The Artist formerly known as Ty

I'm a little light on pictures lately, so I'll include one of Ty's art exhibition from a few weeks ago. Notice the coveted location next to the elevator.

First thing on tomorrow's list is to torch this house! We have had three sick little girls all week. Aimee got sick last friday and finally was well enough that she went to church today. Sure enough when we think things are getting back to normal, Aimee and Katie gag themselves during a coughing fit and throw up again tonight. When will it end??? I'd like you to meet my two new friends- Mr. Resolve and Mrs. Carpet Cleaner!

Les made it through He_ _ Week just barely. Two more days of dress rehersals and some shows this weekend and she is done! She was so tired today that she was like a walking zombie at church. After a two hour nap she is feeling a little better. I ,of course, have been the perfect example of a loving and supporting spouse during the whole ordeal. (Does that sound like something Dad would say or what?) The show is coming together and will turn out fine as it always does, it is just hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes.

Keep the old pictures coming, I haven't seen most of them before. I especially liked Suspender/Camo man!

Brant

I spent Friday and Saturday in Vernal and Roosevelt (only about 1 hour in Roosevelt) helping a friend with some work. I don't think I had been out to the Basin for 11 years. It was kind of fun to see the names of towns that I recognize from family stories. I must say that Myton isn't much of a town. I think if I knew what I was looking for I could have found G-pa's (or was it G-ma)old house pretty quickly.
The towns looked a little rough because it is the middle of winter but I'll bet the area is pretty with some leaves on the trees and less mud on the trucks. During some of our down time we walked around the temple in Vernal and got to know the Wal-Mart and local sporting goods store pretty well.

We don't have much planned for the week. It's been almost 50 degrees here during the day and the snow is just about gone. Kelly even sat out in the sun on the driveway for an hour yesterday.

Same Old Week

Not much new here. Had a beautiful day yesterday and it is raining today. Tomorrow Mom and I are going to Coeur d'Alene to help Matt and Kimbre move. Naturally, rain is predicted. Kimbre's parents will be there too. We hope a few trips will do it.
Jazz Festival starts Wednesday. Mom go a call last week from Sister Barbara Johnson needing places for BYU Idaho girls to stay. So, we will have two girls staying with us from Wednesday to Saturday. Since it is Jazz Festival we will have rain and snow. It never fails.
I didn't post any pictures on this blog but you can go to the Backlund Cousins and see some of the grand kids and parents. They were taken in front of the temple (Mount Timpanogos I think) when Darren (Joyce's son) got married.
We had a great ward social Friday night. It was the 3rd annual 6th Ward Chili Cook-Off. We had a nice turn out and some great chili.
That's it for tonight. Have a good week.

How we spent our Sabbath day

Today we skipped church to go to a refugee wedding. It was a very cool traditional Hindu ceremony in a small, kind of trashy apartment complex in South Salt Lake.

Next time I get married, I'm totally wearing a sari.

FireProof

Do you remember Kirk Cameron from "Growing Pains?"

He stars in this movie called Fireproof. You might have heard of it. Lisa and I rented it from RedBox and watched it last night. I'll admit, the story and directing are a little low-rate, but the message is good and it's a lot cleaner than any other stuff you'll rent. Rarely do we recommend movies but Lisa and I both said that we would recommend this one. It deals with a struggling couple and the effort you should put into strengthening your relationship. I figured we each could benefit from this, seeing as we're all married.

So, spend a buck and spend a night with your spouse.

More Pictures of Your Lovely Parents

How is everyone tonight? I just finished my ham radio check-in and thought I would blog a little while I'm downstairs. The picture was taken June 13th, 1973.

Mom and I are babysitting Weston and Koper while Seth and Lacey are attending a Marriage class at the stake center. I must inform you that this class is to strengthen your marriage not to save it if it is in trouble. Four of the couples are from our ward, my Elders President (Seth & Lacey), my Relief Society President, one of my counselors, and my Ward Mission Leader. Brother and Sister Schroeder are the teachers.

We had a nice Valentines Day. We went to Wal-Mart and went shopping. Tomorrow Mom has the day off and I had an option to take the day off so we will both be home. We have no idea what we are going to do.

Steve Smith called. They found some "milky" stuff in his lungs that is Leukemia. They will stat treatment soon. He always seems to be up-beat. He knew this cancer was going to get him but just didn't know when. He is still fighting and hopes to beat this one too. He sounded good on the phone. We may go see him during spring break in March.

Next Monday we are going to Coeur d'Alene to help Matt and Kimbre move. Her parents will be there too. Hope we all survive. I'll take an extra bottle of Aleve for the sore muscles.

Have a good week.

Korbin is finally 4!

Here are a few pictures from Korbins birthday this past friday. We spent most of the day going back and forth to the school for class valentines day parties so by 5:00 Korbin was dead asleep on the couch. He slept right through dinner until about 8:00 pm when he awoke to a very quiet house. Rett was down for the night and Erik had taken Hallee to basketball practice with Trent and Andra. What a birthday! When everyone else returned home we opened presents and ate cupcakes.

His own copy of the Book of Mormon with his name on it for morning scripture reading was the big birthday highlight. It doesn't take much.

Here we have a fuzzy picture of Hallee playing point guard. She started basketball in January and really loves it. She has 2 great lady coaches that both played college ball. Hallee has learned so much, but the hardest thing for her was to be agressive. She said that she felt like she was using bad manners during the game. It has been so fun to go and watch her every saturday.

So, I guess some of you have heard that we are adding another Zirker to the bunch. We finally told the kids around week 16. I am now 19 weeks along. The girls both think that it will be another boy, but surprisingly Trent and Korbin both want another sister. We'll see. I am tempted to not find out just for fun.

Almost There

Last Sunday we took a lazy drive out to the house and saw they were paintng it. The crew said they work when the sun is out and the weather is warm. They were movng pretty fast and had most of the exterior done, minus some detail stuff.

Today we went back for another look and found the interior almost done. The only thing left is carpets, installing the kitchen appliances, and fixing all of the dings/dents.

Here is the completed fireplace with the mantle installed, you can also the see the window trim.


Here is the back bedroom looking down the hall. We got lucky when they had an over abundance of the wood doors and they up'd us for free (nothing is ever free).

The kitchen cabinets are all in, as are the countertops and backsplash. The cabinets also have a molding around the top but this picture is from Sunday.

The exterior is mostly painted. Today they had a layer of concrete blankets down on the driveway, so hopefully we'll have a solid driveway in a day or two.

We're scheduled to walk through on Feb 17th and we sign our lives away on the 19th.

Craigslist

Kevin and I had some left over pavers from our project. Rather than just toss them, I put them up on Craigslist as free. I left to run an errand and when I got back, I had over 150 emails! I had to hurry and remove the posting before I got anymore. Les told me it goes fast, but I had no idea just how fast it all happens.

"One man's junk...."

Brant

What BYU Dress Code?

This picture was taken when we were up Provo Canyon with Kirk and Suzette Payne just before Brant was born. I looked kind of shaggy didn't I.

I just got back from Colfax. I had an Eagle Scout Board of Review. I try to stay off Sundays but couldn't help this one. The fog was bad all the way over and back.

Yesterday and today were fantastic. Warmish, sunny and everyone was out in the yards washing cars and just doing stuff. It is supposed to snow off and on this week so don't get too excited.

I spent Thursday in Pendleton evaluating the sagging of the cultural hall ceiling (roof). In the center of the room the ceiling has sagged 3 3/4". The trusses in the attic are actually pulling themselves apart. We stopped all basketball and ran the backstops up and turned the power off. I am just waiting the engineers report and then we have to decide how to fix it. All I can say is "big bucks".

That's about it for tonight.

Work Update

Here are some quick shots I took at our job on Friday. We have finished most of the hardscape phase (walls and pavers) and the sprinklers are installed for the lawn area (the circle that the path curves around.) This week we will finish up some details and then pull off the site until we can get the sod and plants in a month or so.

Brant

IKEA or bust!

Seth and I had been discussing the fact that we could go to Seattle over President's Day weekend because he wouldn't have school. Well, I got a little excited when an IKEA lamp that I did for "Now & Then" sold this past week within a couple of days of putting it at the shop. So, I decided while Seth was at class that we should just go this weekend so I could do some vinyl shopping at IKEA. I told Weston that we might go to Seattle and that we needed to pack our bags just in case Seth would say yes. I picked Seth up from school and informed him of my idea, that our bags were packed and that I had topped the car off with gas. He actually hestitated about the idea, but about an hour later we were on our way to Seattle. We drove over Friday afternoon, met Seth's parents at their house and then rode with them down to IKEA. I picked up some lamps and other vinyling objects and we enjoyed some IKEA meatballs. This morning we went to the Bagel Deli for breakfast, packed a lunch from there and headed back to Moscow around noon. It was a fast trip, but fun. Here are the lamps I am working on for "Now & Then."

I've also been working on these 6" x 8" tiles. This next week I am going to Crossroads Nursery to see if they will sell them at their gift shop. I've created some that have gardening sayings on them rather than these sayings. When I went in to purchase Dad's Christmas gift certificate from them I asked the owner, John Decker, if they sold anything from local artists in their gift shop and he said his wife would be able to answer my questions but that she was gone and wouldn't be back until February. So we'll see what they think. Pat also gave me a "booth" at Now & Then, something I would usually have to pay rent on, so I've been working on helping her paint and rearrange that space. Pat and I are also working on updating the look of the store with some vinyl on the windows. It's been fun to work on all these different projects. Lest you think vinyl is my whole world... I did take Weston to Mom's classroom this past week so that we could have lunch with her. Weston loves going to school. Seth on the other hand... not so much. But we only have 2.75 semesters to go!!!

A Couple More Pictures

Front (West side)
North side

I particularly like the siding treatment above the garage door and the three wood "thingies"

It is raining tonight so I am sitting here with visions of spring camping trips dancing in my head.

One More Picture

The view out the front door of Matt and Kimbre's house

We took Grandpa to the doctor in Spokane yesterday and then swung over to Post Falls to see the new house. Very Nice! I just thought I would post one more picture to show what a north Idaho sunset looks like.

Grandpa commented all the way home how much he enjoyed getting out of the house and visiting people.

Thanks again for the tour.

A Look at the Inside

Here are the latest pictures we have of the house. The drywall is all done, but wasn't painted as of Sunday. Today we stopped by with Mom and Dad and the interior was painted, so things are shaping up nicely.

The kitchen and dining room. To the left of the sliding door a bar will be put in.

The living room. Behind the butcher paper is a gas fireplace. To the left and down the hallway are the two spare bedrooms with a bathroom between them. To the right and out of sight is the master bedroom, utility closet/garage access. That would be the front door in the picture.

...And the outside. The siding is just a base primer color now. Hopefully the concrete work will be done this week. It was supposed to be done last week, but the cold weather must have held them up. According to the build schedule we are still on pace for a walk through on Feb 17th and closing on the 19th or 20th, barring any major hold ups.

Motors in Motion

My little sweat shop worker

It works!

This week Ty had fun with motors. I had grown tired of scrubbing our pizza pan, so I handed Ty my Dremel tool and told him to have fun. He got pretty dusty but had a huge smile on his face the whole time.

On Monday, Ty built this little motor. I never have too much faith in these little kits, but this one worked like a charm. Ty put it all together and when he fired it up the dumb thing just spun and spun. It was really fun to watch.

The weather here in Hawaii is great! A forecasted balmy 62 by Wednesday. I love the warmth, but I sure miss the snow. Hopefully, we will get our due sometime. I just finished reading a book about the Great Dustbowl and while I don't think we are that dire, some wet stuff would make me feel a whole lot better.

Brant

Not Much New Here

This is the only picture I could ever find of our apartment in Zillah. I think we were top left.

We are just slowly pulling out of the winter doldrums. Yesterday I washed the Explorer. It took 20 minutes to get the hose thawed out and only 10 minutes to wash the car. Today the sun is shining and the world looks great. Fast and Testimony Meeting was nice with some very good testimonies. It always helps when you bless a baby. The annual 6th Ward Chili Cook-Off was announced today for the last week of February. We have a great ward again this year. We had a bunch of new couples move in and they all seem to have caught the 6th Ward spirit and are doing fine.

What a week for weather. Monday morning my pickup thermometer registered -10 and as I went through Genesse it dropped to -22. Now today we are in the mid 40's. Who knows what is going on.

Mom stayed home from church today. About mid week she started losing her voice (I'll resist any wife jokes) and then yesterday her ears hurt so bad she went to Quik-Care. They took one look in her ears and compared the color to the red on a magazine cover. She got some medicine and seems to be feeling a little better.

Tomorrow Mom and I are taking Grandpa to his 6-month checkup at the dermatologist (for cancer spots). We just called Matt and Kimbre and will probably go from Spokane to Post Falls and take a look and their new house. Sounds like they are getting anxious to move in.

I kept busy this week doing scout work and I did make one trip to Oregon. This week looks a little slower.

I love the pictures of the fort and the stick guns at the scout camp up in the mountains. I think we are all eager for spring.

Keep up the good work. We love you all.

Dad and Mom