Weekend Warrior Part 1

This morning we had great news from the restoration company who was drying out our house. They came this morning to check on things and found that the baseboards were all dry...so, that meant they packed up their 30 some ear piercing fans and super hot dehumidifiers and left our house nice and quiet!

We brought back in most of the furniture and finally feel like we have our house back, although it's not quite the same as we'd hoped. But soon, we hope to get the flooring installed---again!

In the meantime, I am sorting through things so we can have a garage sale next weekend. Nick demanded I go through some 'crap' and get rid of it. He was not happy to have to move all my 'things' out of the closet in such a hurry like he did! And he commented that all that 'stuff' was not coming back in the house!

Nick put up drywall in the office, since I didn't get to that during his deployment to Iraq. Tomorrow he has plans to replace the old windows in the bedrooms and put drywall in the last bedroom, another project I didn't get to while he was in Iraq.

Trevor has been Nick's right hand man...and tonight, after a couple successful days of pears, Addison tried carrots!

Welcome Home...

After being on vacation for 3 weeks...we arrived home from the airport Wednesday night around 9:30PM. As I carried Addison to the front door to unlock it, I heard running water inside the house. Then I looked down at the concrete by the front door and noticed it was wet...

I screamed at Nick as I tried to turn on some lights, but we had shut off the power to the house while we were away, so as Nick ran into the house, all I could hear was him splashing his way back to the bathroom. Apparently, the hot water supply line blew and was shooting water throughout our house from underneath our bathroom sink.

This is what we came home to...

Our entire main level of the house was soaked...and under a couple inches of water in some places. My rugs were soaked and smelled musty and awful!

The water had literally 'floated' our new flooring we had just installed less than a year ago. The bedrooms in the back of the house would gush water up from the seams when you walked back there.

We called in a favor from a friend who came over and helped move out all the furniture to the garage and back lanai.
The next morning, the insurance company sent out a team of people to help clean up. They had our flooring out of the entire house (minus the new edition) before noon. It was sickening to walk in the house to see the old ugly linoleum we had worked so hard on countless weekends to cover up. I had flash backs of when we first moved in.
After the flooring was out and the water vacuumed up, they set up huge industrial fans to dry out the baseboards. Along with the biggest dehumidifiers I have ever seen. I think we counted just under 30 fans and 3 dehumidifiers.

They thought by the way things smelled, that the water was probably running for at least 2-3 days.
This is the office where I am sitting right now trying to tune out the really load roaring of these fans.My kitchen is a mess. The fridge and stove have been pulled out so the fans can dry the floor underneath them.So...the past few nights, we have been secluded to our upstairs bedroom. They sealed off our windows with plastic downstairs and we have to keep our doors shut to keep our the humidity. We hope everything will be dried out by Monday so we can get the loud fans out and move a few things back in the house. Nick and I went flooring hunting last night to try to find replacement flooring since the brand we originally put in is no longer available on the island. And you better believe I am NOT waiting 6-8 weeks for it to be shipped out here.

The clean up crew comes back daily to check on things, and they keep bringing in more fans each time!

We'll keep you all posted on what will happen next!

Back in Colo, Iowa

Addison with her Aunt Angie!Addison with her Grandma "Bob"We all spent the last week of our 3 week vacation back in Colo at my parent's house. The kids just love being outside and running free on the farm. Nick took Trevor outside and played just about every sport there was...And jumping off the mulch pile...

Addison and I sat on a blanket and watched the beautiful sunset.

Trevor and my sister, Meridith Brooke, were like two peas in a pod. "Wow, that's a lot of colors!" (That's for you Mer!)
And McKenzie was mastering her skills on the Wii, playing Mariokart and Guitar Hero! Along with all the other 'kids' there!

Addison's Baptism

We had Addison baptized on Father's Day June 15th in Colo, Iowa. My brother and his new wife stood up with us as her Godparents. Nick's parents and brother and his wife drove up to be a part of Addison's special day. Addison has been quite a mommy's girl lately, so I was so happy when the pastor took sleeping Addison from me and she didn't even fuss, even when he woke her up and drizzled water on her head. He even made it around the church to show her off to the congregation without her crying! I was so proud!After church, we all went out to my mom and dad's for a little lunch. I made Addison a cake.

Grandpa Turner's Musket

Here are some pictures of Nick in his dress blues holding a musket.

Back in Civil war time, this musket was tossed in a pond in Kentucky. Nick's great great grandfather fished it out and brought it to Iowa with him in the 1860's. It has since been passed on to the oldest son.The picture below is a copy of what Nick's dad looked like when he came back from Officer Candidates School as a 2nd Lieutenant. Nick is pictured in front of his Grandparent's house just outside of Elliott, Iowa
Here, Nick is holding the musket outside his parent's home in Elliott, Iowa

a.k.a. Turner Mountain.

Turner Family Reunion 2008

Here's the whole fam damily!Grandpa & Grandma Turner with Addison Grandma and Grandpa Turner with the grandkids
Nick with his parents and siblings that were there.
And it wouldn't be a family get together without a little gunfire! McKenzie got to try out Nick's 22 revolver. She was a little scared at first, but once she got used to it, she really enjoyed shooting it! She did pretty good!

Dad teaching her safety!

Uncle Mike supervising!

Rain Rain Go Away

With all the rain and storms we have gotten this past week, it only took one night, and more than 5 inches to create Turner Lake here on Turner Mountain! McKenzie and Trevor had a blast checking it out and discovering all the little creatures that also came with the lake!
Here are their finding! A whole frisbee full!
Nick and his brother Phil also took all the kids down to show them how to skip rocks late in the evening as the sun set.
Here is Trevor giving it a shot.

And here is Nick holding his form after his "15 skip" throw!Sunset in Iowa

Grandma & Grandpa Bob's

The day after the wedding, we had family come to the house for lunch before everyone drove back home. Addison got to play with her little cousin Rylie! She is my cousin Matt's little girl.

She was born January 1st! So Addison is about 3 weeks older. Don't you just love those big eyes!And they just couldn't keep their hands off their tootsies! I HAD to take a leg shot of the two of them in their exersaucers!

Can you tell which ones are Addison's!?!?
Addison LOVED LOVED LOVED the swing outside at grandma's house! She was smiling the entire time!

We made it to Turner Mountain

We made it down to Nick's folks yesterday and the kids have been running around the farm since we parked the car (ok, it was a van). They just love running free and being outside. Kenzie has been driving the mower, with Trevor at her side, only for joyriding....no actual mowing! Grandpa Turner just doesn't understand what can be so fun about driving around on that thing, but they are just having a BLAST! I'll try to catch a picture of them and put it up here...Kenzie has to be told to slow down from time to time, so any pics I may get may be a big blur! hahaAnd of course being at grandma's means eating anything that you can get your hands on...and it didn't take long before the kids found the ice cream stash!

Nick lay Addison on the grass and she did pretty well! It was such a nice day out.

The best part about being at Turner Mountain for Addison is that she has a great nap buddy!

We will be here all week with a big Turner Mountain Family Reunion Saturday so stay tuned for more pics!