MAJOR PROJECT---DONE!!

I haven't posted in awhile because we've been busy!! We had to replace our old deck, it was over 30 years old, the nails were coming up, the boards were rotting, it was in bad shape. I thought it would be a simple thing to do- take the old boards off, put the nice new Trex decking on!  NOPE!  It turned out to be a 

MAJOR PROJECT!! 

LaVerl started taking the boards off Sept 19th. This turned out to be very hard and time consuming. The boards would not just yank up, no, some had screws in them and when he tried to unscrew them, the heads were stripped. So he had to grind them off and then pull the boards up.

 I tried to help as much as I could. I hauled all the boards to the back and set them where I want to use them to build a really cool tree house!!

 What we found under the deck boards was not good!! The big supporting beams were rotten!! That meant replacing them and having to pull the other supporting 2x6's off by removing all the hangers!  So time consuming!!

 LaVerl was a pretty good sport about all the work.  He'd just work on the deck when he didn't have other electrical jobs.

 After taking out the rotten beams, he replaced them with nice new ones. In the mean time, we had gone to Home Depot and ordered all the new grey TREX. Basically-fake wood. Its beautiful and is supposed to last 30+ years!

 The full length of the outside beam had to be replaced!

 While LaVerl is doing all the hard stuff, I painted all the white plastic lattice the gray color of our trim. I also cut and stapled up a very fine chicken wire to keep the critters from going under the deck.  No more skunks down in our window well!!

 We also painted our white lamp posts black. That's a lot cheaper than buying new ones!

The new beam!

 

 Sometimes when I wanted LaVerl working on the deck, he went fishing with his buddy. I guess that was okay! But really, all day to catch one fish!! (although it was a big one).

 Back to work. LaVerl added more center supports down each middle side.

 Then we oiled/varnished all the old boards.

 LaVerl tried really hard to level everything up. He added a bunch more footings, used a bunch of wood shims, and we strung string across everything checking for high and low spots. After 3 weeks, we were ready for the fun part!

 Oct. 8th--Getting the first board on!!  Yay!!!

Then more boards! Those 20 foot ones were really heavy! I helped LaVerl all day, I did all the pre-drilling, looking for measuring tapes and pencils, and moving electrical cords. We were hoping to get half way before dark! (but we didn't)

 

 We worked until dark the next day,  but didn't quite finish. We have a window well right in front of our back door, which required more work. LaVerl had to build a little hatch door so in case of a fire in our basement, someone would be able to climb out. 

 Finishing up!! 

 We got all the lattice stuff back up and everything cleaned up!

 It was lots and lots of work and time, but we love it! I was really pushing to get this done before winter sets in and WE DID!

We still have to put more Trex up on our balcony off our bedroom!
OK- 2 weeks later--
  When our old deck rotted out, one of our lamp posts that was attached to it fell over in a big wind! So we had to fix the light and then cement it in the ground this time!

Elder Dallin H. Oaks comes to Eagar, AZ!!!

Last Saturday Sept. 14th we had a special multi-stake conference right here in Eagar, maybe because we have a huge dome that holds 10,000 people!

 We had Elder Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of the Lord come!  He came with Elders Heyman and Anderson. They all brought their wives!  President Oaks held a special leadership training before the conference started.

 At 4:00pm the doors opened to let everyone in! Chad and Luann left at 2:30 from Snowflake to get here by 4! They saved us a seat because BYU was playing USC and it went into overtime!!
We WON!!  30-27!
 Elder Oaks was president at BYU so he's a fan!

The 7 stakes invited were - Eagar, St. Johns, Show Low, Snowflake,  White Mountain, Centennial and Silver Creek.

Sister Kristen Oaks gave a wonderful talk. She is so bubbly and excited about the gospel. One of the things she said, "It is consistent, repetitive, holy behaviors that will shape us into children of God". She said, "If you want to know the truth, you have to pay the price." 

President Oaks seemed more relaxed and very personal than he looks on TV. He asked us to increase our faith and trust in the Savior. He said, "Consider all that has come to us in the last 18 months. There is a hastening of the work". 

It was a wonderful, amazing conference. Our kids were little the last time we had a general authority come to our area! It will probably be a long time before one comes again!

More Trip fun! The Great Smokey Mountians National Park and BYU-TENNESSEE FOOTBALL

 Gatlinburg, Tennessee is the gateway to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Its also the biggest tourist town I've ever seen! So much to do and see! Our day didn't start until after 11am. We enjoyed sleeping in and then getting a great breakfast!

 Mark got peach crepes!

 I got delicious french toast.

Then we were off to explore the National Park. This park gets over 11 million visitors a year! It sure is beautiful! We hiked 2.5 miles one way to see Abrams Falls. It was hot and I got all sweaty, but it was sure pretty!

We crossed at least 3 of these narrow log bridges- cool!

 We packed a little picnic lunch to eat once at the falls! We wished we would've worn swim suits, a lot of people were swimming!

 Abrams Falls

Then Marks plan was to make it to Clingmans Dome, the highest peak in the Smokey Mountains, and hike up to the top to watch the sunset! We made it just in time!

 At the top is this tower so we could see a panoramic view!

It was windy and cold up on top!

Our second day in the Smokey Mountains we got a little earlier start because we had breakfast at the cabin.

 

 The plan for today was to hike to another waterfall, Grotto Falls.

Luckily, this was a much shorter hike! Only 1 1/2 miles.

 It was fun hiking and running into lots of other BYU fans who had come for the big game.

 The trail was shorter, but all uphill getting to the Falls.

MADE IT!    Lunch time!

 

 

Going back was much easier- all downhill!

Then we drove on a one way little road all through the park and saw lots of interesting things, like this really old water trough that was used to take water to a wheel that would power a grinder of some kind.

After hiking to the Falls we went back into Gatlinburg and rode the tram up to the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. Skybridge is 680 feet across and 140 feet above the valley floor.  It was a little scary for me, but really amazing too.

 

 

When I thought it couldn't get any scarier, we then had to walk across glass!! Looking straight down!!

 The view of Gatlinburg from on top!

Then we had to hurry and drive to Knoxville, TN about an hour away so that Mark and Dad could go to the BYU- Tennessee Football game! Holly and I dropped the guys off and we went to a movie! ("Overcomers") So good!

 

The Tennessee football stadium holds over 90,000 fans!

And it was packed!!

 

 That's lots of orange!!
These were HAPPY BYU fans when we won in 2nd over time!
29-26  GO COUGS!!

 Picking them up after the game took hours! All the roads getting back to where they were, were closed! Holly and I went around in circles trying to get to them. They had to sit and wait for us!  It was about 12:30am when they opened the roads up. 

The Tennessee fans were in shock! Reed said that the stats show that a team that is on their own 20 yard line, with 16 seconds left in the game has a 96.6 chance of NOT winning!  And we DID!!

By the time we got back to our B&B it was after 1:00am. We had to get up at 4:30am to be at the airport by 5:30 to catch our flights home.  The lines were long and the car rental place was closed! 
BUT-  We all made our flights, just barely!!
IT WAS SUCH A FUN TRIP! Thanks Mark for inviting us!