6.29.2010

June 29th, 2010





Now we're dealing with nice weather once again. Roger's thermometer was registering at 85 degrees, toasty! We have been doing some late nights, mostly staying up and visiting. The night before, the men didn't come home until 9:00 pm. We stayed up awhile and watched "Fireproof." The next day, all of us were a little groggy from staying up a wee bit too late. We packed our lunch, headed to the lot and began working. At about 3:00, Jason was feeling a little under the weather and went inside the tent to lay down for awhile. Dad, Dayton, and I plugged away with the sheathing. We got up to the 2nd floor. At about six, we decided to call it a day. Jason was in no shape to stay any longer and so we packed up and went home. I made Dad and myself a moose burger. Jason went straight to bed. I think he is overtired and his body is telling him what to do, rest. We have my little brother Ethan with us for a visit. He is one tall 9th grader! He was in Unalakleet after Biblecamp and was able to get a free ride from a gentleman who flies between Unalakleet and Fairbanks periodically. So, that is the latest. We're all resting and in the morning, will be excited for a new day.

6.26.2010

June 26th, Happy Birthday Jason (and Kemper)






Do you think Jason would allow me to keep him home, relax, watch a movie, and eat a special dinner for his birthday? Well, I do have meat loaf for his special dinner and of course he hasn't been home all day. Everyone feels rested, especially due to the fact that we slept in actual beds. While in Fairbanks, we saved money by camping for $16.00/night. The summer hotel prices are a bit steep, so we accommodate our sleeping situation with the thought of saving money and put up with camping. We like it anyways. We've enjoyed Dad so much, it is a blessing to spend time with such an upbeat guy. I mean, building a house while on his vacation is his idea of a good time. What a guy. Well, the sheathing is going up. It is something beautiful to see. I had to leave a little early, so in the mean time, the guys got more done. Just an update from up north, Happy Birthday to Jason and our dog Kemper!

6.25.2010

June 20-26, 2010






1. Dad arrived in Fairbanks, now the Harris' arsenal is up to 3 adults! Great to see him again!
2. We have cabinets, stain, a grill, a stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher off our house shopping list!
3. As a result, we have 2 full crates of goodies waiting to be delivered to Galena via barge.
4. We survived a mishap at Home Depot. We bought a stainless steel stove. Transported it to Nenana (57 miles from Home Depot), opened the box, the stove was white. We drove the stove back. Exchanged it and drove the new stainless (confirmed at Home Depot) steel stove to Nenana. ALWAYS CHECK THE BOX for contents!!
5. Made 4 trips (114 miles roundtrip) between Fairbanks and Nenana with loads of house goodies.
6. Jason bought NEW shoes and socks, everyone benefits.
7. Ate at Pagoda's, the best Chinese food on planet Earth.

We're on our way to Galena shortly. We did the 'ol power shopping trip to Fairbanks. Adios.

6.20.2010

6/20/10 Happy Father's Day


We packed up our tools and moved them to the shed, we're going to Fairbanks tomorrow, so no progress on the house until Friday. However, there will be a handful of epic trips to Home Depot and Lowe's to get some appliances and other misc things to finish the house. What's kind of crazy is that we will have to make yet another trip to really finish up the house. For example, the wood stove will not make this particular list and shipments on the barge. We're excited to pick up our own grill, I can't believe we've gone this long this summer without one. I can agree that that is utterly wrong. Jason, if you remember, bought a welder and this was prior agreement that it covered his Father's Day present. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Well, we are on our second movie tonight, so that counts! Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's, you mean so much to us in many ways.

6.19.2010

6/19/10


Jason did a monumental task this afternoon, squaring the building up. We have pages 27 and 28 out of our instructional booklet that happen to be missing. Well, we're on the stage where we need those pages in order to do the sheathing. We'll probably have to wait until monday to get the information on this. However, on monday we leave for Fairbanks. Jason's dad arrives on wednesday. We thought we'd get in a little extra shopping since we'll be in the metropolis of Fairbanks. So, quite possibly, it may be next friday before we do any real work on the house. So, we decided to do a family portrait, well, family that was around. Kemper really isn't as sad as he looks, he really is the type of dog that gets excited over the idea of breathing. Well, we'll keep you posted with our Fairbanks trip, we can have some different pictures for a change.

6.18.2010

July 18, 2010





Each time we finish a building process stage, we just feel like celebrating. One cannot celebrate too long because the next day you have to start the next building project. It was like changing of the guards today, first Kenton, Keith and Kallie showed up for a little bit; then Mr. Gillis showed up as soon as the first helping crew left. By the time I came around to snap pictures, the rafters were erected and looked beautiful. The rain comes and goes. It is nice and sunny in the evenings when we're home, the day time tends to have clouds and rain. But, as soon as we were to switch schedules, the rain and sunshine would follow. Superstition is definitely a thing of the past if you ask me. So anyways, tomorrow involves squaring the building and starting the sheathing. Good night from Alaska where it is 10:15 pm and bright as day!

6.17.2010

June 17, 2010


Which is more exciting, a picture of the framing of the house, or the miter saw in action, ripping 2X10's? Some days, progress on a house is merely, prep work. This morning, Jay and I organized Roger and Carole's house into a check in station for kids going to Kokrine Hills Biblecamp. In my opinions, it is more than a fair trade to help Roger and Carole as they allowed us to stay at their place since last October. So, as kids arrived from various villages, Jay and I picked them up, helped them register, helped Roger with small jobs, and watched the kids take off on a 4 hour boat ride to camp. So, around 2:00 Jason and I sat down to pulled pot roast with bar-b-q sauce for lunch. Our only goal was to do all the cutting for the assembly for the rest of the rafters. Jay cut 35 2X10's by dinner. We would have cut all the 2X4's but the intermittent rain was enough to convince us to come home. Working in rain and mosquitoes nipping at whatever they can get can make one schedule an appointment with a counselor. So, for tonight we're relaxing with a movie, 2012. Hey, what do you know, the weather has improved, sunshine and calm winds. That is just out of our control, tomorrow the rafters will go up, weather permitting.

6.16.2010

June 14, 15, and 16, 2010






What kind of blogger am I? Some of you might have thought I was making empty promises by saying I would post each day. Well, there is some truth there. Aren't the rafters beautiful? Each step is a mystery until the wood is cut, assembled and put up. We're happy to say that rafters don't scare us anymore. The only scary thing was standing by the edge of the 2nd floor with an awkward truss. My prayer at the dinner table was a prayer of thankfulness in safety, I mean, common sense goes a long way, but we believe in prayer too. Tomorrow includes helping campers with transportation to a Biblecamp. Jay and I will probably cut all the rafter material as far as building goes, thats it. Well, goodnight. Enjoy the progress along with us!

6.13.2010

June 11th and 12th, 2010






It is 1:00 am and there is still plenty of daylight! The first thing I do when I walk in the door after 8-12 hours of helping Jay build, you guessed it, download pictures and post! We've had a couple of exciting days. We spent friday night (11th) at the lot in our small tent. We thought that it would be nice to quit working and not have to drive back to the house, instead we crawled into the tent and snuggled with Kemper. Kemper came along and didn't sleep well. He made up for it on saturday, between eating mosquitoes and napping in the tent, he decided that was enough action. We worked all day saturday on the 2nd floor decking and came so close to finishing. I (Myra) stayed on the ground, cut all the pieces to whatever measurement Jay yelled out, handed the board to him, and he nailed the decking down. Seriously, I have numbers flashing across my face as I type. It does help doing this several hundred times, I finally can read a tape measure speedily, even upside down! No, not me, the tape measure. The pictures, in some ways, just don't do the lot justice. I need to take a few shots of other things on the lot. Maybe tomorrow. Good night, glad you're keeping up with the Harris' saga!

6.10.2010

June 9th, 2010





The pictures show it all. We're so busy right now, just wanted to post the exciting development.

6.08.2010

June 7 and 8, 2010




Monday and tuesday were a bit hectic, even for summer days. Myra's distance grad class started, she is locked in from 9 until noon each day with her class until the end of this month. Romay leaves tomorrow for Fairbanks to visit mom and to Anchorage for a basketball camp! She is traveling by herself while flying, a new experience for her! Jason has erected the first 2 post and beams of 11 total. We should have all of the beams up by thursday. Tomorrow we should get 4 or 5 up (heck, you never know, we just may finish) and will take pictures. Working on the 2nd level of the house is so exciting and gratifying. Jason has had help from a handful of willing people to lend a hand. Romay and I prepare simple tin foil meals from time to time, potatoes and meat in foil packets. Simple, but yummy, and I'm happy to say that we haven't had to rely on the all time emergency food of all, tube steaks, aka, hot dogs. I suglu (eskimo for 'lie'), summer hasn't been hectic, afterall, Myra got to relax in PJ's, drink coffee, and watch the Yukon as she took her class. We shall see you again in another posting soon.

6.07.2010

June 6th, 2010



Today was a day full of building box beams. We took a 2x4 and nailed two 2x10's to the outside of it, kind of like a 2x4 sandwich. They took a little time to build as we tried to make each side of the beam square and well, some of the wood decided that it just wasn't going to work that way. Well, we built 11 of the box beams. We stored them under the house to keep them out of the rain. Meanwhile, we managed to trip up on the stumps as we were carrying the beams, sorta humorous to visualize almost falling while carrying an awkward long piece of sandwiched wood. We also had a young moose visit. He looked quite scrawny. He helped himself to the greens around our lot. Maybe he will visit often. (or she?). Good night, another full day tomorrow. I have a online class that is beginning and Jay will start the day without me. The weather is supposed to be warm with perhaps an occasional thunderstorm, sounds great to us.

6.04.2010

June 4th, 2010






Friday. We finished the tongue and groove decking. Jason had to do some creative figuring, but it's all good. Like I said, he did figuring, which insinuates that it all got put together with OSHA 5 star ratings. Okay, so OSHA didn't check us out, but isn't that the reason why we feel so lucky to be doing it the way we are? Well, the only thing he had to do figuring on was using a table saw to cut a 2X6 plank in half, he had to do this on 3 of them as they are 16 foot long. Clearly not a big concern. Well, we also have a young man, Dayton, that is helping in leaps and bounds. He will be with us for about the next 2 weeks as he is in Galena for a summer program. Sweet deal. So tomorrow we are starting the 2nd floor with post and beams. Jason had time to fix Romay's go-cart. She is mobile and that makes all the difference to her little world. We live about a mile from the building site. Romay can garden in the early afternoon and meet us at the lot when it is convenient for her. Good night from the Harris' family.

6.03.2010

June 3rd, 2010





I suppose I have been blogging like the way I have taken vitamins in the past. Now, it should be an each day thing, but it isn't. So here comes a late dose of building information. As expected, the weather has been raining off and on the past two days. Laying down the decking has been enjoyable, but a bit slower. We can't compare decking so much to joist building, but Jason had to order longer pipe for the pipe clamps. This means that we have to wait to finish the decking, meanwhile, he will go ahead with the box beam building for the goal posts that will go up after the decking. It has been cold. We went from 75 degree weather to 50 overnight. Regardless, we had a couple of families stop by last night to hang out, roast hot dogs, and help lay down decking. They also have kids, so it turned out to be a classic family get together with some work, food and fun. I am taking vitamins and doing well with it each day so far. I started yesterday.