Time Flies

I logged into WordPress today for the first time in a few months.  I didn’t realize that it had been that long as I never intended to be away for more than a couple of weeks.  It’s amazing how time can get away from us.

Emberly is nearly 7 months old already!  She is a curious and active baby.  She has a very good and happy disposition and is still sleeping through the nights, which is something we needed.  She loves all the attention she gets from her older siblings and is definitely a joy to have around.

 

The summer also flew by.  I had to make some major repairs on the bus and we got one trip in with the trailer.  The structure around the rear door was in bad shape when we bought the bus.  There was rust on the metal frame and I could poke my finger through it in some spots.  The door still functioned and I left it alone as I wasn’t sure how I would go about fixing it.

Fast forward to mid-July and I was getting some tools out of the rear of the bus when the door nearly came off on top of me!  The hinge side finally rotted through and it was hanging by three rivets.  I started to pull the panels off and was shocked at how bad the rot was.

The whole top of the frame was gone along with the sides.

I had figured the rot was just around the door, but it had spread all the way to the corners and I had to pull the whole thing apart.  Fortunately my father-in-law and brother-in-law have welding experience and were able to give me advise and led me some tools.

I  laid out the pieces on top of the old frame and learned how to weld.  I wouldn’t hire myself out to weld for other people and no one would say my welds were pretty, but they held together.

While I was at it I rewired the lights and installed LED replacements.  The panels were tricky to put back on, but I am happy with the result.  The only thing I had to do was wire in an incandescent bulb to the brake lights so I could get my cruise control back.

Shortly after finishing this up, we made trip back up to Grande Prairie.  Along the way we stopped in Drumheller for a couple of days.  I happened to be that they were filming the new Ghostbusters movie that day (although we didn’t realize it until after) and they had parts of downtown closed off.  We did check out the dinosaur and stayed at a resort which was really nice.

We spent time with family and friends before getting back to Moose Jaw.  We were hoping to travel again this winter, but it hasn’t worked out for various reasons.

Christmas is nearly upon us again and we are nearly ready.  The kids are all very excited and are counting the days.  Talk to you all again soon.