Crazy Days

The last weekend of September was crazy.  Why is it that everything always seems to happen at once?  I already wrote about Women's Conference.  Well, that same weekend was the weekend we hosted The Builder Group.  If I could somehow make a big deep voice say those words with scary music, that would accurately portray what this was like.  First, I'm sure you're wondering what a builder group is.  The National Home Builders Association has a bunch of builder groups all over the country.  These groups consist of general contractors who build in similar price points but are from different parts of the country so they don't compete with each other.  They meet twice a year for education and to discuss their businesses and get ideas from each other on how to improve.  Jake's been in this group for two years now and its been really great.  He's learned a ton, but I think the biggest benefit is that he has friends who understand how crappy this job is sometimes, and really get what he's going through.  They email each other all the time between meetings and its definitely been a good thing. 

Anyway, every time they meet one of the builders in the group acts as the host.  And last weekend it was our turn.  We've known about it for a year, and it's been hanging over our heads all year.  We did things in the yard, the barn, and the house all because the builder group was coming.  This isn't all bad because things got done that wouldn't have otherwise, but it's definitely been adding to the stress level around here.  We were in charge of picking a hotel for everyone to stay in (they stayed at Hotel Park City which was amazing), finding restaurants, and then planning a home tour for a few hours one day where they go in a shuttle to see some of the houses we've built.  That was definitely the most stressful part.

So the planning was done and the weekend finally arrived.  Before they got here I put some gift bags together to go in their hotel rooms.  They were full of treats made here in Heber Valley, plus some Brigham's Brew root beer.  This was a joke because the rest of them give out beer when you go, so we gave them some beer Utah style.  Anyway, those bags are the most crafty thing I've done in my life.  I had to do 15 and I was pretty proud of myself for pulling it off.

The day of the home tour arrived.  They ended up driving around in a full size bus rather than a shuttle for some reason.  It was pretty funny seeing a tour bus drive around neighborhoods in Midway.  The very first house we went to of course had a problem.  It's a second home, so the property manager was letting us in the garage.  Well, the garage code wasn't working and she had no other way to get in.  She ended up running down the street, grabbing a battery from another opener, and then getting it open for us.  Of course we had to start off with that.  No stress at all.  Anyway, the rest of the tour went well.  Jake was like a proud papa showing off his babies.  It was cute.  They came to our house, which about killed me.  We got the house super clean on Saturday and then the kids were told that no matter what happened the house had to stay clean.  There may have been some threatening involved.  I had some drinks and little snacks here for everyone to eat.  The kids enjoyed meeting all of the builders.  Especially Sage.  She was totally in her element.  She was able to give tours and entertain a whole group of people.  At one point I heard her say, "I'm going to go show them my mad chicken catching skills!" and then she was out the door.  Hilarious.

So, I know this post is eternal, but this builder group (cue booming voice and scary music) has been a big deal around here for the past year so I figure it deserves a long post.  But it's over and if it ever happens again it won't be for a lot of years.  Hallelujah!

I know you think (hope) I'm done writing, but I'm not.  The home tour was Monday.  On Tuesday there was a funeral for our neighbor.  Because of my compassionate service calling I had to help do the whole thing.  Fortunately we have a separate person who's actually over the funerals so I didn't have to plan it I just had to show up.  I've been to a lot of funerals in my day (sadly) but this is the first time I really helped behind the scenes.  I had no idea how much work a funeral is.  Holy cow.  I wish I could go back in time to thank all the people who helped because I had no idea.  I was at the church from 10:45 to 3:30.  We set up tables, made them look nice, got all the food ready, set it out, made sure there was enough, and then cleaned it all up.  I was more than happy to help, but my eyes were opened to what a job funerals are.

By Tuesday night after making it through Women's Conference, The Builder Group (cue music/voice), and a funeral, to say I was exhausted would be an understatement.  Everyone in our house looked like we'd been hit by a train.  When we finally sat down to eat dinner together after those crazy days Kate said, "It feels like forever since we ate dinner like this."  Amen Kate.  I was in bed, lights out, by 9:30.  And that is all!  We survived the craziness and you survived this post!!

The beautiful gift bags I put together.  Only picture I have of the craziness