Forrest and Lily Come to Visit!

This week we had another example on how much life can change in a blink of the eye. Less than 2 weeks ago Barb’s stepmother went into the hospital with pneumonia and was diagnosed with stage 4 lung and pancreatic cancer. They gave her 3 months to live so Barb immediately started to make plans to go out to California after our son Forrest left. Two days later that diagnosis was changed to 3 weeks. Paula, 74, was very active, still working fulltime at an insurance agency was a loving wife to Barb’s dad for many years and took care of him during his battle with cancer before he passed away in 2012. Life can change in an instant…….

Forrest and our granddaughter Lily arrived on Wednesday the 10^th for a weeklong visit. Well, to be honest it is a visit/work vacation as Forrest is going to wire all the electrical in our house!

Forrest and Lily arriving at the airport!

That same day we received another phone call saying that Paula had 24 hours. Within a matter of days the diagnosis went from 3 months to 3 weeks to 24 hours. She passed away during the early morning of July 12^th in her sleep.

Our hearts go out to Paula’s family but are happy with the thought that she is now at peace with Barb’s dad.

Paula with Barb's dad

Forrest and I have been busy getting the house wired up. As a licensed electrician he has wired many a house so his knowledge and experience was invaluable. Day one found us walking through each of the rooms with Barb, detailing locations of lights, outlets and switches. Then we started installing said outlets, switches and lights.

Lots of boxes in the kitchen alone!

While we were doing that we received a text from Rudee and Phil asking if we wanted to meet them at the Pringle bar for dinner. Of course we did! So along with Jim and Brenda we all went there for a nice dinner.

The next day, while Barb watched Lily, we started wiring…… for the next three days we wired, wired and wired…..1500 feet of 12/2, 1000 feet of 14/2, 250 feet of 14/3, 100 feet of 6/3, 27 can lights, 73 outlets and 4 fans later we were done! Whew!

Forrest working in the bathroom

Lily even got in on the action!

That is a mess of wires!

All cleaned up and ready for inspection!

Forrest did great work hooking everything up and tying it together, now we just need to get it inspected and flip the switches. This is another big step in our build and are glad to have it done.
Lily meanwhile was decorating the floor in our bedroom. We will now forever have part of Lily under our flooring when the house is done.

This is a picture of Dakota

Speaking of big steps we got the all the exterior doors installed plus….

Front door is also in!

The garage doors installed! We are all buttoned up and ready to head north!

With the house work all done it was time for some play! Barb had taken Lily to Evans Plunge, a combination hot springs/waterslide in Hot Springs. We had never been there before and although Barb said it was a little crowded she said she would go back there again. She had also taken Lily to Wind Cave National Park to complete the Jr. Ranger program where she got another badge for her vest!

The four of us went for several jeep rides, with the weather being so nice we were able to remove the top and enjoy the fresh air. We visited The National Forest Office, Mt. Rushmore, drove the Needles Highway, the wildlife loops in Custer State Park and oh ya, the Purple Pie Place!

Lily with the Purple Pig

Did you know Smokey turned 75 this year!?!?

We ran into a "buffalo jam" in one section of the road where the beasts had both sides of the road blocked for about 20 minutes. They eventually wandered right past us and we were able to carry on.

Dance Party!

The next day Forrest and I snuck out for a quick fishing trip to Ditch Creek. Forrest started out the action by landing this beautiful rainbow.

Not to be outdone, I landed this one a few minutes later. My biggest non-Alaska rainbow to date!

One day when Jim Jordan and I ran over to Kevin's for some tools we ran across two snapping turtles on the road, one was just wandering aimlessly and the other one was laying eggs.

Our week together went way too fast and before we knew it it was time to drive them back to the airport except they had one unexpected passenger on that flight as well. Barb had booked a ticket to fly west with them to Medford Oregon where she will be renting a car and driving down to Redding California where she is assisting with the settlement of Paula’s estate. She only booked a one-way ticket as she does not know how long it will take. I, in the meantime, am headed to Ontario with Daisy and Dakota. Barb is planning on flying into Thunder Bay in a couple weeks when the time is right.

So although I am headed to one of my “Happy Places” it is bittersweet with the death of Paula and going without Barb. Just another reminder of how fragile life is and how it can change in a minute.