50 Games

Since the beginning of our Covid Competition two weeks ago, we've played 50 games as a family.

 Brennon actually killed it right there with his mad trampoline skills!

Our neighbors probably hate whenever we head outside to play.  There is either a ton of screaming in anger, a ton of screaming in annoyance and a ton of screaming for victory.  Randy's won all games but one-- Keilie came back and beat him today.  The screams from five members of our family could be heard in Utah, I'm pretty sure.

After this one with Keilie's annoyed teenager face, Randy told us all to make Keilie faces.

Brennon nailed it!

Mira doesn't count, obviously, but we all think she's the winningest of us all.  And, honestly, the funniest moment of the week was when she grabbed one of our croquet balls and did her cute bragging growl as she did a victory lap around the yard.  She was so proud of herself, the cutie! 

My only question tonight is: Did I nap through 47 of the games?!  At one particular loss tonight, we all joked that I was probably mad enough to tip the entire table.  It has been so much fun to laugh together as much as we have.  Truly, this quarantine has been the best thing that has happened to our family for a long time.  I'm not sure I can come back from this deficit, and I don't even care.  Much.

SOLD!!

And just like that, Brennon's sold his first piece of art!

I was the very first person to contact this man, so he said he really appreciates us.  We, however, were the last of the five kids he's purchased art from, due to our sickness a few weeks ago.  He asked Brennon about his ideas and designs, and we had a good laugh as what we'd interpreted was actually way off base. 

 The square structures on the ground are homes, the round-roof structures above are an alien invasion.  They're gathering supplies.  The structure on the right is gathering pizza slices, which had us giggling in the parking lot of Starbucks, standing 6' apart for health safety. 

 He told Brennon that he was a very talented artist and that he was really excited to own something drawn by someone that has such a fun imagination. 

I have to almost repent.  I had compared Brennon's first-ever drawing to some of the other pictures and thought what Tyson had thought, that you could tell it was not as refined as some of the others.  But those other pictures didn't capture the interest of this curator, they weren't sold.  I am so, so proud of my little Brennon.  What a neat story he'll have to tell about his first-ever drawing that was first chosen by his art teacher and then purchased for resale through a gallery.  Just neat.

Legacies

Because we're going to have a professional do the sheetrock work (Randy knows how to hang it, as well as mud, tape, and sanding, but he doesn't trust himself to do the texture well enough to have it not look like a DIY job), I told Randy I wanted to fix something in the bathroom, to have it flawless on that side too.  I told his like a million times that I realized that it meant that we'd live in "construction" for a bit longer in the bathroom, but I wanted the wall more than I wanted flawless tile surrounding my glorious tub.

 I have to giggle at Randy ingenuity.  We'd been using this box in-between the tub and the fireplace glass for a while now because 1) the sunshine in the morning was bright, 2) the sunshine throughout the day would bake our room, 3) it was always a stress if I was taking a bath or someone was using the toilet that someone might accidentally stumble across therapy-inducing images (not even a locked door could curb my anxieties about this one).  When he realized that the box, once opened, would fit perfectly in the size of the hole we had, he patted himself on the back and called himself a genius.  Well, I think he did in his mind because he didn't really do that for me to see.

 BEFORE

With a 6' shelf around the entire perimeter of the tub, plus the actual shelf space on every corner, I couldn't figure out why they'd want that little bump near the door.  It always just felt like that bump closed off the entrance to the bathroom.  We want to one day do updated tile work around the entire tub, as well as the shower, and I didn't want that bump.  If it was going to be gone someday, I wanted the wall behind it to be drywall, which I wanted to be done by the professional when he took care of the rest of that wall.

 4:14PM

 Randy teaching his boys about leverage and fulcrum.  I love that the legacy of Dad teaching Son about construction is continuing through Randy.  Some of Randy's most treasured memories are from helping his Dad build a home after his mission.  Randy knows so much about electrical, plumbing, framing, and concrete (Casper, circa 2008) because Darwin and he worked side-by-side building a home from the ground up.  I love that!

 It was about this point that we realized that the wall behind the bump was actually already drywalled.  That means that it was after the house was lived in for a while that they decided to build out the tub surround.  Truly, there is SO MUCH space around that tub, I cannot fathom why she felt she needed more, or why she needed that angle in a room where everything else was 90-degree corners.  I guess I shouldn't try to understand a woman that didn't even want to have a kitchen in this house in the first place...

 5:03PM

The kids have had a blast bashing things.  Heck, even I loved the few swings of the hammer as I broke up the tile!  Demolition is FUN!  It's fun to be able to stand back and envision how it will be when it is done, to stand back and see how much it opens things up in the way you'd hoped.  My goodness, I love this house.  How grateful I am to have a husband that can do so much work himself, and that he always does things with his perfectionist abilities.  I may get annoyed when projects take a bit longer than anticipated because he has to have everything so perfect (he will cut a "saw blade" width off three or four times just to get it so that he doesn't even need caulk at the seams), but I have never had an instance where I hoped people wouldn't notice something that he's messed up on.

I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

4's

Today was a GREAT day of 4's for Randy.  He ran 4 miles in 40 minutes AND met a weight loss milestone of an even 40 pounds lost since November 19th.  He is killing his weight loss and fitness goals!!

When he started losing weight, he made the comment that there was no way he'd get down to the recommended BMI.  Now that's just 10 pounds away.  I love watching this happen for him.  He's worked so hard to get here, both physically and mentally.  It's SO inspiring!!

GO, RANDY!!!

Demolition Day

 10:40AM

 12:11PM  Plumbers have now unhooked the gas and kept us safe.

 2:15PM

 4:20PM

 5:36PM

 8:10PM 

(using a Runner's Goal chest lamp)

9:56PM

To ensure the most professional finish, we'll hire the rest of this out.  Randy finished all of the electrical and capped off the vent into the roof, plus covered the open hole for access to under the jetted tub.  While this isn't the most glamorous view, it does make the entire room feel transformed and huge.  I can't wait to change the color of the room, update the trim, and get a better carpet.  For now, I'll just enjoy the open feel without that bulky fireplace that we rarely used for anything other than decor.

Scriptures

My vantage point during Scripture reading last night.

Covid Competition

In an effort to make these next six weeks fun, I came up with an idea that has me feeling all genius and awesome.  We're having a Covid Competition.  Any time we play a game as a family, it's the ultimate competition. 

As you can see, Randy's currently the only winner so far.  I may end up regretting this since I'm such a sore loser when it comes to competition between Randy, but for now, it fuels my resolve.  I'll curb my natural instinct to erase a few points from his winnings every once in a while... oh look, an eraser! 

To the next six weeks!!

4 Miles

Randy and I ran 4 miles today for the first time in our lives.  We now have our baseline, and hope to get better over the next few months, especially the next few weeks we're on state lockdown quarantine.  I love working out with this man.

Weight loss update: He bought clothes today that were two sizes smaller for both pants and shirts.  He's lost 39.6 pounds and lost 7 inches from his stomach since November 19th.  He's doing awesome!

San Fran

Wednesday night Randy got a text from Jason, offering Keilie and adventure.  They were on the cruise ship quarantined off the coast of California and had just made it home.  They were flown by special jets from California to Spokane, where they exited the plane on the runway to cars lined up for those that had been quarantined.  They got in their cars and were given strict instructions to go straight home, and not leave their homes until the end of their quarantine.  With that flight, it meant their van was still parked in the parking garage in San Francisco.  If he were to go down to San Fran, he'd be reimbursed, but if Keilie were to go down, she'd get paid.  Randy thought this would be a fun adventure for two teenage girls.  That was a heck no for me.

Less than 12-hours from the time Jason sent the text, we were on our way to the airport.  See those sleepy-eyed parents and one perky teen?  Those parents went to bed at 9:30pm and got a full 6.5 hours of sleep.  That girl couldn't fall asleep until after Midnight, so excited was she, which means she got all of four hours of sleep.  And she still skipped into the airport after I dropped them off.

 The first scenario where Keilie is glad that I told her "dad goes, or you do not," is the battery being dead.  While she was rifling through their van in search of jumper cables, Randy was tracking down help from the local rental car agencies nearby.  They got the car started, and made their way to the agent to pay.

The second scenario where Keilie is glad I put my foot down: The agency didn't have an attendant there, even though they said they would.  When they went to scan the receipt of payment, it didn't scan the original paid amount (they'd paid for 16 days, which was the original cruise timeline).  Not only that, but they also tried to charge them $1,000 for the 26 days the car had been parked there, which comes out to $38/day instead of the $26/day of the original price per day.  While waiting at the scanner to let them out, Jason called the agency 30 times with no answer.  One of the rental car agents saw their predicament and actually used his card to get them out for free.  Jason finally got ahold of the guy, who was ticked as ever that he didn't get to charge them $1,000 (plus what Jason had already paid for 16-days), but they got everything squared away, and the agent was paid the normal price.

Since Randy's been working mostly in San Fran these last few months, he knows the streets and city very well.  He promised Keilie a good time before they got on the road for the 12-hour drive home.

 Full House for me, Fuller House for my kids.

 Are they not the cutest?!  She said it was the BEST to be there with him.  I am actually a little jealous of their mini-vacay!  Randy's been gone for almost two weeks straight when you factor in our sicknesses and self-isolated days.  He got home after Midnight and left again the next morning.

The moment they were outside of the city proper, this was Keilie, earning her money.  Randy knew it would happen like this, but he didn't really care.  He was doing it for her.  I married such a good man.  With gas, stops, and food, they made it home at 12:35 am, 20-hours after it all began.  Keilie drove all of zero minutes and earned herself about $400 after all was said and done.  Seriously, Randy is such a cool dad.

Keilie hasn't been that excited about something for many, many years.  "I don't want to even get my hopes up, cause it's not going to happen.  Things like that just don't happen for me."  Seconds later, "Please, my hopes are up already."  When Randy showed her the flight plans, "It fell through, huh?"  When Randy showed her the free first-class upgrade because he travels so much, "They canceled it, didn't they?"  Until that plane got in the air, Keilie was nervous they would shut down flights due to Coronavirus.  When she got home, she said it was the best thing that had happened to her for a long time.  All with a giddy smile that I haven't seen since before Caden died.  The Redd's couldn't have gifted her anything more appreciated!

Royal Icing Adventures

I have always wanted to try Royal Icing, so with our unlimited "Saturdays," I decided to try with my kids.  It was a BLAST!!!!

I love that the lights reflect off the surface.  The kids all kept exclaiming how much fun they were having, and how cool it was to come up with more and more ideas.  I've always known that I have more shaky hands than some, but my gosh, trying to get smooth lines around the outside made me feel as if I'd had a seizure or something.  It's much harder than it looks!  But oh, so fun!