This Old House....Starring Das Jettie and The Chainsaw Massacre

Where do we start?!  That is what we asked ourselves when we showed up at Das's childhood home.  Many years ago his mother started taking trips to India and would stay for 5 or 6 months.  In the meantime, no one was around to care for the home.  And after Pete (my father in law) passed away two years ago, the situation became even worse.

The home was Das's grandparents and was left to Pete.  Then Pete left it to his children.  No one had the time or motivation to clear it out.  This past year they have been trying to sell it, with no luck.  Das had a realtor walk through it a few weeks ago, and said it would be better if the place was cleaned up. 

And when we say clean.....It means gloves and masks required.  The past couple of years the house has been used as a party place for some kids, and a home for some pests.(not the kids)  Pipes have bursts, and dogs that lived there were not let out to do their business.  The home basically had been abandoned. 

Pictures are graphic.  Be prepared.... 

My father owns Weidner and Associates.  They sell and manufacture safety/fire/mining equipment.  He gave us these masks to use.  They were put to good use.  They protect against mold and the hauntavirus. 

Das had a guy give him a bid on how much he would charge to clean the place out.  This guy has dealt with many foreclosures and is experienced in messes like this.  He told Das to have the place cleared of the items that the family wanted to keep and they would throw out the rest.  They will be coming in and putting everything else in the trash and cleaning the mice/dog poop and mold.  As well as yard clean up.  Ratha took it upon himself to cut down some all the trees.  Don't ask us why.  We are all still a little stunned.   I am sure the neighbors are thrilled that action is being taken.  Many of them drove by giving us the thumbs up.  I wanted to give them the finger. lol  It would have been nice to have some neighborly help.  I am sure our neighbors here in South Jordan would be out in a heart beat.  And people love Holladay....Why? 

This damage is from a leak in the roof. 

Keli and Randy came.  Randy helped Ratha clean up the trees and Keli got the stuff out of her bedroom. 

 The basement was as bad as the upstairs.  The boys had many parties with friends who didn't respect the place.  Very talented kids.....but obviously not much discipline.  The walls in the basement are covered with their taggings.  Maybe I can hire them to come paint some cool things in our boys, "Big Boy Room."

Randy couldn't stay long, but his help was greatly appreciated.  Although he felt he should be helping inside instead of clearing the trees and shrubs.  Thanks Randy for supporting your girlfriend! 

Just as we were finishing up, my girlfriend Amy stopped by with her adorable daughter Adyson.  It definitely made my day better.  It was definitely neat to be a part of this though.  We have several videos of Das growing up in this house.  And at one point, it was a beautiful home.  It's been a long time coming and we are glad its finally getting taken care of.  And I am pleased to say....we are proud owners of a piano.  And we are excited that Das came across many photo albums of the family as children.  This clean up is a good thing!  Thanks everyone for working hard.  I am sure in the end it will all be worth it.

Our First 1st Grader!

I was so not ready to put kids back in school yet.  I feel Summer has just begun, and we still have so many things planned. Tristan wasn't ready either.  But he is loving it!  We give him a choice each day to bring a sack lunch or eat at school.  So far he has chosen school.  And he is already making lots of friends.

 

Monday we met with his teacher and found his desk.  Ashton starts kindergarten!!! next Tuesday.  He has been so bored this week with out Tristan.  I am glad though we were given the afternoon kindergarten class.  I didn't want it as first, but it works out great.  This way by the end of the year, Tristan and Ashton can walk home together.

Tristan's friend Zane lives across the street from us.  His mother Collette and I have set up a carpool.  So I pick Zane and his sister Lexi up several times a week, and she does the rest.  All though I don't work, it is nice to not have to pack Logan up every day.  I am so thankful to Das for his hard work that allows me to stay home with our children. 

The 1st graders line up in a different spot than all the rest.  It's gonna take some planning for me to make sure Tristan can find Ashton after school to get a ride home.  I love that they are only a grade apart though.

This is his teacher Ms. Jensen.  She has been so cute with the kids and I think she is going to be a joy for Tristan. 

Ashton was ready to go home and go back to bed.  I have a tough time getting him up before 9 most of the time.  The doctor thinks he doesn't sleep well because he has large tonsils, which he will be getting removed next month. 

Daybreak has proved to be such a wonderful school.  I am excited to see all my boys learn and experience this next step in their lives.  It is going to be a great year!

The Week Before School Starts....

Since our camera was stolen, we won't be posting about our fun adventures in Vegas.  Luckily....we still have our video camera that takes pics. . . . and our phones.  These are some random pics that we took before and after Vegas.  No particular order....

Botox ingections gone bad. lol  While spending the day at my nephews Taylor Collgans, Tristan was running from the other kids playing a fun game.  He turned and found his face in the back of their boat.  This is what we came home to.  The poor kid had a tough time just drinking. 

This was taken four days later.  Still very swollen. My brother in law called us in some antibiotic, cuz he was sure it was infected.  It has gone down dramatically since we started giving it to him. 

Take a close look.  Das thought it looked like a pile of.....!  But it is a dead pocket gopher.  A wonderful cat has been hanging out in our backyard taking care of our pest problem. I wish I knew whose cat it was.  I'd like to adopt it. . . or get our own. But of course Das won't let me.

Please stop feeding me. . I have enough rolls! lol  I swear he looked even bigger after not seeing him for a few days.  Although, Ashton was even bigger than this.  I love those rolls...and rolls.   

He had just woken up from his nap.  It is getting so hard to get him to nap during church. 

I love me some Oreo's!!!  I told Das they would be messy.  Logan loved them though.   

I don't think we can avoid it anymore. . . this boy is going to be crawling soon. Better babyproof the house. 

My Sister's a RockStar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago my sister in law Mirabai invited us to Highlands Days where she lives.  She was looking at all the activities and saw that my sister Amy would be performing.  Of course we accepted and met up with them yesterday.  They live within walking distance to the park, so we got there and headed over. 

We found some shade and enjoyed listening to Amy's beautiful voice.  Her husband Mont was playing his guitar with two other men.  They did so good it brought tears to my eyes.  The last time we saw them perform was at our wedding.  "Lucky" by Jason Mraz.   

I love listening to my sister sing.  I have her cd on my ipod and turn it on all the time.  She has such talent and someday I am sure we will hear her on the radio. 

The boys found Josh and Carly hanging out in the shade.  They wanted to go home with them..... 

Can you tell we are sisters?! lol I feel really special to be a sister of this talented woman.  I wish I could sing and write songs like her.  www.Amyvanwagenen.com 

When we got home, we started to clean and pack.  I had heard years ago from someone on a plane that celery was a great thing to give to toddlers.  One, its hard for them to break down and feels good on their gums.  Two, it's high in fiber.  I've never tried it before....but I just happened to have celery last night, so Das gave him some.  He loved it! 

Mr. Logan got himself stuck.  He can move everywhere....except forward. LOL  I am so not ready to have him crawl.   Tristan and Ashton have way to many toys laying around that he could choke on.  And the toilets!!!  Tristan was the worse.  He plugged the toilets up so many times.   

So with as weird as the weather has been....we are finally getting some veggies.  Zucchini and squash.  I fried some up last night with some shrimp and pasta.  It was delicious!  We have lots of green tomatoes and peppers coming in.  Can't wait to make some salsa.  Broccoli isn't doing so well because of the damn aphids.  But the peas were great as well as the cilantro.....but we never used it.:(  raspberries are out of control, and everything else is being eaten by our pocket gophers. Ugh! 

Before Das and I got married, I bought him a Red Sox piggy bank.  He use to say something about collecting nickles for every time I didn't finish a story or thought.  We don't have a lot of nickles these days. lol  Anyway, I put the piggy bank on his dresser with a roll of nickles and called her Suey.  My brother in laws used to holler that to me until I would cry.  Get it?lol SUUUEEYY  Every time we go on a vacation like this, we cash Suey in and bet before hand how much she had.  Last year was only 50.  This year.....$110!!!!! 

Xactware Summer Party

This year Xactware had the summer party at Seven Peaks in Provo.  We took off around 2.  They closed the park to everyone else around 3.  So right when we got there, we found a perfect spot to sit. 

We loaded the kids up with sunscreen, picked up our tubes, and gave Logan a bottle.  Then it was off to the lazy river and kiddie slides. 

They gave each of us a free Dip n Dots.  We got in line with Joe and Kelly to get the kids some.  Then came back and relaxed for a little bit.  Then it was more slides and the wave pool.  Das then took Tristan on some of the bigger rides. 

We met up with Brad and Vanessa for a little bit.  Brad's bad was in battle of the bands there.  They did a really good job.  Then Vanessa and Brad sat with Logan while we took the boys on some more slides.  After we watched their cute girls while they went.  My favorite slide was the race slide.  Tristan liked that one too. 

I don't think Logan fussed even once.  He is so good and happy. 

They served dinner up around six.  Burgers, hotdogs, and lots of yummy sides. 

Das kept feeding Logan the Dip n Dots.  He loved them.  Das thought he looked like he had teeth. 

Xactware is such a great company.  I am so thankful for my husband and all his hard work.  I am thankful he works for such a wonderful company.  They treat their employees so well.  Looking forward to next years summer party.  Thanks Xactware!

Work before Play

Saturday before heading for some fun in th sun, we needed to get some things done that we've(Das) has been putting off.  First Das mowed the lawn, and then he fixed his break pads.  In the meantime, I got stuff ready for the water park and the boys collected snails and raced them.  Gross!

The boys have been collecting all sort of different bugs and putting them in a container with leaves and water.  What will they do next?! 

It's been a few or more weeks since Das's brakes started squeaking.  I am glad he finally took care of them.   I am also thankful for a husband that knows how to do these kinds of things.