A Driveway, A Roof and Some Insulation

We got our driveway last Friday (3/20) and let me tell you how nice it is. We don't drive on it yet, but it's nice to have a solid surface to walk up to the house on. Much nicer than the rocky ground. I think it looks really nice. Just another step to a new house.

The other BIG thing we accomplished this weekend was the roof. We finally finished it. Hooray!! We only had about 8 feet left before the weekend, but we had the hardest time getting it finished. Thanks to some okay weather and a fellow builder that took pity on us, we got it done at 8:30pm on Saturday night. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was dark, but at least now, it won't rain (or snow) on our insulation and wires inside the house.  

Josh and I up on the roof. I love it up here. It's fun to see the progress and the view!

Hard at work!!

Here is a picture of the roof all finished. I think it looks really nice. I am very happy with the color we picked.  

This is all of the insulation we got done on Saturday, but at least it's a start. It sure makes the walls look like they are on their way to being done. 

Basement

We did a little basement remodel the other day. I know what you are thinking...Already?? It's true, but it was nice to do it now instead of wait. We'll have enough to do when we start finishing the basement. Besides, we were down there doing some blocking anyway, might as well remodel right?

This picture is looking through the doorway that used to split the two big areas in the basement. It kind of made it seem small down there.  

We tore out the old doorway and put in this 8' beam. I think it really opens up the space and makes the basement seem HUGE. Now, we'll be able to watch people play ping pong while we watch television. Yup, that's right! This is the future home of a ping pong table. Look out Dad, we'll be practicing hard and looking forward to some serious ping pong tournaments.  

This is the new entrance into one of the bedrooms in the basement. The door used to be on the other side of the room, but we moved the other door so that it will go to the utility room and added this door that will take you into the bedroom. It's much better this way because we won't have to go into this bedroom to get to the furnace and water heater.  

Surprise

Tonight I had an Achievement Days Activity. The kids had to go because Josh is obviously never home since we are building a house, and I felt really bad but they were so good. Well, there was a scout thing at the church tonight as well and they brought over some tractors and a fire engine. I took the kids out after my thing so they could check out the "big trucks". They were so excited. The big surprise was that Talon and Kaleb even got a ride in a backhoe/loader. I think that made Kalebs whole year. They really enjoyed tonight.  

Here are the 4 of us on the fire engine. Talon, Kaleb, Mollie and Coby.

Kaleb, Coby and Talon in the bucket of a HUGE tractor.

Doors and a Driveway

Josh and a couple of the guys put our doors in the other day. I am so excited because I really like them. They are a 2 panel door and the interior doors will look the same. The front door is a little different because we wanted a window, but we are super excited with how they turned out.  

This is the door that goes from the garage to the side yard.

This is our lovely french door that goes from the dining room to the backyard. We splurged and got the doors with the blinds inside. I am excited to not have to worry about children pulling on and breaking window coverings.

And...this picture isn't too exciting...YET. We are getting a driveway tomorrow (Friday) so I thought I would take a picture of the nicely spread gravel until we have the real thing. I'm excited!!

Flowers

A couple of weeks ago, I did a tag on facebook and one of the questions was, "When was the last time you got flowers?" My answer was July of 2001, which was the last time I got flowers from Josh.  I did forget about the flowers that I got from my mom for my last birthday...oops. I never intended to make Josh feel bad, but he did and so he came home one night after a basketball game with these. I love daisies and I was so excited.  It's been 3 weeks and they are still alive and beautiful on my kitchen counter. Thanks Josh, love you tons!

Windows and Shingles

House progress is still moving along, but it has slowed down a little. We had to stop for a few weeks because we had two other houses to build. In the middle of building the other two, we have snuck in a little bit of time to put our windows in (okay, I didn't help at all with those) and start we've just about finished shingling the roof. Thanks to the people in the group and to John for helping us with the roof.  

Here is the house with the windows in and the shingles sitting on top ready to be put down.

Josh on the roof starting the shingling. We now have just about all of the back done and half of the front. Won't be long now before we are all dried in. We just have to get those doors in.

Wedding Day

Chet and Hailee FINALLY got married. Just a couple of weeks shy of having dated for 5 years, they decided to tie the knot! We had the big celebration yesterday (March 13th) and it was so much fun. Here are a few of the pictures that we got on our camera.  

Hailee with the boys.

Just the boys...aww, cute little cowboys.

The whole family. Mollie, Josh, Coby, Mom (Lynne), Kaleb, Talon, Dad (Lewis) Hailee and Chet.  

Coby is 11 Months!

Our Coby is officially 11 months! I can't believe it. He is almost a year old and what a joy he is to our family. He is doing so many things now. He talks all the time (baby talk of course), and  I can tell he wants to sign with me, but he's so laid back, I don't think he really cares. He is also trying to walk. He will take 3 steps, but for now, that's all. What a big boy!

Here is Coby sitting all by himself for a haircut. Other than the fact that he is co curious about the clippers and follows them around, he is a really good boy to sit pretty still while I cut.

Coby also loves to eat. Most nights, he eats more than the other boys. This night we had spaghetti and he loved it.  

It was bath time shortly after dinner, as you can imagine.

Puddle Jumping

Something happened the other day that rarely happens in Utah. It rained enough to make ONE puddle on our street. So, of course, I just HAD to let the kids jump in it. They had so much fun they barely wanted to get out to let cars go by. By the time they were done, they were soaked and we headed in for a hot bath. I was sure glad they got that opportunity. You never know when rain will come around again.  

Talon and Kaleb. I don't know why Kaleb insisted on keeping his helmet on. Too cute!!

My little puddle babies.  

By the way, Coby would have had just as much fun, but we'll save him for next puddle season.

Aarrggg Matey!

For "P" day at preschool, Talon's teacher had them either dress as a princess or a pirate. I figured as far as Tal's ego was concerned, that a pirate was the way to go. He looked so cute. We even did the authentic beard and goatee to go with it.  It was a fun day for him!

Such a silly little pirate.

All dressed up and ready to go.