Extreme Home Make-Over Meets the Cooks

OK, so we wish Ty and the group were doing all the work inside and out (on their budget) and they would have sent us away on a great vacation while the work gets done over a week's time...with the final "Move that bus" dramatic ending. But it's sponsored by Brad and Terri and. like all home improvements, it keeps growing along with the bill! It is going to look so great when it's finished. It will be just in time for us to enjoy it as we drive away to the airport for our return to Abu Dhabi.
All the work needed done to preserve the home and whether we enjoy in now, later or never the home holds so many great memories and holds a special place in our hearts just like all of our previous residences.
Cairo is having a difficult time adjusting to the idea of a change in paint color. She is a child that hates to even get a new car. She is emotionally attached to parts of our lives like cars and house color. Yesterday she was asking us if we could please just paint it the same color it has always been. It shouldn't have surprised us really. She will adjust and she will grow to like the new color just as she has grown to like Brad's new truck..that's 2 years old. She did ask me if, when we get another van if it can be the very same red color of the one we sold before we moved to Abu Dhabi.
This is not the most flattering angle to take a photo of our home but I wanted to include the roof because that will be replaced. I also wanted to include the driveway because Brad spent so much time power washing it and it really got a good "face-lift" to go with the rest of the home. We may be the only ones who notice the improved look of the clean driveway but it really does look a lot nicer. I just hope it stays clean long enough to make it worth Brad's time and energy.
You can see the places on the front of the house where the workers have already cleaned off the paint that was pealing away. I must say, the power wash they gave the house made a huge difference in it's appearance..(I didn't realize it was actually this color!)
The back of our house looks so stark and plain. The backyard is amazing and is really a showplace with views of mountains and enormous cottonwood trees. Brad has spent so much time and energy cleaning it up and getting it into shape so the sprinklers can get through all the ground cover and to the roots of the trees. I feel terrible that his time off is spent working so hard in the yard. He has worked so hard to maintain the yard and it looks fabulous!
This is a shot of the north side of our house. It shows the new paint color sample. We gave the thumbs-up and they will go buy enough to finish the entire house. (I'll be so happy when they are finished not only to see the finished project but to get the masking and paper off the windows so we can get some sunlight in here!)

A Family Heirloom

The 10 year old rocker. We purchased this chair when I was pregnant with Sam. We stained and finished it for our first condo in Utah. Granted, it wasn't the most comfortable chair to nurse a baby or even rock in. Most Moms are buying those fancy gliders. I'm not sure they even had those 10 years ago, surely they did, but I just wanted an old fashioned, basic looking rocker for our first born. Since then we have had 3 other kids and I'm not certain whether any of them were rocked in this chair.
The chair has been painted since then, in fact, Barb spray painted it for me last summer to match new cushions for our deck furniture. (The rocker was moved outdoors after we moved to this house 6 years ago.)

After we returned from Abu Dhabi this summer I found the rocker in this state of disrepair, peeling paint, mainly. Along with what used to be a cute Coke cooler that has since been sun faded, I told Brad the two items could go to the dump if he was making a run. Today, Brad asked if I really wanted to get rid of the rocker. He, who usually loves to unload "dead weight", was second guessing my decision. He commented that there was a lot of sentimental value to it.
After thinking about his comments I remembered that not only had Sam been rocked in the chair but Grandma Watts had spent a lot of time rocking and dozing in it on our deck in the sunshine during the summers. I am so glad that Brad was wise enough to question me on this chair. It looks worn and quite bad, but it holds a lot of great memories for me. If this chair could talk or show a list of all the people who have spent time in it, it would have a great list of valuable memories for our family. There is no reason to unload something that has grown old or is no longer attractive...after all, that may be just a sign of the experiences it has had or the service it has rendered. Just like people.

More photos from Lake Powell..More to come in later posts

Skip on the wave runner


Sam with Jack and the "super-soaker"

Sarah, showing everyone how it's done down the houseboat's water-slide

The kids had such a great time hiking and exploring the shore. They created games and had hours of fun on the beautiful red rocks.

Cairo on the slide

Sam's turn

Sarah in the water with Charlie and Drew

Our gorgeous home for 4 days..We could have stayed sooo much longer. (We definitely had enough food, Diet Coke and the desire...just not enough time. Thanks Sarah and JD!

Jack collecting shells

Jenn and Skip showing the kids a good time. I think Sam and Drew spent over 90% of their waking hours on that float


Getting the houseboat secured to the sandstone shore wasn't an easy task and it took a little fine-tuning to prevent it from knocking around whenever a large boat cruised by.

Charlie going off the waterslide on the houseboat

Dani's turn

Now Drew

Dad securing the houseboat to the sandstone shoreline

Dani

Dave relaxing bewteen fishing and the chaos of nieces and nephews.

Charlie collecting 1000's of shells..

One morning Brad and Sam took off on a long hike. They were gone for a few hours. Sam has said it was one of his favorite memories of the whole trip.

Lunch with friends

These are some of my friends from home. We got together for lunch to catch up on what we've all been doing for the past 10 months. It's so great to know that while people change and lives change friends last forever.

Canyon Picnic with Ben, Kevin Cope and the Kids

Michelle and Bailee were out of town on a trip to NYC and Karen Cope (Michelle's sister-in-law) was also away so we took a trip up the canyon to cook dinner and enjoy the beauty of Provo canyon. It turned out to be a really fun evening

Ben gives Lily some luv..

Olivia with a dirty face after a hike

Brad Teaches Sam to Mow the Lawn