinishing.
Much of the paint on the moldings had bubbled over time. Lyle has been stripping the paint off to get ready for a new ....unlumpy finish on the woodwork.

July 13-16 we made a quick trip to Vegas. It was relaxing and well needed. With Cory and Grandma Lois in Hanford to take care of Clayton, it was a perfect time to take our little trip.

Truly, Lyle is my Earl of Sandwiches. He should start a business with his wonderful creations!
The weather was beautiful. It was cooler in Vegas than it was in Hanford.

July 19th at 6:00 AM, it was the Mervyn's Shopping Spree for students who were selected by their schools. After a good breakfast from the Lyon's club, I got to take Thomas around to spend his $100 for school clothes. We did very well! Tennis shoes, 4 shirts, 2 Levi jeans, 10 pair of socks, and 6 briefs. He was a very good shopper! Everyone got a backpack full of school supplies as well. It was fun for all.

Today, July 22nd, I got to take my mom to get her driver's licence renewed. She had to pass the eye test and take the written test as well. She was nervous, but kept saying that she had studied and prayed that the Lord would take care of her. Well, He did! She passed everything. So, she is good for another 5 years unless I take it away. She agreed with me that if I thought she was hazard to others or herself, I could take it away earlier. She is a smart lady! I am proud of her!
Well, it has been a busy time and that is why I had to cram a lot into this one blog. I hope you enjoyed the update.

Celebrate! Nathan is 29 Today! Happy Birthday!

29 years ago today,
I struggled to birth this fine looking young man in the center of the picture...(don't be confused with the one on the right!)
When you hold your new born baby in your arms and wonder who they will become, it's daunting. You hope and pray that you do the right things to instill everlasting moral values, intelligence, and a "like-ability" for social interaction. We were blessed in all these areas with Nathan. What a Gift from God! (Which is the meaning of his name.)

Although not perfect, he is kind, loving, loyal, honest, a real "stand-up person." If you need help, he will do everything he can to do whatever you need. He usually goes beyond the expected. In this world where most people are self-centered and oblivious to others' needs, he cares, helps, and volunteers his service! (Who would not be proud of those character traits?)
After high school, he gave our country 5 years of Navy service as a Corpsman. (A tough gig by any standards!) He worked and successfully helped his wife through medical school. As he works at Starbucks part-time, and volunteers weekly at a local zoo, he is completing his education to become a high school biology teacher. (He loves animals! He is a nurturer of animals and people! He will be great!)
As you can tell by this picture, his humor and likes are a little off beat, but his kind caring nature is outstanding.
We are soooooooo proud!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATE!

WE LOVE YOU!
Mom, Dad, Cory, Annie, Grandma, and Grandpa too!

Have a great day!

July 4th and More Renovations

Nate comes to town on the 4th of July. Here Dottie is meeting him at the train station.

We will get to have him for the entire weekend! Fun!

Probably the primary reason for Nate to come here is to get his fireworks! We have a proud boy here showing off his new thrill! In the past, these would provide hours of fun with sorting by color, size, shape, name, burning time, number of words on the directions...etc.

We watched the show with Grandpa Clayton at Hacienda. We wanted him to have family around him on this special day. You can see George to the right. He is one of Clayton's roommates.
Grandma Lois was with us. Here we are waiting for the show to begin. The fireworks were outstanding this year. The Happy Face was my favorite besides the amazing ending. It was a wonderful show...well worth our wait.
After the big show, Nate put on his own show at Grandma's driveway. Fireworks are always fun! On to renovation news....Entry tile had to be removed. Believe me, they were really stuck and took a lot of elbow grease to get them up!Here is Lyle putting down the new kitchen floor. He went with peel and press vinyl that looks like slate tiles. It is beautiful and we hope durable for renters. Here he is nearing the end of the tile job in the dining room. It looks beautiful! Again, hope you enjoyed our update.

I don't have pictures, but Friday and Saturday Lyle was working on the roof. He removed and replaced rotted boards from swamp cooler damage. He plans to remove the cooler and all the west side shingles to repair and re-roof. This week is predicted to be 108-110 degrees. Could be a ...work inside week.