June 2024

 Monday 6/3

On Saturday, Debbi's newest book went live on Amazon so we bought a copy

It was delivered today !!

A Little Update:

  Her book now has 4.9 Stars and 47 reviews on Amazon from both the USA and United Kingdom and is #1 in Table Tennis, Racquetball, and Tennis in the Kindle Store

Amazon also delivered another package - This one was a garden décor item 

This cute little windmill came in five pieces but it was easy to assemble

After assembly, we took it out to the backyard and found a likely spot for it

In the evening, after dark, 6 little solar lights light up. 

(it doesn't get ANY direct sunlight so we are surprised that the lights come on at all)

We'll leave it here, under the gum tree where our wind spinner hangs, for a while then decide if it will stay there or be moved to a different location

Tuesday 6/4

We rarely go to a movie theater, but this morning we did. We drove to Boise, picked up Steve's brother, Dave, then his friend, Dale, and headed to the Majestic Cinema Theater. It was "discount Tuesday" so the price was right!

 We enjoyed watching this latest film, Escape from Germany, from director, T. C. Christensen. It is a true account of  how 85 American LDS missionaries escaped from Nazi Germany in 1939 as the second world war was about to begin. The interesting thing was that Elder Joseph Fielding Smith told the mission president that the war would not begin until all the missionaries were safely out of Germany. The start of the war, for reasons unknown to most, but not for Elder Smith or the Mission President, was delayed until the day after the last missionary safely left the country.

Wednesday 6/5

Our roofer, Raymond, from High Command Roofing, called this morning to tell us that American Roofing Supply would be delivering all the roofing materials tomorrow morning, 8:00 a.m.

Surprise!! we were watching TV at 5:00 this afternoon and noticed a truck loaded with roofing supplies pull up in front of our house. After introductions and a short meeting with them, they got right to work.

1 - They backed up our driveway so their boom would reach the top of the roof

2 - Set a bright green ladder for the workers to get on and off the roof, set the boom in place, secured the front of the house under the boom (for safety reasons) with red "danger" tape and went to work.

3 - They attached some kind of tethering device to the roof and began nailing furring strips to the roof to set the bundles of shingles on.

The whole process was pretty interesting to watch. They maneuvered the truck's boom into place, turned on the conveyor belt and started loading bundles of shingles on to it. When a bundle reached the top a worker grabbed it and set it in place on the furring strips above the front of the house. Later they had to move the boom so they could load bundles on the roof over the garage. They finished up two hours later and now.... we are ready for the Roofers to get started in the morning.

Thursday 6/6

The roofing crew of eight knocked on our door at 6:55 this morning and they were ready to get started.

They had an empty trailer that they parked in the driveway, however,  by the time they finished the job . . . .

It was VERY full !!

They got right to work tearing off the old roof

They would carry the old shingles across the rooftop to the front of the house and throw them off so they landed in the trailer.

The old roof demolition was a VERY messy job. As you can see, there was old shingles, tar paper and nails everywhere.

This young man spent most all day picking up  nails with these heavy duty magnets. You CANNOT believe how many nails he found all around the house. In the planters, in the grass and on the sidewalks.

Once all the old roofing was gone, they gathered all their materials, hooked up a generator for the nail guns, and got started applying the new roof.

They began with the underlayment and drip edging

They soon moved on to putting the shingles on.

They worked hard all day - 13 hours - but couldn't quite get things finished up sooo they decided to call it a day and finish up tomorrow morning.

The hero of the day was Tony !

The roofers took our satellite dish down first thing and set it aside. Late this afternoon, Tony from Star Satellite, came and reinstalled our Dish . . .  YaY . . . we have TV !

Friday 6/7

The crew arrived at 7:30 this morning to finish up the job.

It took them 3 more hours

They finished putting the last shingles on the roof and put the ridge cap in place.

They finished the eyebrows over the garage doors and fireplace bump-out and painted the roof vents.

They cleaned out the gutters, installed a diverter flashing over the front door, went over everything with the magnets . . . again and cleaned pieces of debris out of the planters and bushes, 

 And last of all, they gathered up all their tools, hooked up their trailer and moved it across the street, then blew off the entire roof and driveway, swept all the walkways, and shook our hands and said goodbye.

They drove away, leaving only a small pile of "leftovers" behind. Their boss, Raymond, came by around noon to check on the job quality, pick up the "extras", and get his final payment. Included in the price is some gutter replacement/repair and the instillation of gutter guard. The gutter guys are busy and can't get to it until the 20th (or so).

Before and After pictures are always fun

Even though we believe our original roof was covered with 30 year shingles, it only took 17 years to deteriorate to the point of needing to be replaced. We had no idea it was in such bad condition (the south side was the worst). 

While we were getting our new roof,

Kevin was getting a beautiful new patio

tearing up the old, plotting out the new & new concrete poured.

Next - build new stairs & a pergola?

Update

Got these pictures on 6/27-29

As you can see, he built the new stairs right over the top of the old, much smaller, concrete steps.

These stairs will make it much easier to get in and out of the house - nicely done Kevin

Monday 6/10

Our Lilies are finally blooming !!

Wednesday 6/12

On our Spring To Do List is: Defrost the freezer, sooo . . . 

Take everything out and squeeze it into the refrigerator's freezer in the house

Set the freezer in a sunny location in the driveway to melt away the ice build-up

Wheel it back into the garage when it's done

Slide it back into place

Check !

Another one is: Sharpen the lawnmower blade

Steve had a difficult time getting the blade off this year (never been a problem before??) anyway, we enlisted the help of our contractor neighbor. He had an impact driver and it worked great. Soon the blade was off, sharpened, and back in place.

Check, Check !!

Friday 6/14

Happy Flag Day !!

Unlike many of our neighbors, we don't leave our flag up all the time but we wait for special days, like today, to fly our flag. 

More yard work today, it seems to be never-ending . . . .

New mulch freshens up our flower beds and makes them look so nice. Steve works very hard to keep our yard looking nice. It's always the most beautiful yard in the neighborhood.

Our fountain requires some maintenance to keep it looking good

The algae grows really well in the bottom of the bowls (picture 1) so today, Linda decided to add some bleach to the water in hopes it would take care of the algae stains. well, it took care of them, but it also caused a big problem. We have been adding new fresh water to it all day long in an effort to dilute the chlorinated water. We learned that adding bleach/chlorine will cause "foaming"  picture 2). By the end of the day it was looking pretty good (picture 3)

Saturday 6/15

Today was Steve's Surprise Birthday Party

All of our kids were here (except for George). It was a great day that has been in the works for six months. We totally pulled it off and Steve had no idea.

We have made a separate post with lots of pictures from the birthday Party.

So, take a look and enjoy seeing all the fun we had ! 

Sunday 6/16

Today was not only Steve Birthday, but also Father's Day. Every few years they both land on the same day.

Matt - Father of Camrynn, Jetta & Sienna

Steve - Father of Trudi, Matt, Kevin & Debbi

Kevin - Father of Connor, Crew, Sydney & Shea

Doing what they should be doing on Father's day . . . 

watching sports & napping - It was nice they could do it together this year.

Wednesday 6/19

Trudi and her family have been on quite the adventure this past week. They have traveled through 13 states in just 9 days. Today they finished their final leg in Raeford, North Carolina - Their new home.

Day 1 - 3

Coming to Boise for Steve's 80th birthday party

They began this adventure in Arizona. They drove from Sierra Vista to Phoenix, stayed overnight there then drove to Utah and stayed the night in Orem. From there they drove on to Boise..

Day 4 - 5

They stayed in Boise for the big surprise party 

Day 6

The "travelers" loaded up 6 people and two dogs and headed out of Boise

Debbi took some time off work to help Trudi with this trip. She joined, Trudi and her four kids, Cora, Wyatt, Charlotte & Morgan and their two dogs, Belle & Flash. A third dog, Tank, is with George in North Carolina

They started their day in Boise and drove east to Wyoming and then landed in Fort Collins, Colorado for the night.

Day 7

They left Fort Collins and made their way through Nebraska and Iowa and stopped for the night just a little bit east of Kansas City in Columbia, Missouri.

Day 8

Today was a long day traveling from Missouri to Illinois to Kentucky and on to Knoxville, Tennessee where they stayed the night

Day 9 - The final leg !!

They left Tennessee and crossed over into North Carolina. They dropped Debbi off at the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte and then headed 2 1/2 hours East to their new home in Raeford North Carolina.

(Debbi caught a direct flight back to Salt Lake)

George was anxiously awaiting their arrival

Their new home - the first time they have seen it, in person.

It was a BIG sacrifice for them to come all the way to Boise (not really "on the way" to North Carolina) amidst their move, but we are sooo glad they did. 

Friday 6/21

Trudi is not the only one that has been on an adventure.

For a long time Kevin has talked to his kids about the place where he grew up. He decided it was about time to take them to Bend for a firsthand experience. So . . . .Kevin's family left Boise and instead of heading east to their home in Bountiful, Utah, they headed west to Bend, Oregon.

Despite lots and LOTS of changes since last being in his "home town" 17 years ago, Kevin said it was still a beautiful city. Bigger and busier, but still beautiful.

He spent three days showing his family around his old stomping grounds and visiting some of the tourist attractions.

The first place they visited was the house Kevin lived in most of his life. It is in a subdivision, in southeast Bend, called "King's Forest". We resided on King Solomon Lane. It was the one place in town that still felt very familiar and easy to navigate.

These are some of the places they visited over the next couple of days

Bend Senior High School

All of our kids went to this "home of the Lava Bears" and were active in many sports and the music program. We recently learned that they will begin tearing down and then rebuilding the school as soon as school is done for the year. It is one of four high schools now in Bend and was originally built in 1904.

Downtown Bend, The Old Mill District and Drake Park. Our kids liked spending time at Drake park, feeding the ducks and running across the footbridge to Harmon Park. The Pet Parade on the 4th of July and the Christmas Parade in December were always in Downtown on Wall & Bond streets.

Pilot Butte, in the middle of town, has a 360 view of the city and is the perfect place to shoot off fireworks on the 4th of July. Despite setting it on fire, every year, they continue to use it for fireworks. Another beautiful attraction is Tumalo Falls high above the Deschutes River.

Lava Butte just south of town is centered in the middle of a huge lava flow

At the top of the butte is the Forest Service ranger station where they are always on the lookout for newly sparked fires. Below are the lava caves. It is always the same temperature inside the caves - a cool 42 degrees. 

A stop at the High Desert Museum and Bear Creek Elementary school where all of our children went, 1st - 5th grade (there wasn't any kindergarten).  Of course, they couldn't miss visiting the only Blockbuster left in the whole country.

They came back to Star on Thursday, and will head for home on Friday morning. Even though they had lots of fun and enjoyed the sights of central Oregon, they are ready to get back home.

Friday 6/21

11:00 a.m. . . . . and away they go.

In a few hours all of our family will be safely back to their homes.

 We are so grateful for all the time and effort they each made to make Steve's birthday a memorable occasion. 

Wednesday 6/26

So, here it is the 26th of June and we are finally getting our new gutters

The gutter compnay arrived around 11:30 this morning and got right to work tearing off the old, leaky, gutters

While two of the crew members were taking the old gutters off, the third member of their crew was making the new gutters

Soon they were installing those new gutters and . . . .

putting the Gutter-guard on.

While they were here our Pest Control company came to do a service call. When they finish spraying, they always go all around the house and property removing cobwebs and wasp nests.

Today while knocking down what appeared to be an abandoned nest, several wasps came flying out. We didn't get a picture of the "scattering" of people, but it was a pretty funny site to see. We all "got away" and gratefully, no one was stung.

In less than two hours they were done and assured us our new gutters would NOT leak.

Friday 6/28

In our backyard we have a small patch of raspberries that usually bear fruit late in the summer or early fall.

Today we picked a few "early bird berries" 

Sunday 6/30

This beautiful sunset must be Mother Nature's way of saying goodbye to June

We have had a busy month, but it has been wonderful. We are so glad have the technology to save all our memories. June 2024 is surely a month to Remember!