Family Pictures

Mom & Dad's Visit

We just finished a nice visit with mom & dad. Here's a few pictures from the last two weeks...

Dad & Ashley installing the new screen door.

On the Corner Gas set located about 30 minutes out of Moose Jaw.

Mom & her new friend in the Wild Things Gallery in Minot, ND.

Sitting around the pool in our hotel.

Sunflower field on our way home from Minot.

You had to know that Dad can't come to Moose Jaw without at least one visit to the Air Force Base - actually, he went twice!

We went to Wakamow Valley Park for french fries and mom ended up sharing hers with this little guy.

Andrew playing in the splash pad in Crescent Park.

Every tourist to Moose Jaw has to have a picture taken with Mac the Moose.

Pics of Laura

Laura asleep on the couch, she liked it, much better than the old couch, now downstairs.

Laura and friends on a jolly jumper at their school's fundraiser for a new playground! Mummy and daughter

Family Room Reno - Day 5

We're done! Well, we have to put the room back together but all the reno is done. And we got it done with 1 hour to spare until we pick up our kids from camp!


Ninja Lisa again on the paint roller, nothing would stop her slapping that paint up on the wall!

Tom popped by to see how everything was going and did a little painting. We're bribed him with chicken strips from Deja-Vu Cafe and got him to come back to help with the second coat. He's a good painter.

The last little bit of painting.

This was the last wall to be done before the spot checks.

And here is the finished product!!!

Family Room Reno - Day 4

Second last day! Thought I had an easy day but everything took much longer than I thought so it turned into a pretty steady day of sanding, cleaning, and priming.


The finished product, all sanded, ready to prime.

Thanx Ed, this is his very overworked Shop-Vac which cleaned up a ton of drywall dust. Not to worry though, we cleaned it out thoroughly.

Ninja Lisa! I put drywall primer on the wall!! Beware my battle moves!

The priming is done, the walls are ready to paint (but not until tomorrow).

Family Room Reno - Day 3

Today was the final day of mudding and the beginning of sanding. The mud is drying at different rates so my regimented schedule is not happening but it looks like we could be done by the time we pick up the kids on Friday!


The last coat of mud on the window shelf, this is so cool to see the ripped up drywall become a nice shelf!


Getting ready for the sanding, I put up a semi-decent plastic barrier to keep out a majority of the dust. Not 100%, but good enough.

The anti-climatic moment. As Ed and I were talking, he was done. Here he is getting ready to put the last bit of mud back into the pail. The "messy" work was over!

Not everything is dry, but I was able to sand about 80% of the wall. The mask and goggles made me so sweaty, I took two breaks to water my face and rest for 10 minutes. Lisa gets into things tonight. She picked up Ed's Shop-Vac and will vacuum up all my dust mess later tonight.
Well, I could just hug and kiss Ed and Tom right now. They came, they worked, they served, and not a complaint among them. What a wonderful pair of gentlemen. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Tomorrow, the last bit of sanding, and then the primer goes up! Friday, with Lisa home, we should be able to polish off the painting real quick!

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!