Summer Fun?

What a summer!  Most of it was spent working on the outside of the house.  I've already blogged about the porch so I won't go into it again.  

After the porch and deck repair came stripping and staining the log siding.  It was the completion of several years of trying to decide what to do with it.  The siding was starting to look pretty sad.  In the end, I decided to go ahead and spend the big bucks to have the siding stripped (sandblasted) so I could then stain it.  I must admit, just painting it was seriously considered.  It would have been much easier and a lot less expensive.  But I just couldn't give up on how great the house would look with the log siding stained.  Since I'm pretty much a DIY guy, I tried different chemical strippers to see how they would work.  They didn't... so that left sanding.  Remember, it's log siding... no flat surfaces.   That would take forever.  Sandblasting was really the only option, something that just a little beyond my DIY abilities and/or desire.

Here's the sandblasting crew working on the house.  There was a crew of 3 who worked 3 solid days.  What a messy job.  It has to go down as one on the worse jobs ever.  One guy was always suited up in protective gear, and the temperatures were in the 80s.  Was I ever glad I didn't try to do this myself!

Next came the staining.  That by itself took me several weeks as the stain was a two part, wet on wet, product.  I think you have to admit, the house sure looks nice now.  

Now the really observant among you will have noticed something else.  Yep, my amateur radio tower is finally up.  My two son-in-laws (there's two now, more about that in a second) came over and mixed-poured the concrete for the base.  The 5' deep hole was dug in the spring.  A few weeks later my neighbor came over with his Bobcat and proceeded to carry and drag the tower through the woods into the backyard.  Since the tower cranks over and tilts down, it was easy for me to finish the erection and mount the antennas.  No more climbing up an 80' tower to work on antennas!

AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT

MY BABY GOT MARRIED!!

The big event was last weekend.  Teresa and John decided to take a big chance and have an outdoor wedding towards the end of September.  The god's (actually I think it was Teresa's Mom pulling some strings) were favorable as the weather was great.  Just a little haze from forest fires in Eastern Washington.

If your wondering, I was/am a pretty proud Dad.  

The wedding was at Faragut State Park just north of Coeur d'Alene.  The setting was gorgeous and very fitting for Teresa and John as they are quite the outdoors adventurers.

Isn't this just great?  The minister is a friend of theirs working at a mission in Nicaragua.  John and Teresa decided to forgo some wedding expenses to fly him here to perform the ceremony.  And the bridesmaids were beautiful, not that I'm biased, since they are my two other daughters.  We couldn't be happier.  John is a wonderful man and they make a fantastic couple.  

What a way to end the summer!

footnote:

Remember my previous blog about Teresa I posted a few months ago.  Yesterday, one week, almost to the minute after the wedding, Teresa fell while he and John were riding.  She ended up putting her front teeth through her bottom lip.  5 stitches later, she is doing fine.