Huge electrical job

So we have a huge unexpected expense coming right now. Because that outlet in the kitchen had smoked around the time the dishwasher was being fixed, it hasn't worked since. The other day, I heard a whirring sound in there like high electrical activity going on behind the outlet. Anyway, we turned off the breaker to the kitchen so the power was out to that box, and Nate pulled off the outlet box and found that there was a small electrical fire that happened. Needless to say, we've found out that the whole house was wired wrong by the idiot "fix and flippers" and it is not to code and not safe. The whole house has aluminum wiring (since it was built in 1969) and it is attached directly to the GFI. This is not safe because it can easily overheat. It needs to be pigtailed to a copper wire. So we had two electrical companies come out to give us a quote. They are both good so we will pick the less expensive of the two. But it is looking like it will be at least $4,800 (up to $5,400). This is a HUGE expense and a HUGE chunk into our savings accounts (which are already running lower due to me not working as much). So I guess I'm asking for any advice anyone has. We are trying to contact the fix and flippers and the realtor that sold us our house...since they did not honor their contract to fix the aluminum wiring before they turned the house over to us. So in all honesty, we should not have to pay. But I know this is the real world. Any advice in this stupid problem?

Calvin and Hobbes

Keith, Johnathan's uncle, got him a Hobbes tiger stuffed animal, because he has always said he thinks Johnathan looks like Calvin from the comics. So after we got that cute gift, I dressed Johnathan up like Calvin and took some pictures. This is the best one I got because Johnathan's expression looks like Hobbes just tried to steal his milk. : )

Someone's lookin' out for us

So our Guardian Angel's have been working overtime we come to find out! To be dramatic for a moment = We could have died in this house in two ways now. The second one we just found out about tonight.

The first was a slow gas leak into the upstairs floor. It was like 4 months ago...one of us must have slightly bumped the gas range stovetop nob. It was on ever so slightly, not so that it was clicking or on...just slightly open and gas was leaking out into the house. Angie's uncle Jim was coming over, so when we walked in the house and it smelled HORRIBLE (a little like eggs), we quickly opened all the windows and (now get this:) LIT SOME CANDLES! It smelled better while he was there, but then when we went to bed we still smelled it. At 5:00 in the morning, Johnathan had woken up for a feeding, I was in there nursing him, and suddenly the thought clicked in Nathan's head. He burst in the nursery and said, "Angie, whatever you do, don't turn on any lights or flip a switch! That was gas leaking out that we smelled all night". So, our whole upstairs smelled bad of gas, and it didn't even dawn on us until the wee hours of the next morning. Crazy huh?! So, in that one, we could have blown up.

Now, we just found that our stupid "Fix & Flipper's", amongst all the other horrible stuff they did (tons of shortcuts), they wired the house wrong and took shortcuts on the electrical outlets too. A while back when we thought our dishwasher was awry...after the repairman fixed it, the outlet above it, above the kitchen counter, was smoking and I quickly called the dishwasher repairman again and had him come back (thinking it was the dishwasher that was smoking up the back wall). Anyway, last night, I heard a whirring sound out of only that outlet. So today, Nate safely pulls it all apart and comes to find out that the whole outlet totally had a mini-fire and was completely black and charred and all the wiring back there was totally unsafe and not to code. They used aluminum wire to the wrong type of outlet. Anyway, our house could have burnt down from that socket. VERY SCARY!!! You should have seen how charred it was.

Yes, we had the house inspected when we bought it and they didn't notice anything at that time. But now we are contacting our realtor (who is our friend as well) and asking him if the fix and flippers are liable for any of this stuff, since they did it so unsafely and did not meet code. Man are we learning a lot through this home ownership business!!! : )

Thank you God for watching out for the 3 of us!

Johnathan's 1st Birthday!!!

So, since he's turning 13 months in a week, I figure I better write about Johnathan's 1st birthday finally! sorry. : ) I've kept myself busy this month. : )
Anyway, he turned one on July 25th! He had a GREAT day! Grandma Jan and Uncle Keith came to colorado for the occasion. We first went to church and then came home and got ready for the party.
He had a birthday party at 3pm and other than his family, our neighbors came, and 3 different couples, and 2 other kids. It was so much fun. We had chocolate cupcakes, lawn games, burgers and brats, a bubble factory machine. It was a perfect party for him. He was so happy at his own party too! He loved it.

I can't believe he is 1 now! This year has flown SO fast! I kept thinking about a year back, like "Oh, my contractions started now" or "We went into the hospital early this morning", or "he was a tiny little newborn at this time last year". He has changed so much and is still so healthy. We are proud parents and oh-so-in-love with our son. Happy Birthday Johnathan! We all love you.

birthday cont...

Justin & Juliane, Angie & Johnathan

Our family photo on his birthday (amongst a couple others...this one is just funny).

Marcela, Mimi, and Johnathan. Marcela is 9 days younger than Johnathan and has been walking for over a month now!

I made this game for the party. There was a picture for every month from newborn until now. And they had to put them in order. Very fun! I got the idea from Eiko.

birthday cont...

Here's the whole group that was there. Perfect amount of people!

He got a mustache of frosting with his birthday cupcake. : ) hee hee

He got a cool tricycle for his birthday!

From little ducky tub to big boy tub

Crazy Denver!

This is our crazy cat Denver. : ) Jan, Nate's Mom, was here in town for Johnathan's birthday and we were talking & laughing at like 9pm one night and Denver totally let me put him in the baby jumperoo. He is such a lax kitty, he didn't care at all! It was so funny! Afterwards, I gave him a treat of "laxatone" (he loves that stuff).

Nate's SLR pics of our trip (see older for stories)

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Last day was sunny & gorgeous

A Sea Plane actually landed right in front of our cabin on Wednesday! He asked us for directions to pinto point or something, and then took off again. It was very cool!

This is the birthday game I made up for the 3 birthday's (Laura, Johnathan, & Jen).

This is the combined birthday cake. 1 for Johnathan (Angie drew the baby), 5 for Laura (Rachel drew the dinosaur that Laura wanted), and 33 for Jen (Mom drew a goat). Very unique and funny cake.

Johnathan's first time going at chocolate cake! And boy did he make a mess like everyone else when they are 1 or 2 or 3. : )

fun at Priest Lake

We simply had TONS of fun at Priest Lake. We were there only from Monday to Wednesday, but we did a lot. We played games with the kids, went kayaking, boating, tubing, Jet skiing, had a combined birthday party. What a great time.

Priest Lake!!!

Johnathan (almost 1!) and Kula (12 yrs old)

Here's Laura pushing around her cousin Gabe and sister Leia. She's definitely the boss.

My Mom with Leia and Johnathan. She loves her grandkids!!!

Here's all FOUR of the Grandkids together. Gabe (2 &1/4), Leia (2 &3/4), Johnathan (1), Laura (5)yrs old. So fun getting the cousins together!

Nate & Butch worked on chopping wood up on the hill on the rainy day we were there. You can also see the camper that Johnathan, Nathan and I slept in at Priest Lake.

more at riverhome

Johnathan didn't like being in the little pool alone (maybe still too cold). So his loyal parents got in there with him. : )

Here's some pictures of Johnathan driving the boat! He just jumped right in and took charge! : )