Parents are Parents

We called some of the kids this weekend because Uncle Gordon called and said we needed to start mowing and watering the yard. Gordon has kept a good eye on the place for us and has already mowed the lawn several times. So we called the kids to see if they could turn on the water for the house /yard and get the sprinklers going. Jason and Desiree went up and got things going and mowed the lawn (last Sunday, maybe not the best day but the only day they could). In the process of thanking all the kids over and over again, (without them we could never have come on this mission) we were talking to Ivan and he said it was payback for all we had done for him. We told him we loved him and paying us back for being his parents wasn't necessary.

I remembered when we came on this mission, people would say all the blessings we would get. All I wanted to do was pay back Heavenly Father for the life full of blessing and love he has given me. Being here has made me realize you can't pay him back, he just keeps heaping blessing on. It still bothered me though until I heard Ivan say he was trying to pay us back, and we said he didn't need to it was part of being a parent. Then the Holy Ghost whispered to me and said, “just like Heavenly Father is your parent”. You can't pay parents back. It doesn't work that way. All we can do is try to be the best children we can and follow his commandments. He will always love us and heap on the blessings. I'm so grateful to have my Heavenly Father. How people live without acknowledging his hand in their lives I cannot fathom. Thank you Heavenly Father!

Now, on to the progress of house #3. We got the footings done and everything ready to pour the garage floor. Took about a week. The cement truck came and started pouring at about 9:00. I didn't get there until about 9:30, (early for me but I wanted to watch and help if I could). They were about ¾ of the way through and the cement was already starting to set up. On top of that there wasn't enough to finish the job. So we all went to work trying to get a finish on it and by about 10:00 it was to hard to work. So we had a very expensive mess on our hands. Randall was sick, we all were ready to cry.

Out of Cement! Isome, Elder and Sister Dustin, James, George and
Randall hanging on the truck.

Trying to smooth cement. Isome, James, Elder Dustin , Randall's back
and George.

Elder Dustin's opinion of the cement.

Randall called the cement yard owner and told him what had happened. He said he had poured lots of jobs and never had this problem. Randall said he had it now. The owner sent his son out to look at it and his son agreed there was nothing we could have done. So the owner said he would make it right. We still aren't sure what that means?

Sooooo, we then proceeded to rip out all the cement. Keep in mind we had already done this when we tore down the garage. Nothing like doing things twice. Hopefully we wont be going for the best out of three. Anyway, what a job, but we did it, and all in one day. Again, 4 old people rock! The next day we formed it up again and are now-waiting to get it poured. Randall has some ideas this next time he hopes will help. We hope so too, we're all really tiered of picking up big chunks of cement and loading them into the backhoe bucket.

Ripping out the cement again!

We have the upstairs windows of the house put in. The plumber has finished with the plumbing. The heating/air conditioning guys are almost done working on moving the ducts and the furnace. We have found an electrician. Randall and Elder Dustin are building closets in the rooms of the lodge. The rooms had no storage so the Managers decided they needed closets. Life is good. Now what to make for dinner.

Closet in one of the rooms in the Lodge.

Love and miss you all. Happy Birthday Rylie!
Good Day!