What Followed

In an effort to finish this vacation blog, I will sum up the rest of our time in Mexico in one post.

Saturday found us at the beach playing in the water and taking rides on the 4-wheeler. The real excitement came when the minivan got stuck in the sand. Thankfully Joel and Meghan, who had driven the quad back to WHO, were able to bring a truck to pull us out!

Sunday morning we attended church. We received such a warm welcome! It was wonderful to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Mexico. We spent the afternoon at the flea market (I got a really cute dress) and at Sand Dollar Beach. It was really windy, but the girls didn't mind a bit. They had a blast in the water while the adults read books.

Monday we held a carnival for the ninos at WHO. We set up games (big thanks to Sally Ritter for the supplies and ideas!!!) and gave prizes. (The girls held a bake-sale at Daddy's work to purchase the prizes.) They had lots of fun! tho the daycare children didn't really get what was going on. The cupcakes at the cakewalk were a huge hit! Meghan, Jackie and Neri pitched in to help us with the carnival.

Our time in Mexico seemed too short, but thankfully Joel's family was able to drive up to California with us to spend a day at Disneyland. We were happy to share more time with them! But that is for another post.

Day Six: In Which the Roof Is Finished

It is finished.

After a lovely breakfast (with made-to-order eggs, compliments of Cande), Joel and his roofing compatriots, Neri and Calores, set out to finish the roof. They returned victoriously an hour before lunch. If only all roofs went up so quickly! In addition to the roof, they installed windows and a door. We are thankful for all those who supported the project financially; we had hoped for a roof, but with the gifts of many, Ernestina and her family will be secure in their new home. We had the opportunity to pray with Ernestina later in the afternoon, and Neri shared the Gospel with her. It is our hope that the love shown her will draw her to seek the Lord.

So what did the Scott ladies do while the men labored? Many things! First and third, LOTS of dishes. WHO feeds around 50 children breakfast and lunch 5 days a week, as well as around 15 adults (more when groups are visiting). Dishes are in our skill set! It was good to serve. Second, the little ladies went to class and I helped Jackie make lunch. It takes a lot of macaroni and cheese to feed that many people! We were a little baffled as to how such a large pot of boiling pasta was to be drained, and I must say it was a group effort!

After lunch the guys started attacking the roof of the new daycare classroom at WHO. A neighbor who owns strawberry fields invited the womenfolk to pick berries. What fun! I think it took about 20 minutes to fill three big buckets. SO TASTY!!! Now, many of our readers follow Dana's future ambitions on facebook. For those who don't, in the last few months she has wanted to be a chef (probably at Arby's) and a Musketeer (in Boise, not Antarctica). After our berry picking expedition, she informed me that when she grows up she wants to send her children to daycare so she can pick strawberries. Apparently we're raising a migrant worker.

The day was finished off with tacos. I love Mexico.

Day Five: In Which We Begin the Roof

Thursday. The day of the roof. Joel set out to work with Neri and Calores, while the girls and I sorted nails (not glamorous, but necessary) and cleared the house of large rocks and pieces of cement block. There ended our usefulness on the jobsite, so we headed back to help make dinner and do lots of lunch dishes. The guys, however, attacked the project with a vengence! By lunch they had put all the rafters up and were finished with the spacers. By late afternoon they had sheeting, fascia, tar paper, and flashing. It's incredible the amount that they accomplished! It looks like tomorrow should see the finish of the roofing project.

Day Four: In Which We Arrive in Mexico

At last! The day had finally come. We were headed for Mexico! After four hours of uneventful travel, we arrived in Vicente Guerrero, home of Steve and Jackie Scott (and Meghan, and other people). No one got carsick, we were entertained with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and nothing worse happened than my car getting seriously muddy. It was wonderful to spend the afternoon talking and catching up with the fam, and we also had the opportunity to visit the worksite.
Another perk of being in VG happens to be INTERNET ACCESS. :) So I checked my email and found that the Lord had indeed provided for the rest of our roofing project through Sunday morning's offering. Praise Him! More than half of our support came in during our last two days at home. We knew that we would do as much as we could with how much He provided, and now there is enough for a roof, two windows and a door. We were so excited!!! Thank you to all who assisted us in this way. It means so much to us and the family who will have a weather-proof house.
Then we had dinner at Don Diegos. It was super tasty. :) The end.

Day Three: In Which We Brave Monsoon Season at SeaWorld

Our day started bright and early, so we headed to Denny's. That's what you do on bright, early mornings. After breakfast we made lunches and headed to SeaWorld. Bliss! Wet, windy bliss. We were good and soaked after two and a half hours of wandering around and enjoying the exhibits and shows. The girls fed (and petted) dolphins, which was very, very cool. We took in the sea lion show (so funny, though many jokes were lost on our kids) and learned about sharks, beluga whales, penguins, and polar bears (did you know that they have black skin and their hair is actually clear?!?). Because of the wet, windy weather, the indoor exhibits were experiencing much greater traffic than usual, and the guides were in quite a dither! The children (a few school groups mostly) were wound tighter than ticks and ran amok hollering and squealing with abandon. It was glorious to head back into the rain and (happy sigh) silence.
Because of the downpour (with high winds), we opted to eat our lunches in the car with the heater going full force. After an hour we were (comparatively) dry, so we decided to brave it for a few more hours. We really wanted to see the indoor aquariums, and we still had Shamu and the dolphin show to look forward to. It was with great joy that we saw the clouds part and the bright sunshine burst forth! The afternoon was just glorious.
Before heading out to dinner, we took the girls to Mission Bay to play in the sand. Hannah dug a large hole for people to get water out of, and Dana found pieces of crabs which delighted her immensely.
Joel had found a wonderful brewpub in Coronado (Coronado Brewing Company) when he was in San Diego for work, so thither we went for fantastic food and decadent dessert! I had spicy carnitas flautas, which were pretty much happiness on a plate. Also, it happened to be kids night, so we used the money saved to buy an amazing fudgy-marshmallowy brownie with two enourmous scoops of vanilla ice-cream and heaping tons of whipped cream on top. SOOO good. I give this pub two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
Here ends the tale of our Tuesday. The End.

Day Two: In Which We Drive to San Diego

The title nearly sums it up: ten hours in the car from Sacramento to San Diego. The highlight of the drive was In 'N Out in Oceanside. Mmm. . . Our (gasp!) first of the trip. We found our hotel without much ado and got the girls to bed by 9:00. One day they'll catch up on sleep.
On a brighter note, before we left for San Diego we had a lovely breakfast with Bob and Rosalie. Eggs, toast, muffins, ham, sausage, hashbrowns, juice. . . We enjoyed more conversation with our friends and, to top off the morning, Bob took the girls on their first motorcycle ride! They enjoyed it immensely. I remember when I used to ride on the back of my daddy's Harley. :)

Day One: In Which We Drive to Sacramento and Rinda Drinks a Monster

Here it is! Day one of our adventure. We started our journey after church (and getting groceries and eating lunch). Joel had found a buyer for our Volvo (praise the Lord!), but the guy lives in Sacramento. Therefore, Joel decided that he would drive it down and I would drive the girls in the Subaru. So far so good! Except that I had just finished a three-day practicum in Applegate and had driven a total of 12 hours during those three days. I was wiped out and having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I found myself leaning my head against the cold side-window, turning the AC on, and occasionally shaking my head with vim and vigor to keep myself awake. Finally, just before the last exit for Redding, my eyes closed. They popped open in time to miss the cement barrier along the edge of the highway. Scary business, that! I took the exit, found a gas station, and bought myself a low-carb Monster. That is NASTY stuff! but extremely effective. I drank 1/4 of it and was fine for the last two hours of the drive. Monster saves lives, my friends! After the Volvo was safely in the hands of a very nice couple, Joel took the wheel (and dumped the rest of my Monster because it smelled so bad). We managed to find Bob and Rosalie's house, despite Google's poor directions, and there spent a lovely evening with good food and wonderful company. The end.
Many, many thanks to those who prayed for our safety! Many, many thanks to Bob and Rosalie for their outstanding hospitality! Many, many thanks to those (Buck and my mom in particular) for taking care of our home and animals so that we could leave for two weeks! Many, many thanks to those who gave financially so we can serve here! And many, many thanks to the Lord for His protection and travel blessings.
*Disclaimer: If anything in this post is spelled incorrectly, I am truly sorry. I tried to spell check, and I think that Jackie's computer thinks I speak Spanish, because nearly every word was highlighted. Seriously. Alas!
**Disclaimer dos: I will add pics when we return home. :)
***Disclaimer tres: Yup. It thinks I speak Spanish, because "dos" isn't highlighted. :)

Hello to our dear friends and family! We wanted to apprise you of some work that the Lord has called us to. This spring we will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of our wedding. To celebrate this remarkable milestone, we had planned to go to Hawaii for ten days of sun, activity, and relaxation. We were so excited, we actually started saving three years in advance! But our plans are not always God's plans, and we are convinced that His plans are the best. Last year our small group Bible study was going through a video series on being a Good Samaritan. During a particular video, I felt my heart being burdened to spend the time and resources allocated for our anniversary trip on a mission trip instead. Just as the movie ended, I looked at Joel and realized that the Lord had given him the same vision. Our plans had changed.

Enter May, 2011. We will be taking our girls and heading to Vicente Guerrero, Baja California, Mexico for a week-long service project with Welcome Home Outreach (http://www.welcomehomeoutreach.org/). Joel's parents, Steve and Jackie Scott, are the directors of WHO, so we will have the privilege of serving beside them! We have been dialoguing for the past seven months or so trying to pin down what exactly we'll be doing. We're excited to get Hannah and Dana involved in the project, so we'll be doing some odd jobs around WHO, as well as throwing a celebration for the children in the Welcome Home daycare and preschool. (The girls are planning a bake-sale to raise funds for the celebration.) Only recently, however, has an appropriate project surfaced for the majority of our visit. We are hoping to raise funds sufficient to put a roof on a house for a family. They have been building it themselves but must get a roof on in the near future as they are being forced to move out of their rented home. The cost of the roof is about $1000, though the house will also need a door and windows soon as well.

We would like to ask if you would consider partnering with us in one (or both) of two ways:

1. Pray! We will be traveling about 3,000 miles with two littles in the backseat. We will also be driving through a few areas where safety is a concern. We will be doing work for the Lord, and Satan will want to battle us in any number of ways. Will you pray with us for strength, safety, sanity (!), and spiritual suppleness? (I thought the list would be easier to remember if everything started with an "s.") Also, pray for those that Steve and Jackie will put us in contact with in Mexico. We speak very little Spanish, but we're prepared to love on people through any other means the Lord puts in our way!

2. Finances. Because we had already saved for a trip, and because we are taking an extra five days to do some fun things with the girls, we have the money needed for travel, food, and lodging. That means that any financial support we raise will go directly to our building project. Any additional funds raised will go into Welcome Home's outreach and emergency fund for needy families. Online donations may be made via PayPal using the Welcome Home website "Make a Donation" link. Choose "Other" on the website and indicate "May Roof Project" as the description. We can also accept cash and checks, and will provide donors with a tax-deductible receipt upon our return. We're leaving May 15th, but PayPal donations should be made by May 13th to allow ample time for processing so the funds are ready when we get there.

Thank you for supporting us as the Lord guides and enables you. We're excited to serve Him in Mexico and to engage our daughters in cross-cultural ministry!

So, we've never actually had a birthday for Dana. Sad, eh? Last year I took only ONE picture of her birthday dinner (taco chili, because my dad wanted it). Hannah had awesome parties, every year. For her fourth birthday she had FOUR parties. I scrapbooked them all.
So this year we threw Dana a real party. It was a combined party with her friends Luke and Josiah, whose birthdays are a few weeks before hers. It was awesome. We partied at Rachel's School of Dance where the kids enjoyed an obstacle course, lots of games, fingerfoods, cupcakes, and tons of presents.

(Fast-forward 16.5 months. That's today(ish). I'll finish posting this blog now, complete with pictures. Good grief! Whose idea was this blog, anyway?!?)

Please don't get confused: This is Dana's 3rd birthday party, but due to my lack of blogging prowess, she's now 4.25 years old and I'm just posting this. Alas.

House updates! I think that our remodel was the original reason for this blog. We fail. So, here are some updates! We'll get more out in the next 16.5 months. I promise.

From the upper left, and moving in a snail-shellish order:

1. Our little bathroom. This is the one that was open to the sky for awhile, and then had plywood for a ceiling for a year and a half. It's done now, but I have no completed pics. I'll post them when we upload them. This is the in-progress shot: new tub, walls, and floor. The room was rotted out badly. It's actually a miracle that we didn't go through the floor!!! Joel pulled out heaping tons of rotted flooring, walls, studs, and even a floor joist. Nasty business!

2. Trim! Joel got the trim in around the floors, doors, and windows. We still need to caulk and paint, but we feel more "official" now.

3. Laundry room in-progress. Joel put in wonderful cabinets, a counter, and a utility sink. What a guy! We really use this space, too. It's our headquarters for milking dishes, straining milk, and folding laundry. It is also where I keep the ZOTE (only the most powerful stain-killer known to mankind, and all for less than a dollar!!!). When Dana gets something nasty on her clothes, she tells me, "Don't worry, Mommy. You can ZOTE it." Awesome.

4. Finished! Note the ZOTE bar on the sink. :) Isn't my laundry room pretty? And so functional! Plus, I made that skirt under the sink. Pretty talented, if I do say so myself!

5. Trim in the girls' room. Aren't they cute? Don't look too closely at Dana's attire; she dressed herself.

6. Scary red waterproof paint in our shower. It's prettier now.

7. Gorgeous lady (me, of course!) posing in our newly finished walk-in shower!!! Didn't my husband do a marvelous job?!?

8. Joel with his gun-shaped tile. I think that he subconsciously left a space just that shape so he could put a gun-shaped tile in. Such a boy!

9. More of our fabulous shower! I love the double shower-heads, and I'm never claustrophobic while getting clean anymore. Ah, bliss.

10. Me planting fruit trees. That's home-improvement, right? :) I put in two pear trees (Bartlett and Asian) and a peach tree. Joel laughed about that peach tree. We live in a frost pocket. I am optimistic that it will bear fruit. I think.

11. Joel had to cut part of our pantry-area wall out to make way for a pocket door for the little bathroom. Yay! No more door hanging open in the pantry!

12. Window trim in our bedroom. I love our windows! I'm using them as a greenhouse until my real greenhouse is finished. :) Yay me!

Goats! We have goats! Actually, most of you already know this. Now you can see pictures. :) These are in no special (or chronological) order. From the upper left, moving in a serpentine trail:
1. Barli, my favorite. He was super weak when he was born (his mom, Jewel, had a very difficult labor), and we didn't think he would be able to walk because his rear legs seemed malformed. He also wouldn't nurse or take a bottle for the first 12 hours of life; not a good thing! He finally got hungry, and he hasn't stopped eating since. His legs strengthened, and now he's extremely active. I don't actually know why he's on the fence here. Ask Joel.

2. The girls with the kids. Joel set up a pen for them with the trailer for shelter. This way they're separate from their moms. We have fed them from a nanny bucket or bottles since birth.

3. Sam tidying Schneehopli's bottom. They might be separated from their kids, but our does are great moms!

4. Sam, our Sanan, and her kiddos: Schneehopli, Turk, and Waterfall. (Dana named her; seriously hippy-sounding, right? But you can't take your word back when you tell a four-year-old that she can name the next one. Mommy knows better next time!)

5. Turk doing a dance. The kids are hilarious to watch! They bust some crazy moves.

6. Jewel, our Nubian, and mom of Barli and Schwanli. (If you're wondering about the ones Dana didn't name, they come from the book Heidi by Johanna Spyri. We read it last summer and decided to name our herd after the goats in the book.)

7. Schwanli and Barli at 2 days old. It was cold and Nubians don't have thick coats, so we put them in shirts the girls had outgrown. Barli's naked in this pic, but Schwanli is sporting a darling lavender tee. :)

8. Sam, chillin' in the goat pen. She will often hang out right next to the hay so that Jewel can't get at it. Sam is our alpha-female, and she's something of a butt. Jewel is high-strung and in dire need of a sedative, and I think Sam likes to capitalize on her delicate nerves.

9. Schwanli doing a jig. These kids CRACK ME UP.

10. Sam cleaning Schneehopli just after birth. When Turk and Waterfall were born, she hardly looked at them; she only had eyes for Schneehopli. Sad, but true.

11. Schneehopli and Turk, cleaned and waiting for sissy to be born.

12. Jewel cleaning Schwanli and Barli. They had an older brother, but he was back-presenting (and humongous), and by the time Joel was able to get him out, he had died. So sad! We were really grateful these two lived.

So, that's our goat family. :)

Hogsback, April 2010

In my quest to update our Blog, I've decided that brevity is best. Also, thanks to my pal Taryn, I've discovered the glories of photo collages, compliments of Picasa, which make putting pics in a breeze! Here we are hiking Hogsback. Having lived 25 years of life in Klamath Falls, it's somewhat criminal that this was my first time ascending the majestic heights of this landmark mountain. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, after the first 45 minutes. During that time, we weren't sure if we would make it or not! We haven't hiked much in the last eight years. We met a lovely marmot on the way (see top row, second from right). He looked so peaceful! I considered resting by him, maybe never moving again, but there are diseases to consider when resting with rotting rodents. We persevered, making it not only to Lone Pine (see bottom right photos), but to the very apex of Hogsback! What a view! The trip down was a little less spectacular, as we were fairly certain that, in our descent, we were surely endangering the precious cartilage in our knees. But we did make it, and I even made a return voyage four days later with my Essentials class (the writing/grammar/math-drill class I tutor for Classical Conversations). Seven 8-12 year-olds made it up with much less ado than I did (either time), and I only got us "lost" once! (Well, twice.) Joel and I plan to make this hike a tradition, but first we'll buy some of those hiking poles that look like ski poles. We aren't laughing at the people who use them anymore!!!

From the front. . .

We had a request for a picture from the front of the house to see how the addition is tied in. Here ya'r!

House Update

Here's Joel working on the roof. I hope ya'll haven't been losing sleep over our roofless state, because he did finish it. Actually, he finished it the night that it began to rain! God is good. It seemed to take FOREVER (especially for Joel), but it's done and it looks awesome!



Here's our house, complete with roof, windows, and Tyvek! Isn't it beautiful?!? Now comes the fun part: wiring and plumbing. This part isn't so easy as it sounds, and it seems to be a long process. Joel keeps telling me we'll be done by the end of March. I think I believe him. But in the meantime, it sure is nice to not have leaves and wind rolling through the house, willy-nilly.



The current job: wiring and plumbing. Crazy how much wire it takes. Seriously. It makes me think that candles are very practical. :) After this step (and the inspection) comes insulation (yay!), and then drywall. This is a very happy part for Joel, since he isn't doing it! (drywall, that is.) I guess that leaves time for siding. Alas.

Here's Joel's little workshop. It was supposed to be a garage, but our house is too close to the property line to have a real garage. At least he'll have a home for all of his tools (and my freezer). :) Aren't the stairs awesome? Much better than the paint bucket we had been using to get to the main level! Joel learned his lesson with those, though: never ask your wife what she wants when you could just google the correct dimensions. Apparently I want the railing 6 inches higher than what is considered "normal." Poor guy!!

(Now, I'm sure ya'll are going to be wondering why there are pictures on this post but not on the previous posts. Joel is now sitting by me and has instructed me in the blogger method of picture placement. Way to go, coach!)

Just the Girls

While Joel was enjoying himself down under, the girls and I headed to Portland for a week of friends, family, and FUN! We were thankful to stay with Bob and Karen Callison who graciously opened their house and hearts to us. The girls asked for some time afterwards when we were going back!

Our week in a nutshell: a visit to the Ramona Quimby Park at Grant Park, my friend Heather's baby shower with the college gang (Carrie and Mer), a fun night out on the town (no kiddos) with Mer (Flying Pie Pizza and Pied Cow), lunch and a visit with Grandma Mouser, and LOTS of Mommy/daughter time. :)

Meghan came down a week after we left (she just can't get enough of her wonderful family!), and we went to the TuleLake Fair. SO much fun! The girls went on rides, we ate dough boys (elephant ears to the rest of the world), and we even ran into family. What are the chances that Uncle Mike and Aunt Tami would be there when we were? So they invited us over for dinner and we got to catch up with everyone.

Joel didn't get to come. Poor guy, stuck in Australia with tons of wind and rain. :)

We'll put pics on Picasa. :)

So Joel wrote that he'd write more. That was two months ago. So now I've been assigned the illustrious task of updating ya'll on a good deal of things. First, we'll cover Australia. I didn't go. There really are no bitter feelings (aside from the fact that I've never left North America and I've never been to Hawaii). :) But Joel had a good time. He's pictured here with a beautiful Land Cruiser. Most of the pictures he took were of Land Cruisers. Go figure! But he also had the opportunity to spend two nights in Hawaii, see Pago Pago (or at least the airstrip), go to an awesome petting zoo (a favorite with many of those who went), and see some of the Australian coast. I'd post more pictures, but this blog thing is evil and won't put the pictures in the order I want them or where I want them. Therefore, please visit our Picasa webpage to see more of the sights. Unfortunately, it was monsoon season so he was unable to go deep-sea fishing. He did, however, make time to visit a wrecking yard where he picked up side-view mirrors, rear sliding windows, a dash grab handle, and a few other cool Land Cruiser items not available on American models. Go figure. :)

too long

Well gee, I guess it's been a little too long since I've posted. I've just been extremely busy for the last 2 months. Fall weather has begun to set in and today happens to be extremely rainy and working on the house just isn't feasible. Work on the roof is just too dangerous under the present conditions. As it sits right now, the sheeting on the roof is nearly done, I have a bit of over-framing left to do on the new bath and workshop, a few large pieces of fascia, and the eave sheeting, nail it all off and begin shingling. After that I've got to finish the shear nailing, get it inspected and start on the windows and siding.

Why am I so far behind? I contribute it to my taking three weeks off from building to work long hours away from my family in a horrible place where water spins backwards in the toilet. They made me drive on the wrong side of the road, forced me to envy Land Cruisers wherever I looked, and subjected me to blokes with unintelligible accents. I have some pictures of the place that I'll post up later. In all reality Australia was a great place with great people and I had a wonderful time. While I wish I could be further along on this project I would really be kicking myself if I had turned down the opportunity to travel abroad -even if it was without my family.

Flying trusses

Progress is a funny thing. One day you're just bumming along, doing what needs to be done and making progress - but from the outside it doesn't appear than any significant work has been done. On the other hand, in one day the entire look of the project can change, suddenly an angular conglomeration of lumber and sheeting begins to look more like a house. In both instances progress is being made, but one is infinitely more satisfying than the other

Today we flew trusses. A crane is pretty handy for lifting 24' wide by 12 foot tall trusses into place. There are only a few tidbits to comment on but first I want to thank those that came out and helped.

Flying trusses is a little different than flying F-15's for Brian "Bueno" Bergeron!

Brent Brewer keeps thing organized on the ground.

Jeff Klein keeps us supplied (with wit and sarcasm!)

And thanks to our neighbor Don - who let us use his yard for the truss truck - and in return got a new gate and fence post, courtesy of the truss truck driver who demolished them on his way into the yard.

Rinda wants me to make sure that I include a picture of our ceiling-less bathroom for posterity, so here it is:

Insert funny story here: The weather has been very nice and the cool beginning to our summer has really kept the bugs down. I'd been working late and hadn't had any problems with bugs. So I didn't think twice on Friday when I ripped the ceiling and back wall out of the bathroom in preparation for today. Wouldn't ya know it? Friday was the day that the all manner of insects came out in full force - mosquitoes, midges, moths and all kinds of other creepy, crawly, buzzy, flying thingamajiggers. Taking a shower that night was NOT pleasant.

Anyway, with the help of the guys mentioned above, we were able to get all of our trusses at least close to in place. We set up the gable truss on the far side and then set the four trusses for that pop-out as a pack to set up later:

Then we set the center section attic room trusses with the help of the crane so that we wouldn't have to roll those big buggers by hand:

Finally, we set the 5 trusses for the eastside popout as a pack:

Jeff and I worked feverishly over the weekend (which just happened to be my drill weekend) to finish the interior walls and little jobs needed before the trusses. Sunday night the bible study gang came over and the guys helped me finish up the top plating and I marked out the truss layout in preparation for the 8 am truss delivery.

I'd be remiss if I didn't add a picture of my ladies washing Mommy's car, in costume of course.

Friday and Saturday's work

Thought I'd (Joel -happy Mike?)just splash up a couple of pics of Friday and Saturday's progress. I finished the walls for the shop and sheeted them. The shop walls are 10 ft tall and my sheeting is only 9 feet so I'll have to add blocking between all the studs and add more sheeting on top. I also put up a couple of small pieces of sheeting and cleaned up a few wood scraps - ones I definetely am not going to use - to the fire pit they go! I was planning on getting the doors for the shop cut out ( the sheeting that is) but broke my router bit half-way through the side door. Routing it just leaves such a nice edge and is so much easier than a sawz-all that I figured I'd rather just wait 'til tomorrow and can pick up another bit.

Here's the pics:

Under Blue Skies

We're camping this summer and without having to leave home. For around a month we've been living with our back hallway (really just a pantry area) open to the elements. Well, there is/was plastic keeping a few of the elements out. I had torn the wall out in order to extend the new subflooring into that area because the 6 foot wide area will be extended to 8 and a 1/2 feet with the add-on.

Saturday, with the help of Brent Brewer, John Buckalew, and Bill Case, the plastic came down and the six feet of roof that were covering the back hallway (and our only bathroom!) came off. Fortunately, I had thought ahead and built a temporary wall between our bedroom and the now wide open construction area.

So now, in order to use the bathroom we have to step outside! See? Camping.

Then, in order to get plumbing to our new shower I had to tear out the 2x4 framed wall that formed the long side of our existing tub. I had the day off Monday and tore out the wall, reframed it in 2x6, and with the help of our friend (and architect) Brent Brewer drywalled it installed a new tub surround. Sorry, no pics as I was too busy but you can see the newly framed wall (near the ladder) in this photo:

That photo also shows the wall I framed tonight, the final one on this side of the house, our shower will take up that end of the addition (the windows will be in the shower).

And the final picture for our show and tell, hey look, a door! This one will be the door from my shop into the back hallway/mudroom

I won't tell you that my plans showed that section as a 2x4 wall (because it was existing) which I framed up early on (to hold up the roof) and then later installed the door.... Only to find out that because I had rebuilt it it needed to be 2x6. So that's what I did on Sunday.

It's been quite a week and I just finished up de-nailing and sorting all the shingles we tore off and putting the final touches on the tub spout in the bathroom. But I've still got a lot of work ahead. I've got to finish the shop walls before final truss measurements on Monday (the 21st). Before the 28th (when the trusses show up) I've got to finish all the interior walls (including reframing the bathroom wall that was formerly the back of the house), pulling the bathroom ceiling out, cleaning up the areas where the trusses will sit, sheet everything that isn't already and nail off all the sheeting. Yikes, be praying for us!