Fiesta 2013 Begins

We got up and went balloon chasing this morning.  We found a large open area and parked the car.  Approximately 20 different balloons landed while we were there.  The boys ran around collecting trading cards.

Butterfly Balloon

Bumble Bee landed right before we were to leave

Here the boys helped get all the air out of the balloon bag by sitting on it

House Photos

 It's been a long time since I posted pictures.  So here's a lot.  Most were taken today.

Back in May the sheet rock work was completed.

We put wood floors in the dinning room and kitchen.

View from the dinning room towards the great room.  Granite goes in on the 11th.

Looking back toward the dinning room.

The hall bath/shower tile is done.  Most toilets are in too.

Master bath tub is done too (picture taken from shower - not done)

Laundry room - more cabinets than our current kitchen. There are more cabinets to the right of the windows - not shown.

Entry way tile.

The new stair railing, and the newly installed furnace & A/C.

View from the balcony towards the west and the balloons.

View to the north - you can see the casino.

View to the east and mountains.  The neighbors finished their house about 1 month ago.

View from the front on the house.

The front door is getting finished.

Update, of sorts

The post of our basement flooding is depressing.  So, in order to move it off the top, here is a short update.

The basement has been water free ever since the flood.  This is no small statement, considering all the rain we've gotten in the last few weeks.  Not as much as Colorado, but a lot.

Since the flood we've completed all the painting.  Finished the electrical (outlets, switches, etc).  Put in all the lights.  Put in all the cabinets - bathrooms and laundry.  Got most of the stair rail in (waiting on the balusters).  Tiled two baths.  Top coated the stair railing (stain/poly).

So, what is left?
Countertops - granite in the kitchen was picked out today, should be installed in 2 weeks.  Laminate for the upstairs bathrooms and laundry room has been picked out.  Looks like I'll be building those over the next week or two.
Showers - they need to be water proofed and tiled.  I'm waiting on some conrete work to get done before I start this job.  Probably will start in about two weeks.  I'm guessing it will take me about a month to complete.
Plumbing - I'll install sinks and faucets once the countertops are in.  I hope to be able to hire someone to finish the connections, but the budget may not allow it.  I'll hire someone to install the water heaters.
Balcony Railing - We need a large railing for the balcony in the back.  I'll probably end up doing this too, should only take a week.  I will probably wait until most everything else is done.
Front porch finish - We haven't decide on tile or epoxy.  The back balcony is getting an epoxy job.  We'll see how we like it.  If we decide on tile then I'll do it.
Driveway - I'm getting someone lined up to pour the driveway pad - this is just the first ~8 feet of a driveway that intersects the curb.  We will have a dirt driveway for awhile.
Appliances - They've all been picked out.
Carpet - We've picked it out and choosen an installer.  This will be the last thing put in.

I think that's it, or at least I hope so..  I've been in Hawaii for the last two weeks, so not much has happened.  The new goal is to be done before Christmas.

Speaking of Hawaii, here is the video on what we did.  The first two clips are of the part we were involved with.  For scale, the rocket is maybe 30-40 feet long.

Here is a news post about it:http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/19/us-usa-military-missile-defense-idUSBRE98I0N420130919

Ugh.....

As you may have heard, we had a bit of a disaster on Friday.  There was a cloud burst right over our new home, which basically resulted in a flash flood running down our street.  Our neighbors house is under construction and they recently cut the curb for their new driveway.  I think all the water from the street poured into their lot, then ran right into the corner of ours.  As fate would have it, we had an open trench from that corner of our lot right to the wall of our house, and right to where the newly installed water line penetrated into the crawl space.  It quickly became a roaring stream, and dumped all that water right into our basement.

I was at the house doing some electrical work at the time.  Because our window well setup isn't complete every time we get some rain we get a little water through one window.  I went down to see how bad it was.  As I looked around the water started to pour over the half wall we have separating the crawl space from the basement proper.  I immediately ran outside to see what was happening.  I spent the next 15 minutes or so in a futile effort to try and block the flow.  In that 15 minutes the entire basement filled with water, approximately 40,000 gallons worth.  It ended up 4' 5" high.  None of the pictures Adri took turned out of the basement in this state.

The rain stopped (not that it mattered much, another hour of rain wouldn't have made things any worse), and I went home to start calling for help.  I got a hold of some water damage company and they said someone would call in 30 minutes.  I ran out to Home Depot and rented what was basically a big pool pump.  I got back to the house and eventually got the pump working. The spec said it pumped 60 gallons a minute.  It didn't seem that fast to me, but the water started to go down a few inches an hour.  The water damage company said they couldn't help, and other companies were swamped with problems.  So it was up to us.  The Elder's Quorum president stopped by and gave me his smaller pool pump.  There was nothing much to do but wait, so I got a sleeping bag and spent the night at the house.  There wasn't any good reason to stay, I was just a bit paranoid something would happen. 

Approximately 16 hours later the water was to the point where the pumps wouldn't do anymore.  It was Saturday and members of the ward started showing up to help.  Scott Esplin (his Mom is - or was - part of the General Primary Presidency) designed a system to help get the rest of the water out.  He built a little cinder block tub and we pushed water towards it and scooped it into the tub with a snow shovel.  This kept the water level high enough for the pump to work.  You can see the pump and the cinder blocks in this picture.  You also see the level of mud on the floor, and the water line where the water once made it.

 Here's a few more pictures taken on Saturday, while the ward helped us clean.

After 6 or so hours and a lot of help, we got the last of the  water out and most of the mud.

Today we removed the little drywall we had down there and power washed everything.  It's basically back to normal, with just a bit of dirt on the floor.  I had some guys over who built a small berm up at the top of the trench, and filled up the bottom of the trench near the house.  I should have my last inspection tomorrow and then the whole thing can be filled.

I suppose the good news is that other than the trench problem, no water got into the house.  The entire lot was nearly a swamp, but there were no other problems.   It's been an exhausting few days, but other than the lost time and drywall it only cost us ~$50 to rent the pump and restore things.  Of course, I'm going to be a bit nervous the next time it rains.

summer

Does anyone check this blog anymore?  We are planning on being in IF on July 5th, probably too late for the slide though :(

Todd flies out of SL on July 9th.  Brad, can he get a ride back with you?
I think we will stay in IF through the 13th, then spend the next week in SL.  Can we hop around your houses, Buffy and Ali?
Anyone up for Lagoon that week? Todd comes back on the 18th, then we will probably leave the 19th.
That is the current plan.  Whs knows if it will stay, but wanted to see what you guys are all up to.

Mammoth Cave National Park - KY

This is the world's longest known cave system, with more than 400 miles explored. Today we paced ourselves and explored two miles, leaving the other 398 for another day. Photos were taking way too long to upload so for additional pictures you will have to visit Facebook.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!

I've thought on a number of occasions this year how I am becoming Pat.  For example, I now enjoy blue cheese salad dressing and Almond Joy candy bars.  I specifically remember seeing Mom eat these things as a kid and being totally disgusted.  Why would anyone in their right mind pick coconut and almonds when there were Snickers and Reeses right there?!
And the real dinger was when I caught myself browsing the clothing section at Sam's Club with the intent to buy.  Who buys clothes at Sam's Club? Why?!
Well, I can now say that I do.
Happy Mother's day, Mom! 
We are so excited to see you tomorrow!!