Week #40: A Broken Arm and a National Award

This week...

...we've been living in a half finished house. This has been our life of late...

Trips to Lowe's for supplies

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner on the island (and it is an island in the sea of unfinished floor)

...our new flooring came in. Tyson and Whitney were nice enough to pick it up for us and bring it over to our house. They helped us unload it. 

...this little vineyard makes my day. Every time I drive by during this time of year, I slow down, open the windows, and breathe deeply. The grapes smell SO good. It's grape juice on the vine.

...we went to the Home Show at the TRAC. Our friends Tyson and Whitney Chapman were there with their Zerorez booth. They are two of Lainey's favorite people (ours too). Naturally we had to get some pictures.

We walked around a little, sampling things and grabbing candy here and there. This was a honey booth with a display of bees. They showed us the queen marked with a red dot and shared some facts about bees. It was interesting, but bees aren't my favorite so we quickly moved on.

Growing up, we had bees in our basement for several years. They had created a hive in the ceiling/floor boards at the back right corner of the rec room. We would keep the lights on in that room which seemed to keep them contained. I remember hating the errands downstairs to the food room and even bedtime in my basement bedroom. The constant swarm and buzzing was greatly unnerving. We tried all sorts of methods to remove them: gas bombing them, spraying them, stuffing wads of material in the holes, spraying foam along the holes. It never seemed to work for long. I was sure glad when they finally left for good. To this day, there are sticky spots on the carpet and storage boxes under that area because of the occasional dripping honey from the ceiling. Crazines, I know!

...Paul ripped out the back of his shorts at school. I got a call from the school while we were at the Home Show at the TRAC. I said, "Oh great, three out of four kids (because Emma goes to a different school). Which one is it?" Luckily it wasn't anything too bad. Paul needed a change of pants because his ripped up the back. I laughed after I hung up and said, "A change of clothes? I can handle that." He had tied his jacket around his waste to cover the hole. He was very resourceful and grateful that I brought him some new shorts.

...I helped Jason with work on the office. We took our existing desk, removed the side cupboards, and made it into a free standing unit. I know I'm going to love it. We worked on framing in what used to be the back of the desk, which will now be the front.

Analogy time again!
As I was helping Jason finish the front of the desk, I noticed something that really made me think. He made a beadboard frame to give the front side of the desk a finished look. We glued, nailed, caulked, and sanded to get this piece ready for painting.

What I noticed was Jason's labels on each of the sides of the frame once it was put together. He had written Up so he would know how to glue them together. However, not all of them ended up that way. Let's take a closer look...

If you notice right in the middle of the top side of the frame, the up is actually upside down. My mind started thinking how life sometimes ends up that way. It gets turned upside down. What you think should be happening isn't happening in the way that you think it should be happening. Or, life is upside down because of the unexpected. I thought of the shooting and how our life was definitely turned upside down for a while after that. In times like that, it's hard to see the big picture and realize that everything will turn out in the end...given time. But even though the label is upside down, it doesn't detract from the overall function and beauty of the whole frame. It still looks good. It will still work. And once it's painted you won't be able to tell that the label was upside down. That is how it is in these varied experiences that turn our life upside down. Whatever comes, we learn. Whatever comes, we grow. Whatever comes, we will not be able to tell that our life was upside down at times in the end. We will still make it and we will still be His, our Heavenly Father's, who loves us unconditionally. It's ready for painting!

...we painted the entryway using scaffolding. Ok, Jason used the scaffolding. I was very wobbly on my feet just at the thought of climbing up there. I painted the ceiling and walls from the stability of the landing. He did a lot of work - painted the ceiling, painted the walls, framed in the window, and painted the trim.

...Benjamin fractured his wrist. The same day as the Home Show and that Paul ripped his pants, I got another call from the school. It was right at the end of the day. This time I knew that someone was hurt. Sure enough, Benjamin was in the nurses office crying with a hurt wrist. He had been playing on the uneven bars on the playground, lost his grip, and fell. He landed on his hands, bending his left wrist back painfully. The nurse said he'd been in the office for half an hour, crying inconsolably. Yep, something was definitely wrong with my Benjamin. So I hurried over to the school to pick up the kids. I hugged Ben and listened to him tell me what happened and knew a trip to the ER was in order. 

Here's Ben while we waited at the ER.

Here's Ben while we waited in the room once we were called back. Yes, a lot of waiting.

Here's Benjamin once we got home. They braced and aced his arm so it could be protected as he moved around until we could make it to the Orthopedic Office.

...we took a trip to Renton. Jason received an award. He was nominated for the Award of Valor that is given out by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). The Sergeant Detective, Jack Simington from Kennewick Police Department nominated Jason for this national award because of Jason's actions during the shooting that occurred at our house. Jason was the first officer to receive this award in the state of Washington.

This was our "Oh, no!" moment right when we got to the hotel. The FOP meeting was being held at the hotel and they wanted Jason to come in to meet and mingle. Rip! His pant leg caught on the bottom edge of the drive side door. That definitely wasn't good to have him rip his pants right before going in. He had to run and change! Hehe!

We loved riding the elevator to the seventh floor where our room was located. My sisters, Cherice and Shelly, went with us to help us out with the kids. Smile!

We stayed at the Double Tree Hotel in Tukwila by the South Center Mall. We loved the room. It was huge with a living area (and tv) when you first walked in and a bed area (and tv) at the back. The bathroom and sink was right in the middle. This set up allowed us to watch tv while the littles bunked in the other room.

Waiting to go in to the meeting

Jason receiving the award

Showing the award to the kids...

These awesome guys were there to support Jason when he got his award. John Thompson (his Corporal), Matt Clarke (his Sergeant), Bruce Surplus (Squad member), and Justin Gerry (former squad member). Justin was part of the conference, but JT, Matt, and Bruce all made the drive especially for the award ceremony. It meant a lot to Jason to have them there.

The award reads: 
Presented to Brother (It's a fraternity) Jason Erickson 
For your actions on July 9, 2014 in which you displayed exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness and a presence of mind to defend the lives of your family and your neighbors by engaging a heavily armed suspect during his armed assault. You are hereby awarded the Washington State Fraternal Order of Police Award of Valor.
 
After Jason received his award, he stayed in the meeting and my sisters and I took the kids swimming. Benjamin had a hard time staying above the water because of his arm. No getting it wet. He wanted to swim so badly. (Swimming was fun, but there was so much chlorine in the water I don't think it was worth it. Their hair was matted and coarse from it. Not to mention that their swim clothes reeked.)

My sisters took our kids down to the mall to eat at the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner. The weather was nice for their walk.

Jason and I got to go on a dinner cruise with the FOP group. We were on the Emerald Star with Waterways Cruises. It was a lot of fun. Light Appetizers and view of the sunset on the way out, dinner below deck on the way back. The food was excellent. It was enjoyable to go up top once dinner was done and see the city lights, even though it was cold.

Some of the view going out...

Some shots on the way back in...

We returned back to the hotel around 9:30 and it was not a moment too soon. Benjamin threw up. Ugh! He threw up several times in the night. Ugh! Claire joined him, throwing up several times as well. Double Ugh! Luckily they made it to the toilet or tile so it was fairly easy to clean up.

Week #39: The week of dust and chaos

This week...

...we ripped out the linoleum floors. Not a fun job! We had some helpers that made it go so much faster. We were so thankful for their willingness to help out. We couldn't believe how much work it was.

Here's the before of the hall. All we've done is paint the hall gray and the ceiling white at this point. See how that far wall is looking really green. Yep, gotta go.

After: This is our first section done. It was mostly Jason and our friend Adrian that worked on this part. This was not a very fun or easy project.

The kids enjoyed helping so much that they wanted to do it before school. I couldn't get them to stop and get out the door for the bus.

Our crew went from a few...(Jason, Paul, and Bishop Pierce.)

to a few + one...(Jason, Paul, Bishop Pierce, Maciah Slaugh)

to a few + two...(Jason, Paul, Bishop Pierce, Maciah, and Emma)

to a few + three...(Claire joined the group.)

...to a slew. (Several other young men showed up-Daniel Cazier, Jonathon Scott, and Christian ) That's when the work went faster.

They got the whole dining area done. Phew! Jason cut the floor into sections which helped A LOT. It reduced the amount of resistance and made it go SO much faster.

Mike Votaw and Adrian Sandoval came the next day to help with the kitchen area. All the kids were super helpful. Emma and Claire worked on staples. Paul worked with the men. Lainey and even Benjamin picked up debris and threw it away.

Benjamin-He was trying to get out of my picture taking.

This is Lainey when it started to get late. She was ti-red.

I was on staple duty for most of the demolition. The Sandovals loaned us a handy tool for ripping them out and channel lock pliers were my friends for several days. Amber Riner came over and put in several hours ripping staples out with me.

Lainey did try her hand at the crow bar and hammer. No, it didn't last long.

This was our house of chaos one night during renovation. We had a neighbor family over for ice cream and Adrian came to help rip up the floor, bringing his kids and two extras with him. That's how we do things!

  ...Jason finished the built-in in the office. It is ready for painting.

Jason takes a break from building and enjoys time on his new bench.

...we took a trip to Standard Paint with Whitney to check out floor and carpet choices. Our quest for the just the right thing is still before us. (Jason's the one that can't decide.)

...my mom and dad came for a visit. It helped to break up the work monotony. We went to Karne Max for lunch. It's a local carniceria with a restaurant inside. We ordered tacos and tortas and papusas - yum!

...Jason put in a real flag pole. We were all very excited. The kids helped out a little before they went to school. 

...Paul received an award at Cub Scout Pac Meeting. He sure is a cute little Wolf Cub, isn't he? (Pictured with Cub Scout Master Chad King and Wolf leader Myella Cress)

...Emma and I attended the service project and women's conference. It was so much fun. We sat with our friends for dinner and the conference. Amber and Taya Riner, Aubrey and Kai Barney, and Angie and Bella Sandoval.

We spent most of our time making these worry dolls because they were so much fun. Here are some that Emma made.