Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, everyone!! Please stay safe and warm! I'm off to snowblow the driveway (including the 3 feet of Christmas present the snowplow left me at the end of our driveway this morning - I'll be sure to send him a thank you card). Then off to Karen's mom's for the day.

Christmas Snowstorm - Day 2

Day 2 of the Great Christmas Snowstorm brought... can you guess???... More snow. Looks like 3 1/2 more inches, but this stuff is wet, heavy and has partially melted, so we probably got more. I guess I'll call it 3 1/2, which brings the "storm" total to 8 3/4 inches. A couple more inches today and it should be over!

Christmas Snowstorm - Day 1

Day 1 of the Christmas snowstorm to end all Christmas snowstorms has come and gone. Below are some pics! Total so far: 5 1/4 inches. More on the way tonight although it's snowing big flakes right now.




This is a lawn ornament that didn't make it inside for winter. It normally looks like the planet Saturn.

The picnic table piled high.

Congratulations Jill & Josh!

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend Dustin's niece's wedding in Huntsville, TX on December 19th. Jill was a beautiful bride and Josh a handsome groom. Click here for my pictures. Congratulations Jill & Josh!!!

Monks Singing the Hallelujah Chorus

Click here for a funny video. make sure your speakers are turned on. This took some practice!

No Longer Puzzled

Karen and I finished the puzzle the family started when they were here over Thanksgiving. It was 1000 pieces "I Spy" puzzle that was a challenge down to the last 4 pieces! We aren't sure how many hours we spent on it, but we both worked on it several nights for a couple hours and quite a bit on Saturday.

Kuklenz Family Christmas 2009

Check out the pictures from the Kuklenz Family Christmas 2009! Click on on the link below!

Click here for the pics!

Siding Staining

Saturday, Karen and I both worked at North Memorial from 7:30am - 1pm as we prepare for next week's official launch of our new HR/Payroll/Benefits HRMS system. It was also the All-Church picnic later in the afternoon, which Karen, being the head of the Fellowship Team, is in charge of. I'm on the team by default. Before we were to leave for the picnic, she gave me the option of staying home and staining the front cedar siding instead of going to help with the picnic. It has needed it for a while it was on our fall 'to-do' list. "Seriously?" was my response. Based on where I'm at with a number of things church-related, this was a no-brainer. I stayed home! I started around 2:15pm and stopped at 7 (I was 2/3's done). It was actually really relaxing. I took my time, did a good job and really didn't have to think about whether employees life insurance premiums were going to calculate correctly and get sent to the plan administrator in a proper manor. It was kind of like a vacation!

Of course, the color of the stain we had put on before wasn't available anymore, so we (I) tried to get as close as I could using a 1 inch by 1 inch color swatch in the brochure. Instead of "Redwood", "New Redwood" looked close... Well, not really, but I actually like the color better. It's a little more brown and a little more red than what was on there before. I finished up today. Here are some pics.

Old color

New Color

Middle section was not done yet (it is now!)

TV Bump-Out

OK, OK. I'm getting complaints because there hasn't been an update for a while. Here ya go! These are pictures of the "bump out" that will house the TV in the basement. This will allow the TV to be flush with the wall (bump out) when it is installed. It's only bumped out part way down the wall because a bank of media cabinets will slide in underneath it that will float 6 inches above the floor. Right now, the TV is due to be installed on Nov. 14th, but the reality of us being ready for it by then is slipping away. Next step is call the electrician, but we are at the point of no return once we start that. Once they do the electrical rough in, we would have no electricity (lighting) in the space until the drywall is up, finished and painted. Only then, will they come do the final on the lights. That is not likely to all happen prior to the Kuklenz Christmas bash. More to come on that...

In Process...

Finished. Bracing was included to support the TV mount.

My New Favorite Cartoon

Plumbing Rough-In

Our plumber, Tony (you know you're a serious remodeler if you have "a plumber" and he knows the way to the house without giving him directions) was here the other day and did 4 hours of rough-in and moved the water meter from the living area to the storage room on the other side of the wall. Here are some pics!

Here is where the water meter used to be (in the living room)!

Here's the water meter in it's new home in the storeroom.

FIRE!

Fireside Hearth & Home came and finished installing the fireplace the other day. As you can see, we now have fire (and as a result, warmth!). We were told that at some point we'll have to run it for 10 hours straight to seal it up and get rid of the smell it is generating right now because it's new. It's not a good "new" smell either, like the inside of a new car. It's not pleasant! Judging from what little we've had it on, it will do a very good job of heating the space. Look closely and you can see the reflection of the camera in the window of the fireplace!

FIRE!!! (Almost)

The fireplace went in this morning! Here is the "framed and ready to go picture!"

Here is the "installed picture". Ain't she a beaut?

Sat-CHORE-Day

Saturday was beautiful here. 82 degrees, sunny, a nice breeze and very little humidity! We took advantage and spent the day outside. Here is a list of things we got done:

-Dustin washed and clayed the car (see how it sparkles???)

-Sawed off some dead limbs from the locust tree

-Scrubbed the garage floor

-Karen made homemade cinnamon rolls

-Vacuumed the downstairs after Karen's brother was done framing for the fireplace

All in all a VERY productive day!

At least we'll be warm...

As you all know, we are in the beginning stages of finishing the basement. The progress has to-date been slower than we'd like, but things are starting to pick up. We are putting in a gas fireplace, partly for warmth, partly for ambiance and Heat 'n Glo's "Cosmo SLR" model fits the style we're headed for. It is a sleek 13 inches high and 4 feet wide. And yes, it will be in the wall, much like this picture, although not as high. Unfortunately, behind the sleek front is a rather large metal box that has created some design challenges - in addition to only having 7 1/2' ceilings, but things are set now. It seems strange that this is the first thing that gets put in, but there is an order to these things! Installation will hopefully be in about 2 weeks! Check out the brochure, too!

Cosmo SLR Brochure

They don't call it a Blue MAMMOTH for nothing...

Below are two pictures of one of the hostas on the north side of the garage. I didn't measure it, but eyeing it up, my guess would put it at slightly more than 3 feet. As my mother would say, "It's going to eat the house!!"

Here is a close-up!

KTIS Joyful Noise Family Fest

Karen and I attended the KTIS Joyful Noise Family Fest last Saturday, June 13th. This was an all-day outdoor concert sponsored by 98.5 KTIS, a Christian radio station here in the Twin Cities. It was held at the National Sports Center in Blaine. We were there from 12pm - 10pm and had an AWESOME time. It helped that the weather was perfect! Below is the list of singers/bands/groups that were performing:

12pm: MN Teen Challenge Choir
12:45: bensonwells
1:30: Jonny Diaz
2:15: Daren Streblow (comedian)
3:00: Josh Wilson
4:00: PFR
5:00: Chris Sligh
7:00: Tenth Avenue North
7:55: Lincoln Brewster
8:55: Mercy Me

Check out the pictures. Again - sorry you can't scroll through them.

Ft. Lauderdale Pictures!

We headed to Ft. Lauderdale in May for a few days. Click the link below to check out the photos on my facebook page - everyone should be able to view them! Sorry - it does not look like you can scroll through them if you aren't on Facebook, but you view them one-by-one.

View Ft. Lauderdale Pics

Inaugural Post...

This is the "inaugural" post to our new blog. I have no idea how often it will be updated or what it might contain, but we're going to try it out and see where it take us. Enjoy your Saturday!