ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

Well, it's less than a week until school starts again. What that really means is that we have been on holidays for 11 weeks and the last week is now upon us. I always start to feel some mixed emotions at this time of year. Part of me wants to get back to the routine and begin another year. A very large part of me is ready for the paychecks to start again. But I could seriously handle a lifestyle consisting mainly of holidays. I guess when it comes down to it I'm not too far off the holiday lifestyle. We only work from September to June and during that time we get every weekend off and two weeks at Christmas and spring break. We really couldn't ask for better jobs.

Today we are taking a day off from working on the house. Yesterday was a very hard day. As you know we are waiting for the septic tank to be installed. A few weeks ago we talked to Clifford and he said he was just waiting for the permit. He said the guy in Whitehorse was having some problem with the sand they were using and wouldn't just give them the permit. So yesterday we phoned the permit people in Whitehorse and found out that Clifford has not even put in the application yet and all he wanted with the sand was a percolation test. So, he was going to phone Clifford and try to get things moving for us. Meanwhile, Clifford phoned us and is now mad at us because we questioned him about when this septic will get put in. Brian tried telling him that we were happy with the work he has done so far and that we weren't complaining. But I don't think he believed Brian. Let's just say I was ready to give up on the whole thing yesterday. I hate it when people are petty. Anyways, that's my rant for today. As I said, we are taking a much needed day off of working on the house. Instead we are going to the school to get some things prepared for the start of the year.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

"You can't always get what you want...", however sometimes you get more than you imagined.

I just finished laying the floor in our house. It was so easy - it just clicked together. Then we had some cheap flooring that we were using for the back porch. This was also supposed to just click together. However the clicking action obviously wasn't nearly as good. Let's just say that after one plank went flying out the door (not of its own volition), and much yelling and hammering, it doesn't look very professional (nothing a rug by the door can't hide). You really do get what you pay for. So, if you are ever planning to do laminate flooring, go for the good stuff, it's definitely worth the extra cost.

Here is another example of getting what you pay for. Brian and I planned to take the kids to Whitehorse this weekend. We had tons of shopping to do for the house and we had to get school supplies. However on Friday all the kids informed us that they didn't want to go. O.K. that works for us. Brian looked at me and said "jacuzzi room???" Of course I didn't wait even a fraction of a second before picking up the phone to change our hotel reservations. We were no longer in need of a room for 5 people and a dog. I was a little skeptical because last time we tried this we ended up with a regular room that boasted only a bath tub with jets. I guess we didn't spend enough $$$. Imagine our pleasant surprise when we entered this room and found a nice large room with a giant 2-person jacuzzi tub. We were exhausted from a long day of driving and shopping so this was more than welcome. And to top it off, and make me feel very luxurious, there were 2 white bathrobes hanging in the closet just waiting for us. I have always wanted to get a room with all these things, it just seemed so classy. It was like a dream come true. I was wishing that I had my camera so I could share it with you. Then I wanted my camera even more to take the obligatory picture of my food - this was one you really had to see to believe. I ordered "planked salmon". I guess I didn't read the menu very well. My food came and I had a baked potato, vegetables and salmon which had been baked on a plank of cedar. It actually came on the cedar plank with a delicious sauce. It was amazing! Too bad I didn't have my camera! Oh well, just another reason to return and repeat the adventure. Now for the rest of the trip... We left here at 6 am, so we were tired already when we reached Whitehorse. But we were very exhausted by 5:00 because just as we pulled in to town our brakes started grinding really bad. We had no warning before hand that this was coming. So we went straight to Canadian Tire and had to leave our truck with them while we walked all over town to shop for furniture. The good news is that they were able to fix our emergency brake on the truck which had been seized up and was on just slightly but wouldn't budge. The other good news is that we found the furniture we wanted (a black leather couch and love seat - pictures in a couple of weeks). We also found the fridge we wanted (all fridge, no freezer section) and a stove that we got a great deal on because it was a discontinued item. So, all in all the trip was a success and we were very glad to arrive home this evening with our truck loaded as usual.

HOLIDAYS???WHAT ARE THEY???

I was just reading other people's blogs and discovered that people are actually out there enjoying their summer while we are busy slaving away on our house. But all is not in vain - today Dad completed all that he has to do here. He installed our wood stove, plumbing and electricity. He was such an incredible help - we couldn't have done all this without him. Mom was also a great help - she was the cooking and cleaning lady. It was like having a servant in the house - I could get used to the idea. Thank you Mom and Dad. We really appreciate all your help.

Now we are just waiting for the septic to be installed and the electrical to be finished. Meanwhile we are heading to Whitehorse on Saturday to shop for back to school and for the house. If we are really lucky we will find some furniture that we like. We just have to finish the trim and build the porches then we are on to the fun stuff - decorating! Brian is turning out to be a great interior decorator. He comes up with some really good ideas. My ideas are too haphazard for nice decorating. Oh well, at least one of us has some decorating talents.

MORE WORK BEING DONE

Just when you thought we should be coming to an end of the work, there's more! Brian has spent the last few days working on the skirting for the house. This is very hard physical work, so he is getting pretty tired. The pieces are long and heavy to move around into place. I help when I can, but it is pretty hard on the back so I am only useful for a day here and there.

I have been working hard on installing the flooring. It is extremely easy to install, but it does take some time. No glueing though, just click them together. It is a little difficult to see it here, but it is a grey slate laminate. It was definitely the right flooring choice. I am sitting on the pad for our wood stove.

Things are definitely coming together. It's really starting to look good.

WHAT'S UP????

What could it be up there?

Aha! Dad is hard at work.

We have been so busy at the house, working on the addition. The water tank came and I was very relieved to see that it fit into the room. It won't hold much other than the water tank and the pump, but that's what it was built for. For those of you that may not know - we have our water trucked in. They come and fill our tank 3 times a week. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's not bad.

Here is what I did today. I put on the insulation on both walls of the addition. (This shows it half done.) All the kids helped some and then Mom was a great help with putting on the 1X4's on top. Needless to say, after a 13 hour day we are all exhausted. Tomorrow is more of the same.

Dad's been hard at work on the electricity. I think he is planning to start the plumbing very soon. We had a visit from our building inspector today. That's always fun. LOL! He came at about 11:15, when he was done we went for lunch. Then it was back to correct the things he came up with for us. All in all it was relatively painless.

BUILDING THE ADDITION

Brian and Dad have been working hard on builing the addition for a couple of days now. By the time we left tonight they had one wall up and the roof trusses on.

Here they are leveling the cement pads for the foundation.

Two great minds at work.

Just goofing off???

Building the floor.

The floor is built. Now what?

Mom joins the work force as we put on the vapour barrier.

Josh painting the floor.

Supervising Josh.

"The Supervisor"

What is it?

Our septic tank waiting to be installed. Actually we are waiting for the permit so that we can begin the installation.

Things are slowly coming together. Much of the time we are doing whatever we can while we wait for shipments of materials from Whitehorse. I think we should be preferred customers at home hardware by now.

OHHHH, THE BIRTH PAINS

Remember all the pain you had to go through to bring your children into this world??? Well, I seem to have added another child to my family without having to go through all that pain. This is Jedine. She's Hannah's best friend and spends loads of time at our house. Her and Hannah would like to be twins, in fact Hannah is going to get her hair cut and thinned to look more like Jedines. She is definitely as crazy as Hannah (is that a good thing?). She has become part of our family and we love having her around. She is a wonderful person.

Just thought you would all like to meet our other child.

WORKING HOLIDAY???

I am sure that the reason Mom and Dad came up here was primarily to work on our house with us. A visit with us was just an added bonus. However, when you view pictures like these you have to wonder about the "work" part of the holiday.

Actually we all put in a long, full day today. Mom applied the final coat of stain to all the pine and she measured the walls in the girls room and put painting tape on. Dad, Brian and Josh worked on electrical and plumbing. The electrical work was supposed to be easy but the house mover, being the smart man that he is, cut the conduit with all the wires in it that runs under the house from the panel to the power box. We were not impressed at all to see this, but after the fact there was nothing to do but repair the considerable damage. So, needless to say we have our work cut out for us. Do you think Mom and Dad will be able to stay awake to help?

ANOTHER GREAT DAY

Well, the house is officially moved today. Tomorrow we can get back in it and start the real work again. Mom, Dad, Brian and I went to Faro today to golf. My game gets better every time - I have been getting one less stroke each time. The big news today though is that Brian beat Dad for the first time ever. He finished with 48 strokes. He was pretty stoked about it. Congratulations Brian!

HANNAH'S BIRTHDAY PICS

Sorry I took so long to get these posted, I was having problems with the computer. But now you can all join in the fun of Hannah's birthday. Josh, Grandma, and Grandpa all arrived the day before her birthday, so they were able to join in the festivities.


Look at all those candles!!!

She has to get as much air as possible - you know the whole thing about the candles left lit and the correlation to the number of boyfriends. Hannah's motto is take no chances!

The official cutting of the cake.

Josh hams it up for the camera.

Grandma and Grandpa wait patiently for the cake.

Naomi and Josh really missed each other while Josh was away.

Hannah had her friends over for her party on Thursday. We went down to the river and they played on the rope swing.

Even Oscar gets to join in the festivities.

So, there you have it. Life in Ross River.

HALLELUJAH, OUR HOUSE IS MOVED!!!

Only 8 weeks late, but it is finally on our lot. They should be finished putting the base under it and leveling it all out tomorrow. It seems like another lifetime ago that we made those cribs and beams. We went over to the house at about 7:30 tonight and they had put in one row of cribs - only 2 more left, plus the addition. These are pictures of the house sitting at the edge of the lot waiting to be moved into position. Mom and I took a walk over there this morning just in time to see them move it into place. The red truck there didn't have enough power to get the house up onto the base, so they had to bring another truck and they used another truck to help push the red truck. I wish that I had brought my video camera. Oh well, it is a scene that will live on in my memory for a long time.

Now that it has been moved we are only 1 day away from getting back into the house and continuing our renovations. I don't enjoy enforced idleness. Next thing you know I will be complaining that I am too busy and need a holiday.

MOVING HOUSE (literally)

I'm so excited. We got a call from the house mover this afternoon that he will be here today and start moving the house tomorrow. This has been an eagerly awaited event. Not that we haven't been busy. Brian and I have been busy since we returned from holidays, working on renovations. Mom and Dad showed up on Tuesday and the men have been busy at the house ever since. Dad is really in his element with everything that needs to be done. I keep hearing the phrase "Now, here's what we are going to do..." Sound familiar? They have been working on the plumbing and some of the questions they ask are quite interesting. For instance (this is my favourite) "Do you really need hot water going to the washing machine?" My first question is "why?" "Well, it would be easier it you didn't need it." My reply: "I need it!" Another thing you hear a lot is "We can just make it fit." I think that is the scariest phrase in the home renovators vocabulary. Actually it is coming along very nicely. On the weekend Brian started working on the bathroom. He repainted where the old stuff was. Then he looked at the ceiling and claimed that he hated it - it had to go. So he pulled it down and said these amazing words: "You're right, we should put cedar in the bathroom!" I have been wanting that since the beginning. Let me tell you I didn't waste any time - I rushed home and ordered the cedar before he could change his mind. I started putting up the cedar today - I have only done the ceiling, but it looks fantastic. Now, I think I will get a nice break while the house is moved. I will keep you updated.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH

Can you believe my little girl turns 14 today. She is still one of the craziest kids you will ever meet. She always makes me laugh, she has such wierd sense of humour. We think she's beautiful and tell her so all the time (even though she hates it when we do).

We just want to wish you a very happy birthday, Hannah. You are really special and we love you to bits.