School started on July 27 and the girls started 6th grade (Katie), 3rd grade (Emma), and 1st grade (Claire.) Katie enjoys being top dog but did confide to Troy and I that she can feel the extra pressure of being looked up to by everyone. She's cute and we love her!
Our big project for the year...heck for this decade, was the addition of the office out the back of the house. Originally, we had the office upstairs in the smallest bedroom. The three girls have been sharing a bedroom for 4 years and although they haven't complained it was time to get Katie her own room. It was a long process, made longer by permit delays as the town of Gilbert has gone to 4 day workweeks and laid off a bunch of employees. Here's a photo of the day they dug the holes for the concrete. Zach and Haydn had fun jumping in the holes but I sorta lost that fun by having to pull them out every five minutes.
Zach got VERY into the whole construction thing and pretty much lived in a little boys paradise for the entire time. He even took lunch on the worksite and slept with his safety helmets. You can't be too careful, my friends! The man building the addition is in our ward and has his sons work with him. They and Zach all became fast friends.
And here's the finished product from the outside. It's really great and looks like a part of the original house and not an add-on.
Here's the interior shot. We used the same office stuff we had upstairs and it all fit great. I love being able to look out that big window into my beautiful back yard and watch my kids fight....uh, play.
Here's a view from inside the house. That door there has quite the story. I wanted an old-style office door as it would be stuck in the middle of a wall and the first thing you see when you walk in the house. Well, apparently, Phoenix and the west coast in general have a serious lack of old doors. I found quite a few on Ebay and for not much money but they were all "pick-up" only and even though the door may only cost $20, the trip to Eastern Pennsylvania would add considerable to the overall expense. Soooooooo, after searching many salvage yards I found this door with a hole cut in it. I repaired it, stained it, filled in the flaws, bought a window, found the hardware, painted the window frame and frosted the window. Our builder reframed the door, attached the hardware and hung the door for an additional charge and I got the door I wanted. But looking back I think I should have just driven to Eastern Pennsylvania. It would have been easier and maybe even cheaper........
Our school district's fall break was the second and third week of October and we had planned to head to Kingman the second week to visit Ken and Rhonda and their clan. Unfortunately, Ken and his family had some major changes in their schedules and we had to ixnay the trip. We decided to just have a Staycation and found a lovely hotel in North Scottsdale. We went to the fair, ate out, went shopping and swam in the pool. It was a lot of fun and we had a blast. The best part: 20 minutes after loading up the car and heading out we were at our destination. Can't beat that.
This first picture is supposed to be of an over-joyed Zach getting to meet his television hero, Diego, at the State Fair and giving him a high-five after they talked about rescuing baby jaguar. That was the plan as we waited in line. Then a 5-foot Diego with a 2-foot head showed up and it became a picture of a cowering 3-year-old who's excitement has been extinguished and who is now being forced to stand next to the creature that will haunt his dreams for the next month. Wow. Expectations are so fickle.
Zach found his happy face again at the petting zoo. But it was only near the smaller goats. The bigger goats and baby llamas had no happy faces near them at all.
The girls, Daddy and Zach rode the Ferris Wheel at the Fair. I stayed on the safe, low ground so that I could take photos of my cute family. It had nothing to do with the fact that I really don't like Ferris Wheels.
Much of our Staycation was spent in this lovely salt-water pool at the hotel. Our hotel was on the Mayo Clinic Hospital grounds. It's a Residence Inn and has suites and kitchens so it seems as though people visiting the hospital for treatments or in long-term care use it quite a bit. Consequently, we usally had the pool to ourselves as bandages and open wounds are not conducive to swimming in public places.
The best part of the Staycation for me, aside from being with my cute family, were the six meals we ate out where someone else cooked the food and cleaned up the mess. Love it! This is us at Islands Burgers, a family favorite since we went there in March while on a trip to Sea World. Such a yummy burger.
Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great week and hopefully I'll get pictures up from Halloween before Valentine's Day of 2010! Adios!
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