Painting Outdoors

Today, Julie and I painted the exterior of the room addition. We aren't quite done.  There were spots that Julie and I can't reach.  We also still have to do the trim.  Still, we're happy with the progress.  Ed took some photos while we were painting this morning.  I had not had a shower yet and I looked like I just got out of bed.  So, I'm only letting you see my arm on that shot. Julie looks cute any time of day, so you get to see more of her.

 

Babysitting and a Movie

Chaplain Anderson had his parenting seminar this weekend.  Julie and I babysat for it.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I pretty much can't stand babysitting.  There were a few other babysitters and we got to choose which age group we wanted.  The other gals wanted the younger ones. We wanted the older ones.  What was cool was that we got to watch them in this place called "The Underground". It was fully equipped with ping pong, pool table, foos ball table, video games, television for cartoons, etc.  We also had self contained craft projects for them to do.  

We had three kids on Friday and eight on Saturday.  Julie and I were exhausted when we came home in the afternoon.  As I was unloading the car, Ed came home early from his week long trip with the National Guard to Michigan.  The three of us went to a movie in the evening in Boise with the Andersons. Here is Ed in front of a sign about National Guard Warriors.  I couldn't resist.

The sun was shining directly on that display so it is not the best shot....

The movie we saw was "Fireproof".

Wow!  We all loved the movie.  The theatre was packed.  There was lots of laughter and tears.  It was VERY well acted, written and produced. There were no swear words.  It was so refreshing to see this kind of treatment about the importance of working on marriage. At the end people were clapping.  You should go!

Floor.....Done!

Yesterday, we worked on the floor in earnest.  It was raining outside, so we had to set up the saw inside. Julie helped in the morning and then Ed and I worked the rest of the afternoon.  We made a quick trip to Boise to get the extra flooring planks we needed. I was a bit anxious to get it done before he left for a week. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  But then again, I had a square room to work with and the only real obstacles were the 4 heating vents in the floor.  It is such a relief to have it done!

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Putting in a Floor

Julie and I started tackling the floor yesterday morning.  Julie learned quickly and did a very good job. Ed had to work on his correspondence course for the Air Guard.  There are four modules in that course. He finished module four yesterday! He has to take a final exam on it, which he will have to study for but we see light at the end of a very long tunnel. In the late afternoon, he helped us for an hour or two. We are half way done.  We won't get to finish today as we are sure we don't have enough boards.  (I destroyed too many of them....) We have to get the boards at Lowe's in Boise. Ed is leaving for a week of annual training with the guard tomorrow. 

Lights!

Jerry came out yesterday and started installing the lighting.  He also installed the huge ceiling fan. He had sent us out with a list to Lowe's to buy the fixtures.  Some of them we got right and some of them we got wrong.  He plans to come out (from emmett, idaho) sometime next week to finish the job.

I have started installing the floor (by myself).  I laid out three rows and already have cut 5 or 6 boards wrong! I can't get the boards to snap together right.  I found out that you really have to have someone help you.  So Julie gets to help me today! I'll keep you posted.

Air Show

Yesterday, we spent all day on base.  First chapel, next eat at Burger King with friends, next Air Show, and finally the last Truth Project session at the home of Tim and Jen Wood.

The Air Show was called "Gunfighter Skies 2008".  We got a great spot right up front. I'm in the red shirt with the camo hat. Behind the speakers you can see some of the Thunderbird's jets. I sat there for several hours and got a nice sunburn. It was a great air show with static displays of unique aircraft and impressive acrobatics from pilots. There were also jumpers from the Air Force Academy.  I took lots of pictures but most of mine didn't turn out.  It was so bright outside, I couldn't tell if my pictures were turning out or not. Ed took some good ones. 

 

It was a thrill to watch the Thunderbirds perform. It was also fun to watch the crowd behind me. I think the best part of the show was watching a few dozen new Air Force recruits swear in during the show. If you're patriotic like I am, you would have had a lump in your throat too. We were very impressed with how the base personnel handled all of the logistics of crowd control, security and parking.  Well done Gunfighters!

She loved.....

One of the "perks" of being in this type of ministry is that we get to have partners who pray for us, encourage us and help us financially.  We get to meet wonderful people we may not have otherwise met.  One of those people is Martha Brown and her husband, Jim.  In 2006, we were visiting Nyssa Baptist Fellowship in Nyssa, Oregon.  There Martha told me that she was praying for us fervently and praying that we would go to Mt. Home Air Force Base.  She and Jim (though in their 80's) had us stay at their home, entertained us and fed us. They themselves had loved on airmen who were stationed in a remote station in Burns, Oregon.   We came away very encouraged.  Martha passed away this week, on my birthday, September 10.  I traveled to Nyssa to attend her funeral yesterday.  I got to see people I hadn't seen in years.  Wow! What a funeral!  It was 2 hours long.  She had arranged to have old time gospel music (large groups and a men's quartet among them). There must have been at least 10 songs.  They were so good, people applauded at the end.  Some of us were wondering if we should clap at a funeral.  There were all kinds of testimonies about their love for hospitality and for people., but mostly their love for Jesus. They also had a special place in their hearts for those airmen who came to their home in Burns. At the end, we filed past Martha's body and her 2 daughters and husband.  I had met Judy but didn't know Mary.  But when I greeted Mary, she recognized me from our prayer card on her parent's refrigerator.  She said, "Mom sure loved you." Then I hugged Judy, and she said "Mom loved you".  The funeral was a fitting tribute to a woman who loved and to her God who loves even more.

Happy 18th Julie!

Today is Julie's 18th birthday.  She has wanted to vote for many years now. 

I took her down to the county courthouse to register to vote.

We also picked up a passport application for her.  It looks like some of us get to spend Christmas in Germany! We are going to attach her expired passport for proof of citizenship.  Here is the picture on the expired passport.  Wasn't she cute?

Passports cost a chunk of change! $75 for the US Government fee and  $25 for the county fee.

There is other excitement here as this coming weekend, the base will have an air show. There was a sky writer flying over our house this morning. The base expects over 100,000 visitors.

With the air show and a few other things that have come up this week, the laminate floor project will still be sitting in the middle of the floor as pictured below.  I have started the project in earnest several times!  I have measured and re-measured.  We still have time. It looks like we can see light at the end of the tunnel on this building addition. Our next big project will be our back yard. What a mess! The sprinkler system needs to be reconfigured and so we have many trenches dug and we'll have to dig more.

 

 

Peaches, PWOC and Planks (Floor planks...)

Our PWOC Kick Off went well.  We had the usual technical difficulties but I think the ladies enjoyed themselves.  Kudos to Pam Culp who came up with the decor (even harvesting some of the wheat) and put together all the favors.

We had over 30 ladies which is a pretty good turnout here. With that, we also had MANY children. 

The highlights were the words of the chaplains (Saucier and Smith) and Cathy's testimony. Cathy had a huge tragedy in her life which she shared about and she tied that into our theme of Jesus being our redeemer. She is pictured below with Julie doing special music after her testimony.

The flooring arrived in the afternoon and we are storing it in the middle of the new room.  I've gone on several web sites and talked with a few people.  I either get "oh that's easy to do" or "what a tough job".  Read my friend, Sharon's, blog (A Peas of My Life) to get her perspective. 

With all of this going on, our peach tree in back has produced a plethora of peaches.  Julie and I have been busy today making preserves and freezing peach chunks.  She made bread today to go with the preserves. Yummy!

 

Interior Painting Mostly Done

Julie and I have painted our hearts out and this step is done!  The ceiling was the hardest part. The color of the paint is "citrus sage".  It looks yellow in this picture but it isn't.

The next step is the flooring which will be like Pergo laminate flooring.  It will be delivered tomorrow.  I'm scared as it looks like I will be the one to install it. Any suggestions?