Re-finishing the Hard-wood Floors

This Christmas we are refinishing our hardwood floors as a project. Last year we put tile on the kitchen counter tops. This is even bigger because we have 900 sq. ft. of hardwood floors. The builders did not do a good job of sanding when they finished them the first time and the finish is gone in spots.

Here are the steps:

1. Get everything off the floors, out of the pantry, and off the kitchen counters.
2. Sand them. We do this to get the finish off, and make them smooth.
3. Put stain on.
4. Put three coats of polyurethane on (sanding, vacuuming, and tack clothing in between coats.)
   

We started on Saturday. Here are some pictures:Stephen Walker, who lives near us, came over to help.This is Daddy running the drum sander (which is for sanding the main parts of the floors). Stephen is holding the cord so Daddy does not run over it.Here is Joshua using a small orbital sander on the floor. The orbital edge sander we rented is beside Joshua.

We will use 3 or 4 different grades of sandpaper.

On Saturday we did almost the entire floor once, then we went to the Browns' barn to spend the night since we go there for worship on Sunday morning and it was too dusty to sleep in our house.

One day left for Vision Forum Give Away

There are only 24 hours left to enter the drawing for the League of Grateful Sons!

If you would like to enter, please send your name, email, and shipping address to hornj@datatek-net.com by noon on December 20.

For more information about this give away, visit: http://hornherald.blogspot.com/2007/12/vision-forum-give-away.html

Bill Brown, one of the heroes in the video, wrote a book with his wife on their life in Alaska. It is called, From Cowboy Boots to Mukluks: Six Years in the Territory of Alaska.

You can buy it from Amazon by clicking on:
From Cowboy Boots to Mukluks: Six Years in the Territory of Alaska

Vision Forum Give away

For 6 days only, we will be offering one free gift from Vision Forum. We will give away one copy of the DVD of League of Grateful Sons, a great video about honoring our fathers which was produced by Vision Forum. Even if you already have the video, you can enter anyway, it is a great video to give to others!



To enter the contest, please email your name, email and shipping address to hornj@datatek-net.com. We will only accept one application per family. All applications must be received by December 20, 2007. The winner will be notified by December 24, 2007. You will probably receive your free gift in 2-3 weeks. Please email any questions to hornj@datatek-net.com.

Mr. Bill Brown and his wife go to our church. He is one of the heroes featured in the film.


Vision Forum also sells a book about Mr. Brown, Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer, written by Kelly Bradrick, his granddaughter who went to our church before she was married.

To learn more about this great movie click here: League of Grateful Sons
To buy more products from Vision Forum, click here: Vision Fourm

We hope you enjoy this contest.

The Horn Family

Faith and Freedom Tour - Day 3

On Wednesday morning we got up and walked a few blocks to the Plymouth waterfront. There they have what is called the Mayflower II. It is a re-creation of the original Mayflower. This year is it's 50th anniversary. Just before we got on the boat, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Potter told us about the journey of the Mayflower, and what it would have been like aboard. It was terrible. The Pilgrims were not allowed up on deck because of the storms and they were cargo on board. There was no privacy in the hold. The Mayflower II is run by Plymouth Plantation, so there are a few actors impersonating sailors and passengers on the Mayflower. Here are pictures from it:

Morning on the Mayflower II

Horn Family aboard the Mayflower II

On the Mayflower we talked to several sailors. After the ship, we picked up lunch and boarded the buses for Salem. Salem was about a 1 1/2 hour drive. Dr. Jehle gave us a walking tour of Salem. We saw the statue of Roger Conant, the peace-maker who was the founder of Salem:
We also went to the Salem witch memorial, where Dr. Jehle talked about the Salem Witch Trials. He said that they were not an example of how all Puritans were, but instead of how the Puritans made mistakes. The problems were gossip, disobedient children, and throwing out the important laws (innocent until proven guilty, etc.) We really enjoyed this speech. We also went by Nathaniel Bowditch's house, and also went in a museum very quickly to see his writing desk, cane and other items owned by him, and also to see two famous paintings of the witch trials.

We also went to Ye Olde Pepper Company - America's oldest candy store. We went down to the Salem wharf where many missionaries left from, and heard a speech by Mr. Phillips and Mr. Potter on missions. After this we headed back to Plymouth and ate dinner there.