Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a blessing it is to have a day set apart just to stop and give thanks for ALL the blessings, great and small, that the Lord has tenderly blessed us with throughout the year!

We felt very blest this Thanksgiving because Dad was able to take the whole week off work and could have the time to help us work on "R" building. There is so much to do like knocking down some walls, painting other walls, building new walls, putting in flooring, remodeling the bathrooms, fixing the cellar, putting up molding and baseboards, and the list goes on and on... We have been working on it as much as we could but we just have not had the time to get as much done as we would like. So when there was the prospect of Dad being home for a whole week, we decided to make a holiday of it and to just spend all day every day working on the building. We decided to focus on remodeling the back room, our future studio area. The walls had been painted and it was looking pretty good but it was missing one very important factor, the floor. John had been looking into wood flooring and had found a very beautiful bamboo floor that was just what the room needed. So with the floor picked out we had to figure out how to install it. We could not lay it straight on the uneven cracked and sloping cement floor, and so after discussing all our options it was decided to build a solid subfloor that should last at least 100 years, well maybe not that long. It always seems like the preparation for a construction project takes longer than the actual project itself, but just like this blog eventually you do get to the "action" part of the story.

"1 2 3-ho

'R' ole bamboo, 'R' ole bamboo"

Our pile of subfloor material!

Voila!

Within a few short hours it looked like this (wishful thinking)

Reality Check!!!

Life is never that easy. In fact, it took a whole afternoon just to do this much. This was the first time that we have ever attempted to make a subfloor like this and it can be tricky.

By Thursday morning, the project was in full swing and everything was running smoothly.

The first thing they did was glue down a grid pattern of two by fours that evened out the floor.

Then they glued a eight foot sheet of plywood on top of that, then finally screwed it all together. It looked pretty solid.

Joseph's project was to put up molding around the ceiling.

Looks good Joseph!!!

THANKSGIVING!!!

Mom, Katie, and I spent the morning cooking a delicious meal of Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Sweet Potato Casserole, Cranberry Sauce, and last but definitely not least we made Pumpkin Chiffon Pie.

Graham is ready for dinner!

(due to camera problems I do not have any pictures to post of the meal sorry)

Seth got to do all the dishes! (Just kidding)

Everyone usually helps do the dishes which makes them go really fast.

Dishes are always fun when you have lots of help!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

This fluffy pumpkin pie is a family tradition as well as a family favorite!!!

In our family one way to tell that the meal was "VERY" good is when Joseph sighs and says "its nap time". right Joseph?

OH HORROR!!!

To our dismay and chagrin when we returned to the building after our Thanksgiving meal, we found that we had used the wrong glue and that the wood planks were not sticking to the cement.

So guess what the boys got to do?

Pull up every piece of wood, scrape the glue off and start over!

Through the years as we have done various construction projects, we have learned that it saves time, effort, and money in the long run if you take the trouble to do it right at the beginning. So with this in mind the boys jumped right into it and got it done in quick time...

Early Friday morning the floor was ready to be put back together, with the right glue this time!

Good job boys!

In the meantime, Katie and I were touching up some of the walls and then started painting the bathroom. If you ever need someone to help you pick colors for your walls just ask Mom. She has an amazing eye for colors.

Our faithful screwers and gluers!

Oh JOY, end in sight!

Within fifteen minutes the last board was secured and now the floor is ready for the next step, the Bamboo!

The floor crew!

They worked through thick and thin and got it done. It was a fun family project and even though there were setbacks and delays the time spent together was priceless. We were all so grateful to be together and to be able to fix up and beautify this old building for the glory of Him who provides for our every need spiritually and temporally.

I think that this scripture would sum up our feelings this Thanksgiving season.

"Therefore will I give thanks unto Thee, O Lord,... and sing praises unto Thy name." Forever and ever Amen.

Psalms 18:49