Christmas (Finally in June??)

About 9 am on Dec 21, 2007
Mai-Rhea left the Island of Saipan behind,
she was on her way home for Christmas,
the first time in 3 years that all of our family
would be together during the Holidays.

Travel in modern times is...
beyond our wildest imaginations,
she landed in Seattle on Dec 21, at 8:05 am.
Do they call it "Time Warp",
or was it "Beam Me Up Scottie"?
After an unscheduled delay in Seattle,
she was on her way home,
the day was clear giving her this
spectacular view of the West Coast mountains.



We searched for her winter cloths
which she hadn't worn for over a year,
and met her at the airport with her jacket.

Here she is "freezing" in her Sabbath Coat
before church on Dec 22.
It was nice to have Mai home for a full week
before her brothers arrived...
good mom-daughter time.



Christmas Eve,
Mai planned the route around town,
and we took the "Twinkle Tour",
She managed to take us to all parts of town,
and by the end Hector was getting tired,
of driving and stopping for pictures.
below are 3 of the many pictures we took that evening.

This tree is in a public area,
and is about 7-10 stories high,
it can be seen from many parts of the city,
and is called the "Tree of Hope"
Somehow has something to do helping
the needy at Christmas Time.


Many homes are beautifully decorated.


This is someone's apple tree.


Even though the "brothers"
weren't going to be here for Christmas dinner,
Mai insisted on having a full spread,
she pretty much did it all.
She was proud of her accomplishments,
and took a picture of the table spread with good food.
We invited 2 elderly men
that would have had to spend the day alone,
so it was a good Christmas after all.


The tree is pretty small,
but that way it goes into a box
still decorated ready for next year.


Sabbath Dec 29, our first full day together.
I had told the boys to be sure to bring
their Indian "Prince Suits" home
because I know they haven't worn them
more then once since I brought them from India.
Grandma and Tiffany both have outfits
that I brought the last time we were there,
and for Jennie we let her choose
one of Mai-Rhea's outfits.


Mai-Rhea loves to pose with her brothers,
sometimes
even when they aren't in the mood to pose!!


Our Christmas was Dec 29,
we had saved gluten and gravy
and other special items from the first Christmas dinner,
and had another nice meal for lunch on Sabbath,
then after sundown we opened the gifts.
Mai being our little girl,
I had given her one gift earlier
to keep her happy till the 29th.
It was this beautiful stuffed puppy
which she harassed the cat with for awhile.


Look at those smiles!


Looks like he is asking dad for something back!!



After gift opening at our house
the kids went to our friends place,
and got together with 11 of the 14 kids
that they grew up with,
who are pretty much considered cousins in their life.
L-R: Samantha, Nicole, Kimberly, Dellhule,
Mai-Rhea, Melissa, Domonique,
Ronald, Alicia, Royce, Jonathan,
missing are Stephanie, Rachel, and Aaron.


Here they have added Janzel with Dellhule,
Tiffany with Ronald,
and Jennie with Royce.


See I told you she forces her brothers to pose with her!!


Even if she has to jump on their back!!

And Tuxie doesn't escape her torture either!!
He hates being pinned down!!


Ronald and Tiffany had to leave Dec 31,
but the rest still had some fun,
here they got together for a good skate on
New Years Day.
L-R: Jennie, Royce, Dellhule, Janzel


L-R: Nicole, Domonique, Mai-Rhea.


The Girls, L-R:
Jennie, Janzel, Domonique, Mai-Rhea, Nicole.


Jennie's Birthday, is on Jan 5th,
and this is the second year
that we have had her with us to celebrate her Birthday,
although this was 2 days early,
Mai made this beautiful truffle.
We invited some of Jennie's CUC friends
over that evening to play games.




What would the Holidays be with out a little work?
Here some guy had thought he would clean
his own chimney, and he got the brush stuck.
It took Hector and Royce several hours
to get that thing pulled out of there,
and I am sure it cost him way more
then if he had called them in the first place.
Jennie went along for the experience,
and took a bunch of pictures.
(Notice both of them are standing
on the top of the chimney,
and in the background you can see
our beautiful lake.)


Mai showing off her new glasses,
we ordered them the first day she was home,
and they were ready for her to pick up before she left.
She loves them they make her look very professional,
but she still wears her contacts a lot of the time.


And then it was all over,
and we were back at the airport,
where she checked in,
and then gave us the jacket to bring back home.
Bye-bye Mai-Rhea!!

Walking House

Sorry for the Long Delay between Postings!!
(I'm not really busy, I just think I am...ya right!)

Last Fall, the house just North of us was moved.
Many of you may have never seen
a house take a walk down the road,
so I will post some pictures,
there isn't a lot to say because
"A picture is worth a thousand words."
But I will add some captions above each picture.



235 Taylor Rd the way it sat for the last 25-30 years.

Starting to take things apart, here they work on the chimney.

Then the bricks on the front of the house.

Then the beautiful fireplace had to go,
it was to heavy to be moved down the road unsupported.

Hector was working on the back
in order to save the patio materials
otherwise they would have been
demolished by machinery.

About a block down the road
the lot is being cleared and prepared
for the house to arrive.

Here comes the big machine ready to do it's work.

Talk about a mean machine!!

Here goes the back of the house.
Take notice of the part where the siding has been removed,
there is a reason for that...

Finishing off the garage.

DONE!

Cleaning up the mess.
Notice how close to our house that truck is sitting.
But that is just the beginning...

SEE!!

I took this one, while standing in my back doorway.
(In the bottom left corner you can see the door bell.)

This is the master bedroom exposed!!
The house was to wide to go down the road
with the bedroom fully there.
That is the part above where the siding had been removed.

One of those big beams from our driveway
being placed under the house,
they picked those up and swung them around
our house and then under the other house.

They had several layers of beams,
some from side to side, and others from front to back.

These beams were a little shorter,
that's what you call a greased beam,
they actually winched the house from above the basement
to the front yard. Leaving the basement exposed.

That's what's left.

Here you can see it is jacked up
high enough for the truck to pull under,
but it sat here for about 5 weeks
before they actually came to move it.

The day before the move,
the trucks came and got everything loaded up
and ready to roll at 2am.
(Notice my little red car was frightened
and squeezed itself as close up to our house as possible!)

READY, SET...

GO!!!

We got up at 1:45 am to be ready
when the crew arrived at 2 am,
by 4 am we were back in bed!!




Lifting the wires that go to our house
to pass under without disconnecting us.

Pulling onto the road.

On the road.
The power company and the telephone companies
were here to lift or disconnect wires as necessary.

Here they were getting stuck
in the tree right across the road from our house.
(We actually planted those trees
about 15 years ago when we built that duplex.)

Again 2 doors down,
we were crunching and grinding
through the neighbours blue spruce trees,
but we made it.
(A little damage to the trees, and to the eaves on the house.)

Almost there, but some wires had to be lifted again,
and some of the road side signs had to be pulled up,
and replaced after the house went by.

Here it has been backed onto the new lot, and is being adjusted.
But most of the work was done,
and the crew actually went home
and came back in the morning to wiggle and squiggle
it to exactly the right place.
Because the lot was small the position of the house
had been staked out by a surveyor
and there was no room for mistake.

Talk about the "Morning After?"

That's what the old lot looked like.

The house still on the truck "The Morning After."

Cleaning up the big hole in the ground.

Nice ride!

Breaking up the foundation.

Jacked up at the new lot.

A few weeks later the framing has started.

Taken last week, still landscaping to do.

Interesting eh?