What a Month (or simply a few weeks)!

Its been a few weeks, and although things have been going on...I haven't had time to sit & blog. You know I'm busy when I don't get time to do my favorite thing! It seems since school started for Bill, that we've been going like crazy.
We were blessed at the end of September to head to Seattle with some great people of our church family to a leadership conference. Wow...what an inspiring few days. A humbling experience as you learn that being a leader is first about serving others. Funny how we've been given that example some 2000 years ago....and we still don't get the idea! Being a servant is a humbling experience, but also so fulfilling and we have so much to learn to fill those shoes. I can't even explain the feeling of this two day conference. They were very full days...from 9am to 9pm, but the fullness of our hearts was incredible. Brett Williams led worship the first day...what a blessing...as I LOVE his music--plus, he's a pretty darn nice guy! We had fun, we were filled-- plus, we got away without the kids, and were blessed by Jenny being able to stay with them.

As we headed to Seattle on the way through Portland, we thought it would be great if we could track down Charlie. We were concerned about him not wanting to be tracked down, so we dropped the subject. On Tuesday night, just as we were heading back into the conference after dinner, guess who called? Charlie!! He was up for us meeting for lunch. It made the drive home have a nice break as we spent a few hours visiting, catching up, and feeling blessed that we got to "see" that he was OK. I know I'm not his Mom, but he will always be a part of our family.Bill returned to school and I to work. On Saturday, I opened up the chicken coop and found FIVE eggs!!! Our girls had been laying. We had given up! One got very proud, and tried to cover it so Kristin couldn't take it, but she was happy to give her another the day after. We've collected 10 so far, so think they are only laying every other day....but for us...it's working just fine.


This last weekend was a flurry of catching up after being gone the weekend before. Zorro...our 15 lb cat, had an altercation, and would not let me cut this altercation from his hair...SO...into the bath he went. He did not like it, and scaled the tub ledge, and then the shower door. SOOOOO funny!!



Thursday was a sad day. Bill arrived from school, and went to get the mail. He met our neighbor in the driveway, and they were chatting. Sadie, their dog, ran into our yard to play with Lexxi, and Lexxi, being afraid, ran fast the other way. The game was on...so Sadie took a path she has taken a million times...but this time she clipped too close to the water spigot and caught the loose skin under her front arm. This peeled her skin back like a shirt sleeve torn from the shoulder seam. Bill & Kyle both realized it was bad news, and tried to calm her. After getting her calmed and into the dog kennel...Rex & Kyle left for the vet, and Bill started fixing the pipe that snapped off when she hit it so hard. Kristin was able to turn the water off....and now the task was to fix the water.

Being this pipe was never buried very far, it froze several years ago and broke, again, gushing water all over the yard. Bill decided since the pipe was in a poor spot, and was not used very often, he decided to just cap off the run. I stopped on the way home and picked up the parts....only to get home and find Bill up by the pump shed....working on the pipe where it "T'd" from the main line. Being the pipe was so far in the ground down below, he decided to dig up where the T was, and cap it from the top side, so that we didn't need to worry about any more issues with it. Unfortunately, the threaded fitting was GLUED. So when he went to loosen, it broke instead of unscrewing....OH NO...our main line...broken! Back to the hardware store in town.

In the meantime, our neighbor called, asking what had happened, since she was meeting her kid and her Dad at the vet. They were unable to reattach the skin, due to the blood supply, and how serious it was. The options they were given were not ones that Sadie would have dealt with well. She was a good dog, and it was sad that she was only 10. Adele and the boys said Goodbye to Sadie, and came home with our empty Kennel. A very sad ending, and one none of us expected. Please keep Adelle and her family in prayer as they heal from the loss of a family member.

As we left the hardware store the second time, it was with a coupling that would fit the span of the hole where the old T was. Bill and Ryan worked on that coupling for over 2 hours and could not get it lined up. The pipe coming from the shed was rigid in cement, and the pipe heading down toward the side of the house was coming out of the ground at about a 30 degree angle....no amount of pulling and prodding could get that coupling lined up. We got it connected the best we could, so that we could turn the water on shower and flush toilets! Bill decided that he would think about it, and bounce some ideas off people and find a solution. We headed in about 10:30...showered and got an email from Nate.



Nate suggested we use PEX because it is more pliable. SO...on Friday after class, Bill got the parts...got a piece of PEX from Nate,and headed home to get the job done because we had a "date"! Upon getting home, and taking the coupling off, the pipe that ran down under the deck, under the cement slab, and next to the house PULLED OUT when Bill was cutting the old fitting off. OH NO! This means digging under the porch. This means taking the deck boards off the deck, cutting the supports, and the taking a sledge to the 4x3 foot section of concrete that he needed to get under. Once he had it all dug out, he looked at the fitting and this PVC had NEVER been glued in. NOW we know why the basement wall is always damp, and why our pump runs more than we thought it should. SO...with parts list in hand, I headed to home depot on the way home. Thankfully he was down to waiting for parts when I got home...but OH NO, I got the wrong size. SO..back to Hoy's hardware in Sweet Home to see what we could figure out. It turned out they had what we needed, so back home we went. Now mind you...we have (or should I say Bill & Ryan have) about 10 hours into this now. Bill gets it all hooked up--even though the PEX flexed....when we turned the water on, the stress from the pipe not mating (there is almost a 3 ft drop between the pipe at the house, and the pipe at the pump house) caused a leak around every pex fitting. We were again at a ucky spot. Just about that time Sherry called to tell us what time Bill needed to meet the guys in the morning. I mentioned our frustration and asked for prayer, and we prayed right on the spot. She prayed that Bill realized just what he needed to do. We hung up and Bill & I once again tried to figure out what to do...then it hit me. Why were we trying to go straight when we could use two 90's to do the job. Bill loved the idea and off to Home Depot we went AGAIN! We made it there, through Home Depot, gas and back again in 90 minutes!! WOW....Bill hooked it all up...we turned the water back on...darn, one leak. BUT at a fitting that could be tightened. Bill used some teflon tape, and retightened the fitting, and YAHOO...we are in business! We are leaving the deck open, and the hole open for a few days to check for leaks or problems. Everyone was ready for a shower...and by 10pm...we have water!