The House Blog

2 Year Anniversary

2008-05-02T19:28:00.001-07:00

Moved in!

2008-01-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Moving along and moving in

2008-01-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

The final inspection is tomorrow and Dennis says it should pass.

We're moving in Friday and Saturday!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone! This year Santa brought us a list of what is left to do on the house. This is a major milestone because until now it's always been "what is next" or "what has been done recently". It may be slightly incomplete, but here it is, in no particular order:

Finish putting-in the banisters
Put in the cabinets
Put in the countertops
Put in the appliances
Finish the electrical
Finish putting-in lights, inside and out
Put in the baseboards
Paint the baseboards
Finish putting-in linoleum in the basement
Put in carpeting in basement
Finish basement window sills
Finish putting on siding over the front porch
The Dreaded Driveway

The driveway isn't happening until after winter and the soggy spring are over, but the rest will have to be done before we can move in. My mom doesn't want it to get signed-off as "inhabitable" until it's totally finished because she thinks that will mean whatever might get left undone would then take even longer because the project would lose all priority.

Happy New Year! We probably won't be moving in until the first weekend in January - or maybe even shortly after that - but the end is in sight!

Not-so-good news

2007-12-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Apparently the wrong linoleum was ordered, and they're going to have to re-order it. No clue what that means for the time-table, but my mom is not happy.

Getting closer

2007-12-15T21:53:00.001-07:00

From my mom:

The house is coming along. With any luck the main paint job will be finished by Sunday night. Friday the hardwood was started and the living room is half completed. Monday the linoleum goes in. Thursday the bathroom marble shower walls go in. Hopefully we will get the carpet started this week also. Christmas Eve the cabinets and counter tops are delivered, and they go in the day after Christmas. We now have all our appliances purchased and they are waiting to be delivered around the 28th. Will we make the big move back by the first week in January? We'll see.

P.S.

2007-12-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

The "between Christmas and New Years" goal is back up again. Why do we believe this stuff? I guess you have to believe something.

IT GLOWS

2007-12-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

I kid you not. The paint is being done this week and it is ~~PINK~~ peach. It looks pretty subtle in natural light until you turn on interior lights and then it GLOWS like the inside of the peach in the book James and the Giant Peach.

The wood flooring was delivered today and will be put in beginning Friday.

Pushed back again

2007-12-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

Technically, I think it should be "pushed forward."

My mom reports that we will not be moving in the week between Christmas and New Years. Apparently the men doing the sheet rock have taken three weeks to do their job rather than one week, and now some of their work has to be redone, which has put off finishing the painting, which moves back the flooring and the kitchen and... you get the idea.

But! She also reports that there is still progress. The electric meter and lines were put in. The primer paint is nearly all done. The sofit and facia and siding are nearly all finished; just the bit above the front door to go. The rock on the front steps that was broken and coming off from all the work has been straightened and re-glued into place, with the handrail going back on soon. With any luck the garage door goes on next week, and the cabinets and counters for the kitchen and bathroom are on the truck and should be here next Tuesday. And my parents - with help from Benjamin and family - have emptied two of the three remaining storage units.

My mom says, "So, instead of ending this year in the house, we will start next year in the house. I'm trying to be philosophical about all this. Can you tell?:

What's new?

2007-12-03T09:57:00.001-07:00

Siding is done on the two "cold" sides and almost finished on the south as well.

This was the first interior door to go in - in the basement bathroom! My dad wanted it on first. NO clue why. ;)

The first things to get moved in, from storage, to storage.

Tile walls and floor around where the wood stove is going in downstairs. I tried cropping out that intrusion on the right, and it just looked funnier. Sorry!

The House Today

2007-11-16T23:46:00.000-07:00

The latest goal for completion: the last week of the year, after Christmas.

October activity at the house

2007-11-09T13:07:00.001-07:00

Attic insulation

Insulation

Drywall going in window

Drywall turning into walls and ceilings!

Backyard brick

Front brick

Front patio-to-be

Front stone & brick

Walls

Bricks!

2007-10-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

The bricks have all been delivered and set up in front and in back. Scaffolding going up and the bricklayers are supposed to begin today! They're starting in back so it won't be apparent for a little while, but they are out there laying brick! Woohoo!

Don't ask about the insulation and drywall. Especially don't ask my parents. It could get ugly.

Inspections

2007-10-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

The house passed the plumbing inspection last week, and tomorrow will be the other three inspections necessary before things can move on. My parents are confident everything will pass because everyone has been working feverishly for the past couple of weeks to get all the little things fixed up, and all is in order.

The stonemason guys started delivering equipment a couple of days ago, and after much deliberation and comparing coloring, my parents made the final decision on the brick. Six weeks and that should be completely finished.

Next: Drywall

Latest goal for a completed home: End of November

P.S. The reason the front window is still missing is that they need it out to be able to lift some things through there with a crane.

The post you didn't even have to wait 2 months for!

2007-09-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Windows!

2007-07-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

These photos are from yesterday. Somebody who will remain unnamed forgot to post them up here and went to bed early.

We were informed that the rest of the windows would go in today, and there are two more windows in as of this evening. Maybe we'll just be wrapping the rest in plastic wrap?

I call a race! Which will be finished first? The house or the chicken coop? Taking bets until Friday evening.

Weekend roundup

2007-07-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

The furnace is officially in, and the only difference from the picture is it has a door on the front, a bottom stand, and a top cap. Also the return air ducts are cut out and part of the duct work is in. It should be finished this week - we hope.

The roof will have the last shingles on the back put on tomorrow, and then it will be finished. This is the first "finished" thing on the house and is very exciting.

The windows should be here and installed this week. The doors are ordered. The bathtubs and shower fixtures will be ordered this week. When the doors are installed and we can lock the house, the electricity will go in. This will probably happen while we are in Costa Rica, but we will go over all this with the electrician before we leave. We are working on the plans for the kitchen layout of cupboards and drawers.

Our good neighbor Nancy has offered to water the yard while we are gone. I don't know what we would do without her.

What's new

2007-07-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Behold, the beginnings of roofcoverings (aka shingles)!

And I think this is a furnace:

Update list

2007-07-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Framing: The main parts are finished, except for a couple of walls in the garage and the family room in the basement.
Plumbing: The main parts are finished.
Roof: The shingles are ordered. They will be white.
Windows: They are being built, and will also be white.
Doors: My mom and dad spent last evening deciding on some of the outside doors and hope to get them ordered this week. The only hangup is that the company they were sent to doesn't have an outside french door for the master bedroom. They're going to work more on this today.
Furnace: The furnace man has been to the house and will be ready to start on the 9th of July.
Baths: Checking on these today, too.

My mom reports that Dennis still says he thinks he can have the house ready to move in by the end of September. Her deadline is to have Thanksgiving dinner in the new house. My dad says his deadline is the 24th of July.

Dog update: Lady has slowed down a lot this week and lost another two pounds. She has decided turkey lunch meat is good and has eaten some the past couple of days, but she is so weak she can't roll over and scratch her back in the grass anymore.

Plumbing progress

2007-06-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Kitchen

Upstairs laundry room

Upstairs bathroon

Downstairs laundry

Furnace and water heater

Beginning of the middle

2007-06-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the plumbing:

Window well covers:

Finished framing

2007-06-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Looks kinda familiar, if you ask me.

Kitchen door

2007-06-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

Not much to show from yesterday, but the kitchen door is cut out now!

Drew thinks she's so cool because she can walk through walls:

Beginning the roof

2007-06-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

They did some more framing inside today, and put on most of the plywood base for the roof.

And look! The window for the library has appeared!

Up up up it goes!

2007-06-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

First, a quick visual catchup on what happened yesterday. We have:

Walls!

Stairs!

And today was the day my mom has been waiting for: the day the trusses went on.

BOOM!

Walls

2007-06-11T21:25:00.001-07:00

This is what people mean when they say, "It will go up really fast once they start framing."

Look! Walls!

I want to know why there's no window in the library room on the front left. Huh?!?

My dad says they're planning to put the trusses up on Wednesday. He will be there with digital video camera in hand!

Rainy days

2007-06-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

It has rained almost nonstop for the past two days, but there's more lumber in the driveway, and something resembling a floor since the last time I updated here.

Shocking news report!

2007-05-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

Why, it's beginning to be almost shady in here!

Some progress

2007-05-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this photo of "the crew":

That's Dennis in the middle. The other two have been the only ones working on the framing so far. Poor guys! They were joking that if they had to do it all themselves it would take a year just to get that part done! Dennis says there will be a whole crew up there beginning today. No report yet.

Here's the big progress shot:

Framing progress: Week 1

2007-05-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Apparently there have not been enough photos posted on this blog of the framing progress. We here at blog central apologize for this serious oversight and vow to harass the lady with the camera daily until she hands them over. Helps when you all call and do that for me, too. Otherwise she spends all her spare time coaxing the dog to eat chicken that she has carefully cooked and warmed in the microwave.

Meanwhile, back at the house:
The driveway is now completely filled with lumber. They can't even get the crane in to lift the lumber there is so much lumber! Lumber! So much of it! If lumber were liquid we could say that it filleth the driveway to overflowing with lumber!

It doesn't quite fill the basement yet, but they're supposedly working on it. Except this weekend, because the entire population of Salt Lake has gone somewhere else for the holiday. I know because half the population of Salt Lake County was on the freeway with me yesterday as I crept along I-15 at 10 MPH all the way through both Davis and Weber Counties. I have it on good authority that the other half of the population was on I-15 headed southbound. I kept checking the radio for news reports of an impending hurricane.

Framing! It's about framing, people. There was no hurricane.

My kids and I got to witness an apartment building burning down when we were in Ogden earlier this week. It was very sad. 20 families lost everything in that fire. Another new friend from the MOMS Club had a fire in her kitchen on Mother's Day, and has been sleeping 3 hours at a time, twice a day, in an attempt to get her home back to normal. Who needs hurricanes?

That's no mirage

2007-05-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

What could that be in the driveway? My eyes must be playing tricks on me. It actually looks like... lumber!

Don't look now, but they're FRAMING!

A floor!

2007-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

The street was full of important construction vehicles today. They set up some simple forms and then got down to the business of creating a lovely basement floor:

One of the guys asked my mom if she wanted to help, but she declined, protesting that she left her boots at home. I think they don't know what to do with such attentive observers and photographers around - especially when one of them purportedly "nearly ripped his arm off" on the site.

They have also been busy removing the mountain of packed clay soil from the driveway.

Next: Framing!

The wood is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and the framers on Monday. They have lots of other work to do so we know they will get down to business quickly! My mom says Dennis told her that there will be work done every day now until it's finished. I think the man is an eternal optimist!

When your hut is on fire

2007-05-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger.

He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?"

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island. It had come to rescue him!

"How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

Fire Diary - the book

2007-05-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

I found a nice little children's book called Fire Diary, by Lily Rosenblatt, and got a copy of it for our family. It tells a young girl's story - in diary format - of her house fire and how she learned to deal with the emotional consequences afterward. Drew and I both read it already, and we agree it is nicely done.

Family and friends: it's a short little book, so if you or your kids are interested, you're welcome to read it some time when you visit. You can also likely find it at a library, or online (I got my copy from Half.com).

A little update II: The return of the update

2007-05-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

From my mom:

Dad got his stitches out this morning. Yea! Now he can have a shower, poor man. Robert told us that David has the largest, strongest deltoid muscle in his shoulder he has ever seen during an operation. But he tore all four of the muscles off the rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He will spend another week and a half in the brace and then begin therapy exercises.

Lady is not doing well today. She doesn't have much energy and is just lying around. The only thing she has eaten all day is a piece of steak Duncan didn't want. Her breathing is beginning to be a little labored also. When she barks out the window at other dogs going by she tends to choke a little.

At the house the rough plumbing will be finished by tonight. The inspection is supposed to be Thursday. If we pass inspection the basement floor will be poured Friday.

A little update

2007-05-03T19:28:00.001-07:00

From my mom:

At the house the back-filling is finished. It rained today so
nothing was done. But as soon as possible the sewer goes in inside
the house, the basement floor is poured, and then the framing can
begin. It is beginning to look like something someone did on
purpose. Yea!

Anniversary Day

2007-05-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

--May 2, 2006--

--May 2, 2007--

Injury update: Dad had surgery today to reattach his shoulder muscle to his shoulder bone, where he ripped it off when he fell on Monday. His brother Robert did the good deed, and Dad is spending the night at the hospital so they can keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't try to sneak out and put up any more insulation. He'll be coming home Thursday morning.

Bad Day #3

2007-04-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today is officially Bad Day #3 - Bad Day #1 being May 2, 2006, when the house burned down, and Bad Day #2 being the day we moved in to the rental home, when my mom was stuck trying to move everything from the hotel all by herself. Even the day we learned the dog is dying of lymphatic leukemia didn't make the list of Bad Days. That might tell you how bad this Bad Day #3 really was. I know I had a bunch more rotten days between then and now, but they definitely don't count.

The rented stuff is all gone - everything except the bathroom rug that I washed last night and forgot to move upstairs with the rest of the bathroom stuff this morning. The movers from Cort Furniture Rental came early this morning and hauled it all away. The house is much emptier now, but I'm sure that will be "corrected" very soon. One must not have open space when one could fill it up with stuff, right?

Still, it's not the furniture that I'm missing today. It's the cheese grater and the soup ladle. I had to use a SPOON to scoop my 16-bean soup out of the pot for lunch. A tragedy! What is this world coming to?!?

They took the rented washer and dryer first, and we now have hot water dripping in a steady stream in the laundry room. This requires the emptying of a large bucket beneath it every few hours. We could just hook-up the other washing machine and solve that problem, but it would mean I'd have to move the zillion things that are all over the storage room floor, and even stacked on top of that washer and dryer in the back corner. I'd go do it right now, but I'm stuck in Bountiful for another 2 hours. Guess what I get to do all night tonight?

My parents still don't have a bed, and there's no microwave - although I am told that some of our totally awesome family members are working feverishly to resolve those problems. Rest assured that they will get it all taken care of right away, because there's only one couch and I don't think my parents will both fit on it. Besides, the dog thinks the couch is hers.

The worst thing that happened today was that my dad fell into the "hole" around the foundation while he was attempting to move some more of those lovely pink insulation pieces into the backyard. He hurt his elbow, but claimed later that it's just "uncomfortable." Whatever that means, my mom doesn't believe him and is insisting that he have it looked at first thing tomorrow morning. Last I saw he was still attaching insulation to the foundation, and my mom was standing there scowling at him.

The only good thing that happened today is that Hunter put together the new set of awesome wood bunkbeds ALL BY HIMSELF. He got out his tools, read the instructions, and then proceeded to use a socket wrench with such great skill that the rest of us just stood around and watched him for a while. Then I came to my senses and got busy cursing at my "new" desk because I managed all on my own to rip off the support that I spent an hour carefully gluing back in place over the weekend.

Oh, and we have no internet because my dad's desk is still outside, still covered in soot, and the modem remains unplugged until it has something to sit on again. There's even more to this glorious story for today, but it involves a lot of very angry yelling about boxes, and I don't want to traumatize anyone else with that right now.

Drew took lots of pictures of the "moving" this morning. I'll post them some day when we have internet access from home again.

Hope springs eternal

2007-04-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

What mom found in the back yard yesterday:

The latest plan: Framing should begin on Tuesday.

Even foundations need accessories

2007-04-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's not the same thing as having one's purse match one's shoes, but this is MANLY accessorizing! The Mary Kay people would tell you this is a moisture barrier to protect your youthful concrete complexion:

Lovely! Simply lovely, dahling!

Next, it is completely unnecessary to do the following, and probably a complete waste of perfectly good money that could be spent on something like carpeting and paint, but Dad has been trying to insulate those basement walls for 30 years and BY GEORGE! he can never complain about it again! And yes, all insulated foundations are wearing pink this season. We're told it's the hottest thing on the runways in New York.

Oh my! The things you find dumped on the driveway these days...

This is the basement windows' version of eyelash implants. They look so natural, and that artsy aluminum look is totally in fashion.

Mom has been wandering around mumbling to herself for WEEKS because they're coming to take away all the rented things on Monday and we have to have it all ready to go, and replacements set to put in place, and DID I MENTION THEY"RE TAKING AWAY ALL THE FURNITURE ON MONDAY? In case you were wondering, that's next Monday. T-minus-5 and counting. We may survive, or we may die under an avalanche of apple boxes. Stay tuned!

The pictures you've all been waiting so impatiently for

2007-04-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Forms with windows:

The day arrives!

Spectators:

The inside view:

Tada!

All connected again:

Foundation forms are goin' in

2007-04-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!
We waited THREE WEEKS for these little wire pokey things to arrive:

Finally they came in last night, and the foundation guys worked all afternoon putting up the forms for the foundation.

The forms are the guides into which they pour the concrete.

Taking bets on how long it actually takes to finish this next step...

Footings done

2007-03-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

My mom has been taking a photo from the same spot every day, so we can go back and see the progress later. This is today's progress photo.

Apparently there was a little accident with "Scoop" yesterday (for those of you who have never been forced to watch Bob the Builder, that's the name of the backhoe.) The driver accidentally broke the sewer line, which then got covered up. He had to fess up to it this morning, and the whole thing was uncovered and repaired before the concrete people arrived.

They had to set up in the driveway because the house is set so far back from the street. Back when it was originally built, it had to be 300 feet in from the street. Since the front porch is staying, the new house will be the same distance back, but will extend farther into the back yard because new code requires more room between the house and the property line on each side. This means the neighbors will eventually be just a tad less likely to hear my kids fighting over who gets to use the computer next.

Our adorable little neighbor, Jude, was absolutely enthralled by the concrete-pouring experience. My mom says he was so excited he barely breathed the entire time.

They'll be back in the morning to start putting up the forms for the foundation.

Footings, Day 2

2007-03-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday: Now you see it...

Today: Now you can't even find the driveway!

And we're supposed to put the house... where?

I have to toss in a few more photos from yesterday, courtesy the secondary photographer, Hunter. He's 12 and is having fun with the kids' new digital camera. He's not a bad photographer, either. *brag*

Boys like heavy machinery, right? (Nice framing, Hunter.)

But see, he knows the value of a close-up. I think this one adds a nice human aspect to the whole heavy machinery thing.

Action shot!

I think this one is a still life. ;)

Thanks, Hunter!

Ta da!

2007-03-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

It begins.

They really started building the house today! By the end of the day we have this report:

Footings about half dug.

Forms about a fourth put in place.

Large chunk of patio concrete carted away! The reports that they may have actually poured concrete for the footings were just wild rumors. Oh well.

YAY!

No princesses allowed!

2007-03-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Goldilocks was banished for a few weeks more. Poor kid. She's just too good at getting her petticoats all muddy.

Spring snow and rain produce mud, and we've had a lot of it! For a few weeks now the goal has been to dry out the property so the footings can be put in, and the weather has not cooperated. My parents spent hours and hours and hours and... well, a lot of mud-filled hours, shoveling snow and vacuuming out water and mud off a huge tarp that they made to fit the footprint of the house.

My kids and Ben & Carrie's kids went and helped a few times.

Their favorite part was dumping the muddy water down the driveway.

Hunter got so muddy that his shoes were soaked through. He wanted to throw away his socks, but I assured him they could be washed. I've seen worse.

It was hard work, and some water still leaked under the tarp (water is good at doing that sort of thing) but it saved a lot more from soaking in to the ground where it would just make more mud and further delay construction.

Delays=bad. Exercise=good. Arthritis=bad. Someone needs to tell my parents they are old. They won't believe you, but it will give them an opportunity to explain why their knees hurt. My knees hurt, too, but I can't use that excuse with them around.

Finally the weather has dried up enough that Dennis says he may be able to put in the footings tomorrow - Thursday, March 15th. No one is holding their breath, but we're all still hoping.

Ants!

2007-02-14T13:05:00.001-07:00

It's not a movie, but we wish it were. Our little rental home has been invaded by carpenter ants. The exterminator says their nest could be anywhere within 200 ~~feet~~ yards of the house - which means it could be ~~two~~ several houses away! He put a lot of poisoned ant honey all over and says the ants will eat it, take it back to feed the queen, and it will kill the nest. We hope they all die very, very, soon. Painful deaths that match the horror of finding an ant crawling across your lip in the middle of the night. Die ants! Die!

Why we are grateful

2007-02-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is where we pause and give thanks that all we have to worry about is mud, storage bills, and burned furniture.

Deseret Morning News
Explosion kills 2: Gas leak blamed for fiery blast
Story by Sara Israelsen and Alison Snyder
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two people were killed Tuesday in an earth-rattling explosion that sparked a roaring blaze at a home ...(story here)

Goldilocks construction, part 1

2007-02-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

One cloudy, frigid morning, Goldilocks skipped up to the construction site and gazed at the earth. She jumped up and down, trying to make even a small dent in the soil, but made nary a footprint.

"This ground is too hard!" she exclaimed, then broke off an icicle and skipped away. On her way down the drive, Goldilocks slipped on some ice and fell. Mother would not be pleased with the rip in her new wool stockings!

Mother made Goldilocks stay inside the next day and darn her stockings.

The next morning, Goldilocks carefully picked her way through the puddles to the construction site and gazed at the mud.

"This ground is too soft!" she exclaimed, and sloshed away. By the time she got home her shoes, stockings, and even the hem of her skirt were covered in gooey mud. Mother was not happy about that!

Mother made Goldilocks stay inside and wash her shoes, stockings, and dress. It took a few ~~days~~ weeks for everything to dry out.

(To be continued...)

Breaking ground

2007-02-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

First you need the heavy equipment. It can be done with a shovel, but we want to finish before Duncan is ready for college. So! February 5, 2007, it began. The snow and ice had to be shoveled and melted away first, then the hidden sewer line had to be dug up and unplugged.

Apparently that was the easy part. The tough part was what to do with all that water once the temperature hit 50 degrees and the ground started thawing. Dennis (Gunn Construction) worked with the heavy equipment to square off the walls, my dad shoveled snow from the back yard so it wouldn't melt and run into the construction site, and my mom swept away the water - with a broom! Let's just say, the driveway - and pretty much everything else - is now covered in mud.

First things

2007-01-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is from an email my mom sent to all us kids:

So far the main things getting done on the new house are being done by Dad and me. This is sooooo sloooow. With some help from Hunter, Sylvia and Rob we have shoveled all the snow from the basement, and Dad rented a jack hammer and removed the remaining concrete floor in the corners by the porch. Dad and I spent several hours this morning chipping out the ice where the ground has thawed and puddles had formed. Tomorrow we will go and find where the cleanout opening is in the driveway for the sewer for our contractor. (Not to put him in, but so he can hook into the sewer as they put in the foundation and hook up the sewer again.) But we did find out that the insurance will pay for the storage units through April, just like they are doing for the rent. When May comes we will have to empty at least three of the storage units to be able to afford to live and pay rent on them and the house also.

I am putting up a sign in front of the house which says:

WATCH THE LAIRD WAY PHOENIX RISE FROM THE ASHES

Now we just have to make it rise.

Let the building begin!

2007-01-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

We have a contractor! Dennis Gunn of Gunn Construction has agreed to build the house, and has pulled the permit from the city. He is getting people and things lined up, and will start as soon as the weather permits.

Better news

2006-12-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

It looks like we're probably not going to be out on the streets, after all. Instead, if necessary, a family member has offered to house us in a property he owns. Whew! I'd love to learn Dutch oven cooking, but ideally not out of desperation while living in a tent in the backyard.

What's new

2006-12-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Good News
1. We have a building permit! Well, we have permission to pick it up, as soon as we know who's going to be doing the building.

The Bad News
1. The city determined - post-fire - that the two fire hydrants at the ends of the street are too far away from the houses in the middle of the street, so a new fire hydrant must be installed in the middle. Guess who gets to pony up for it?
2. The house is going to cost more money to build than it was insured for, and we'll be lucky to be able to do it for the total amount the insurance paid for the structure plus all the contents. Oh joy! The kids and I were just planning to come up with a few cheap used things or give-aways anyway, but my parents will be left with a brand new house and no furniture except what little they managed to salvage from the fire - all of it damaged and possibly not worth restoring.
3. Still waiting on one contractor who was asked to put in a bid. Considering we had hoped to get the bids in 6 weeks ago and be breaking ground before Christmas, this is not a good sign. My mom is totally stressed out because there appears to be no way we're going to get the house built so that we can move in by May 2, 2007, and none of us can afford to pay for the rental house, let alone a rental house full of rental furniture, plus 6 storage units full of smoke/fire-damaged stuff. We can't replace the rental furniture because we have nowhere to put anything that we would be replacing, and we can't exactly "unrent" it a piece at a time. Personally, I think any contractor who is so slow getting a bid in that he places us in this situation deserves not to get picked. That, or any rental expenses incurred past May 2, 2007, can be picked up by the contractor. Then again, I'm not in charge.
4. The storage units were burglarized, and all of my dad's tools and related items salvaged from the burned-out basement - plus a few silly things like some unburned packages of macaroni & cheese and powdered eggs that were saved from the food storage - were taken. My parents are just sick about it. I'm thinking I need to amend my statement on reality. First it was: Life sucks. Then it became: Life sucks, and then your house burns down. Add to that now: and anything of value that's saved gets stolen.

The Positive Spin
1. We're all alive. The rest is just whining, and unimportant.
2. All neighbors living by a new fire hydrant will get a nice break on their insurance. Woohoo!
3. If everything gets stolen from storage, we won't have to pay for the storage units come next May.
4. If they don't have anywhere to sit down or sleep, my parents don't have a good excuse not to go on a mission as soon as the house is finally built.
5. A very kind neighbor offered to let us live in their basement until the house is finished. We're thinking we'd like to keep them as friends, however. Alternatively, maybe my parents can go on that mission on May 2, 2007, and the kids and I can live in a tent in the backyard. That might make the contractor work a little faster, and I can practice my "formidable homebuilder" skills. Hunter likes camping, and I could take a crash-course in outdoor cooking skills. Besides, we're usually in Davis county, living out of our car 5 to 8 hours-a-day during the summer anyway. It could work.

End-of-year video card to the world

2006-12-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

If you can't view the video here, copy this link to your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV0idZkpNx4

Plans!

2006-10-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's been 2 months since the last update here, but there has been a lot of background scurrying during that time. My parents have been working with architect Spencer White on plans for a new house, and after much discussion, much more penciling-in of walls, cupboard space, bathtubs, doors, windows, and even lightswitches, it will be done this Friday! Hooray! Then they can take the plans to the city and apply for a building permit.

Next project: Finding a contractor.

Demolition Day!

2006-08-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

It is done! The house is down!

It was quite an amazing experience for everyone there. There were tears and even screams (from the kids), and a whole lot of rain that kept the dust from covering the neighborhood. And let there be no doubt: heavy machinery can finish what a fire can begin - and in short time, too.

Photos here!

Video here!

Pre-demolition

2006-08-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

The asbestos removal guys worked a few days last week, are finishing up their work this very minute. The concrete cutter is almost finished cutting the foundation to separate the front steps from the rest of the house this morning. My dad is still busy removing flagstone from the foundation. We'll know in the next hour or so whether the demolition contractor will arrive at noon to take down the house, or whether he'll rearrange his schedule and take down a different job today and tomorrow, then be back on Wednesday and Thursday to take down our house!

Pre-demolition pictures here!

Plea for help

2006-07-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

It's becoming obvious that my parents cannot do this work alone. My dad now has two air-powered chisels, and we'll have some help from the Cowies this afternoon, but if anyone else can help on Friday, Saturday, or Monday, that's all the time we have left to save that beautiful stonework from demolition. Anyone up for some back-breaking work in 100-degree heat? If you're less than 70-years-old you're likely in better shape to do it than my dad is. The guilt is finally sinking in for me. Anyone else?

Big News!

2006-07-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

The demolition date is set for next Monday & Tuesday, so the race is now on to get the rock off the house first. My dad has a nifty air-powered chisel and a compressor, and he's been spending hours and hours up there breaking out mortar. Then my mom hauls the rock back to what used to be her garden, so that it can be used later on the new house.

Hey, news reporters? I think that label "elderly couple" was very inappropriately applied. I bet none of them would be up to that kind of work every day!

This past Monday, for Pioneer Day, Benjamin & his family came up and spent the afternoon helping take off the rock from a big section in back. They brought lunch for everyone there, and even the kids worked hard!

My parents have asked the rest of the family to come help as much as possible. If anyone else has some time that they can come help out, that might be good. I don't think they need a lot of people, just a couple of people at a time to help trade-off doing the chiseling and hauling the rocks back to their stacks. I'll be up there tomorrow, I think. Give my parents a call (or call me for their number) if you have an hour or two and want to help.

Flowers and some progress

2006-07-18T06:45:00.001-07:00

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.
-Anne Frank

I have to credit my mom for the gorgeous flowers and trees growing happily in front of the carcass of the house. She's up there watering all the time, and although mentioning how great it looks always elicits a response like, "Yeah, but have you seen the back yard?" it still looks wonderful in spite of whatever imperfections exist behind it.

Looks like we may be back in the house moving or removing various unsavable items in preparation for pre-demolition clean-up. It's no fun going in there and seeing things like all that once-nice furniture or the carcass of my crockpot (which wasn't burned, but got tossed out into the mess and broken). Some of it I wonder if it's even possible to move. We're going to have to completely dig out all 4 beds in my bedroom. My bed and Drew's bed completely vanished under the rubble that was the roof, and the boys' bunkbed is so heavy I don't know how it can be moved at all. Blech! Still, if it means we're making progress, I guess that's what we do, right?

(Look, Pam! I posted an update!)

What the neighbors are so excited about

2006-07-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

We were granted the permit to take the burned house down at the city Planning Meeting yesterday afternoon. Now we can take it down as soon as arrangments are made, hopefully before the end of the month.

Yay!

We need to get the stone off the foundation before it comes down. My parents are making plans to do that, but don't have anything concrete yet (bad pun, sorry).

Emmanuel's Gift

2006-06-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

I have to come back now and tell the story of how this film - Emmanuel's Gift - made an enormous difference in how my little family responded to our little tragedy.

The Sunday before the fire - April 30 - I happened to notice an article in the Deseret News. It told about a film that was going to be showing the next night at the Salt Lake Public Library downtown. I immediately knew that I had to go see that film.

Many people who know me are aware that I'm not the most spontaneous person around. I like to plan things because I know that if I plan I can accomplish more than if I don't plan. I can be spontaneous - but only if it will work within the framework of my plans. This film didn't quite work. It was in the middle of the time that Drew had gymnastics class. I knew that she could not miss gym - this was her first week with her new coaches and it was vital that she make a good impression - but I also recognized that the boys and I could still go see it without her. It would be a bother to drive back to Salt Lake, I didn't know how long the film would be or whether we would be able to be there for the entire thing, but I did know that we had to see that film! Most of all I wanted my boys to see it and to somehow be inspired by Emmanuel's vision and courage.

We made it to the library early, checked out an armload of books, then went to get a seat in the little auditorium. We actually tried to go to the little reception going on upstairs, not realizing that it was invitation only. That was embarrassing, but I wish now that we had been a bit more brave and gone in anyway because I think something good would have come out of it.

The film was truly awesome, but we had to leave early. I felt bad that we might be disturbing the others watching it, or that they might wonder why we would leave - especially considering that Emmanuel was there in person that night! But, I had to go get Drew, so we had to go.

All that night and the next day I couldn't stop thinking about Emmanuel's story. Hunter related the entire thing to Drew while we were driving to Ogden that day. I had five orders for photos of houses in the Ogden area, and as I got back into the car from taking the last picture of the last house, my cell phone rang. It was my mom. Our house was burning down.

The kids and I all had a good cry in the car on the way back to Salt Lake. We actually stopped at the gym to tell them why Drew wouldn't be there that night. I'm sure they all thought we were crazy, but it seemed the right thing to do. By then, though, we'd pretty much worked out all of the first sad shock, and were already making jokes about how a mouse had likely sabotaged the wiring and was running away gleefully, cackling in a high-pitched little mouse voice. We joked about how the last of the little fish from my mom's backyard pond was proudly swimming about in his bowl in the kitchen, thrilled to have finally eaten the last of his tinier brothers and sisters, when he started thinking, "Hmmm, this water is getting a bit warm...." We cried some more for our parakeets, hermit crabs, betta fish, and aquatic frogs. Then we reminded each other that there will be more pets, but there will never be more grandparents, and they were safe. That's all that mattered.

I still feel that way, and I know that a large part of the way I was able to react and hold on to that way of thinking was directly related to having seen the movie Emmanuel's Gift the night before the fire.

I actually wanted to go to Park City the next day on the slim chance that I might be able to meet Emmanuel and tell him thank you for inspiring me and giving me the strength I needed to deal with this little ordeal, but it seemed silly. His challenges were so much greater than simply losing a houseful of material things. He never had anything in his entire life like what we had just lost, and yet has been able to inspire people around the world with his vision. It seemed incredibly short-sighted for me to even consider our loss worth mentioning. We had truly lost nothing of any real value. In the end it's just stuff, and stuff does not matter at all.

I hope now that my kids and I will be able to pursue our own visions without the dragging weight of believing that material possessions somehow have value. I know they do not. I think my kids understand the idea better than most. Perhaps there are a few others out there who are beginning to see it, as well.

All that matters is who we are and what we do with the resources we have been given. I hope to be able to live the rest of my life with that attitude, and to teach it to my children so that they can live by the same creed.

Month 1

2006-06-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

XX clothing and belongings put away and organized
XX new car! yay! (and no loan - double yay!)
__ car stereo that works
__ car cigarette lighter that works (so we can plug in the Gameboy, silly)
XX legos (only 4000 more to go)
XX Netflix (maybe the kids won't miss the xbox as much)
XX new laptop! yay! (it even cost less than the car!)
XX video and audio attachments for laptop (Grym's and Kelly's voices never sounded so good)
__ optical mouse for laptop (I feel carpal tunnel coming on already)
XX downloads of programs I use a lot
__ installation CDs of more programs I use a lot (must get out to that storage unit)
__ MS Office (where is that new CD my dad just bought?)
__ wireless router (will the neighbors even notice I'm stealing bandwidth? I doubt it)
XX my very own TiddlyWiki recreated
XX all my little Netscape start tabs in a nice little line (sheesh, I'm such a geek)
__ return Heidi's computer (I really am apple-incompetent; it wouldn't even start up for me)
XX lost library books replaced
XX books we use most often for school (THANK YOU JUNE MOMS)
XX books I was using myself for small efforts at "personal growth" (I know, I'm a dreamer)
XX various school supplies (pencils and paper! a stapler! glue! THANK YOU INDIAN HILLS ELEMENTARY!)
__ cub scout/boy scout/girl scout books
XX new running shoes (still the best therapy I know of)
XX exercise ball/desk chair
XX birthday present for Drew (double digits this Friday)
XX 20 loads of laundry (what do you mean there's more?!?)
__ smoke damage cleaned from "saved" items
__ 500 thank you's to write

XX learn to cook our own dinners again
__ update this list to include the hundreds of things that apply to my parents, too

Day 19

2006-05-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

1:40 p.m.
Thank you MOMS!
The MOMS Club of Salt Lake has been taking care of us this week. They've fed us very well, and even sent over a load of kitchen and bath items. Thank you so much!

Diet?
My parents have both lost weight in the past 19 days. This has to be the extreme method of dieting and decluttering combined. Still, I think I've gained weight, and Drew has twice as many clothes as she used to. No fair!

Days 16, 17 18

2006-05-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

More cleaning-out of the house
My mom keeps saying, "I think after today we'll be done," but there really isn't that much left to do. If any would-be looters go in there now, they'll likely die of mold poisoning (and it would serve them right, too!)

How mamy exclamation points can I use in one small paragraph?!?
Jennifer & Lyman's good friend Dempsey Bowling works at Doug Smith Autoplex in American Fork and volunteered to be my personal car shopper. He's totally awesome! Today he called with the perfect car! It's a Subaru Legacy with everything that we needed (although Hunter is going to whine that there's a tape player instead of a CD.) I've never bought a car outright before and it was almost bizarre to write a check and walk out with the keys. I also learned while I was there that I snuck in under the noses of several other salesmen who had people looking for a car like that, so extra extra thanks to Dempsey for nabbing it for me! Yay! Now my mom can have her car back!

P.S. I caught a cold, but cannot blame anyone because I knowingly kissed a sick baby. It was worth it. Sonora is such a sweetie, she can give me a cold any time she likes.

Day 15

2006-05-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

After repeatedly being asked, I made a book wish list at Amazon.com. It can be found by moving your mouse pointer over the image of a "gift" near the top ofthe screen, and entering my email address (ladanea at gmail dot com). I am also going to be using this list to order from. If you can find these books somewhere else (such as half.com) for less money, please just email me and I'll take them off the list.

Day 14

2006-05-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

11:30 p.m.
The news report from KSL.

12:45 a.m.
Yipee! The police nabbed the looters! Ben went on guard duty and found a car driving back and forth on the street, honking as it went by our house, as if trying to alert someone. The police showed up immediately with three cars and a dog! Totally awesome! They got three guys that were already inside! I hope they throw the book at them.

Day 13

2006-05-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

More looters. These people make my blood boil! Even boarding-up the windows doesn't work because they kick in or pull off the boards and go in anyway. Once inside they don't find much (an old coil of plastic thread for a long-gone weed whacker? huh?) and just make a huge mess of things. Last night they pulled over the two bookshelves of burned books that I was going through to write down titles so that I could determine what needs replacing. They went through drawers and knocked over a refrigerator, then went out back and broke down the locked door to our shed and made a mess in there, too. It hadn't even burned! I am tempted to go back and play security guard again tonight, but I'm worried that if someone showed up I would go ballistic on them. Really, officer, I didn't mean to kill the guy, but he was trying to steal some worthless stuff from my parents' burned-out house...

Tomorrow I'm going to play taskmaster and make my kids finish sorting through and cleaning up the many clothes that they have been given. They're getting bored, but I ordered new math books today so they should have that to do soon enough. Muahahahahaha!

Thoughts on Refurnishing and Replacing Things
My little family had the greatest percentage of things burned-up and totally lost (as in, "Wasn't there a desk where that pile of rubble is now?") but what we had was not nearly as valuable nor as numerous as the things my parents lost to smoke and water damage, and some to fire. Since it was their home and we are only living there out of their great kindness and desire not to see us in a homeless shelter, I want to see as little as possible of their insurance reimbursement funds going to replace my stuff. There were a few things that were valuable, but most of what we had was just second-hand stuff anyway.

I'm picky about a very few things - a TV with AV inputs, a computer I built myself, an aversion to pastel-colored clothing, for example - but honestly my kids and I have had many opportunities to recognize that there are so many things in life that aren't worth spending extra money on just to get the latest fashion. To put it another way, I have only been in Nordstrom once in the past 20 years, and that was just to go along with a friend who was picking up a skirt. I have the same attitude toward most furnishings, and am happier with an old bookcase from a friend than something nifty and new.

My point, then, is that I'm going to slowly alter the list here (below) of things that we will need to replace and would like to find second-hand or dirt cheap again. My parents get to spend their insurance money on nice new furnishings and decorating for their home, after it is built. In the meantime, this list will become something that you can come back to later when you think, "Hey, I've got that old couch in the basement that's taking up space..." or "Check out the chest of drawers I found at a garage sale for $5!"

Updated List of Things We Need
Barbara - Basic pantry and kitchen items, sewing kit
David - Filing cabinet
Duncan - Cub Scout Wolf Handbook, neckerchief & slide, Cub Academic and Sports manual, rollerblades or Heelies, a football
Hunter - Boy Scout Handbook, rollerblades or Heelies
Drew - Jazz shoes/boots to fit size 1.5/2, Junior Girl Scouts Handbook and Badge Book, Junior Girl Scouts vest

We have received so much that there is no possible way to thank everyone for all the amazing gifts and all the love that has been shown to our family. We are forever grateful to everyone who has touched our lives in even the smallest way during the past two weeks. It has been a most humbling experience.

Days 11 & 12

2006-05-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Surprise! There really is an updated list following today's entry. I know, I'm slow and really uncomfortable asking for help.

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope everyone gets and gives lots of hugs today, and remembers to be grateful for life and for each other. Everything else in life is just stuff and doesn't really matter.

Day 12 - Sunday
Lady - my dad's dog - got to go to church today. There wasn't anyone to ask to take her on short notice this morning (Oops! We forgot!) so she sat with my dad through all the meetings - mostly out in the hall. I bet if anyone else had brought their dog to church they would have been politely asked to leave, but how can you tell the nice "elderly" man whose house just burned down that his dog needs to stay home? Now I wonder how many parents are going to have a hard time explaining to their kids that Fido can't come to church next week...

Thanks to Jennifer and Lyman for hosting our family Mother's Day dinner at their home. The weather was perfect for grilling chicken and eating outside, and the kids managed not to drive anyone crazy - yet. Jennifer taught Rose how to make a killer chocolate pie out of avocado, too! Yum!

After dinner, some of the family - including my mom! - watched news reports from the day of the fire (isn't DVR awesome?) I'm still fuming that there was ever any report of possible "children playing with matches." GROWL Oh sure, no one is going to believe the mom who says her kids would never play with matches. Those same people don't know their own kids half as well as I know mine (homeschool has lots of side benefits), don't know how much we all hated going in that garage, and don't know my kids' past experience with fire. If they had been home and actually had any free time that day they're far too smart to choose playing with matches in a spooky, cold, smelly garage over the chance to play on the xbox. Duh! Besides, they're all such tattletales I'm sure I would have heard about it within 5 minutes. NO, no one in our family was playing with matches. The boys did get up early and sneak downstairs - I heard them whispering and then caught them playing their most recent favorite game on the xbox. They all spent the rest of the morning working frantically to finish their homework before we had to leave. We hadn't been home for at least two hours when it started, and the investigators told me right off that it wasn't a smoldering fire. I have my own theory, if they're done blaming my children (who were 50 miles away at the time) and want to hear it.

My favorite thing that was reported in the news was all the ammunition that was going off inside the house. Gasp! It made for a great story and sure, something was exploding in there. Funny thing, though, I found only one spent shell afterward. I did find the remains of cases of aerosol cans (which had been full of an expensive machine lubricant) that my dad had stored on a top shelf in my office and school room. Ever heard an aerosol can explode? I'm betting it sounds something like a gunshot.

Whew! I need to stop fuming now. I think I'll go eat another piece of pie.

Day 11 - Saturday
It looks like my dad's old new laptop is now my mom's new laptop, is wireless enabled, and works just fine! It was in the one place that was not damaged by fire or water, and was rescued and put away. I have been trying very hard not to overuse it ever since I discovered it! And to think a few months ago I didn't even know what war driving is... *flex*

I did manage to find almost all of the lost library books for awesome prices at Amazon and Half.com, and should be able to get them all replaced very soon. Being unable to reserve or renew books online due to $300 in fines is almost as frustrating as not having computer access at all. I really am a library addict!

Updated List of Things We Need
-- moved to most recent post --

Days 9 & 10

2006-05-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Missed another day in there, didn't I?

Day 10
11:00 p.m.
Yeah, that time is correct. Poor Jen & Lyman. They may never get to bed on time again.

In that light, here's a quick update: Somehow the order for a bed for my parents did not quite get communicated correctly, so we're back at the hotel for another night. The guys who moved-in the rest of the furniture today were obviously very good at what they do. I've moved a lot of times, but never with anything remotely close to that skill or efficiency. Still, I'd like to hope for not too many more occasions to work on that particular skill.

Drew took 6th overall at her meet. Woohoo! Go Drew!

11:30 a.m.
We're working on getting the utilities set up at the new place. We may be able to get it all done this afternoon and not have to spend another night at the hotel. I think this means I have to start cleaning my own bathroom again...

Apparently a looter finally managed to get past our security last night, but I don't think there was too much left in there that was valuable to anyone but us.

Tonight is a gymnastics meet for Drew. Life certainly goes on - faster than you'd think! I have to say thank you to Cindy K. for letting Drew use her daughter's competition leotard. That was the one gym thing that we lost. Also, many many thanks to all the wonderful people at the gym who have donated clothes and other things to our family. I have to laugh because Drew now has a leotard collection to rival Shireen K.!

Day 9
We were able to secure the little house on Browning Ave, so it looks like we'll be moving in there in the next day or so! Yay!

Thank you to the Soulliers and Wilma M. for delicious dinners! Thank you also to my sister Sylvia and to Kathryn L. for washing and rewashing loads and loads of laundry. My kids were especially happy to have some of their "own" clothes back. I think it's comforting to have something familiar like that.

More thank yous to all the wonderful families in the MOMS Club of Salt Lake. They have given us so much! Plus, Brian K. came to the meeting today and helped watch all the kids (my usual job) so I could attend and learn some bellydancing! Too cool!

I also need to thank my incredible friends from the June '96 Moms group. These amazing ladies from all over the world gave us an Amazon.com gift certificate that will go a very long way in rebuilding our school. Thank you so much!

On the computer front, I have been offered a nifty laptop, but I think I'm going to have to pass and let someone else benefit from that gift. I have all the specs I need to rebuild my desktop (stronger, faster... and for significantly less than 6 million dollars.) What I really need most is that internet connection because my greatest need is to be able to use email for work. The rest is not at all important right now. I promise I don't just want to go play World of Warcraft. ;)

Thank you also to Lyman & Jen for letting me bother them repeatedly to use their computer. I think I'll bother them one final time to help me build that system and set up a wireless network, and then hopefully they'll be able to get to bed earlier.

Updated list of things we need:
There's not much to list here any more! Is that wonderful and amazing? We have been given so much that it is overwhelming. I'm sure there will be things to replace as we get into a new place and then later when we get the house rebuilt, but for now we all feel very well-taken-care-of.

Day 8

2006-05-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Salvaging
One week down, and I think we're starting to feel like we know which direction we're going now. My poor dad has had it the worst because he lost the most "stuff." My mom is still sad over some things, but she's starting to get past that, too, I think. Today she poked around and started collecting little things to put into a shadow box and create a little memento of the adventure. I'm going to have to go dig around and find a charred Yu-Gi-Oh card now!

Moving?
I think we have found a house to rent! We should be in it soon, if our hard-working new friend Cherylea (with the insurance people) was able to secure the lease for us. I'll have more details later. Hooray! Hooray!

A Delivery
The Fed-Ex delivery man had a package for me today - something I had on backorder from weeks ago - and he actually stopped to talk for a minute. I think that was the longest conversation I've ever had with a delivery person like that! It was kind of cool to chat for a minute instead of having him just race away. This has made me realize more than ever that we all need to slow down a bit and take more time for meaningful interaction with other people. After all, not much else really matters, does it?

Kids & School
My children have adopted two of our neighbors as second families. That old Nintendo has probably not seen this much play in years! And Dori T. has a new daughter, I think. The kids aren't bored quite yet. We'll be able to get them back into some of their usual school work within the week, I think. Year-round homeschool is turning out to be even more convenient than I ever thought it was! I just hope we're not cramped into that little house too much, so that we don't drive my parents insane.

Computers
Thank you to all the many people who have offered to help us get new computers! I have my favorite crack computer geek on the task writing up what components we should use, and hopefully we'll be able to get that all set up again vey soon. It is absolutely amazing how dependent we are on our computers.

Thank you!
My brother's wife, Jennifer, says that my friends from wikiHow sent a gift card. Wow! I can hardly believe how kind everyone has been and how much we have been given. It is incredibly humbling to think that so many people care and are willing to give of their time, money, and belongings for our family. My sweet friend Alyson - who has 7 kids and is homeschooling and I know does not have anything to spare - also sent a gift card. That one was the toughest to accept so far. I'm still not very good at being on the receiving end of so much generosity, and can only hope to be able to do more for others in the future.

Responding to Email
I've been a slacker about responding to email, but I promise to get back to everyone who has written! I read it all and it is wonderful to know that so many people care!

Updated List of Things We Need
Ha! Would you believe I deleted this before I copied it over? I'll write up a new one tonight. We have received so much. What more could we possibly need, anyway?

Day 7

2006-05-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

One week ago today. A moment of silence, please?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4 minutes left on my library computer time! We cleaned out a lot more today. The guys from Alpine Restoration have been incredible. Thanks also to my cousin Dan for coming by and helping as well, and to the Frosts and the Lindseys (whose name I'm sure I spelled wrong) for wonderful dinners the past two nights. We have such great neighbors!

I'm making a list of all the school books we lost. It's amazing how many books I had - and how many are not so very necessary and will probably not be replaced. Must overcome that new library anxiety quickly!

My time is up! More tomorrow!

Days 4, 5, & 6

2006-05-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I'm behind on my reporting duties here. I really miss my computer! My sweet and generous friend Heidi (from the MOMS Club) loaned me her laptop but I am Mac-incompetent and can't figure out how to get it to work. I'll keep trying! Today Dori T. allowed me to spend a whole lot of time using her computer. Thank you!

Saturday Report - Day 4
This was the worst day so far - for me. I think I proved that my parents have 30 years additional life experience because they were calm and I lost it a few times. I imagine God sent an angel with a clipboard to check off the various tests from this experience. Can she deal with losing everything? Check. Can she deal with thinking something's lost, finding it mostly safe, then losing it again? Bzzzz! Try again. I hope He gives me another 30 years and a much smaller test next time that one comes up.

Our family cannot possibly express our thanks to the many people who came to help clean out and sort through things on Saturday. It was absolutely amazing. I will never forget the incredible outpouring of support and the hours and hours of hard work so many wonderful people put in here. Thank you all!

Sunday Report - Day 5
This was a very emotional day at church. The Primary leaders were incredibly kind to buy new scripture sets for all of my kids and me! It also happened to be testimony meeting, so we went through a lot of tissues. The Cowies had us over for dinner later and it was absolutely wonderful to get to hang out and chat and be normal for a while. They have been amazing this past week, and we are so grateful for everything they have done - big and small. Special thanks to Kathryn L. who carefully cleaned the last load of laundry that I recovered from the washing machine - including Drew's newest gym leotard which she was so excited to see! The rest of them were literally melted on the wash line downstairs.

Monday Report - Day 6
3:20 p.m.
I almost forgot! My great friend Dan had saved a copy of the little childrens book that I wrote and was going to get around to submitting to publishers "one of these days." I am so happy! I thought it was lost and gone forever! Now, if he happens to have a copy of the completed outline for that novel...

3:00 p.m.
I finally broke the news to the library that we lost a huge stack of books in the fire. I think they didn't quite know what to do with me! They eventually decided to mark the books as "lost" and put a note on my account so I can still check out more books - which we immediately did, of course. I'm a library addict. I think I have a complex about library books now, though. I'm paranoid that I'll take their books and something bad will happen to them. Funny how strange anxieties come out of things like this.

Today's really bad news: The organ is a complete loss. My mom is so sad! I was hoping it could be repaired, but the organ people told her that although they have repaired them like that before, they stop working again in just a few months. So it looks like she'll be getting a new one, instead. It was a sad week for organ lovers, as the cabin organ was in the garage and likely part of the original fire, pre-explosion.

New school study subject: "How is a backdraft created?" We have lots of real-life experience with the results! I think I'll skip the movie for that topic, though. Just a bit too close to home at the moment.

Today we have Cub Scouts and gymnastics on the agenda to help keep the kids grounded in some sort of reality. I have to laugh that Duncan has gone through 2 neckerchief slides and 1 neckerchief in the past 3 months. In fact, the slides were each lost within a day of their first use. I think I'm going to glue the next ones to his scout shirt!

Updated list of things we need:

--list moved to most recent entry--

So many people have generously shared with us, and we are stunned by the outpouring of love and support. Thank you all! Thank you, thank you!

Day 3

2006-05-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

11:00 p.m.
News Flash: Unrelated to the fire but newsworthy all the same - my sister Heather was just accepted into the Ph.D. program in instructional technology at Utah State! We are all so excited for her! She is awesome!

- Dori T. and her cute girls found an orchid for my mom and gave it to her today. They are so sweet! Thank you!

- Progressive Auto Insurance took only a few hours to complete my claim on my poor car. They are so awesome! I was very impressed and will happily plug them here.

- I uploaded some more fire photos to Flickr, but forgot that my camera had decided (all on its own) to take super-high-definition photos instead of my standard setting, so apparently I also managed to use up all my bandwidth/space there for the month. Oops! I also didn't get them added to the set yet. I'll try to find a few minutes to tackle that tomorrow. There are still a few more photos so I'll have to find a place for them this weekend and post them up, too.

- I found some Phonics Game cards on the driveway today and remembered more things from our homeschool that we lost. I know there was more just in the daily basket of books and notepads, and that's not even mentioning the three ceiling-height bookshelves that were completely filled. There were also game cards and mini "LoTR Risk" pieces all over the driveway. Careful! You just stepped on an orc!

- I also had a chance to talk with my mission buddy, Alyson, this afternoon, and she was so wonderful to go out of her way to contact the publishers of the books we were using for school, and Peace Hill Press - the publisher of "Story of the World" and "The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading" actually agreed to send us new copies of the entire set! I am absolutely flabbergasted! I'm also totally thrilled because those were books that we loved and used daily. Everyone else said we'd need a receipt for proof of purchase. Um, which part of "house fire" did you not understand? Then again, I would hardly expect any of them to agree to such a thing. That's why I'm so stunned that Peace Hill Press actually did! Remind me when I get around to actually writing those books I've been going to write, to go to them first.

- Shhhhh! Lyman's family is asleep, Hunter is passed out on the floor next to me, and I think it's way past time for me to go back to the hotel.

3:30 p.m.
We were able to recover some clothing today, so that will be good. My mom's miniatures work-desk in her office is in recovery mode and there is great hope that much of its contents can be saved. I went digging through the bedroom. It's kinda fun to dig and chuck stuff all over the room and know that I don't have to worry about cleaning it up later. Drew's Nutcracker photos were saved, and most of my computer software that was in a filing cabinet upstairs. I found a cute little ceramic cup that came from Japan and was so excited about it! Then the boys carried it out in a bag and its lid broke. I had to laugh. Really, the irony is too much and it's not worth crying over. So many books are ruined or likely ruined (i.e. totally soaked-through). The baby grand piano is a complete loss, but looks kinda cool sitting there.

Tonight we're going to see Lyman and Jennifer perform in their roadshow. My dad had gone through an old box of really old ties last week to find an ugly old tie for Lyman to wear as part of his costume. Funny that it's now probably one of the only ones to survive.

Thank you to the Monument Park 16th Ward Relief Society for lunch. It was perfect! So many people have come by to chat or to help, and it has been absolutely wonderful seeing them all.

10:00 a.m.
Stories! We have stories!

Kangaroos?!?
Yesterday morning, my parents and Hunter were eating at the Residence Inn breakfast buffet when an animal that jumped and looked very much like a small, grey kangaroo came leaping through the breakfast room! Someone tackled it, and then a very embarrassed-looking woman came and led it away with a casual, "Have a nice breakfast everyone!" We knew they allowed dogs there, but that was quite a surprise! I thought, "Hey, I should look up and find out what it was," and then remembered I have neither books nor a computer. Ha! I keep forgetting.

There's something humming in there!
On Wednesday when I first ventured upstairs to take a peek at what used to be our bedroom over the garage, I heard a spooky humming noise coming from the center of the room under the rubble. It sounded like something electrical! I was too scared to go in, but yesterday the sound was still there - just a bit fainter - and Ben dug down to discover: our smoke detector! It is melted into a funny shape but was still humming frantically.

Guard Duty
During hours with the least bit of daylight, nearly every single car that goes by the house stops or slows down to gawk. The first two nights we had a security guard there, and last night we took over that duty. I had fun! I had to laugh at the people who actually rolled down their windows in the pouring rain to get a better look! Some of them go by once, turn around, and come back for a second look.
Just think of the marketing opportunities! Set up a toll booth at each end of the street. Better yet, target the gawkers by holding a Boy Scout/ YMYW/ cheerleader car wash fundraiser at the bottom of our driveway! No need to stand on the corner with a posterboard to advertise; these cars come right to you! Get some buckets of soapy water and towels. I'd offer the hose in our front yard, but last I saw it was melted to the plastic hose wheel.
On a more serious note, the security guard that was here the first two nights told my brother Ben that at one point in the middle of the night, some would-be looters drove their minivan right up into the driveway before he flashed his lights and they sped away. Sylvia and I both had similar experiences last night. It's educational to realize how many opportunist looters there are out there. Lock your doors, please, especially if your house hasn't burned down recently!

Thank you!
To the Andersons, for a wonderful dinner and their time chatting with us last night, and for letting me use their computer for a few minutes.

Updated list of things we need:

--list moved to most recent entry--

Thank you all! Thank you Thank you!

Day 2

2006-05-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

8:15 p.m.
Announcement! We're having a work party on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. If you'd like to come help, we would be so happy to have you! (Adults and teens only, please. It's not quite like taking a tour through a model home.)
Salvaging sure is an interesting experience. I got to walk through the kitchen today on top of about a foot of what used to be roof. I felt so tall! And we found a library book that wasn't sooooo horribly damaged that it might actually be good enough to clean up and return to the library! Woohoo!

3:25 p.m.
Photos!
I also corrected that pants size that I forgot earlier. (see below)

3:15 p.m.
I forgot to mention earlier that the 2nd Grade at Indian Hills Elementary is gathering resources to help us set up our school again. This makes me cry every time I think about it! Those kids are so awesome! I want to give them all a big hug. Hopefully I'll get a chance. (Sylvia, I'm going to call you. Really, I am. If you don't hear from me, call me because it means I've forgotten to get your number.)

2:00 p.m.

Wow! So much to do, so much to say, so little computer access. I'm going through withdrawl from my computer. We're staying at a Residence Inn and it has wireless internet, but I tell ya, it's pretty useless without a computer.

Last night we got settled in at our short-term home. I got all the kids' clothes sorted and put away, and rather suspect that Drew has almost as many clothes now as she did before. Wow! Thank you all so much! The familes from her gym were incredibly generous, and I think she has as many leotards now as she did before.

Short leotard story there. I had been working on an article "How to Wash a Leotard" for wikiHow and had hung all of Drew's leotards - including her competition leo, which I had just washed - in a neat little row in the laundry room so that I could take photos for the article. I haven't been able to get back in there yet, but from what I have seen the entire basement was completely torched. She had one leotard left - the one she was wearing to gym that afternoon. It's one of those things that I keep thinking, "If only I had just put the leotards back in the bag, they'd be smelly and wet but recoverable." My favorite musing so far was, "If only I had loaned out my computer to the Tidwells, instead of the old garden clippers." Ah well. I can dream, right?

I have photos to post, but will have to work on that in a little while.

We're working on salvage today. I think the only things that will be coming out of our two rooms downstairs are the kids' xbox games and the few dvds I had on a bookcase down there. I maintain hope that my Spiderman dvds will be recoverable - if I can get into the bedroom upstairs.

The room I was using as my office is completely unrecognizable. My desk, computer, and everything there is now a little mound on the floor. The front room with all our school-related bookshelves was only recognizable by the misshapen lumps that used to be shelves and furniture. Water poured out of the beloved - and now melted - xbox when we picked it up.

Hunter is proud to be helping with the salvage efforts, and thrilled that we're considering him old enough and mature enough to do things the other kids can't - like have his own keycard to the hotel room. He really is mature enough, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to show him that we know it.

We may be able to find Drew's dance bag under the rubble in the bedroom. It would have shoes, tights, and leotards - if they are recoverable. Someone braved the floor in there and found the boys' scout shirts in the closet - unsinged! They are being cleaned. I don't know where Drew's scout vest was, however. It may turn up somewhere - possibly in the basket of mending to have a patch sewn on? That was upstairs, too, and may be recoverable. (Why do I want to recover my mending?)

I'll have to think about what school resources we had that we could actually contact a company about. Hunter & Drew were using Saxon math books and the DIVE CD's, but they disliked them and I had been checking eBay this week for Math-U-See products, instead. Duncan was working in the 3rd-grade-level Miquon math workbooks.

Funny math story there. Duncan loves math and sarcastically commented in a tragic voice just hours after the fire, "Oh nooo! Now I'll have to do my math workbooks all over again!" We just rolled our eyes, because we know that's probably something he'd be happy to do.

Updated list of things we need:

--list moved to most recent entry--

Thank you all! Thank you Thank you!

Day 1

2006-05-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Updated 4:10 p.m.
My mom's quarter-inch-scale miniatures survived the fire! The curio cabinets in the living room were not burned. That was one of the things we weremost sad about because they are all originals and completely irreplaceable. It also looks like her office, at least some of my dad's office, my sister's storage stuff, and possibly some things from the bedrooms (the beds!) came through with nothing but smoke and water damage.

See the bottom of this entry for updated information about what we need and what we have received. Thank you everyone! We love you all and are so grateful for your love and generosity.

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Yes, it's true. Our house burned down.
Yes, we're all okay.
Yes, we have places to stay for now. Working on more permanent arrangements.
Yes, we think everything burned. We can't really go into the house yet, and don't really want to. It's scary and totally charred. My car was also parked right next to Ground Zero (the garage) and had the rear blown out and is completely charred/melted inside. Note to self: call car insurance company.
Yes, the people from my parents' insurance company are totally awesome and have been wonderful. We think everything will turn out OK.
Yes, we are much loved and well taken-care-of by our many wonderful friends and family.
Yes, we could use a few things to get us settled.

If you want to contact me, see details and"View My Complete Profile" up in the corner of this page.

We have set up a specific account at Zions First National Bank for financial donations and other such things related to the fire. Thank you so very much to those who have given us money, gifts, and so much love already! We are more grateful than we could possibly say.

Thank you a million times over to Nancy & Walt Cowie for playing home base for us. They let us invade their home and take it over for a while until we can get moved into our temporary hotel quarters. We love you! Thank you to our fantastic family and friends from church and the neighborhood who brought clothes and pajamas for us all last night, fed us, and hugged us. You are all so wonderful! Many, many people have come by and taken time for hugs and a good talk, brought things, sent things, called, and emailed. Thank you all! We love you and wish we had a happier occasion to see you. Party at the Hornes... date TBA!

We don't need much, really. I know you'd never believe it from what was inside that house, but we're not into stuff. We are most grateful that everyone was safe and not even injured.

I made a list at 4:00 this morning. It seems really weird to have to write this sort of stuff down:

--list moved to most recent entry--

Thank you all! Thank you Thank you!