Finished Project....part 2

So my utility room is about done, I still have a few minor details to finish, but the hard work is over! It was lots of work, but I'm pretty happy with it, it has a new fresh look!

I made some little curtains, more for looks than really needing them.

Tami came over one day to help me make these signs!

I know you are all going love my new coat rack. Dad & I found it
out 4-wheeling at Roosevelt. Its a gate hinge, we just added the horseshoes. It has 'character'!

We love the tile, I think it will be great at hiding dirt!

Dad is always so great at putting in new switches for me!

These are what started the whole project! I've had them in the garage since January. I love them so far!

So that's it! Some of you will get to see it Easter weekend when you come. Hope you like it!

Another Major Project.....part 1

I guess it was about time that I remodeled my utility room, it has only been 30 years! My friend said that it definitely had that 80's look! I was going to paint my cabinets, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, plus it was SO much work! I figured, paint and new tile would be enough to make a big difference! They say a picture says a thousand words, so here are lots of pictures!

OUT WITH THE OLD!

My washer went out over a year ago and Tami
and Ryne were good to loan us an old one they
 had in storage.

After 30 years, we never did put linoleum in the clothes drop,
or base board behind the washer and dryer.

My old toll paintings were still hanging on the walls.

The back door looked really bad.

So this is the color--aqua, I guess. Its a lot darker than the little
1x2 inch sample I thought was not quite so bright!

This back door had never been painted.

After I got it painted, we started on the floor.  

Wow, all I can say was this was HARD work! We were told that
tile layers charge $4 a square foot to remove old flooring and this room is 160 sq. feet. It took us, mostly Dad a full day of scraping to remove this stuff!

After Dad removed the washer, dryer and hot water heater, (we were without hot water for 3 days!) we discovered when the floor got wet, that the other layer still left, also had to come up! So we scraped for another day to get it all down to cement!

Finally--- CEMENT!

Then we started laying the tile. We decided to 'off set' it, so that made it a little trickier! We started with two chalk lines marking the center of the room, then we laid the first row of tiles. This is without thin set, we were just laying it out and making the cuts.

Dad's friend told him to make the thin set about the consistency of peanut butter, so he did! That first batch was stressful because it was drying so fast and hard to spread.

The next batch he mixed was more to the consistency of pudding, and it was much better! Dad couldn't find his knee pads, so both our knees were killing us! We started at 8am and finished after 8pm.  We were BEAT! I could hardly move the next day!!

We thought we'd just do this area, so we could at
least get the hot water heater put in the next day,
but we just kept going.

I had to take a picture of Dad's pants! What a crack up! 

After 24 hours Dad started grouting the tile. It was drying fast so I started helping sponging it off.  Before this we had to clean out all the hardened thin set, which was just like cement in all the cracks. That was a pain. Live and learn, we'll clean that out as we go next time, before it hardens!

 Messy and scary. We hoped we were doing it right. We had watched several videos and had done the tile at our place at Roosevelt, but still, I had to wonder when it looked like this.

Would this mess ever come off?  Part 2 to follow...

Dad's little FISHING trip!

 Dad has been wanting to learn how to catch fish at Roosevelt, so he found his own personal fish guide to teach him.  They left early Friday morning and were out on the lake by noon. They spent ALL night crappie fishing, with Dad learning all the tricks.

This is Brother Ron Cole, High Priest Group leader that Dad serves with in our Ward. He is a professional fisherman. He KNOWS how to catch fish!

Dad taking a picture of himself!

The pro catches the first fish to show how its done! They both caught quite a few, but still, almost that many got away. 

Dad thinking, "This is serious business"!

Dad said the lake was so pretty as it got toward evening. However, as the night progressed, it got colder and colder!
His little sleeping bag just didn't keep him very warm, so needless to say, he didn't sleep much! 

So here's the fish they caught-14 crappie, 2 bass (the pro caught the BIG one) and one little catfish!

The crappie were pretty good size! We got some nice fillets!

After enjoying success, Dad is now ready for some more fishing! 

Watch out fish, here we come!

Kaemon's Baptism!

So here's part two-- Kaemon's baptism! It was so special! We were so happy that we were able to go! He is a pretty great kid!

Here he is, Kaemon Schell Crosby, our oldest grandson!

I took 3 pictures of Mark and Kaemon, and Mark
had his eyes closed in all of them!

Mark & Holly & kids!

Kaemon is also Holly's parents, Jon & Jill Huish,
oldest grandson!

It seemed like a pretty quick trip and a long ways

to go, but we are so glad we were able to go. 

We are so proud of Kaemon!

Our TRIP to New Orleans! part one...

Dad & I flew to New Orleans last Friday for Kaemon's baptism (part two) and had a great time! It was great spending time with their kiddos, eating good food and seeing the sights.

We stayed in the Navy Lodge right their on the base and Kaemon and Milea spent both nights with us in the extra room.

The next morning we headed to 'Goodies' for breakfast. They have the best donuts!

Dad got his favorite, an apple fritter and Holly and I got cream
filled chocolate donuts! YUMMY!

Our next stop was the Aquarium, it was huge and took us several hours to walk through. That had some really cool stuff!

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What a darling little family they have!

This is some of the food we enjoyed! Mark took us all to a place called MO's , that seemed pretty far to drive to, but he said, 'Don't worry, it will be worth it!" and it was. This was a HUGE, all meat pizza. There were 6 adults and 4 kids and we still took some home! We had other stuff too, but this was the best!

Holly's parents, Jon & Jill Huish were with us.

New Orleans is known for their "Muffalettas" so we had to get one to try. It was yummy too.

We sure had fun playing with all the kids. These two little guys, Zallen & Bolden, never seemed to run out of energy!

Holly made us some delicious food too! It was not only yummy,
but beautiful!

Off to school!

Of course we had to go to their favorite ice cream spot!

We forgot to take pictures of the food at this
restaurant, but this was a 'black burger' - yes the
bun was completely made of some kind of black
bread. The other food was so unique and different.
Mark loves to try unusual places to eat.

 We sure had a fun time and Mark & Holly spoiled us! It was great spending time with our grandkids! Our main reason for going was for Kaemon's baptism, so more pictures to follow.....