And so it Begins…Fed Up instead of Fed Ex

June 12, 2014

Finally!  Our special treated lumber for the foundation has been delivered and we are ready to start!  First, put up 4 foundation walls…in 100 degree plus heat.

Keeping an eye on the house plans, at least until we need the wheelbarrow!

Bruce keeps telling us that Mercury is in retrograde and that is why we ran out of the treated lumber.  Instead of waiting 6 weeks for another shipment, we found a company in Virginia who has the solution to treat our own lumber.
So we ordered 5 gal.  Then we promptly got a message that it was on backorder.  Bruce called and said if you don't have a 5 gal can…do you have 1 gallon cans.  "Oh yes", was the reply, "We have 86!"  Well, then will you please just send us 5 1 gal cans?  I will have to check with the manager, she says.  Uh…how about you just send the cans!!!!!!!     Great….tracking the shipment it takes nearly a week to get to the Hurricane Fed Ex office.  Then suddenly the pkg is being sent back to Virginia because it is damaged.  What??!!  Stop!!!   After several hours on the phone, Bruce was able to convince them to not send back the 3 cans that were undamaged.  They must have run over them with a truck to damage those cans.  So we brought home the 3 after major negotiations and poured them over the lumber to soak 24-48 hours.

But Mercury is still giving us trouble.  There was a tiny pinprick in the plastic that the guys used to make a little trough for the lumber, and during the night, most of our 3 cans ran out onto the garage floor.  Did we mention that it stinks?  Back to the drawing and ordering board.

However in the meantime we had a wonderful trip north last weekend to finally meet our new baby, Jackson Henry Ribera and have a reunion with some of our friends from the Ghana mission.
 Kristina, Bob and Alayna was also here for a couple days to visit while Tyler and Kayla were at EFY at BYU.  It was so good to see them.  We saw movies, went out to eat, went to Zions and swam.  Lots of fun!

We plan on heading back up to Logan next week to participate with AFC in the July 3 concert in Romney Stadium.  Looking forward to seeing old friends.

Digging

May 18, 2014. (8:00 am)
     This morning we broke ground, removed 4 bushes, and leveled the ground down to Mom's foundation.  Also did footings and had a guy from Geo Tech come to test the soil for compaction.  Making progress!

May 19

     This morning the soil in the hole that was excavated yesterday was compacted and today we filled the footings with gravel. Then we went to the movies!  Godzilla!!

May 20
     Left early this morning to catch a flight out of Vegas to Iowa for the High School graduation of our sweet angel, Kayla.   We arrived safely.

May 31
We had a wonderful visit for a week in Iowa (celebrating, partying, movie-going and eating).  We look forward to picking up Kayla in Sept. and taking her to BYU-Idaho.

This morning, since we are still waiting for foundation lumber, the guys decided to cement in the long grow boxes.  Our nephew, Christopher, was kind enough to come and help the old folks.  We started early (7:00 am) because by noon it gets too hot to work outside.


June 3
Early start again this morning to dig trenches and lay sprinkler pipe to the new fruit trees planted and to the older ones so we don't have to water by hand anymore.  Then went to see X-Men movie.

June 4

So excited to see photos and hear about the birth of our 17th grandchild today.  A boy to James & Brandi, Jackson Henry Ribera.  We are so looking forward to going up to see him.

We got word that the treated foundation lumber will be delivered Monday…so ready, set, go!

Cementing footings and putting in the sprinkler system for one of the large grow boxes.

Finished filling it with compost and dirt today and we are ready to plant.

Snow? In St George?

     Woke up yesterday to Pine Valley Mountain covered with snow. Really?  I guess that is Spring in the desert.  Lucky for us that it has been cool and breezy...easier to adjust to our new home.
     We have had a good week.  Since getting our approval to build we have been meeting with people and the first hole will be dug on Mon morning.  Whoo Hoo!
      In the meantime we are going to the movies, BYU Fan Festival, visiting, going to concerts, working around Mom's house and helping Jonathan move out of his house here.  Sometimes we just sit on the porch and read!  It is a new experience for John.  He has already started new books on raising bees and growing mushrooms.  He and my brother Bruce are continuing on their raised garden project and plants are up.
     We had a lovely Mother's Day.  John took us to Olive Garden on Sat and we had Aunt Teresa over on Sun for a nice dinner.  So far, so good!
     
   

                              Proper Prior Planning Precedes Perfect Performance

As of May 3, we have officially retired and moved to Washington, Utah.  We have decided to build a small home next to Mother Cunningham, and in order to keep family and dear friends up to date on our activities, we have started a new blog.
Our house plans were officially approved this week and we have begun under the able direction of our brother, Bruce.
So feel free to check in now and then to see our progress on the home and all of the other "daring deeds of this desert-living duo".