Extreme Makeover Call-Home Edition

For the past 2 years instead of giving small presents to my parents for their birthdays or special occasions (ie. mothers/fathers day), my brothers and sisters and I have been pooling our money together and putting it in a fund. The money in this fund is used to get bigger and cooler things for our parents, instead of a bunch of small things. Our first big purchase was new couches for the front room. Then, when Doreen came out to visit last summer we used more money from the fund to repaint the front room, get a new end table, mirror, vases, a wall clock, and lamp. When we got the hutch, the room finally started to look complete so we took some "after" pictures. We still have a few other things we want to get for this room, but they'll have to wait for now. Here are the before and after pictures.
BEFORE:
AFTER:BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE (next two pictures):
AFTER:

The Finished Garage Project

Here's the only "before" picture we have of the garage. This was taken just before we started priming the garage:
Pressure washing was our last step. It's a pretty wet process:
The final product after pressure washing the floors (still wet in the pictures):
Those poles on the wall are the beginnings of Dad's shelves that he is installing. He said he's been wanting to put these shelves in for 14 years. I'll try and add a picture later of the shelves on the wall.

Garage Painting - Day 2

The crew for day 2: Deborah, Aubrey, Mary, Jared, Karen and Doreen. Painting the first coat was SOOOO much easier than sanding and priming everything. The ceiling was still a literal pain in the neck.
A sneak peek at what the garage looks like right now:
Excited to get this garage done:
Day 3 will be the second coat of paint. Day 4 we will be power washing the floors and Day 5 we'll be painting the floor.

Garage Painting - Day 1

This was our sanding and priming crew. Jon came later on. Dad was the inspector.
We started the day off by sanding all of the joint compound that Doreen had put on a few days before.
The ceiling was the worst part. The tiny particles of joint compound from sanding required masks:
After sanding, we wiped down all of the walls and gave the garage its first vacuum job.
Dad laid down plastic:
We weren't even half way done priming the walls when we ran out of the 2 cans of primer we had. So while we took a break, Dad went to Home Depot and got us 7 more cans of primer (we ended up only needing 5 of the 7) plus some new roller heads that Angie said would get the job done faster.
Mary enjoyed taking all of the old roller heads off:
The priming resumed. Jon did the upper parts of the walls while Angie, Julie and Mary traded off doing the ceiling and walls. Doreen went around with a paint brush to get all of the corners and places that the rollers couldn't get.
After sanding, vacuuming, and applying two exhausting coats of primer we were able to finish about 7 hours later. We'll be starting the first coat of paint on Monday. It's going to look SO good by the time we're done with it. One of my favorite quotes of the day was when Mom came out to help clean off the outdoor container that catches all the stuff we vacuum inside and while wiping it off she said, "Well, look at that! I thought the color of this was black, but it's really light gray!" This garage hasn't ever had a cleaning like we're giving it. Painting the garage was on Dad's list of things he thinks he'll do when he retires, but after getting only half way through we all agreed that there is NO way Dad and Mom could have ever done this on their own. What good kids we are!!

All in a day

Cindy and Karen went to the eye doctor- new contacts for Cindy AND Karen
They have Vampire eyes


Ready to Garden
seedlings of Pea Plants emerge



with the help of a grow light


Signs of Spring: our Yellow and Purple crocus






There is still snow on the mountains



Got Dirt???
move the dirt dad


Dumping dirt

Visiting the Dotsons

Remember how cold it is in Wisconsin? REALLY COLD!
but Abby, Luke, and Avery still want to have fun.

This is William, obviously happy to see me.


Here are the Dotsons all together for FHE.


Enjoy a look into the home of the Dotsons.

Losing Their Wisdom

Karen after the surgery, Pale White like one of the vampires off of twilight.


Cindy and Karen getting ready for the long recovery ahead of them.

Christmas Morning 2009

Dad had fun handing out gifts as usual
Brady Carol and Harley joined us this morning
and were wearing their snuggies


Cindy and Karen got sleds and Jared is soooo envious

Pat's family came later in the morning to open and hand out gifts.

Many of the Kids went and played Volleyball at the church from 2-6 pm. fun fun fun

Elder Tim's Mission Experiences #1

This is Tim at the MTC in Sao Paulo in September. (notice the blue dot on his name tag means he's new)

This was Tim's first companion Elder Kartchner (on the right)

This is Elder White with Tim. He is from Springville and just got home. (bringing us all these wonderful pictures and letters.)

Christmas party for the missionaries. This is his mission President Beynon and his wife.

Banana Plant.

Coconut Tree.

I think this picture was for Angie. (ha ha)

P-day with his companion.

Tim's adventures on P-Day