September 2018

Saturday 9/8

Matt is building a big shop next to his house.

Today we observed

(and helped a little bit...a very little bit)

as they put the trusses in place.

Loading up the first trusses

here we go ....

Matt learning how to operate this big machine

making progress ....

doing multiple trusses at one time

Almost done ... but first ....

They had to build the front wall and 

frame in for the garage door.

Steve was able to help hold some of the 

boards in place

They decided to put the waffle board on

before raising the wall

They put a large chain through the top then ....

hooked it around one of the "forks" and

began raising the wall ....

and moving it into place

Almost there and .....

finally in place !

Once it was plumed and secured

they were able to place the last 3 trusses.

It's nice to have friends and family like

John and Ben that have the skills to 

help Matt realize his

"Dream Shop"

Sunday 9/9

Both Matt and Sienna have birthday's

in the month of September.

Since we will be gone on their special days

we celebrated today with

Dinner, gifts and Ice Cream and Cake.

Sienna is turning 11 and

Matt will celebrate the big 40 this week!

We only had two candles in the cupboard

so Sienna lit one and ....

Jetta lit one !

Ha Ha Ha .... the joke was on us ...

they were the kind that keep relighting,

we had no idea until they tried to 

blow them out !

We had a fun evening together !

Tuesday 9/11

Today Steve & I together with 

Dave & Gayle went up

to the Parker's Cabin in Cascade.

Steve, Dave & Keith all worked on getting

things ready to install some new

steps from ground level to the lower level.

digging out for the stairs

a little man power with the pick for those

stubborn spots

(notice the wooden model for the stairs)

Marilyn, Linda & Gayle acted as some very

qualified "sidewalk superintendents".

While we were in Texas Several of the

Parker "clan" got together and installed

the permanent Stairs .... lookin' good.

Thursday 9/13

Today we traveled to El Paso Texas to help

Trudi & George with their move

to Killeen Texas.

This will be our last trip to El Paso which

is one of the hardest places for us to

get to.  The only place that presents more

problems and fewer options is .... 

you guessed it .... Killeen

Let the fun begin !

We all worked hard but we were able to

get everything loaded on time.

9/14 - 16

Packing up in El Paso

We started out with ....

a 26 foot truck from Budget - their largest truck

Charlotte's Last Day of School in

El Paso

It was also Wyatt's last day, but

he left before we got a picture of him.

Cora blowing kisses

Packing-up help

Cora sweeping

getting started

Finishing up

and everything in between

(Morgan and Cora in the truck .... Helping??)

beginning to Fill up .... sooo ....

Trudi rented the largest trailer U-Haul had.

Filling it up ....

Just enough room for the last few items

(Morgan seems to approve)

We also filled up Georges Pick-up

It took all three vehicles, but we got everything

packed up and ready to go.

Monday 9/17 - the Drive

This morning at 3:00 a.m. George, Wyatt &

their dog, Tank, left in the Budget truck.

The rest of us got up about 7:00 a.m. and

finished loading up the trailer and the

back of Trudi's car.  

We left El Paso about 10:30.

Steve was driving the Pick-up with one

dog .... Chase

Trudi was driving their car with the trailer

in tow and Linda, Morgan, Cora,

Charlotte and two dogs .... Belle & Flash.

It was a hard day.  The trailer would not 

allow us to go faster than 55 mph.

That in itself was annoying and made the

trip about 3 hours longer than we

hoped it would be.

Then there was Belle .... let's just say

unbeknownst to Trudi, 

she doesn't travel well and ended up sitting

on Linda's lap for several hours.

We arrived in Killeen between 12:30/1:00 a.m.

yes .... that's 14 hours in the car ... whew.

We went directly to the hotel where 

George met us and he and Steve drove

the Pick-up over to their new house

unloaded it and left the four dogs there

for the night.

9/18 - 21

Unpacking

We stayed in the hotel for a couple of nights

until the painters finished and the

house aired out a little bit.

We didn't get a lot of pictures because we were

busy unpacking and cleaning.

Even though the painters were working,

We were still able to unpack the trailer & truck.

We had stuff on the front porch, in the garage ....

 and in the rooms

 the painter's had finished.

The kitchen cupboards had not been cleaned so

Linda got busy and cleaned them

inside and out.

Once the painter's finished we were able to

start putting things in place, which the kids

enjoyed and soon they were ....

getting more comfortable and 

began to relax and found things to play with.

They have a huge backyard and the kids had fun ....

playing in the sprinkler in their clothes.

(except for Morgan who thought it would be

more fun to be naked)

Saturday 9/22

This morning Steve and I left for home.

We made our first two flights, in fact

we got first class on the flight from Houston

to Salt Lake City which

included a meal

Steve ordered the Ham & Cheese sandwich

Linda ordered the 

Chicken Salad ??? .... hmmm

.... should have got the sandwich

We missed one flight in SLC but got on

the second (and last) flight to Boise.

We are glad we were able to help and have

a chance to see the new house.

It is very nice and will give them plenty

of room for their family.

Sunday 9/30

Well, here it is the end of September

already .... time just keeps marching on.

We have had a busy month but have

enjoyed being with family and

helping everyone.

Now it's time to move on to another

month .... October .... here we come !