Construction Update

I don't really have any pictures to show you, because honestly, wiring doesn't make a house look that different. There is insulation now and that is super exciting. It's already so much cooler in the house and only the walls are insulated. I can't wait to see how awesome it is once the attic is insulated too! The sheetrockers start Monday. I'm so excited!!!! It's going to look like a real house!! They expect it to take them 3 days to hang all the sheetrock and 5-6 days to mud, tape and texture.

My latest dilemma is picking out a paint color. I am discovering that it is a lot harder to pick a paint color when the room basically doesn't exist. How in the world am I supposed to figure out how to coordinate everything when it's not there? (If you have suggestions, I am willing to listen. The floors will be brown (country pine vinyl plank), the cabinets are Rustic Alder in a toffee colored stain with chocolate glaze, and the countertops/wood stove base will be tile that is mostly a medium gray with veins of white and occasional splotches of a rust color. Oh, and the trim and doors are knotty alder too.) I am leaning toward something light because I don't want the room to be oppressive.

I am hoping to go buy the laundry/mud room cabinets on Monday so that my friends and I can paint, distress, and stain them while the sheetrockers are working. Once the sheetrockers are done, then it becomes my responsibility to do all the painting. (Wish me luck...)

Adam has been having some health problems lately. We know it's nothing life threatening now, but still nothing conclusive. He has a couple more tests in the next weeks so any extra prayers would be really appreciated. I think it's mostly from lack of sleep and tons of stress. When I asked him if he was feeling more stressed than usual, his response was "No. It's totally normal to be on-call all the time, not sleeping, building a house, and providing for a wife and four kids."

So do you remember the story about the little boy who was throwing the star fish back in the ocean? And the man came along and asked him why he was doing it, because he couldn't save all of them. The little boy replied, "It mattered to that one." I have been thinking about that this week. We had a meeting (the YW presidency) with the Bishopric last Sunday. The YW president was sharing a concern she had about taking an inactive girl to a huge bi-stake activity this coming weekend. We had a general concern about taking her to something so large with so many people in another town and trying to keep track of her. The bishop's response was this: For his son, whether or not he went to the activity was no big deal. He was going to be at church on Sunday no matter what. One activity wasn't going to make or break his testimony. But, with this girl, this activity may be just what she needs to have a good experience and start a foundation of a testimony. It would be worth whatever sacrifice that we might need to make to help that girl. Because it matters to that one. He is a very wise man.

On a parting note, something funny. My kids have been on a roll lately. They were picking up DVDs the other day, when one of them grabbed Pinnochio. One of the older kids said, "Oh, this movie is so funny!" Then Sarah piped up and said "That whale is NOT funny!!!!" :)