Family Room Reno - Day 2

Well, day two has come and gone. Not much more to see, but the walls do look a little neater. Thanx again to Ed and Tom for their help but today I actually almost pulled my own weight. We bought the paint last night which still seems quite a bit away but in a couple of days it'll look great.


The guys doing the inside and outside corners, I let them have fun on those while I did all the easier straight stuff.

Cleaning the tools at the end of each day.

Ed did such a nice job putting straight bead on this window, I had no idea what to do with it.

Tomorrow is the final coat and then tomorrow night we should be able to sand it and get it ready for the primer then paint! Can't wait for Friday!!

Family Room Reno - Day 1

Wow, what a day, it started off with me apprehensive about my first big job at our semi-new house, and ended really well. Thanx to Tom and Ed here they made the day fly by.

The last the drywall will see of us, in a few minutes it will begin to be caked with about 40 litres of drywall compound over the next three days.


Putting the mass of mud on the corners before putting the bead up. I couldn't believe how messy this was to begin and then turned into a beautiful finished corner when it was done!

I took almost all of the pictures so this is just me "pretending" to work so it looked like I actually did something. With the other two having actual experience at this, they went at it and I was kind of a helper, but it was fascinating watching the process happen. I think I'll be able to help more tomorrow with the second coat of mud. And this is Ed in the picture, the guy with all the great ideas and lightning fast hands.

Ahh Tom, he just went at it. Couldn't believe how quickly he worked yet everything came out looking good.


My helpers are coming back tomorrow morning, I can't begin to thank them enough for taking so much of the stress out of doing this!

Glad Tidings - Laura

Laura just returned from her first week of camp ever where she stayed overnights. She had a fantastic time and when we asked her if she'd like to be a counsellor someday she began to tell us the requirements for such a position, I guess that was a yes. Here's a few snapshots.


The kids and mummy. Mummy was excited to see Laura after 5 days away from home.

Play area, chapel, and bathroom/showers.

Cabins, Laura's was the second from the left. She had a top bunk when she arrived but switched with someone halfway through the week. I'd describe the cabins as typical camp... rustic.

Daddy and Laura.

The beautiful Saskatchewan sunset. This truly is the "Land of the Living Skies", it never gets tiring.

We love seeing the deer all over the place, can't resist stopping to look at them or take a video here.

It begins

Ahhh, the renovation begins. We moved pretty much everything out of the family room into Laura's room, since she's off to camp again Monday after she returns tomorrow.

The empty family room with the drywall which soon will be my canvas for my mudding and taping activities next week.

Paco's brother Jocko

Yep. we bought a brother for Paco in the front yard, Jocko! (They won't see each other though until they both grow for about 15 years or the house burns down!) Jocko is an American Mountain Ash. Unlike Paco in the front yard, Jocko will have fruit, clusters of orange/red berries that will hang on in the winter. This was the deciding factor for us as we want to see the birds and the berries will attract the birds all year round.

Just back from the nursery, Lisa gives it the first water.

Andrew and Ashley start digging the hole.

The mess as we get going.

Andrew has some fun with the old shovel. Note the "good" shovel in the background which snapped off in the first few shovels.

Getting the root ball ready to go into the hole!

And here's Jocko the next day, it was kinda dark when we actually finished. He looks good already, it's so nice to see some trees in our yard!

Bonus picture: We were having fun with the timer on the camera and actually got a good shot!

Birthday Fun

Today was Andrew's 8th birthday. His party was supposed to be outside at a waterpark, but we had rain all day, it was cool and then a storm warning around the same time our party was to start. So we ended up just staying at our house which worked out good.

Armed Forces Day

Today was Armed Forces Day at 15 Wing Air Force Base here in Moose Jaw. There were lots of static displays - air and army & navy. There was lots to see and the air demonstration in the afternoon was great.

This is the kids sitting in one of the Snowbird's planes. Andrew told me later in the day while we were watching the Snowbirds perform that he wants to be a Snowbirds pilot when he grows up. Who knows? Maybe he will!

Here's the kids checking out the heavy artillery.

Here's one of our illustrious Canadian helecopters letting some guys out for a bit of fun on the ground.


This was the coolest take off I've ever seen, of a CF-18 Hornet!


And our "own" Moose Jaw Snowbirds taking off!

A fun day!!

The last picture before the cast comes off, she's pretty excited, and so are we!



The cast coming off! Just before it was Laura's turn Andrew looked around with several other people in the room and said "where's the chain saw?" Everyone laughed.



Ahhh, getting used to the freedom and the possibility of torture!




The mirror thingie at the Saskatchewan Science Centre, it's a cool hands on place.

Blowing bubbles!

Girlfriends

This is Laura and her friend Aysia goofing off during a recent sleepover.

Canada Day 2007

We arrived about 2 hours early to get a good seat for the fireworks. We passed the time by playing baseball, soccer, visiting, eating DQ and drinking Tim Horton's coffee - what more could you ask for?

Mike, baby Marcus, Andrew on Ashley's broken chair and Paul.

Julie, Mike & baby Marcus, Ashley after he broke his chair and Paul.

Some of the gang visiting & watching the sunset.

Lisa & Leanne

Laura & Jessica in the back of our van. Our back seats flip over so they were quite comfortable back there.

Baby Marcus at 3 1/2 weeks old enjoying his first fireworks. Actually, by the time they started, he had fallen asleep and slept through the whole thing.

Nolan

Mike showing off his talents - did I mention that we arrived early and had time to kill?!


Ashley in his broken chair.

A few pictures of a prairie sunset.