...Winding Down....

 Well, as you can probably tell, this edition is going to go over several weeks...  It starts with Trunk or Treat at my work, which doesn't really have anything to do with the cabin, except for the fact that Jim was at the cabin the night this was happening... My theme was "Hockey Night in Canada" complete with a little hockey net that kids did their best to get the "puck" into the goal... Seems to be a hit with the kids - there was a lineup of kids just waiting to take a shot...  This was the first time that I've ever participated in something like this, and it actually was pretty fun!

Our Mahayla received an award at her school for getting honours... So proud of her.  What happened to that little bundle that used to climb up on my lap and fall asleep on my tummy?

And, Brea, in the same month, received an award for Student of the Month.  Again, we are so proud... and I miss these kids something terrible.

Election Night 2024 - Jim and I can't vote because we are still Canadian citizens, but we did our civic duty and volunteered to be poll watchers.  We had to make sure all the ballots were collected at the end of the evening and taken to the county court house.  We were at the Provo Library... and, it was freezing cold that night.  I had two fingers that lost feeling and I think Jim had three... We both thought we had frost bite setting in.  Fortunately, we didn't, but it was a fun experience.

Here's Jim looking stylin' in his official election vest!

And, here's all the bags that the ballots go into for transport.

And, here's Jim putting all the bags into my car to go to the polling station! Really was kinda fun.

Jim bought tickets to see the Rivalry game between Team USA and Team Canada at the Maverick Center.  What a fun time! 

Jim and I did our best to adequately represent Canada as best we could.

Jim had his Olympic mitts with him, but it was warm enough in the arena that you really didn't need them. Canada won 5 - 4 in a shootout.

And, the work on the stove pipe continues.  Ben was showing off his best rock climbing skills trying to get the cap back on the pipe... The first try it was getting dark, but the 2nd try was successful.  We haven't got the bird out of the pipe yet, and hopefully that job is in the near future.

We had the county inspector come out and he ok'd us to start installing sheetrock.  I find this so incredibly exciting - it's another step forward.  And, here's the first sheet that went up.

And, the 2nd.....

... and the third....

...and the little piece is where my piece of stained glass is going to go.. That's my project for this winter... It has been bitter cold in Alton with temperatures around 40 during the day, but falling to the teens at night.  It makes it really difficult to work in the cold.

As I said a couple of paragraphs up... the cap on the stove pipe was put back on... Jim thinks he is going to have to drill a hole in a part of it, because the cotter pin that comes with it, has nothing to attach to.  But, that's for a later date.

And, here's the trusty bucket truck doing it's job.  I swear, we have used this bucket truck for so many things in this building project.... everything from roofing, to moving wood, to bringing a refrigerator into the cabin.  It was a good investment.

On one of our travels to the cabin, when we stopped in Fillmore to fill up with gas, Jim noticed that one of my tires was a little low.  So, he went over to an air station to add a little air.. It was at that time that he realized that the air valve was deteriorated and fell off in his hands.  We had to make a quick trip to a tire center to have the donut put on. We were going to get it fixed when we got to Panguitch the next day, but all the tire stores were closed.  Jim finally called a towing service and they said this type of thing happens all the time, and they could fix it... We were thrilled we didn't have to drive 4 hours back to Provo on that stupid little donut.

With that, this edition is complete and the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri