This is a view of our Christmas Day snow! It blowed, snowed, and drifted all day long. We couldn't have gone anywhere if we wanted too. Our street was even drifted in, and the only thing moving was big 4-wheel drive trucks and snowmobiles. I had to shovel a couple times as we had eye level drifts in front of the garage doors and the entry door. What a welcome to winter in our new digs. I have to say the house is very energy efficient. We can set the temp to 65 degrees and it is very warm inside. I'm about burning up and RJ, who's cold all the time, is freezing. I tell him to go put on more clothes! Well, there's only one more photo that I'll share with you all and that is the newly painted entry door. It's cranberry and I love it. I just need to go outside and take the picture. :-) I'll try to do it tomorrow or this week. After that, all I can say is pictures are good, but there's nothing like the real thing. I'm extending an invitation to come and visit. We have plenty of room and it's really cozy. So, come on over. We'd love to show you around!

This is the downstairs of the house. You will see the mini-kitchen, bathroom (which is handicap accessible), the guest bedroom, the family room, and the bonus room. The section where you see the treadmill is two storage closets and where the elevator comes down. The family room has the pool table (BJ & RJ's Christmas present). The bonus room is in between the two mechanical rooms and has the air hockey table, piano and keyboard. Anybody needing a piano? I don't show a picture of Brandon's room as it was a mess, in a way. He has a pretty good size room. It's rectangular in shape and gives him a lot of space.

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted and a lot has happened. The house was finished the week of November 17 and we moved in November 21! God blessed us with a great day - sunshine, not cold, and plenty of help. Over 30 of our friends showed up. They had all our stuff outside in the truck or yard probably within a hour and a half. Everything was moved in two loads. We started at 9:00 a.m. and by 2:00 p.m. everything was in the new house. We ate pizza and pop and then most of the people left. We, Jane & her family, and Gail and Gary, all crashed in the living room in the only chairs we had (the wings) and on the floor. We were bushed, but extremely happy. Over the course of the next few weeks, I got boxes unpacked (with Jane's help) and tried putting the house in order. Here's the upstairs interior view of our new home.

Today was busy for everyone. The guys put the basement windows in! YEAH!!! They've started working on the egress openings, the framing inspection is done, the insulation is in, the electricians and plumbers have done their thing, AND it stopped raining! Next step, sheetrock. I forgot my camera today so I'll insert the insulation photo later. The flooring is selected and ordered as of tomorrow. I ordered the glass panes for the kitchen cabinets today, and went trekking through the mud with Jane to look at a fiberglass window well. Oh the places my guys send me to see what things look like. I'm glad to have someone with me. Sometimes my brain is so full of choices, I can't decide another thing. Oh, the ceramic tile is picked out for the master bath. I never imagined all the stuff you have to pick out...faucets, cabinet handles, doors, door handles, grout, and the list goes on, and on. I'm still enjoying it though. Keep us in your prayers that things will proceed quickly, the weather will hold, paperwork will process quickly and we get in before the holidays, in Jesus name. Thanks for stopping in.

Hello, well this has been a week of rain, mud, and forecast of snow. Yep, snow. Fortunately, we didn't get any. The siding is up around 3/4 of the house, all the soffits and fascia are on, and we're just waiting on the egress windows and retaining wall to go in. It's cold and cloudy now, and the number one priority is to get the outside of the house complete. So, pray with us for a several more days of good weather.

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Blame it on being extremely busy. So let's get caught up...the last thing I blogged was the windows going in. We now have a gorgeous front door with a transom window above, two nice, bright white garage doors! YEAH!! The electricians, plumbers, and sheet metal guys have been in and done their thing. So we have heating and air ducts, vents, wires galore (I can't believe all the wires everywhere), and copper pipes and vents coming out of the floor. It's great. That means things are progressing. The guys started putting the siding trim around the windows, and doors yesterday. The siding should start next week. As soon as the electrical, etc., stuff passes inspection, they will insulate and start the sheetrock.

A major accomplishment happened today - the bathroom layout got figured out. You would have thought this would have been an easy feat. No way. Aaron and Brent worked on the layout for hours on Monday, trying to meet all the VA specs and ensure RJ had all the turning around space he'd need. They used tons of chalk, snapping lines on the floor to see the layout of fixtures, they brought in a computer to lay it out on the screen, they drew on the studs, floor, and scrap wood. After much frustration, stress, and almost tears (me, not them - I thought I might lose my whirlpool tub!), and a phone call to the VA, it was figured out. The original plan plus flipping the room around and it's good to go. Plus, it even looks more spaced out. And to top it all off, they didn't have to move the window. Which made Brent and John extremely happy.

You wouldn't recognize the house today. It was buried behind three large mounds of dirt, plus another mound on the west side. The contractor was putting in the water lines. The hole was huge and you could barely see the house behind all that dirt. But that's another step toward completion.

A lot has happened on the inside also. The elevator is being framed up and revamped. How we came to get this was truly a miracle from God. He's been an ever present help from the start. The guys said getting this in was a bear. They had to take one of the walls out between the entryway and the garage to get it in the house as it was one long piece.

This is just the top half of the elevator on the main level.

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been running around town picking out flooring, garage doors, a front door, and who knows what else! It has been busy around the house. A lot has changed since the first week of August. We've got shingles, nice black ones. The house is wrapped and my gorgeous windows are in! They are so pretty...I was anxious to see these in the house. Both sets of patio doors are in and we're waiting on the front and garage doors. The guys were extremely busy this past week. They got all this done in a week. They gave me their all and got it done. I'm one happy lady.

Some of these photos are really funny. Can you guess what Aaron is saying to the guys on the inside?

Umm....you see that window over in the master bedroom? That's the one that belongs in this spot! I don't know if it was funny to them, but I got a kick out of it.

Thought I'd share this with you. If you look real close, you'll see a little square hole in the side of the breakfast nook wall. This is Brent's oops. He hit the back side of the house by mistake when he was moving the big equipment lift. I told him I wanted him to leave his signature trademark, but not quite like this. He told me he owes me a piece of sheeting now. :-) It was kind of funny actually. I spent a couple of days trying to figure out what it was and how it fit into the house plans!

Week of August 16

Well, here we are at the end of another week of building and everything is looking good. The house is fully enclosed, the windows and doors openings are ready for their occupants, and the roof is on and awaiting shingling next week. We were able to take RJ into the house today, Saturday, so he could actually see the interior. Our faithful friends, Jesse, Jane, and Ellie, were there to lend a helping hand. Aaron was on hand to point out some things and get some details fine-tuned. It turned out to be a very productive day. I could just stay there all day and wander from room to room. It's going to be so nice. We tweaked some of the plans today and rearranged some things. I think it's going to be great to see how it all turns out. Pray that next week is sunny and perfect for shingling! Enjoy the updates to the page. I've added photos of all the guys, except for John. I have to snap a photo of him this week. Keep praying and leave a comment on the page if you like.

Almost completed. They need a bigger crane to get the middle section done as those were tipping the other smaller crane.

This is the start of the roof trusses being added.

Here's a look at the enclosed walls.

Week of August 3rd

This has been a good week at the house. RJ and I have been spending a lot of time up there. I even got to work on the site today. (I picked up trash!) That's about all I can do at this point since I can't carry trusses or plywood. But, I had fun just doing that. Today, they started putting the roof trusses up (photos coming soon). The house is enclosed with plywood and the guys planned to have all the trusses set today. If so, they'll start sheeting (covering the trusses) tomorrow (Friday). Yeah!!! Next week they'll put the shingles on, wrap the house, then install windows. I can't wait. This is so much fun. I'm making decisions now on the ceramic tile for the shower and tub enclosure. So many choices... :-) Well, hope you enjoy the updates.

Well, as you can see by the slideshow, we are making progress. This has been a very productive week. They finished the floor trusses, put the walls up in the basement and got the flooring in. Then they moved on to put the north, west, and south walls up. They will finish the east and remaining south walls and then install the rafters on Tuesday (weather permitting, please). So enjoy the photos and the journey.