Thanks Boo!!!
Santa Baby
Soo strong!
Aspen & Max
Izzy took this picture!
Belly laughing!!!!
Sticking his tongue out...
You can see his adorable personality in this pic!
Iz & Em
They are so cute!!!
Q & Laney
Q & Henry
The kids were so excited when Santa came in the room!
Here's comes Santa Claus!
Q & Santa
Izzy & Santa
Aspen asking Santa for Boobie Juice for Christmas
Gigi and her 5 grandkids w Santa
The Babes
The boys having fun!
The big cousins
Mommy w Iz and Lulu at The Cheesecake Factory
Yum!!!
The Girls!
LuLu is laughing!!!
Happy Birthday Larry!
May all of your wishes come true!!!!
Getting ready to leave The Chitwoods
Front door...
Front porch...
Front of the house
Santa!
Santa and Mr Winter!
Our Mantel with a new stocking for Aspen!
Another cute shirt from Aunt Martha!
It is perfect because he eats all day long : )
Aspen and Max are the same size!!!
Oh what fun!
Quinn decorating!!
Izzy decorating!
The artists!!!
Our beautiful tree!
Thanks Izzy & Quinn!!!
First time Aspen is in a coat!
Picking up the kids at the end of the drive!
Izzy shopping!
Aspen shopping for his first tree : )
This pic totally cracks me up!!!
Izzy looks like she should be in a Dr Suess movie!
We chose a Blue Spruce.
It will eventually be 8 feet wide by 15 feet tall
How much for the two kids on the cart?
Priceless...
Quinn showing off our new tree!
The kids are excited about our first live Xmas tree...
Izzy and Quinn love to cook!!!
Inside out Oreos...
So yummy!!! And so easy!!!
Laney, Henry, & Izzy
Adorable Henry
Gigi made a delicious pasta dinner
A pic with Laney
Gigi & Laney
Catch Phrase
More Catch Phrase
Lauren trying to describe a word to Gigi
Jon playing Catch Phrase with the girls
Jon and Izzy playing
Happy Turkey Day!!!
Izzy & Q had a great day!!!
Aspen's 1st Turkey Day!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
We would recommend that you Brine your turkey!!!
We had the best Thanksgiving dinner ever!
Truly Gourmet!
Izzy B...
Daddy & Kiddos
Mommy & Kiddos
The kiddos
The whole dang family...
We are quite a crew!!!
Izzy & Mommy
GG and Aspen
Good Grief Charlie Brown!!!
Our little Charlie Brown!
The boys talking to each other
Daddy & Aspen
Mommy and her little Bubba!
The kids had so much fun...
Izzy working on her Izzy
Just like me!
Izy's art...
Izzy is proud!
Quinn & his masterpiece!
Q and his buddy & Max
Q
The kid's favorite thing to do with the babe!
Aspen is trying to lift his head...
Go Bubba Go!
Aspen is getting super strong and lifting his head really well!
Grabbing the toy!
Got it!
Rainy days make me sleepy!!!
Baby Spidey!
Aspen right before his 1st bath
First Bath!!!
Aspen gets a bath!
Clean bambino!
Charades
Izzy's turn playing Charades
(star)
A fun game of Charade's before bed
Candle!
We hung Aspen's cowboy mobile
Yummy breakfast
Apen's first smile!
Gigi & Aspen
Daddy and his boy!
Sisi and her baby boy!
picnic
Lunch
Q & Kenai
Hanging out with Kenai
Wish I could bottle this!
The female beauty
Feeding the horses
Petting the horses
Taking a walk to get the mail
We love fall!!!
Happy Fall!
Kiss from Izzy
Big Sis and Baby Bro
Kisses!
The brothers
Lauren and her adorable kids stopped by
We had pizza and a lot of fun!!!!
Nana holding Aspen
Aspen has a quilt on him that Jeannie our neighbor made!
Aspen in his new hat
Jeannie our neighbor made him two hats, a beautiful quilt and made dishrags for me!!!
Daddy with all three kiddos
Soo tired!
We are sleep deprived : )
All the boys!
Soo cute!
Aspen in his Moses Basket
May all of your wishes come true Iz!!!
Izzy and her fairy!
Happy 8th birthday Isabella!
Aspen checking out the bugs...
Aspen singing
Mama and her baby boy
Max using the baby Boppy
Owen and Izzy
Lucy and Aspen
The baby cousins
Big Bro, Baby Aspen, & Big Sis
on Izz's bed
Halloween 2009!
Happy Halloween!
My sweet, dear friend Courtney and the bubba!
Izzy and her baby bro!
The brothers
Daddy and his little football
Our first visitor
My dear friend Lauren!
Yippee!
Welcome home baby Aspen!
Nana & the kids decorated for our arrival
Welcome home!
En route
Going home!
Getting ready to go home!
All swaddled...
The proud big bro & big sis
Aspen
Nana holding Aspen
GG holding her 5th grandchild
The girls & Aspen
The boys
Aspen is here!!!
Decorating cupcakes
Celebrating GG's 60th and all of our Sept Bdays
Whoo Hoo!!!
Beautiful horses
A beautiful fall day
The boys chillin
Our new window seat
Make a wish...
Happy Birthday Rob 9/29
Yippee!
Waiting for the bus
First day of school
The hammock
Front porch
Mudfest
Iz and Q in front of our flower garden
Back Patio
The fence
Making a split rail fence for our garden
Swimming in the pond...
Mud Boots!
Pic taken from driveway
Snow dogs
Great Room
Frosty
Rob & Q
Sunday hike
The Lane's sledding....
Quinn making a snow angel
Izzy making a snow angel
Front of the house
Front Entry
Q & Iz delivering cookies to the neighbors...
Front hill
Front yard
Backyard
Izzy & Kenai
Quinn running up the hill
Izzy & Juneau
Yes both dogs had to have surgery : (
Sitting at the bar in the kitchen
Q & mommy getting ready to sled
Q in our room
Iz & Max chillin...
Max & the woodburning stove...
Max
Wheee....
So much fun!
We have the best sled hill!!!
Sledding...
Q & Max
Rob's favorite chair downstairs
Yes, I took Xmas down long ago...
This chair is no longer there
We had to move this chair when we had our Christmas tree up
Down stairs family room
Kid's work table
Guest Room
Rob's great grandfather's chair
Master Bathroom
There is a tent outside the window. They are still finishing the stone work on the exterior.
Our bed
Log bookshelves & Max
Pic taken from Mudroom
Best view
From Izzy's room
Izzy's room
Izzy's room
Q's Room
Dining Room
My Kitchen Sink
Pot Rack Log Wall in Kitchen
Great Room
Entry
Our Yummy Kitchen
master vanity
mudroom floor
entry sink
Definitely moving...
We're off to see the wizard...
Rob & Iz...
hanging out at the horse barn...
Q
Walking to the barn
Yes!!!
Almost there...
Up, up, up!
The kiddos getting ready to climb Q's fire escape
Ruby & Beau
our neighbor dogs!!!
Beau...
Ruby...
We have the same light as Subway
Missy big cakes...
We love our entry light!!
Entry light
Looking up!
Entry light
Entry bath view
Izzy hanging out...
Entry bathroom slate floor to be...
Interior front door
Pat finished the stairs today
The landing
More Stairs...
Fireplace, different angle
Fireplace w mantle
Kitcthen : )
More kitchen views...
Q enjoying some Christmas Captain Crunch from Nana's
Kitchen with our beautiful counters!
Screened in porch has 3 of 5 screens in
Back of the house shot
Side garage door light
Rob's favorite
Front door close-up
Front door & lights
Back door lights
Front door hardware is on!
Exterior lights are all on
Exterior shot
& Beau... It's coming along!!!
Chimney stone will be finished tomorrow...
Close-up of garage light
Exterior light was installed
The kids hanging out on the driveway
It was so muddy that they were laying on the pavement...
Close-up of the fireplace stone
Fireplace stones look great!
It should be finished tomorrow...
Dining Room Chandelier
John the electrician put Izzy to work!
Kitchen with appliances
Our kitchen appliances are installed
Our punched tin pendants look great!
Our Kitchen is almost complete
We get our counters installed 11/18
The kitchen looks fab!
and will look even better after the granite counters are installed!!!
The plate rack was the only thing that Rob really wanted in the kitchen
Trash can
Spice rack on either side of the microwave
Our hand hammered copper farm sink
in the island
Downstairs family room fan
Screened porch fan
Master bedroom fan
Kids bathroom
the corian counter is beautiful!!!
Screened in porch is finished!
John installed the light
Stones
stones for the exterior, chimney, & fireplace
Exterior shot of our front door
without the hardware
All of the garage doors are on!!!
Standing in our kitchen to be...
Kids checking out new cabinets
they are getting installed manana
Quinn hanging out with Mocha
right before she scratched him : (
Izzy & Quinn hanging out with Mocha
The inside of our front door
Quinn & Rob measuring for the floorcloth
Our cabinets & floors are in the garage
We have a little stoop at the bottom of the fireplace
Everyone looking at the light in the pantry
Our color coded water shut off system
it is color coded
Stairwell light is up!
Ceiling fan in great room
Standing in front of our new garage doors
Exterior shot
We have 2 garage doors!
Wooly worm in our house
Nana says that it means that it will be a bad winter : (
Screened in porch door
Front door & interior doors leaning in garage
Great room windows/view
Pic taken from great room
Master bedroom wall w frame leaning
Stairwell window
Doors for downstairs storage closets are on!
Downstairs french doors
Family room downtstairs
Masterbath toilet room window
Desk window that looks out into screened in porch
Mudroom window frame is on
Where's Izzy?
Entry bathroom
Where's Izzy?
The Master--standing where the window seat shall reside
Where's Izzy?
Guest room... (1st interior light on ceiling)
Where's Izzy?
Kitchen
Where's Izzy?
Pantry
Where's Izzy?
Great Room
Where's Izzy?
Screened in porch
Now we are going to play where's Izzy
instead of where's waldo : ) this is mudroom
Pic taken from mudroom
Great room downstairs
Standing in dining room
Our mantle to be...
Throwing rocks into the creek!!!
Happy at the creek!
Excited to go to the creek...
Quinn hiding...
He was trying to scare everyone....
Oh the puppies were happy!!!
Still on our way down to the creek...
Uncle Rob giving Owen high five!
Walking to the creek
Quinn is scarry...
Owen has a red balloon on his cheek!
Izzy getting her face painted
The kids got their faces painted by Rob
Uncle KC & OO having a moment in the country
Playing...
Uncle KC & Owen
The trees are starting to change behind them
The cousins being silly!!!
Kenai & Juneau finally got to come with us today!!!
Little tree huggers : )
Enjoying our soon to be new life in the country!!!
Pat & Monica's cabin is behind us & that is where we have been hanging out, cooking, eating while we are still under construction.
So peaceful....
Rob showing the kids how to get the bait in the water
don't know fishing lingo yet...
Izzy had a few nibbles
No bites yet...
Learning patience
Enjoying the evening
The kids first time fishing in the pond
In the shed getting ready to fish
Someone's in the kitchen w GG someone's in the kitchen I know oh oh oh..
GG was cooking up a storm...
Rob taking a moment to recover after chopping wood..
Izzy actually pushing the wheelbarrow
The kids attempting to push the wheelbarrow
Walking to the shed to drop off all of the supplies to cut wood
The kids did a great job helping!!!
Rob & the kids after cutting, splitting, & stacking wood
You can see all of the newly cut wood
Chillin after cutting wood
The kids helping stack wood
Rob splitting wood
Rob using a chain saw
Entry bathroom
All of the wood is covered up because of the plaster
Q's room
The texture on the walls is very rustic!!
Izzy's room
The color will be much lighter as it dries
Half of the downstairs plaster is finished
Q is standing in his room
Izzy on the screened in porch
Our first light fixture...
Rob checkng out the back of the house...
Screend in porch & dining room windows
Back of the garage
The bottom half will be stone & so will the retaining wall
A shot from across the old driveway
Soon that drive will be torn up... as soon as the septic goes in
The outside stucco is finished
Master window seat to be...
Great room windows
Our front door is going in this week!!!
Pic taken from master entry
Inside master closet
this is the beautiful wall inside the master closet : )
Playing catch w a ball
a novel idea...
Playing catch w Izzy's jacket
John, Rob, & Pat shooting the ****
John, Pat, Rob & Kiddos...
Us
Exterior shot
Brrrrr...
Splash fight
Quinn getting a lift down to the creek
Walking down to the creek
Last swim of the year?
The boys...
Will our 96in table fit?
Yes!
Measuring our dining room
Shot from the back
Cedar siding for the screened in porch
They are starting to work on the stucco on the garage
The upper half is stucco & the bottom half will be stone
Side shot of pre-stucco
This is where the dog run will be...
Outside shot of stucco & cedar siding on porch
Screened in porch walls are going up
It looks great!!!
Deer were in our driveway to greet us
As we drove up this evening there was a family of deer greeting us
It was a beautiful birthday
Pic taken from the cabin over the pond
Pic taken by Iz
We were all rotating taking pics & this was Izzy's turn & she was waiting for the perfect pic... too late!!!
The boys playing around
Pic taken by Q
Jungle Rob & Kiddos
Also in front of cabin
Birthday girl & the kiddos
In front of the cabin
I hope that my birthday wish comes true!!!
Quinn took this pic!
Rob got me this beautiful birthday cake
Gigi brought a gigantic candle for my 35th!!!
It was a beautiful evening!!!
Q took this pic
Gigi brought a delicious dinner from Fresh Market
Gigi & Izzy celebrating my birthday!!!
We were at Pat & Monica's cabin on the pond
Rob, Pat, & Nathan checking out the stucco
Everyone likes it!!!
Toby & Beau spent the evening with us!!
Our screened in porch floor is in
Master bedroom
you can see how foggy it is from Nathan spraying a protective coat, we think these are our doors for the downstairs out to the backyard
Front door should be in soon
You can see the chinking between the logs
They have chinked between the logs inside
Nathan had just sprayed a protective coat on the windows & you can see it's foggy
They are getting ready to put plaster on the walls
This is the garage
They are getting ready to do the stucco in the back
The front entry
the bottom of the columns will be stone
A close up of the stucco color
below the logs will be stone
The Exterior Stucco is up
We love the color & texture,the top half of the garage is stucco & the bottom half is stone
A great evening @ the homestead
The kids are ready for Halloween!!!
We love Beau!!!
The vanity was not damaged!!!
it is beautiful
In the barn opening our vanity
We wanted to make sure it was not damaged in shipping
Pat, John (the electrician) & Rob trying to get a light out of its box
We were bummed because a glass pane was cracked
Garage ceiling
Mommy & her first baby
Q took this pic
Mommy & her baby
Izzy took this shot
Still working on the garage
Another shot of front entry way
They are moving right along!
They started to work on the stucco
Izzy & Q in the garage
They started to put the floor in the screened in porch
So Rob doesn't fall again...
A photo taken from the edge of the dining room
Izzy & Q are in the kitchen
You can see our can lights
Window above stairwell
Dining room window
We have windows!!!
A sample of our stained concrete floor
This will be in our lower level
We have a roof!!!!
A hazy August day over the prarie
there are lots of wild black eyed susans!!
The girls walking down the creek
It is pretty shallow
Jim & Rob walking to the creek
Rob is planning on swimming
Can"t wait to swim in the creek!!!
Izzy, Quinn, & Rebecca walking to the creek
Soo cute!
Photo taken from the master bedroom
You can almost see every room on the main level
Log siding
This will go all the way around the front & side of the house
We have log siding
Izzy's prince?!?!
Nah, it just peeed on her hand
3 headed monster
oh the horror of it all....
Drying off
Swimming in the creek
Wading in the creek
The first pumpkin off the vine
Izzy & Q
eating, of course...
Rob measuring for a floorcloth in the dining room
Master shower
The entry bathroom is framed
The right side will be bookshelves
Quinn peeking down the retaining wall
I am standing in the guest room
Standing on Mike's new rock
Mike rocks down his driveway & a few big ones where the home #'s are
The girls hanging out at the creek
Gigi, the kiddos, & Beau
Quinn riding his bike like a pro...
Front of the house
Cheese....
The meadow
A deer track
& Izzy's finger
Sitting on our favorite log watching the kids swim
Izzy & Mommy....
Izzy & Nana
down by the creek
The boys
Nana & Quinn
walking to the creek
One of Quinn's favorite things to do...
Izzy Bee
Oops... Quinn dropped it
Izzy look the other way
Izzy & Quinn standing in the screened in porch corner
Quinn held on to that balloon all day.
Fireplace vents are in
Another shot of the indoor stain
Great Room windows
Inside stain color
And Quinn too...
Nana & the kiddos...
Quinn loved his blue punch balloon!!!
The garden on it's last leg
The Klattes travel with a lot of stuff!!!
Looking forward to having a spot for everything!!!! And not having to lug a car full every trip!!!
Munchkin and Izzy
giving each other sugar
Second bite of our first apple
Izzy is hoping to loose her first tooth before school starts!!!
The first bite of our first apple
yummy...
What's more exciting, the car, the copper kettle, or the house?
The guys cracking everyone up!!!
The kids shower/bath
and guests too..
Egress window & retaining wall
Nana's watchful eye
construction continues under strong surveilance
Our fireplace is in!!!
We really like the placement of the fireplace in the great room
Screened in porch/ mudroom/ garage
Pat & Rob looking at the stain from the dining room
Canned lights in the kitchen
Kitchen
Screened in porch
yippee!!! we are so excited to hang out here!
Nana's peeking out the master bath window
One of our beautiful sunflowers
Rob & Pat checking things out
The screened in porch is on the left
we think that it will be our favorite room
Another view of our stain
we love the color
Here is our stain!!!
They stained the back of the house this week
Our second pumpkin & my feet
Animal Prints
Nana gave the kids these cute animal chalk footprints
Our first pumpkin
We have lots of pumpkins...
The biggest sunflowers ever?
Wow, our garden is really happy!
Our new driveway
Our little neighborhood of 4 just got the main driveway repaved
Us
Standing between the great room & dining room
Great Room window
And Quinn playing...
Rob & Izzy
Front Door
Rob & Quinn are standing where are front door will be....
We have stairs!!!
Izzy & Q are standing on the landing
Izzy sitting on their bath tub
Exterior shot
Most current exterior shot
Here is a sample of the wood stain, chinking, stucco, & roof
We are super excited how it all looks. Pat told Rob he just needed to put 3 more walls of this & Izzy will have a great doll house!!!
Rob trying to take a nap
the kiddos played dominoes as it rained while Rob tried to nap & Beau just hung w the Klattes
Dominoes
We played 4 rounds of dominoes in our great room while it rained
Mommy & Rob (MOD, my other dad)
Compliments of Izzy
Uncle KC & OO
Owen was in heaven & on his third juice box.GG & Aunt Amy
Beau joined us for our picnic
Quinn is eyeing the watermelon
Having a picnic
We have yummy food!
The Cousins
Izzy, Quinn, & Owen
Izzy & Quinn playing on the dirt
One of Quinn's favorite things to do!
Izzy on our mound of dirt/gravel
Another pretty sunlight shot
The temperature & sunlight were perfect!!
Down by the creek
Rob & his two favorite munchkins
Pops taking a break
Pops came to help w our landscaping plan
Rob & Pat discussing decisions to be made
We have to make lots of decions all at once; stain colors, chinking & stucco colors, lighting, etc...
Quinn playing in the screened in porch
Ok, there is no screened in porch currently, but just try to visualize, ok? If the boy can--can't you? He is wearing his helmet because he had a bad hair day.
Quinn smooshing Rob's face
'Tis one of his favorite things to do!
Rob hanging out the kitchen window
Hmmm, must be thinking about what he is going to whip up for dinner!
The sun must be getting to them....
normally they aren't this close without kicking and scratching! :)
Handstand!!!
Rob & Izzy having a little fun
Yummy photo...
Rob teaching Iz a life lesson
Pretty Sunlight
Hanging out by the creek
Izzy's foot
where is Izzy?
Chillin in the creek
the water was a bit chilly today
Zinia's
Our first flowers in our garden. We picked a boquet & brought it to Monica
Scootering through the house
Izzy & Q brought their scooters & had a blast scootering around
Dining room roof frame
More roof framing
this is the garage
Garage roof
I think that this is a photo of pur garage roof to be
Idea
You can get an idea of what the house is going to look like (kindof)
Roof frame
Our roof was framed this week
Furniture placement?!
Cathy helping us figure out where our furniture wil go
We love the Chitwoods!!!!
Cathy & Larry & the kids pose in the great room
Happy 4th of July
YeeHaw
More sparklers
Quinn & his first sparkler
4th of July Sparklers
Childhood, 4th of July, & Sparklers....
Rob cutting the yummy watermelon
Izzy is keeping Quinn back from Rob using a sharp knife (there are lots of little bugs in the little container in front of the watermelon) A ladybug, atleast two frogs, maybe a daddy long leg....
4th of July Watermelon
We had delicious watermelon for dessert
Well Pump & Well Head
This will allow us to water the garden & wash the cars
Izzy, The Animal Lover
Isabella LOVES kitty cats
Rob & John, the electrician
Rob & John plotting how we are going to exceed our lighting budget
We have water!!!
The well is 95 feet deep
The Well Truck
This is a small Ortman residential truck. The Otman's are our other next door neighbor.
Pantry Shot
The munchkins pose in the kitchen pantrry
Ginormous garden
I just made up that word because our garden is gigantic & enormous
Garage Framing
Here's a view of the whole house (&the prius :)
The sky as we were leaving tonight
It was a beautiful day & evening!!!
On our way back
We headed back to get Pizza King for dinner
Action photo of the creek
skipping stones
The girlfriends :)
Aunt Al, Lucia, Izzy, & Me
Wet Toby & wet Izzy
Izzy & Toby after swimming
Everybody in the creek!!!
All the kids were swimming in the creek
Toby swimming!!!
Toby went for his first swim & loved it!!!!
Kids at the Wildcat Creek
The kids had a blast swimming in the creek
Boathouse/work shed
On our boat ride Quinn took a photo of the garden shed/ boat house from the pond
Pat & Mike making the pond pretty
Pat & Mike are putting a solution in the pond to kill the weeds
Dining room
the door is going to go out to the screened in porch
Entry into the great room from the kitchen
Izzy & Quinn are in our room
Another view of the ceiling
photo of ceiling in the great room
Pine ceiling
they put in the pine ceiling in the entry/great room
They did a lot of framing
mudroom, kitchen, & dining room
Self photo
we went a a boat ride w Pat & Quinn decided to take a picture of himself
The front entry
they attatched the logs to the cement coloumns
They got a lot done this week!
the top level is framed , the pine ceiling is in, & a temporary roof is on
The happy couple
the little hole in the logs will be our front door
The sunflowers are as big as Izzy
the kids were dancing near the garden
Allison in Wonderland pumpkins
our garden is really happy... the pumpkins are enormous!!!
Good view of the crane (I have NO idea how this might have been done in days past)!
It sat next to the semi that brought in the logs--picked them up off the truck bed and then dangled them over our heads so we could place them!
One of the first timbers being lifted
This is the first log of the second stack coming in!
Taking it all in
With the first four logs down--effectively, the base of the walls--I am trying to see just how this log home thing is done! Ruby on the other hand, is providing a watchful eye always ready to point out a mis-step! :)
Holding onto a log with an 18th century device
Well, once the log has been placed by a crane and if it is slightly off (I mean by a half inch or so) you latch onto the log with a hook device and pull with all your might--not easy moving these giant timbers
Early going yet!
Lots of folks working and we are only on the second stack!
Logs and dogs
Ruby came out and joined the festivities--though it is tough to get Ruby to duck as the logs pass overhead!
Big timbers being placed
Just like an old set of Lincoln Logs--the walls are going up. The only exception is that when you played with your Lincoln Logs you probably weren't paying a crane $150 per hour to pick up each log for you! You can see the dovetail corners in this pick--each log fits tightly together with the one above and below it!
The log truck
The driver said that when he left Montana a couple of days ago it was 28 degrees that morning--well, welcome to Indiana in the summer with a little heat and humidity!
The fifth stack
I think they serve five stacks at IHOP!
View of the crane working from behind the house
It is setting one of the small logs that will frame our GR window
The first truss being lifted
Yeah, I think the house is that way!
Great Room truss
In comes the first truss--this will tower over everyone in our GR
Pat and Nathan dealing with the Front door truss
You can see the stacked 2x4's taking the current place of the front porch columns to assist in holding up the truss
Incoming!
You know, it was hard to get used to a HUGE log passing overhead!
Partial view of the crane
This shows you the crane towering over the home--it had to lift up each huge log and then they were secured in place by the crew
Logs coming off the truck
That is a 40 foot pole!
Close up of GR truss
The view from up in the rafters--I am going to have to get one of those poles that attaches to a duster!
Building up the top of the east wall
You would never know that these two guys are perched 30 feet in the air since they could still drive in the posts to join the logs
View from above
The workfloor with John our electrician and Mike dealing with the 90+ degree heat
Hmmm, strong or just holding on?
Steve is either superman or perhaps he is just holding on for dear life--as the crane lifts this 40 foot lodgepole pine
Final Beam is placed
Those guys are on a high wire act
Great Room Truss
This is a good view of the crew prepping the final roof beam
Empty Truck?!?!?!?
That must mean that the last log is being hauled up to the top of the trusswork!
The beams still remaining in the garage for our indoor columns and garage exterior
Alyssa lets me know about her desired stain colours
Front door truss
If you look carefully, there is a small branch of evergreen attached to the highest beam. I was told it is a tradition for health and happiness. I really like all of the rustic imperfections in the beams!
View of our towering structure from the patio
My mom and my sister chat on the "sometime to be" back patio, but you can also view the great room's window
Location of front door--view from the interior
Though the door is only currently a slit in the wood--this is where the world will enter
Now that is eight hours worth of work!
This is the culmination of Pat's crew (plus a few others--including me) from early Thursday morning until about 4:00pm Thursday afternoon.
Aunt Martha with the kiddos in Izzy's room
Having fun with Aunt Martha!!! (not hard to do :)
Love this picture!!!
Izzy is posing & Q is blowing bubbles...
Side view photo
Taken from behind the garage
Quinn & Rob peaking out the roof
Quinn jumped up first to take this photo, his sister soon followed
Rob & Izzy up up up
Izzy climbed up for this photo.
Great Room view
This will be the window looking out of our great room
Klatte Log
All of the logs were labelled
Action photo @ the gardens..
Izzy is blowing bubbles, Nana & Aunt Martha watching, & Rob & Q playing
Santa, Elf, & Reindeer
Izzy is Santa (of course), Quinn is her elf & Rob is the reindeer (not sure which one!)
The perfect picture minus Izzy's eye's closed
This would be the perfect picture if Izzy's eye's were not closed
Dinner Bell
Unbelievably good... & Sweet potatoes, so stinkin' yummy.......
Irish Spring
Rumor has it, Irish Spring keeps the deer away.... Rob says that it just might work, it kept the LADIES away all of those years. I must have a smell deficiency
Apples, can you believe it?
Not quite enough for a Sweet Nana pie, yet
My Sweet Love
Need I say More???
Izzy's Room
Isabella's room & laundry room behind
Basement hang out room view
The back wall is going to be the bathroom & then closets & our hang out room
Quinn's room
Quinn's room with the framing of the second floor's floor :)
New view from the egress window
It looks like it has flooded, but we have just had so much rain that there is water on the floor.
Butterfly
Izzy spotted this beautiful butterfly @ the creek
Picture of the Wildcat Creek
Nana took a photo of the creek, it was really high today
Nana & Gigi
Nana & Gigi posing for the camera :)
The Family
A nice family photo op :) w Quinn in the background
The Twins
Uncle Kerry & Pops, nice feet Pops!!!
The Girls...
Gigi, Me, Izzy, Nana, & Aunt Martha, yeah!!!!
A photo w the architect...
Uncle Kerry helped design the house. We feel super blessed & excited to have his amazing eye design our house!!!!
Pops
Pops decided to check things out & got super muddy feet!!!!
Action Photo
Rob, Gigi, Uncle Kerry & Martha checking things out
Girl Power!!!!
Nana, Aunt Martha, & Izzy..... Girl Power
Nana, Aunt Martha, I & Q (& Beau too)
Standing in the garage, just outside the mudroom to be (& we need a mudroom!!!)
Q & I Bonding
Izzy & Quinn having a nice sibling moment
Nana FINALLY made it on the blog...
Nana is helping hold up the leaning pear tree
flourishing garden
still growing....
A prospector at heart
Isabella is already searching for gold
Into the depths
Peering down into what will become our mechanical room and laundry room (there is still a small wall to be constructed between the two)
Johnny Unitas?!?!?!?
Well, he may not have skipping stones down to an art, yet, but with those stylish Spider-man shorts how can he really go wrong? Hey, Alyssa--I think we need to get some sunblock on those shoulders! Oh & by the way, if you were wondering he learned how to farmer's blow his nose right after this picture was taken!
Advice from a man who knows
Mike, our builder's older brother, and our neighbor just to the South, dispenses sagely advice. In fact, it is greatly helpful to speak with Mike and get his views on everything from garden location to wood-stain colour (especially since he has done all of this before). Hey, Isabella appears to be hiding behind me?!?!?!?
Izzy-Appleseed?
You can make out our new driveway in the background
Seeing through the walls
Not long 'til you will no longer be able to see or walk through the walls. Quinn and I are standing facing the wall that will house our wood stove and television (though I still have to purchase both of those items)!
Growing, growing, growing
Tomatoes, beans, corn and pumpkin are all on the rise!
Basement window from outside
You can see the stack of framing wood and assorted pieces that have already been cut in front of the left side retaining wall and one of the two basement bedroom windows.
Quinn's bedroom window
There are great sized windows in both south facing bedrooms--should let in tons of light.
Our Walk-out basement doorway
Our double doors will go here--bookended with large windows. We are excited that our patio area will be larger than expected, too!
Izzy standing guard against the deer
Hmmm, she is smiling now, but we'll see how happy she is at the end of her sixteen hour shift (that is when we send Quinn out for his stint in the garden).
Basement Framing
View standing from future mudroom
Izzy in charge?
Isabella overseeing construction
Greetings from the garage!
Three shining faces ready to meet our next guests--please pay no attention to the lack of walls or ceiling
Oh, to be four again!
Quinn (aka. Two Feathers) stands prepared to pounce on the first fish he sees! Actually, we found two red feathers on the walk down to the creek and Quinn has them stuck in the back of his cap. Of course, he wanted to strip down nude when we got to the water because he REALLY hates to get his clothes wet! So our wee man stands alone, proud to the world in naught but his cap with two feathers and his crocks!
Snapshot over my shoulder
Took this one "blind" over my shoulder at Momma and Quinn on our walk along the meadow
The Meadow
This is the open meadow which is massive! Pat and the DNR planted 15,000 trees here a couple of years ago--they are just starting to be seen off in the distance--they are between three and five feet tall, but have yet to fill out.
Crocks ready for the creek
Mom sits under the shade of a wee tree--this is where we had lunch. She is prepped for her gardening then our hike down to the Wildcat! Quinn is the fine photographer of this pic (I was still chopping wood at that time).
Cutting wood
Actually, I am cutting a big piece of cherry! I chose to cut these pieces today because they split so easy with the splitting maul--honest, of all the wood I have swung that maul at cherry almost always splits on the first stroke!
Do those beans smell yet?
Sniff, sniff, sniff--nope, not yet!
Beau
Need I say more?
Knocking down a couple of small trees--sorry, but don't worry--we are planting more!
Clearing the space for our well and dog run.
View of our basement from above
This gives you a good view of the basement from what will be our mudroom--Quinn provides scale as well as locating his "room to be!"
Our garage floor is curing
Yup, what the title says
Quinnie King of the Mountain
He just dares anyone to come try to knock him off--well, that is except for his sister who would do it in a heartbeat!
Update on our four posts out front
This is what our four poured concrete posts look like without the wood and cultured stone--those will come later.
Pat's Dog Beau
So Quinn is chowing down on his Clif Z Bar and I am making a peanut butter sandwich. Hey, who is the furry brown guy on the right? That is Beau--Pat, our builder's dog. He is great! He fetches sticks, swims in the creek, chases deer, his tail wags him and last but not least, will eat ANYTHING left around--Quinnie found this out much to his chagrin last month when I left his Z bar lying on our picnic blanket for about fifteen seconds (that is all it took Beau to sniff it out and scarf it down)!
Quinnie Apple-seed!
It looks like the tree has a head start, but I am sure we are going to see both of them gain some size over the next couple of seasons!
View from our front-porch to be!
This is the view that we will be graced with every morning upon opening our front door! Need we say more? We are truly blessed!
Barr's Favorite Pic!
Where the hell am I? Yup, that is my hat, on Quinn's head. Yup, those are my arms around Izzy. But I just can't seem to make out how I am able to see where the heck I am going! This is on our stroll back from the creek once the kids have "played themselves out." Perhaps, the creek should be a couple of strides closer to our front door--but when in heaven one shouldn't complain! :)
Our Driveway
Yup, nothing beats a 600 yard long driveway--makes over a half mile run to the mailbox and back!
Quinnie at the creek
Ah, for a boy who hates getting wet this youngin' has taken to strollin' in the water like an otter! In this pic he is currently looking for the perfect skipping stone--he has a good eye, but not yet, a good arm!
Walk to the Wildcat
Just Quinn, Izzy and myself strolling down to the Wildcat Creek where we will cool our toes! Momma must be laggin' behind if she can get this type of pic!
The Pond
Yup, a four acre pond about one hundred yards from our front door!
Garage
We are just waiting for the rain to stop here for a day or two so they can pour our garage floor--notice the ground on the right is rather churned up!
Left side retaining wall
Our left side retaining wall which is much bigger than the right side--we are going to place cultured stone over both the right and the left--Alyssa and I might even try to save some money here and put the stone on ourselves. In addition, this is going to be the area directly below our screened porch and will ultimately be the space where I store the chopped wood for the wood-burning stove in the basement family room.
Right side retaining wall
Our retaining wall on the right side of the house--you can see the lil' walk which we will leave so you can come around from the front of the house to the walk-out patio area (hmmm, wonder who is gonna have to finish that patio area?!?!?!)
Egress Window
Looking down at the egress window which will have a window-well built with steps coming up--yes, the picture is sideways!
View from Walkout basement
This is what we will peer into from our walkout basement window! Hmmm, no neighbors! :)
Waterproofing Basement Exterior Wall
They put tar and a waterproofing covering on the exterior of the basement wall and then fill in the area between the wall and the ground with a drainage tile and gravel to ensure NO water in our walkout!
Basement Left
Left side of basement--you can see small crawl space area which will be under the mudroom
Basement Middle
Basement Middle
Basement right
Right side of basement with egress window
Front Yard
Our soon to be front yard
Front Door Columns
The four columns that will stand sentry at our front door--well, actually these are just the footings for the log and stone posts
Pear Trees
Pear trees--supposedly they pollinate each other!?!?!??! Hey, is that the Prius in the background?
Apple Trees
Mmmm, we like apple trees!
Garden Beds
Mother's Day Raised Garden Beds
Chopped Wood
What I have chopped so far! :)
Wood Pile
Now that is a pile of wood!
