Dumont Dunes

We went camping with the Doyle Family on Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th at the "Little Dunes" at Dumont. We were celebrating Kurt's 17th birthday. Denny Doyle works on one of their quads. Ryan Doyle is in the foreground.
Debi's sister, Lisa, and Lisa's daughter (Kyleigh) also stayed with us in our trailer. Here's a picture of Lisa and Kyleigh posing on Gary's quad.


Kyleigh asked Uncle Gary to bury her in the sand. She remembered when Gary buried her at Pismo Beach last summer.

Kurt Doyle shows us all how to "catch some air".

David Archuleta Concert in Pomona, California

On Tuesday, March 17th, Debi and her little sister, Lisa, attended the David Archuleta Concert in Pomona, California at the Glass House. Here is a picture of us standing outside in line.

Inside the concert venue. The "Glass House" is a "standing room only" venue, but because it is so small, there isn't a bad "seat" ("stand") in the house. We were about 20 paces from the stage.

Here is the only decent picture I took of David singing. (I'm not a photographer!) We are only 20 paces from the stage, but my camera makes it seem as if we were miles away from David.

Olympic Gold Medalist Visits The Heritage School

Bryan Clay, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal champion in the Decathlon, visited The Heritage School on Friday, March 20, 2009 to speak with students about listening to their "coaches" (teachers) and getting a good education. The students earned money for our school and for Bryan Clay's foundation, which gives scholarships to deserving students. Our school raised over $12, 000 in all. The class with the highest total...Mrs. Whiting's Second Grade! The top earner in the school came from Mrs. Whiting's class, too! He earned $1,ooo on his own by getting pledges from his friends, family, and neighbors.


This is a picture of Bryan Clay at a track and field competition. A little biography about Bryan Clay...he was raised in Hawaii and is Afro-Asian. His father was African-American and his mother was a Japanese immigrant to America. He is married and has two children. He is a devout Christian and attended Azusa Pacific University (near Los Angeles).


This is a picture of the school assembly where Bryan Clay spoke to the students. Each student was given a flag to wave and a white T-shirt to wear. The T-shirt said: "The Heritage School Supports The Bryan Clay Foundation" and "March 20, 2009" and "Go For Your Gold".

Mrs. Whiting's second graders get ready for the walk-a-thon. It was a beautiful day for walking.

Mr. Garner, our principal, is being interviewed as he proudly wears Bryan Clay's gold medal.

Bryan Clay posed for pictures, signed autographs, and gave each student a "high five" as they walked around the track during the walk-a-thon. My student, Wyatt, is shown to Mr. Clay's right side. Wyatt was the top earner in getting pledges for the walk-a-thon. Wyatt will receive a pair of Nike shoes, signed by Bryan Clay, when Mr. Clay returns to our school to visit just room #8--Mrs. Whiting's second grade! Our class collected the most pledges for the walk-a-thon.

1996 Harley Davidson Super Glide For Sale

Gary has agreed to put his motorcycle up for sale so that we can have more house-building funds. It is a 1996 Harley Davidson Super Glide. Are you interested?

Interior Framing

It's been almost a month since we've posted any pictures to our blog. Gary has been working on the interior framing. He still has a few more walls to frame up, but here are some pictures showing what has been accomplished so far. This first picture is taken from inside the garage, looking west toward the guest bedroom. The red piping (which is called PEX tubing) is for the radiant flooring system. We have a radiant floor in our shop, and it is amazing how well it works. We installed one in the shop to make sure it worked before we used it in our log cabin.


This picture shows the pantry inside the kitchen. It is angled into the corner of the kitchen. Debi has always wanted a walk-in pantry right in the kitchen and she will finally have one. We will put river rock around the pantry opening to give the kitchen a rustic feel. We'll use the same river rock that will be on the front entry as well as on the wall behind the wood stove in the great room.

Looking toward the corner of the great room (facing north) where the raised hearth will hold the wood stove. The walls where the corners meet will be covered in river rock. The room to the right of this picture will be the living room where there will be a bookcase, the piano, and a small couch or love seat.

Looking from the Dalmatian bedroom toward the garage wall. The other wall of this bedroom still needs to be installed. (Facing east.)

Standing in the great room, facing toward the kitchen pantry. The pipes you see in this picture will be for the kitchen sink, which will be installed in the island.


Inside the master bedroom, looking at the corner gas fireplace frame. (Charlie Kayser is standing in the dining room on the other side of the wall.)

Standing in the dining room, facing the master bedroom. We are probably the only people we know who actually like a small master bedroom. We like our bedroom to be a "bed" room--just enough room for the bed and two nightstands. The dimensions of the master bedroom are just 13 x 13.5. The master closet will hold the dresser and it is 13.5 x 10--almost as big as the bedroom!

Charlie Kayser is standing in the hallway as you enter into the kitchen area of the great room. The walls inside the great room will be 12-13 feet high at the peak. The rest of the house has ceilings that are nine feet high.

Front Door is Stained and Installed

We picked up our front door on February 7th in Springville, Utah and returned home to a snowstorm on February 9th. It never really warmed up to the 60 degrees that is needed for painting or staining. In fact, Monday (Feb. 16th) we had another snowstorm, and school was cancelled on Tuesday (Feb. 17th). The weather has been too cold to stain the door, but Gary got brave today and used the same stain color as the logs (Cinnamon) to give the door a light coat. Because the logs are pine and the door is knotty alder, the color looks slightly different on each species of wood. This first picture shows a close-up of the newly-stained door. Gary also had to drill out the space for the locks--that was scary! When he finishes sealing the door, he will install the locks, deadbolt, and handle.

This next picture shows the view from several feet away. The silver rectangles you see on the sides and above the door are a radiant barrier on the plywood. Gary will put tar paper and metal lath mesh on top of it. Then he must put a "scratch coat" of mortar all over the lath before he completes the look with river rock. We looked at river rock over the weekend, and we think we found the color and style we like, but we are going to check out a couple of other options before we purchase anything. (Just imagine some sort of beautiful river rock covering the silver spaces.) Later this week, Gary will stain the posts the same color around the front door and along the north side of the house. The bottom two to three feet of each post will be covered with matching river rock. It is a slow process, but by the end of this week the house will be lockable!

The Front Door is Ready!

We just got this picture from Stacey Mitchell, our door carver, showing the carved front door panel installed inside the 42" knotty alder door. We will pick the door up this weekend (Feb. 7-9) in Springville, Utah--just 2.8 miles from Debi's sister, Denise. (Debi has a 3-day weekend for Lincoln's birthday.) When we get the door home, Gary will lightly stain it with the same stain color as our logs--"Cinnamon". Then he will install it in the front door opening and (eventually) put river rock around the entrance way.

We also had our super-quiet roll-up garage door installed this week, but before we put a picture on the blog, Gary has some half-round logs to install above it, and some trim to put around the edges. The garage door is a dark green to match the window trim. We have a "people" door right next to the garage door, and two "people" doors on the back (south) side that are painted "Hunter green" to match the window trim. Gary also installed the French doors in the living room and the master bedroom, but they need to be trimmed before we post any pictures. (The French doors are "Hunter Green", too.)