Days 55-63

I haven't posted for awhile...I have been up to The House almost every day, but haven't had a chance to post any pictures! They have the entire perimeter of the main floor framed except for the front door. Today they were working on the wall for the master bedroom and part of the wall for the guest room. It is looking great...I am starting to be able to get a feel for the space as I walk amongst the hollow walls...I think the roof trusses will be here sometime next week! We had to change the size of our front door...a frustrating experience...but I actually made it through with flying colors after taking all four kids into BMC West to talk to the "door guy"...the kids behaved themselves and so did I!...it kinda helped that I threw out the threat that I would call Santa Claus if any of them misbehaved!...Oh...the power of Santa Claus!

This is the kitchen...the windows on the left are in the dining room...the BIG window on the right is the window seat in the kitchen...when I am standing at my sink, I will be looking out this window!

These are the windows above the staircase...

This is the east wall...the mudroom is to the left of the door...the bathroom is to the right and then the guest room is farthest to the right...that door leads into the garage...the big opening on the right is for the guest room closet that will actually sit in the garage.

Here is a view out that big window in my kitchen...LOTS of natural light...the window on the right is in the dining room...

This is looking from the living room out the front door...they haven't framed it yet, but you get the general idea...the dining room is on the left and the stairs are on the right.

A view of the front of the house from the outside...dining room on the right...stairs on the left...

Here they have put up the walls for part of the entry...the ceilings in the rest of the house will be true 9 foot (except the living room will be vaulted)...the walls of the entry will be 11 foot and then it will vault up from there...I guess these are the 11 foot walls?

This is the wall for the guest room and master bedroom...the wall and door on the left are for the guest room...the long wall with the door way down at the right end is for the master bedroom.

A view of the guest room...Luke's room for now...

The master bedroom wall...those notched beams in the center delineate the bathroom on the far left...closet in the middle (remember, they are taking out that window), and the bedroom on the right.

A view from the northeast corner...the wall down the left is the garage...I think those windows that are over the staircase will be my favorite windows in the entire house...they are so pretty and will let a lot of the morning sunlight in!

Day 54

I took the kids up to The House this afternoon before we head down to Utah for the weekend. They had another wall up, so I figured I would post a picture. We won't have any more pictures until Tuesday...I am sure it will look much different by then!

The kids standing in our future living room. This is the only room in the house that will have a vaulted ceiling. The middle opening will lead out onto the deck...the three little transom windows on the top right will be above the grill outside on the deck. The master bedroom is in the back left.

Here the kids are standing by the window that will eventually be the guest room, but for now it will be Luke's room...he isn't quite old enough to be in the basement all by himself! The wall to the right is the master bedroom again.

This is just a view out the living room windows.

A view from outside look up at the living room windows...the master window is on the far right.

An overall view...guest room is on the left.

Days 52-54

Okay, so I have been lax in getting this thing updated...The House is looking great! We have walls upstairs. Yesterday...when I saw the HUGE window in the master bedroom closet...I told them it had to go...I wasn't picturing something that big! We are ordering the windows next week and they have measured for and started making the roof trusses...too fun! Kelly and I spent some time talking with his nurse's husband about laying tile...we hope we aren't in over our heads! I think we have to lay 1300 sq ft of tile..crazy?...we think so...hopefully it will all turn out okay!

This is the back wall of the masterbedroom...the window on the far left is in the bathroom and the window in the middle is in the closet...we are having them fill that in...

Here is a view from the back of the house

This is them putting up the other wall in the master bedroom...

up it goes...

and it's up!...Kelly said that the view out of this window is incredible...he actually got to watch the sunset through it last night!

Day 51

Today they were finishing up the floor...making sure it doesn't creak! Our builder came over earlier this morning and moved the three windows downstairs so that they are closer to the ceiling...it looks much better!!! I hope they get to start framing the upstairs tomorrow!

Here is a picture of the windows...much better! Note that the windows are now higher than the patio door to the left.

This is what it used to look like...for comparison! (remember, the floor trusses are not on this one...here the windows are at the same height as the patio door on the left)

Now they are high enough off the floor that I can scoot a table underneath it!

Finishing up the floor...

Day 50

Today we took all the kids up to see the progress on The House! It was quite a bit warmer today...in the 30's...so a lot of snow had melted and we had a nice mud slide down one side of the house! They have placed almost all the floor panels...it looks so cool! I guess they will start framing upstairs tomorrow and call the roof truss people and have them start working on those...I think we will have a roof a week or two after Christmas! Hard to believe and amazing to see it sitting there where only a mere 50 days ago it was just a grassy field!

Wood being delivered for the upstairs framing...

Wood being unloaded...

We have a floor!

I like this view of the webbed floor trusses...pretty cool...

A picture from the basement...putting the ceiling/floor on really helped define the space...I really like it!

Days 47-49

Today, I didn't go up to The House, but Kelly did. He got some pictures of the floor trusses sitting upright and getting attached to the framing below.

We are going to have them move these three windows up about a foot...they are just too close to the floor to be able to slide a table under them...

I love this picture...I think it looks cool!

Day 46

Well, I took the kiddos up to The House after school today...I think they had more fun playing in the snow than looking at the house! We got up there in time to see them put the last of the floor trusses on...pretty cool! (literally, it was pretty cool...a balmy 9 degrees or so!) I hope they work tomorrow, but it may snow...anyhoo...enjoy the pics.

Picking up the trusses...

These trusses go over the top of the girls' room...

Safe landing...

A view from down below...these trusses are over the family room...

These trusses are being placed over Luke's room and the craft room...that is our church in the background...can't get any more convenient than that! Isn't the snow pretty? The subdivision on the hill in back is called Blackhawk...one of the docs at the hospital lives up there...do you see the road coming down off the hill? Well, I guess he rolled his 4 wheel drive truck last week coming down that road...pretty slick!...he's okay :)

Days 43-46

So, not much has happened since I posted on Monday...it has just been too darn cold!!! The framers attempted working in sub zero temps, but succumbed to the bitterness of it all...temps should be rising next week so that they can start hammering again! I have a few new pictures of the floor trusses and the wall to the girls' bedroom, other than that, nothing has changed. Oh, and I did finally make a decision on what color of windows to put in...after weeks (and I mean, weeks!) of deliberation, I have chosen....drum roll, please...WHITE...I know, boring as all get out...but that is what we are going with! Hopefully I will like how it looks with the brick...am I picky or what?!?!?

Here is a picture of the floor trusses from up top...they are laying down on their sides right now...eventually, they will be standing up!

This is the wall of the girls' bedroom...on the left is the door. The girls' twin beds will line up along this wall with a nightstand between each one.

This is looking down the hallway...the girls' room is on the left...the stairs are at the back right...the storage room is to the right.

This is standing in the girls' bedroom and looking out their doorway to the stairs.

A view of the trusses from below.

Days 40-42

Boy, was it cold up there today!!! I think wind chill temp this morning was -12 or something...brrrrr! I felt sorry for the framers! Today they finished up framing the stairs and then started putting up the wall to the girls' bedroom so that they have something to sit the floor trusses on...I wasn't up there too long and only took one picture...enjoy!

The stairs are a U shape...the opening for the stairs will be on the left...directly across the hall will be the door to the girls' bedroom...we are going to finish under the stairs as a little play area...the space to the right of the stairs is the toy room...very downsized from what we have had in the past...I think it is only 6 feet across...mainly for shelves...is there such a thing as phasing out toys!?!?!?

Day 39

Today I took my little sister, Ellen, up to The House...it was fun to have someone else see it! Today they framed the storage room and Luke's bathroom..they also started the stairs...it is moving right along...looking great!

The storage room...

Luke's bathroom...

A view from up top...

The first floor truss...

Day 38

Have I mentioned that we have GREAT framers? They are doing a fantastic job! It felt kinda weird standing at the window of the craft room and looking out...kinda neat. They still need to put up the walls across the basement so that they can sit the floor trusses on top...they think they will get to that by Monday...that is also when the snow is supposed to hit...it shall be interesting!

A view from up above...

This is the west side of the house...the window on the right is in the craft room...the 3 openings on the left are the windows for the family room downstairs...the middle opening will have a door that walks out on the patio.

This is the south side of the house...the window on the left is Luke's future room and the small window on the right is for his bathroom.

This is just another view from further up the hill...you are looking at the west side again.

Four little happy kids sitting on the south window sill of the craft room...I could just squish Luke's little cheeks!