Friday night we had a fun get together with some old friends. I was talking to Corrinne a while ago and we thought it would be fun to have a little party for Brenda's 50th birthday and celebrate Marsha's birthday too.

Corrinne and Terry had us all over to their house. We had a real nice dinner and spent a nice evening visiting and catching up on each other's lives....it seems like everyone is so busy with their own lives and families, we hardly ever get together anymore.

Anyway, it was great to spend this time with our old friends. Sure feel blessed to have them in my life.

While Kelley was talking with the guy friends, he told them about the project he was going to be starting Saturday at moms. He told them about taking out the tub and they all said...."you are going to lift a cast iron tub? who is going to help you?" Kelley said I was going to be his help. Ha! That's a good one! Well the next morning we got up early...not as early as we had planned, and while we were loading up the truck, Kelley gets a call from Rick..."I can't remember how to get to grandma's house!" What??? He said he was at Walmart in Logan and was ready to help Kelley with the bathroom project! Oh my heck...that's about the nicest thing I've ever heard! I just couldn't believe he had come all the way up there to help us out! But then when I thought about it, that was just like Rick to do that. Such a good man.

So when we got there, Rick was ready to get started. They jumped right in and after measuring and remeasuring, they cut a hole in the east room wall to get into the bathroom.

I don't think mom was too happy about it...first of all, her piano had to be moved into the living room...she didn't like that. Then there was all the noise of the saws and pounding and banging and then all the dust! We got her into the living room and tried to get her mind off all the noise by turning on the garden show on the radio. Then she seemed to feel a little better.
I don't think she gets what we're doing yet...but I think she will like it when it's done!

When they pulled out the old vanity, there was the old pink wall paper that I remember as a little girl! They found some pretty unusually layering of the flooring too...under the fabulous orange shag carpet...the old sparkly linoleum that was in the kitchen, and under that a layer of red linoleum...I think that was the original
floor that was there when mum and daddy moved in.

Teina was with mom this weekend, so after we got mom all settled down, we went over to home depot to pick out a few things we needed for the bathroom.

We found a toilet that sits higher, a new vanity, some tile, and a mirror medicine cabinet.

We looked for a shower enclosure, but with the small sizes we had to work with, couldn't find anything that would work.

So we went home and reported what we had found. Kelley and Rick had already taken out the tub, vanity and toilet and pulled up the carpet. Now they were ready to go buy the stuff Teina and I had picked out.

A very thorough home depot guy named Mike helped us out. He kind of reminded me of Forest Gump, but he knew his stuff and made sure we had all the right pipes, wires, valves, and do-hickies that we needed to get the job done. While we were looking at shower enclosures, we came across a corner one that was just what I had had in mind. The only problem was that it didn't quite fit. There is a light switch in the way and they will have to redo the ceiling in one spot...but I think with some work, it will be perfect.

Well about an hour later, we had two big carts and one regular cart filled and were ready to go! We said goodbye to Mike ( we were bff by now) and headed home. They got busy re-directing all the pipes that were hooked to the tub. The drain had to be moved too....quite the project in itself! Before too long, they realized they needed some different pipes and connectors than what they had so I went back over to home depot with list in hand.

Mike was nowhere to be found, so I had another guy help me...ok got it...on my way home. Now this is not a little jaunt to home depot. It is clear on the other side of town...no quick way to get there... so I was happy to finally get home and deliver the goods...

I watched them weld for a few minutes and could see they were struggling. Does Kelley know how to weld? Not that I know of. Anyway, he is not afraid to try and I love that about him.

They got the pipes that went up the wall done ( with only minor smoking and fire) and were working on the pipes in the floor. It just wouldn't hold. Then they realized a part Mike had picked out for us was the wrong one...NO! I can't believe he messed up! So I went back over to home depot (trip # 4) and exchanged that part for the right one....called Kelley while I was there...ok, now are you sure you don't need anything else?

And to make matters worse, when I went out to get in the car...I had been there soo many times that day, I couldn't remember where I had parked the car....and I was driving Teina's car and couldn't remember exactly what it looked like, so I was just wandering around the parking lot, looking in the windows of silver cars for a seat covered with a hippo blanket! Oh man, I had really had it! When I got home, I let them know that that was the last time I was going to home depot that day.

I tried taking different routes to and from home depot just to mix things up a bit...got this nice picture of the Logan Temple...beautiful!

When I got home, they were still working on the welding, so I went out in the arbor to visit with Teina and mom. When I came in again, Kelley and Rick and Kelley's truck were gone. Yup, you guessed it...off to home depot. I didn't even ask.

They worked hard all afternoon and evening and about 8:30 decided to call it a day.

We all said good bye to Teina and mom and Rick thanked mom for letting him work on her bathroom. Really? I just thought my heart would bust! What a kind act of service...can't ever thank him enough! And my good husband...well let me tell you what he sacrificed that day.

Chris came into town thursday and Him and Mark and Grampa were all planning on going up fishing on Saturday. This is what Kelley gave up to go to mums and work on her bathroom. I told him he should just go and do the bathroom another time, but he wanted to do it this weekend because he had monday off and knew that would be the only time he would have two days to work on it. He didn't say anything about it, but I know he was dying to be up there fishing. I don't think I've ever loved him anymore than I did that day.