The end of the home remodel

Fall has arrived and we have lived through the summer. Phase I of the home remodel is all but done and and now we are slowly creeping into Phase II (the house interior) which will start in October. A great crew of many workers literally replaced everything on the exterior of the house from the roof, walls, doors, a few windows, a new deck and railing. It has been quite a project.
So here's a few pics of the remodel. The front and the back. The coloring on the back is more true than the front. Pics were taken at sunset.

Firsts

So this weekend has to be at the top of the list for firsts.
First time I rode on a wave runner. We went with Nathan Saturday afternoon.
First time to Hyrum Dam. That is where we went wave running with Nathan.
First time to have Jessica, Nate's girlfriend, visit our home (currently under construction) and get to know her better. She's awesome.
First time we saw Monet, who is nearly three, and the daughter of Anneli (my niece) and Frits Grader (her husband). They live in Perth, Australia and came to Logan to visit Grandma Eva and our family. Also visiting was Kaeja, their 16 year old daughter, and Austin, their 11 year old son.
First time for their family to go wave running and I believe they really had fun.
First time I gave Frits and Austin rides in the Corvette.
First time for the Graders to stay over. As Frits said, "we're on holiday." We had a great visit and so glad they could stay overnight.
First time I was totally surprised by my whole family. . .(they all knew about the surprise).
I was planning to pick Staci up from the airport Tuesday evening (the 15th) from London.
Curt and Megan had invited us over for a BBQ Sunday evening (13th) to celebrate Staci's birthday and skype with her. At this point, I thought Staci was in England.
So after my family history center shift was over, we left for Bear River City. Things were a little strange but I didn't question anything, I even thought it was strange we took the minivan to BRC. When we arrived at Curts, Craig jumped out the car and started getting his camera out. Curtis opened the front door and gave me the funniest look, and I just kept staring at him and thought, OK, what's going on.
At that moment I turned and saw Staci. Well the rest is history and on film because I just screamed, and started hugging her and crying and couldn't believe the whole scene. It was quite surreal. I went into shock. It was such a great surprise. I was so relieved that Staci was safe and home at last. Well I have no pictures, because they are all on Craig's camera.
What a great weekend of firsts. We will reminisce this experience for a long time to come.

Joshua Craig Gulbransen

Today is Joshua's birthday. Joshua is now seven years old. He is currently living in Michigan, but will soon be moving to California. What an adventure. Joshua shares a birthday with his great-grandmother, Eva Kohkonen who is 89 years old today.

Joshua was a very cute baby with strawberry blond hair. He is very smart and has many talents. He loves to build legos and play with transformers. He enjoys video games, and is a very good reader. Joshua can make his little sister and baby brother laugh. He is a happy child and likes to have time to build lego ships. Often you will hear Joshua singing as he is transforming his favorite transformers.

Joshua plays soccer and enjoys his friends. He also enjoys playing with his older brother, Jonathan. They do lots of fun things together.

One of my favorite things about Joshua is a tradition we have. We often travel to Michigan to visit the grandchildren. When we get picked up at the airport and start traveling to their home, Grandma pulls out a bag of gummi worms for the trip. This tradition occurs every trip. One time, when we were leaving the airport, Grandma pulled out the gummi worms upon which Joshua exclaimed, "Yep, I knew it." He had anticipated the airport tradition - the unveiling of the gummi worms.

He is such a fun boy and we love him so much. We are excited to see you very soon.

Happy birthday, Joshua. Enjoy your legos and activities today.

Love, Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong

Jonathan Robert Gulbransen

Today is Jonathan's 9th birthday. I do remember the day he was born, like it was yesterday. I got a call from his parents and was so excited to have a grandson, my first grandson. It was such a thrilling day. I remember driving to Orem to the hospital to see this new baby and being thankful he was healthy. Jonathan had very blond hair, nearly white. He was a very sweet baby.

I stayed with Steph and Jeff in their apartment in Provo for a couple of weeks to help. It was an adventure for all of us. It had been 14 years since I had had a baby, Staci, so we called Grandpa (the pediatrician) lots with the "what to do" situations.

We have watched Jonathan grow and become a very handsome boy. Some of the things he loves are balls. He had very good eye hand coordination and loves to play with balls and is very talented with most sports. I believe his favorite is soccer which he plays seasonally.

Jonathan is a very good reader and loves books. He likes computer games and enjoys building legos and playing with his brothers and sister. He is a good student in school and is friendly with other classmates. Jonathan has many talents and will be an excellent young man and missionary when the time comes. He loves to read the scriptures with his family.

Jonathan is a very caring person, is a big helper to his mother, loves to camp with his dad, and has been a good example of a big brother.

Here are a few pictures from our last trip to Michigan in June.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan. We love you very much. Enjoy your birthday gifts. Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong.

House update

Some think the house remodel is progressing slowly. They ask, "When will it be done?". I just reply, "it is coming along well and will be a summer project.

The funny thing about expectations is that if you think the work is going slowly, you become impatient. If you think it is going on schedule, then life is good and you are happy.

Somehow, remodeling to some is very inconvenient and needs to be done quickly. I, on the other hand, have the attitude that I want this remodel job to look great when it is done. No matter how long it takes, it will be done well. I don't want the subs to do a quick, hurry up, get it done now, kind of job. No job can be done well that is done in a hurry. Most subs take pride in their work and want it to showcase what they can do.

The stucco subcontractor told me that he had sent many people to look at our (previous) house color and repeated it on many homes in the valley. I am sure he wants to do the same with the remodel. I have discovered how difficult it is to visualize the materials in small size that will be applied to a large space. I have looked at many many homes to see what choices have been made. It is easier to see what I don't like rather than what I do. So far I haven't seen anything quite like what we are doing. I guess that is good, or scary. So I am very willing to make the decisions with thought and help. If you want to see what is going up, we have color samples by the garage wall and you can drive by and take a peek. One comment was "very interesting". I guess we really won't know until we see it up.

The mud layer will be applied this week, it has to cure for a week or so and then the stucco layer will be applied, then the stone on the east side, soffit and fascia, deck flooring and rail and stairs, finish off the roof and we will be done with the exterior phase.

This is a summer project that we will live with for a very very long time. Hope we like it.

Sunset every 24 hours

One of the best moments of my day is catching the sunset. This time of the day is frequently amass with color. Depending on the clouds and weather, the sunsets are amazing looking westward from our house and now especially from our new deck.

As our family started leaving for missions, marriage, education, etc., and when I viewed the sunset, I would think about those family members who were living elsewhere and wonder if their sunsets were as beautiful. Everyone now has traveled and moved to far away destinations. So as I view a sunset, my thoughts still turn to my family.

When you see a sunset, I hope your thoughts will turn toward Logan, and may you enjoy them as much as we do.

Boise, Idaho

Never been to Boise, Idaho before. The reason for the trip to Boise was to help with Brad's move to Emmett. So if you say Brad moved to a town near Boise, people know where that is. If you say, Brad moved to Emmett, then they ask, "Where is that" so you just save time by saying "near Boise". Emmett is about 1/2 hour drive northwest of Boise.

So we had an adventure last week. Wednesday we loaded a UHaul truck. Thursday I drove the truck 6 hours to Emmett. Brad drove his car, mostly way ahead of me. The truck was unloaded in less than an hour with the help of three guys from the ward. Friday we dropped the truck off in Boise, and I flew home. Air time was 39 minutes.

Took the Cache Valley Shuttle home from the airport. A great little adventure.

We got most of Brad's furniture arranged in his 2 bedroom apartment. How many ways can you arrange five pieces of furniture in a room with three walls? Several ways, I found out.

Brad is within six blocks of his office and will work with the youth sports programs for the city of Emmett. Great job, nice community, beautiful valley, near a large city, great location.

We are excited for Brad's opportunity in Emmett. His address is 523 West 1st Street, Emmett, Idaho 83617. Packages are always welcome. Good luck, Brad!