Wiring The Kitchen

I have had this jungle of a mess of wires on my kitchen floor for sometime now. That pile is now gone! No more tripping over them or them being in my way!  

Kory's been super busy at work. He had about 4 jobs that suddenly became "ready" for him all at once. It didn't help that his guys at work got sick and both of them have missed several days of work these past few weeks. He's been working some longer than normal hours at the shop during the week. And then then our weekends have been kept busy with family stuff. My youngest sister got married to her best friend. So excited for them and their new journey. 

And so a few nights here and there and a few hours on the weekend we are finally about done with our electrical work.  

Kory hung our can lights through out the kitchen. A friend came over and helped us run wire. 

During the day while everyone was gone I was able to run wire from can light to can light. But no one was home to take a picture of me!

And then one glorious day we were done and Kory hooked the wire up to the panel and I had light! I've been making breakfast in the dark for a long time. If I don't get started on dinner about 4pm I end up making it in the dark too. I have to use a flashlight to make sure my hamburger or chicken is really done! This is going to be awesome! 

Those lights are such a beautiful site!

Bathroom Sink

We had a little mishap with our sink!

Kory took measurements and ordered our sink from his favorite granite guy.  Measurements were given over the phone and a mistake was made. The sink cutout wasn't centered making the sink not sit down correctly because it was hitting the cabinet frame. Oops!

And so we had to order a new top. We finally got it and Kory was able to install it. We now have a full working bathroom upstairs. A bathtub/shower, toilet and sink! It's really amazing the things we take for granted!

Our doors and drawers will be here soon!

Framing, Gas line and Office Door

This past week Kory has been super busy at work and we haven't worked as much on the house which has been an awesome break for our family.  We are loving our family room upstairs. I love just sitting and looking around at all the work we have completed. Our upstairs is amazing! 

One night my Dad did come over and together we finished running the gas line to our future stove and outdoor bbq. 

Kory also finished framing the wall between the master bath and closet. 

He also started framing in the back wall that the fridge will sit in front of. I really, really can hardly wait until the framing is done so I can get the dang saw out of my kitchen!

Oh how we hate having to "re-do" our work! So one of the first things we did on our house was take out the back patio and poured cement for our future office. We poured the cement the same height as the family room.  Then several months ago we discovered that the existing back half of the house cement was terrible and needed to be re-poured. That portion of the house had a step up. Being we took it all out and re-poured we made it match the cement as the rest of the house. Being it's all going to be one level now with no step up we began re-thinking our office. Did it really need to be that big? Or would we rather extend our kitchen wall and make it bigger (now that the step up is gone) making the office smaller. We decided we'd rather have a bigger kitchen area and so we moved the framed wall a little while ago. Since we moved that wall our entryway into the office now also had to be moved. So Hunter took the sheetrock off so we could move the door. 

Hunter left on a date and then Kory and I finished moving the entryway into the office.

Looking good! 

It was a pain to do but glad it's over and we can have access to the office again. 

Moving Upstairs

Monday, August 19th

Our carpet guy came back this morning! He cut a new piece of carpet for the upstairs. He also laid carpet downstairs in Brayden's bedroom. So exciting! 

Monday night we re hung all the bedroom doors. Maddie and Hunter did a great job!

We have bedroom doors again. Eeeek!

Monday night I cried happy tears!

I don't know how long it's been since I've had electricity in our master bedroom. We haven't had lights or electrical outlets. We've had an extension cord running from the boys room to our room to plug in our cel phones at night. It's been this way for several months.  For the most part it's not too bad. We have 3 windows above our bed so during the day we have plenty of natural light. But in the evening hours or early morning I miss it the most. Summer is quickly coming to an end. It's getting darker earlier and staying darker in the mornings. Come 9pm I'm having to use a flashlight to get to my side of the bed.  6:30 in the mornings I'm using the flashlight to pick out my clothes. It's a real struggle sometimes.  Kory decided that it was finally time to hook up the electricity in our room.  

And now I have light! I don't have to use a flash light anymore. Yay!

Tuesday, Aug 20th

We are getting ready to pour cement AGAIN!

Does it ever end?

I'd much rather work on the inside of the house but our cement guy has a slow week and can pour our driveway this week and so this is going to be our next project. 

Using the skid steer Kory moved all our rock and leveled the front. 

In just a few short hours he had it cleaned up nicely.  

Wednesday, August 21st

Kory brought home our bathroom cabinets. 

Yippee!

How freakn' awesome is this going to be?

I have a cabinet we can put towels and soaps in instead of sitting in a box on the floor. 

While Kory and Hunter were installing the bathroom the rest of us brought up the furniture and things that will be in our family room for a little bit. 

The office will one day be downstairs but for now we've got it all set up in the corner upstairs. 

It feels amazing to have a family room again!

Thursday, August 22nd

We got concrete!

This is going to be so amazing having a concrete driveway! No more dirt. 

Saturday, August 24th 

The girls and I learned how to install all our vents.

Kory brought home our attic cabinets. We don't have doors or drawers yet buy they will be here soon. 

Brayden and Cousin Jamie quickly turned the cabinets into a playing table for their lego creations. 

 We've got cabinets in the girls closets too!

I am so glad we decided to add cupboards in the stairwell too. I was able to fit 2 air matt's, 2 air mattresses and 7 sleeping bags in one cabinet! When we tape and texture the downstairs we will paint the stairwell. 

What a crazy busy week but oh how we love our upstairs. Today (Sunday) we spent most of the day up there. It is so incredibly nice to have a "real" family room again! 

Upstairs Carpet and Toilet

Mon, Aug 12th

We are ready for carpet! Our guy called and said he had to finish up a job and so instead of coming today he would come tomorrow (Tuesday).

Tuesday, Aug 13th

Our carpet guy came. Yippee!

He and his teenage sons were able to lay the carpet padding out everywhere up stairs. So exciting to be at this point. 

Wednesday, Aug 14th

Our carpet guys were able to get the carpet done upstairs. Love our new family room!  This morning it actually brought tears to my eyes to see it coming together so nicely. We have not had carpet for 3 years! We had carpet in our last house that we lived for 2 years but the previous house that we lived for 4 years we again did not have carpet. To say we have missed having carpet is an understatement! When picking out the carpet I brought home the 3 samples I liked the most. Then as a family we picked. Everyone picked my #3 choice. I thought it had a little too much black flakes where I liked the other 2 better because they were brown not black. I was afraid this carpet would look too gray and I think it does but no one else seems to mind and frankly at this point it is what it is. It will grow on me!

When the carpet guy went to lunch I went up stairs to check it out. We have one seam in our family room. I guess when he was stretching it the seam came apart. You can totally see it! I wanted him to fix it but Kory says it will be fine once we move all the furniture upstairs. But seriously..... I think it needed to be fixed. Before the carpet guy left for the night his wife stopped by. She immediately asked her hubby why the seam was so visible? He explained how it had ripped apart and he had to put it back together. Both him and Kory said it would be no big deal. But us women, we know better! I'm sure it will "look" fine when all the furniture is upstairs but Im betting this will be the first place that starts showing the wear and tear on the carpet. Lucky for me later that night our carpet guy texted saying he wanted to fix it. He's going to re-do the seam with a new piece of carpet. He'll be coming back next Monday. 

Saturday, Aug 17th 

We have decided that when our carpet guy comes back next Monday we are going to have him lay carpet in the one bedroom that is finished downstairs. And so Thurs/Fri we moved the girls up stairs and had to find new spots to put our food storage that was under their beds. 

Saturday morning the girls and I cleaned the room, we swept, vacuumed, wiped down the walls and baseboards and washed the window and blinds. It's going to be a brand new bedroom! Cant wait to see what it looks like with carpet next week. 

While the girls and I were cleaning Kory and Hunter installed the upstairs toilet. 

Then they worked for a few hours installing the rest of water lines and connecting them all together.  

We had to make a quick run to Lowes to get more since we had run out. It seemed like it took all day long to get this simple project done.  

Once everything was connected we turned the water back on and we are now proud to announce that we have 2 working toilets and 2 working bathtub/showers. The upstairs bathroom even has a door! It has been months now that all 7 of us have been sharing one bathroom with a blanket hung up for the door. This next week is going to feel amazing having 2 bathrooms and getting ready for school. We don't have a vanity or sink yet but it's coming..... Kory's hoping to get it built this up coming week so we can install it next weekend. 

The kids are LOVING this new area to play in. They bring out every single barbie paraphanilia, lay it all out and play "Barbie". Brayden was a good sport and played with his sisters too. We are all loving the upstairs. Can't wait to get the carpet fixed so we can move our couches and everything else upstairs and make it our "liveable" area. It is going to be so, so nice to get everything downstairs upstairs to it's new home! This mess is driving me crazy!

Girls are loving their new rooms.  

They love having carpet under their feet when they wake up in the mornings. 

Hip, hip hooray for having the girls room done. 

Doors, Trim and Baseboards

We were able to order carpet last week. It should take 1-2 weeks to get here. It's time to get the upstairs done! Woo Hoo!

Saturday, August 3rd the kids were still at Grandma's Camp so it was just Kory and I. We had worked most our day outside on Friday and decided to take most of Saturday to play while the kiddo's were gone. We did get all 6 doors upstairs hung. 

Monday August 5, Kory cut all the trim pieces that go around the doors. For family home evening we hung out in our pool. School starts next week and we decided we needed one more "family night of fun" before school begins. 

Tuesday Kory and the older 3 were off to mutual so another night came and went without working on the house. Our carpet guy had told us he hadn't heard on our carpet so it would probably be another week. That's o.k we aren't quite ready anyways. 

Wednesday, August 7th Kory got the call our carpet had just been delivered to the warehouse in St. George. What??? We thought we still had another week! I'm not complaining really. Time to bust a move! We want to be ready to install flooring next week. 

And so Wednesday night we spent a few hours doing trim work. We were able to get all the trim pieces around all the doors complete. 

We also hung most of the baseboards in the family room. 

It's looking so good!

Thursday, August 8th

Maddie and I went around applying putty to all our nail holes in all the trim pieces around the doors and the baseboards that we got done the night before.  

Friday, August 9th

Several weeks ago we had a guy come and cut in our driveway to match our garage so it slopes now in the right spot for us to pull in. Kory also finished popping up the old broken sidewalk. We've been ready for concrete for a while now but our cement guy was away on vacation. Friday morning we got a phone call that the cement truck was on its way. Yippee!

Brayden helping while still in his pajamas. 

Beautiful!

The plan was to paint all the baseboards and trim on Saturday so we spent Friday getting ready for the paint. 

Kylie and Mom sanding. 

Brayden helped sand too.

Emily put new spackle where we missed the day before. 

Then we spent hours and I mean hours taping off our walls! 

Saturday, Aug 10th 

 Kory and I laid out our bathroom flooring!

It looks so good. We hung the trim and then taped it off too. 

It took all day long but everything got painted and we were able to pull off the paper and tape that night just before midnight! We are going to be ready for carpet Monday morning!

All 6 doors for upstairs also got painted. They are sitting in my kitchen waiting for the carpet to be laid and then we can hang then all back up.