Gift Giving!

A few months ago Michael and I had the idea to give his parents (especially his Mom) baseboards for Christmas. Baseboards? You might ask with confusion... why yes! Michael's Dad built their house nearly 30 years ago, and his Mom has wanted baseboards ever since.

Then, a few weeks before Christmas we bought our new house and started working on it... then it was time for Christmas and we just HAD to go through with our surprise. Michael, being sneaky, asked his Dad if he had an air compressor for a project we needed to do. We borrowed my dad's finish nail gun. We bought baseboards a few days before leaving for Idaho and Michael got 2 coats of paint on them, then bundled them all up. We strapped them to the roof of the minivan and drove 180 miles... luckily it was a dry day and not too windy. Driving with 12 foot baseboards tied to the top of the car is like attaching a sail, so we took it nice and slow.

We drove in to their driveway on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and Michael's Dad came out and said "What's that?" We told him it was skiis... a good lie, I know. We were worried that his Dad wouldn't be too happy about starting a construction project on Christmas Eve, but instead he gave a great reaction-- "What do you need?"

We carried the package into the house and Ann went wild-- "BASEBOARDS!!"

Michael set up his miter saw (yes, we fit that in the car along with all the gifts and stuff required for a weekend away with 3 kids- amazing!) on the front porch and got to work.

Here is a before picture of the hallway:
A few hours later the entire living room, entry way, and down the hall were done! And it looks fabulous!! Here are the boys ready to run into the living room to see if Santa came on Christmas morning... just admire the baseboards!!

Merry Christmas Mom & Dad Rigby!