2015 Regional Convention Lunch Time Highlights.....

This last weekend Kim and I along with family and friends had such a wonderful
time at the Regional Convention entitled "Imitate Jesus"!
We met at a new venue this year.
The Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, California.
What a nice place!
Close to home (40 minutes away) and not far from our
Circuit Assembly Hall in Mira Loma.
We decided to drive back and forth for the three day convention
since it was close enough.

It was so nice to have ALL of David and Myrtle Horn's
children in attendance along with some of their grandchildren!
This picture was very special because Keith wanted to
take it because they were all here
serving Jehovah together once again!

Liz and Hiram and the kids are looking beautiful as usual.
I can't believe how much my YaYa
is GROWN!!!!
He looks like a MAN!!!

Bree and Zae Zae and half of Sheri's head.
It totally looks like Bree photo bombed Sheri back there, Ha Ha!

Mom and I were having a good laugh during the lunch break.
We were laughing so hard because guess who was taking this picture?
Cae Cae!
She took her mom's camera and she was taking pictures of everyone!
Yes, she is only 4 years old and totally knows how to use the
camera on Liz's phone and then she will stop and make you look how it came out!
Wait, did I just get photo bombed by the brother behind me?

OMG! YaYa!
You are right there with your dad and soon will be up there with Papi!

These two are inseparable!
Too Cute!
Cae Cae and Zae Zae.

Happy faces!
I love these guys!

Yeah they looked great each day!
I remember when my boys were little and they looked so handsome in their suits.

Our little Princess!
She's growing up way too fast!

Papi, Ammy and Cae Cae with Papi's glasses on....

What a great convention!
Jehovah is truly feeding us a spiritual feast! Lots of new videos during the convention
and of course the new releases!
I feel blessed and very grateful that I am a part of Jehovah's family of Witnesses.
We were able to see many old friends and we made new friends.
As usual the convention went by way too fast!
We hated to have it end.
But for now we will get back to work and keep applying all that we learned
at this beautiful convention.

If you have received an invitation to this convention at your door
 don't miss out!
There is still time to attend an "Imitate Jesus" Convention in your area.
You won't be disappointed!
For more information on the conventions in your area, go to JW.Org 
or
You can just click on the link to the right
 "2015 Imitate Jesus" Conventions

DIY Project......Kitchen Update

So.....What do I do whenever Kim is going to be out of my hair for a couple of days?

I think of a project to do of course!

So I had all kinds of projects that I thought that I would get done while he went to Warwick

But

I underestimated the time and the energy that taking apart

three pallets would take!

Yikes!!!!

You really need MAN POWER 

to dismantle pallets!

Not even using a sawzall did the trick!

Anyway, in January when we were in the midst of our remodel...

(we are still not done)

We took out the upper cabinets in the kitchen with the intentions of doing open

shelving and putting in new counters.

Well long story short, no money for the counters 

right now but we already removed the tile backsplash 

which damaged the drywall.

So......you know me.....

What can I do to make it look like I meant to do this?

And Cheap or no cost!

Well my brother Steve has access to free pallets whenever I need them

so I gave him a call!

As you can see the drywall where the backsplash was needed to be repaired.
I also had to cut away the drywall where I needed to mount
the L-brackets that I was going to hang my shelves with.

This is the other side that needed the repairs.
Can you see why I want new counter tops?
When I reach that bridge I'll cross it.

After spending three days of hard labor dismantling pallets
I started to install the wood on the walls behind the sink.
BTW...I learned how to use my husbands air-compressor
and air gun by looking it up on You-Tube!
I love the tutorials on You-Tube!
I AM WOMAN!!!
(Although I wish my man was around to dismantle those pallets!)

Heavy duty L-Brackets are installed into the studs and I made sure they were level!
(Yes I made that stained glass window)

Not a perfect job on the drywall but who cares since it will be concealed by the wood.

Drywall done, check!

Two days of Installing the wood and a lot of getting up and down off the ladder!
I was soooo tired but satisfied it was all in!
Now I was really torn because I really liked the wood look
and I planned on painting it.
But ultimately you have to go with your gut so
I decided to paint it because it was dirty looking
 and
 would make my kitchen look very dark.
And besides I wanted more of a "Beach" vibe.

So notice how I concealed the L-Brackets so that I could make my shelves look bracketless.

Now I built the shelves.
Got the instructions on Pinterest for the shelves and I
did my own rendition of them with scrap wood.

The finished product after a whole week of working on this!
I absolutely love having open shelves!
Easy access to all of my stuff!

Now I'm ready for the next project!
Have to paint the cabinets and make a roman shade for the window.
And perhaps one day I'll get those new countertops?

Dedication of the Upland Kingdom Hall......

Well as you all know the Upland Kingdom Hall has been a part of our life for about a year now.
We have seen it go from a building in ruins to a beautiful house of worship
thanks Jehovah and his holy spirit directing all of the willing
volunteers who have lovingly given many long hard hours to
this project.

One of the most satisfying jobs that I was given (besides working along with the friends in Safety and First Aid) was to direct the work on the mosaics for the exterior of the Kingdom Hall.
This was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do.
But thanks to Jehovah, I had so much help!
This could not have been accomplished without the willing volunteers who came
and worked tirelessly on these beautiful mosaics.
Many of them have never worked in glass before but they were quick learners and
very natural at it!

Then Kim got the call from one of the Elders in Upland inviting us to the dedication of the Kingdom Hall!
This was so bitter sweet for us
 because
 there were only two tickets for us.
We wish we could have brought along everyone of the volunteers that helped on this project.
But the brothers reasoned that there were thousands of volunteers who actually worked on the hall in Upland however, only a fraction of those volunteers were able to attend the dedication.

We were able to come together once again with Dale Crotts who was the Overseer of the project in Upland and reminisce about where it all started and how beautiful the building came out.

One of the highlights was having Brother Splane of the governing body give the dedication talk.

This is the lobby when you first come into the hall.

You know we couldn't leave without getting a picture with brother Splane!

Mary and I go a long way back...... She not only attends this Kingdom Hall but she also was one of the volunteers who helped on the mosaic.

Lori and Scott Williams are also friends that we have known for probably 25 years.
Lori (in my opinion) should receive a medal for scheduling volunteers for Safety for all of the RBC-4 projects that were going on at the time.
I volunteered to help schedule volunteers for the month that she was gone and thought to myself HOW DID SHE DO THIS!
Tough Job!

This is just a remnant of the original mosaic that was installed on the exterior of the Kingdom Hall.
And now the next mosaic is complete and will be installed after our Regional Convention
 (see next post)
So keep checking and I will update you when we install it....

Finished Product, Ready to Install......

Well, today we taped up the completed mosaic to prepare it for the installation!!!
Isn't is beautiful!
The volunteers should be very proud of what they have accomplished with this mosaic.
We really won't appreciate how beautiful it is until it is installed on the exterior of the Kingdom Hall in Upland.
Once it is installed and grouted it truly comes to life!
So the next step will be flipping it over and gluing the mesh to the back of it.
Then we flip it back over and prepare the board that it will be mounted to permanently.
Then we apply the mosaic onto the board just like a giant tile.
Once it is dried then we install the board with the mosaic attached to it onto the exterior
of the Kingdom Hall.
Then once it is secured, we will grout it the same day.
Due to our Regional Convention we will probably install this piece after the convention at the end of this month.
So I will keep you informed and share the pics of the installation day.

Update on the Current Mosaic for the Upland Kingdom Hall.....

               I am so excited about the progress of this mosaic so far!

 For the last two weeks I really have not done anything on the mosaic 

because

 I have been out of town and then I got sick.

 But we REALLY do have a great set of leaders and volunteers 

who have just taken the "bull by the horn's"
so to speak

and it is so much appreciated!!!! 

(So much less pressure on me!)

WHAT A GREAT JOB THEY HAVE BEEN DOING!

Look at the progress!!!!

As you can see this mosaic is underway.
We began cutting the various colors and sizes of glass for each section.
Margaret has been placing her mark on the mosaic with the beautiful mountains and she is using her creative spirit with the rest of the problem areas. Boy are we glad to have her on board again!

The water is coming together flawlessly! Love the various shades of blue and the iridescent glass that Kim and his volunteers are using. 

Tina has moved on to the front after she worked on the foothills. Notice how she tied in California Poppy's and green foliage.

So here is the view from up on top of a ladder. This gives us a better picture of the area's that we need to adjust and really helps us to appreciate what the finished product will look like.

So it is coming along pretty quickly thanks to the volunteers that have been here working tirelessly.

Margaret sent me this picture today with some more progress. I am hoping to get there tomorrow to finish off the clouds and to help out with the shore line.
Isn't It beautiful!!!!

Ladder View.... Looking Good....
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, to those who have worked so hard on getting this mosaic almost completed so quickly!!!
Completion Date Goal: May 30, 2015

New Mosaic Is Underway......

As if my life were not busy enough.....I've begun work on the next mosaic along with a few good friends that have volunteered their time and energies along with me.

So here it goes....

We are hoping to get this one completed

and installed by the end

of May!

We had a pow wow to figure out where we were going to start on this one.
Checked to see if we have enough glass, got supplies together
and got started cutting!

Mapping out this mosaic is going to be very challenging!
There is a lot of green and brown in this one and
what looks like a field of flowers is
in actuality a forest of trees!
I'm already stressing!!!!
So we are going to go with the flow and start with the easy parts....
the sky, the water and Margaret has already got her groove
going on the mountains.
This is the actual picture that we are working with but we will be
doing our interpretation of this picture in glass
just as we did the last mosaic.

This mosaic will be installed on the exterior of the Upland Kingdom Hall
hopefully by the end of May on the other side of the building.

This was the first completed mosaic installed.

So I will keep you posted on our progress and hopefully it will go as scheduled.

70th Wedding Anniversary Party!!!!

Last Weekend we celebrated the 70th Anniversary

for some very special friends.

Anton & Dorothy Eastergard

This is a picture of them back in the day

and a

beautiful picture of them today.

We had such a great time with friends and family.

It was a formal affair & it gave all of us a chance to play dress up for a change.

We had great food, great entertainment and great company!

Here are just a few pictures of the happy faces that attended this great party!

I know I missed many pictures so if you did not see your face in one I was probably on the dance floor getting my exercise....

What a fun time!

Jehovah's people are truly a happy bunch

and we sure know how to have fun!