Renovations Done - What Fun

Now the renovation from the leak three weeks ago is done. The closet guys from "Classy Closests' in Salt Lake came yesterday and installed the closets. The funny thing is that when the guys from Utah Disaster Kleenup showed up to contain the mold they ripped out the entire closet. That was not necessary since only part of it was covered with damage...but we appreciate the new closest set that is there.

Well...we will continue to put this room back together and get it in shape so that I can move some of the stuff that has been stored in my home office back into that room. It will be nice to again walk into my office without jumping over stuff that was removed from the bedroom. We hope that we will not have any more flooding or issues with the house.

The only other routine maintenance I know of that we need to do now is to flush out the heating lines and put in that anti-freeze stuff for radiant heating other than just water like the original owner put into them.

The two top pictures are of the closet, whilst the other is of the bathroom. They painted the bathroom stark white with trim paint...oh well. We will fix it soon enough.

Kubb - An Old Swedish Game

Emilie had a friend over today after playing with her yesterday at her house. After I had tried helping the lawn out they went out and played soccer. Giving up on that they started playing Kubb. Kubb is played by tossing sticks at the other team's end and trying to knock down their standing Kubbs. You see JoJo standing at the King {which is half way inbetween} so that she has at least a little chance of tossing it to Emilie and Mariah's end. Oh well...I think you can guess who eventually won this game of Kubb.

Wonka Bars - Knecht Kids Rejoice

Whilst in Chicago this week I found at a drug store Wonka Bars...not the scrum-delious like Hans wanted but straight up Wonka Bars {graham crackers with chocolate}. Emilie when I told her did not believe me that I found Wonka Bars...but the others knew it was true since they had already eaten theirs.

Here are Zander and Jo-Jo enjoying their Wonka Bars on Friday night. We hope that we don't hear in the background the beginning of the song "Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-Dee-Do..." If we do the kids better run and hide.

Check Out This Honda Ad - We Love Hondas

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/honda.php

And you thought those people that set up rooms full of dominos to knock over were amazing...
There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film .
Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it.
The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work.
They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night & day.
By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions.
The film cost six million dollars & took three months to complete including full engineering of the sequence.
In addition, it's two minutes long so every time Honda airs the film on British television, they're shelling out enough dough to keep any one of us in clover for a lifetime.
However, it is fast becoming the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history.
Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in "free viewings"
(Honda isn't paying a dime to have you watch this commercial!).
When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation - including the costs.
There are six and only six hand-made Honda Accords in the world. To the horror of Honda engineers, the filmmakers disassembled two of them to make the film.
Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from those two cars.
The voiceover is Garrison Keillor. When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten.
They fell off their chairs when they found out it was for real.
Oh. and about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet. It looks a bit weird in the commercial.

Easter Preparations

Today is 'Good Friday' and the kids enjoyed the day at home doing some Easter preparations.

First we have JoJo and Zander sneaking around like the 'Easter Bunny.' We have always wondered why it is an Easter Bunny...since Bunnies do not lay eggs. In Sweden it is a Easter Chicken.

Here Emilie and Zander are working on their Chickens.

Our Traditional Easter Bush was decorated by the kids by using twigs from outside and the ornaments that we have collected over the years.

Lastly we have JoJo proudly showing her wonderful gluing abilities having made an Easter Chicken.

Not Enough Carrots - Emile Got Glasses

Emilie was tested in December along with all the other kids, but it appears she did not eat as many carrots as Hans, Zander or JoJo. She got some glasses this week to help her in school with her farsightedness. She was at the front of the class and reading the board...but now can sit in the corner again if she would like to do that. Next thing you know she will be called 'Marian...Madam Librarian.'

Moose Watchers Beware

It is that time of the year again as the snow melts and the trees have little buds on them the mother moose and her calf come back to sleep and play in our yard. Although I am no moose expert this appears to be the same mother moose with her new calf as in years past. When we first planted the grass in the back yard she was around with a different calf and put some big divets in the big sod that I had put out as our fire break.

All the kids came out to watch but here are Emilie and JoJo watching the moose eat off the branches of our trees.

Scouts In Snow

The Boy Scouts were camping in the snow at the Meyer's last night with Dan and Jim Judd as leaders. After they pitched their tents, the ran the snowmobiles for a while or were inside having popcorn and sodas and playing on the computer. Not exactly a campout in the wilderness without the common day appliances, but they were having fun. Here are various shots of the boys on the campout.

Girls Night

Whilst Hans was up at Meyer's with the Scout troop doing a snow camp we had the Meyer's oldest girls here for a sleep over with Emilie. Here are the fearsome foursome at the breakfast bar having waffles, sausges, eggs and milk.

They had fun playing Game Cube, colouring and partying.

Leaking Leaking....Oh Plug That Leak

So here we are minding our own business and Cina tells me whilst I am in Chicago that her office stinks. I get home on Friday and thought I had found the problem. A lid to a plastic storage bin was turned over next to the radiant heater and there was a lot of condensation in side. So...I lift the lid and let it dry out.

As Hans and I were on our way into Priesthood meeting Saturday night at the Conference Center Cina calls me and tells me she thinks it is bigger than that. After a wonderful Priesthood meeting I get home and look and there it is...soaking wet carpets, mold on the walls and stink galore.

I called the insurance company at 1030 PM and then again on Sunday AM. They called back and told us to get remeidation done ASAP to start drying out the area. We called and called and got Utah Disaster Kleenup there on Sunday afternoon. They came and sprayed for mold...after wiping down the walls and then they cut holes in the closet in Cina's office and in the shower in the main level bathroom.

After that they turned on 4 fans and are blowing air all around through the holes...onto the walls and more. They ripped up the pad for the carpet and then laid the carpet back down on the floor. When we flooded in Orem {thanks to a fire hydrant burst} they actually lifted the carpets up and blew the fans on the carpet and the wood. Not sure why they are not doing that here...but Cina will ask them today {Tuesday} when the adjuster and UDKleenup shows up to go through the property.

We also had a plumber come out on Monday and determine the problem and so we are having all new plumbing done for the gaskets and such around the hoses that go into the sinks and toliets. This is at our cost {yippe}...but at least we know it will be done and not at Mike Camper quality.

With all four fans blowing 24 hours a day, including one in our master bedroom, Cina and the Kids are at the Holiday Inn Express in Heber. They have a pool there...but have not used it yet since Cello was yesterday and Gymnastics are today.