Called to Serve

 I had to do something to keep me from going crazy- so I made these luggage sleeves for his luggage.

Candlesticks

These are two candlesticks that he turned on a lathe.  The wood is from those trees in our backyard that crashed onto our neighbor's house.

Cool Creations

Ceramics Class- some awesome creations!

Hey ma, look what I made...

 Ceramic Vase

Lamp made with a lathe

Ooompah

 

Josh has spent 2 long weeks at Marching Band camp this summer.  They recruited him/talked him into playing the tuba this year.

A nightstand to remember

Josh made an awesome nightstand in his woodworking class this year.

Utah- We Love Thee

 Friday Elijah was in the Utah program put on by the fourth graders.  They played on their recorders...

 Sang a song about the counties in Utah...

And did some square dancing.  It was a great program!

A long journey to a NEW bathroom!

Way back in October of 2009( I think) Brad's birthday present to me was " A NEW SHOWER".  October of 2011 we finally started on it.  It has been so long, I cannot find my "before" picture.

 First we took out the ugly green tile, carpet and the toilet.  I was without a toilet for about a month, but I could still use the shower.

 I decided that I wanted to change the cabinets, so I refinished them myself.

 He tiled the floor and added a needed step for getting into the garden tub. Then came the majority of the demolition.

 Everyone helped.  The shower was so dark, and it was too difficult to run any lighting in there, so we decided to put a glass block window in the shower to add some light.

 All hands were helping hands.

 Brad took out the ceiling and the plumbing wall.  Insulation was EVERYWHERE!

 This is the glass block window.

 After all of the demo and prep work, we could finally get started on the shower.  Brad had done the surround for the tub before most of the shower demo.

 This is the shower most of the way finished.  He added a seat and a niche for shampoo.

 Here is the tub mostly finished.  Brad wanted to have the entire bathroom finished before our anniversary trip to Hawaii, but when he injured his back (because of the tiling) the bathroom wasn't complete until the middle of May.

New curtains, lighting, plumbing fixtures, door nobs, linens, decor, sink, countertop, etc..  And one happy wife!  So glad that it is finally done and so proud of Brad and his attention to detail and his talents.  Someday we might even purchase the $200 new faucet for the tub, but for now, we are "happy as pie"!

Our NEW shelves

Here you can see some of the new shelves that Brad constructed for our storage room. This is actually just one side (the front). The back shelves are twice as deep. These are the front shelves a few days after completing them--ALL FULL! This is where all of that STUFF was before...food and non-food mixed together.

This is what it looks like now- just extra food (and toilet paper). I am very grateful for a husband who can put these together in just a week or two.

Making a boutonniere (yes I used the spell check)

Valesca wanted to learn to make her own boutonniere for her formal dances. She went to a florist and they were happy to show her what to do. They even let her practice right there for free. (Red rose)

This is the orange flower that she made for the prom last week.

Carl Bloch Art Exhibit

I was privileged to see this exhibit of artwork and altar pieces down at BYU. Can I just say that this man had a real talent and he paints people that really look like people. I was touched as I viewed and studied the paintings and I am so grateful to have been able to see them in person. I wish I could have taken photographs of the paintings, but they would not do them justice anyway.

Valesca Christmas Vocal Concert

Valesca has been taking voice lessons the past few months and she performed at a Christmas recital a few days ago.