Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary Gift

 For a few years now we have wanted a sunroom. We had almost decided against it because of the cost, especially because we needed to get a new roof and new siding. When we looked at it from a different viewpoint, like we could move into a bigger-nicer home for even more than what we spent on our upgrades and addition and spend a whole lot more money, we were able to stick with this decision. We couldn't find a home that had upgrades to what we have already done and be in the location we want to be in, as well as give us the room and improvements we were looking for, without spending waaay more. 

I already pictured our new roof and I will do so again when the new siding is on, so for now, we'll focus on the sunroom. Back in May, we had to start taking out our old deck. It was very hard work! Austin and Erik were troopers and even enjoyed the demolition. What boy wouldn't with all the knocking things down with a hammer and kicking and breaking things up?! Victoria and Karissa were busy with other things and didn't have as much time to help, but I don't think they really wanted to be out in the humidity doing what we were doing, though once they got started banging things with a hammer, I'm sure they would have enjoyed the power feeling we all got.

Getting started

Feeling powerful!

First half done!

Then came the hard part, taking out the framing and realizing that there was a cement slab underneath that we had to remove!!

We rented a jackhammer, and Jason went to town!

In the meantime, we burnt lots of sticks and limbs from our tree that were in the way.

Erik was the nail remover from the boards we plan on recycling. 

Austin enjoyed throwing the cement pieces into piles.

Success!

It was hard work, but we did it! There's even a little puddle you can see here before the big rains came.

We rented a dumpster to dispose of the cement and other big trash items that we were able to get rid of. 

Cleaned up a bit.

When we took out our deck, it didn't seem overly wet, just hot and humid. When the company came a few weeks later to put the cement in for the posts, the rain couldn't stop! It put things way behind since the cement was covered in water for over a week and the other projects they were working on in the meantime were also getting behind. 

 Markers where the footings would be.

                                                Soon after they dug them out, the rains started...

It kept raining...

And raining....

Since they've been actively working on our sunroom, the rain has been coming with a vengeance, it seems. We'll look at the forecast and it won't say anything about rain, then it will rain crazy amounts during that time period anyway. We leave for our month-long vacation on our 22nd anniversary this Saturday (Jason will be back for a week in August to work from home and check on the projects) and hope things will have mostly been completed when we leave! Isn't it ironic that the longest time we'll be on a vacation is the time we have the biggest project being finished? 

This sunroom is definitely the biggest gift to us since buying our home, of course. Here's to 22 years and many more!!

Jason and I tried this cute diner that was so tasty! We went to lunch on one of our trips to the lumber yard to pick out the treks for our new smaller deck that we are building off the sunroom.

We both happened to be wearing our Michigan shirts!

Sunroom progress!

Checking it out!

A break for the rain...

Then things started really moving!

And we started building our little deck off the side over the weekend.

Yesterday they put up the glass.

Today they put up the skirting

The shingles

And the ac unit

Here are the steps down on the opposite side of the deck.

Ohio Part II

Two days after we went to Cedar Point, the girls and I got to go to girls' camp with our ward in... Ohio! It was at Hocking Hills State Park, right on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains. While Austin and Jason went four hours north for their camp, the girls and I went 4 hours (and a lot of something) south. It was a special girls' camp for a few reasons. Victoria was a YCL (Youth Camp Leader) and I got to go because the girls were in family tents and moms could go if they chose and it didn't really matter, and about a third of our ward was affected by the new boundaries when a new stake was formed in the area. Not only did they move to another ward but a whole other stake!  We have a lot of good friends that are in that group, so we're kinda sad about it even though we know we can still hang out with them. It just won't be the same at church or Stake activities. Many of those friends who attended this camp, including some former YW leaders, are now in the other ward. We hadn't seen them at church for over a month, but we were able to enjoy one last girls' camp with them!

Originally I wasn't going to go, because I didn't know what to do with my boys, even though Jason works at home, they can't be home all day on screens while he works. So Erik went to CAC, on the days it wasn't raining, and Austin was able to be with some friends. They had a little more downtime than normal, which they loved! Because of that, I had planned for my girls to ride with CJ and her mom (Karissa's church bestie). When I decided to go, we thought my car would be better because it's bigger. CJ's mom, Melissa, ended up riding with the Young family and their two girls. Victoria rode in that car as well so she and Grace could finish planning their devotional, so I just had Karissa and CJ. I was looking forward to listening to my audible book on the ride. Well, the ride was way too long as we caravanned down. We stopped too much at the beginning, hit lots of construction and traffic, and my ac stopped working on the way down! I felt like I was going to suffocate, though I did get used to the windows being down, it was very loud. And when it rained, which was frequently, we had to put the windows up on some of the hard rains. We got there about 6 hours after we left. 

After my long sweaty drive, I did thoroughly enjoy girl's camp. My girls loved being with their friends, some they hadn't seen in a while, and Victoria enjoyed being a part of the leadership. The theme with Light the Fire Within, with the Olympics as the inspiration. The girls had necklaces they could earn beads from the leaders and the moms for doing certain tasks or services for the leaders around the camp. Some moms and leaders had one for the whole time, like get to know someone new and be their friend, or do something that puts a smile on someone's face. Some had a different one each day, like me. I used the Children and Youth program goals for my idea. The first day they had to do 5 or 10 burpees (physical), next day was tell me a joke (social), third day was tell me an article of faith (spiritual), and fourth was tell me what their favorite book is and why (intellectual). It was fun to interact with the girls like this. Each night they held some "Olympic games" directed by the YCLS, Victoria did a sponge and water relay. Each night there was a devotional led by the YCLs. 

Presenting their team flags.

Shaving cream/ cheese ball game.

M&M suck and move game.

Bucket relay

Helping prep food.

Lots of hair braiding!

The main events of the camp were the icing on the cake to all of this great more traditional girl's camp. We went to a high ropes course on Tuesday and into a mystery house where the house was built at an angle so it threw off your sense of gravity and made the activities very hard to do. Even standing was a challenge for some. It made you feel very dizzy. It rained just after the high ropes course, so we lucked out there, but it made for very slippery areas outside the mystery house, so when Victoria fell off the swing from the mystery house and out the door, she slipped and injured her knee. I didn't have my phone on me for the high ropes and didn't go back to get it in the rain for the mystery house, so I don't have a ton of pictures of the mystery house.

The group before High Ropes.

It was so fun!!

The mystery house was so weird but cool!

After lunch, we hiked to Old Man's Cave, which my family had gone to 5 years earlier, so Karissa was excited to see the spot where we took a picture of them that she included in a school project. Victoria had to hike slowly with her injured knee and to top that off when we swam at the camp pool after the hike, she got stung by a hornet!

Old Man's Cave

This rock looks like an abandoned ship!

Some of our awesome head leaders and cook!

The next day we split into groups and my group went on a hike to Cedar Falls (Victoria's knee was a little better and she took pain killer) and then horse-back riding. The other group did the opposite order. Since we had just gone horse-back riding a couple of years ago in The Dominican Republic, I felt more comfortable on the horse, even though I still have vivid memories of when Karissa's horse was fighting with Jason's horse and he had to jump off faster than I've ever seen him move! The instruction was great and I feel like everyone had a good experience. The ride was on a trail in the woods in the hills. So beautiful! There was also a lot of mud, so I'm glad it wasn't us walking through it! After our ride, we got to swim a bit more. 

The beginning of the hike.

I was in charge of our small group the next day. I made Victoria our "selfie" taker.

Cedar Falls

The beautiful pasture where the horses grazed. We rode in those trees beyond.

Our cook was fabulous and was the cook at Red Bell. She made excellent food on the campfire and with the dutch ovens. Late-night card games for the girls and lots of laughter completed the week. I went home with Karissa and CJ again in the very hot car, but for a somewhat shorter ride. 

It was a memorable week for us all!