The final coat on the wood floor

Cousin Jerry came back to apply the final coat of finish on the wood floor. It is AMAZING! I have never seen such a beautiful job. Thanks Gina for sharing him with us.

Front with columns

More staircase pics

They didn't have quite enough handrail to finish it up....obviously.

Trim in kitchen

A few more pics from Dec 6th

For the very few that would care to see some things close up....my bathroom faucets. My favorite part is that the neck part swings to either side so you can stick a baby in the sink! :)

I think this is obvious. Just had to show mom because she helped me decide and I'm so glad that she pushed me this direction.
A different view of the trim carpenter and the staircase in progress.

Dec 6th misc updates

The girls are so excited to sleep in their polka dot room. Paige claims that she still remembers the polka dots in the Flat Rock house...but I'm not so sure.
Hudson's "island" blue room - YUM! :) With a 1/2 done closet in the background. Don has put in some late nights this week trying to get those kind of projects done before we move in.
The staircase is FINALLY being assembled. This picture was taken at 7pm and they were actually still working at 10pm! Impressive!
A quick pic of the tub that finally was finished grouted yesterday.
Our bathroom.

Getting some work done ourselves.

With all of our family in town for the weekend - we decided to put them to work. It was fun for us - not sure how they liked it :) We got three rooms painted and finished some built in lockers.

Uncle Nate helping Don with his hair color.
Leann and Nate striping Hudson's room.
The grandpa's showing us how it is supposed to be done.
Don Jr and Don III burnt the night time oil getting the benches started.
Grandpa Stickel testing out the new bench. For the moms out there - we did trim the sharp edge jutting out into the hallway :)
Don III approving
The Washburn team putting in the lockers
Don validating their work - where's Bill when we need him?

Prepping the Pillars

Today we got the pillars all prepped for the stone. They set the base structure with concrete blocks then plastered over them to provide a place to mount the stone. Monday they will show up and finish the rest of the stone. VERY EXCITING.

1st day of cabinet hanging

So we went back this evening....like we do almost every evening. We are so ready to drive up there and just STAY! Here are a few more pics of the kitchen with a lot of the cabinets done. This part is so exciting.

Cabinets are here!!!

Sorry gang -- I'll post more pics later. Hudson was having a fit - so I ran in and just snapped one picture. Now it's starting to feel livable! :)

Wood Floor is IN!!

Wednesday we began laying the wood floor! The wood choice is 4" Brazilian Cherry. With the MUCH appreciated help of our cousin Jerry, his friend Bill, and Uncle Nate the install took us until Thursday night LATE. Friday we were able to sand and put a sealer coat on it. Saturday we will buff and seal one more time, then we are done for a while. Once the rest of the project is over, Jerry will come back to buff it and apply the final finish coat.


The ladies brought pork chops up to the house for supper the night we finished the install. What a nice treat. It was hard to restart the engines after that - sitting down sure felt good.

Getting the siding rolling

There have been some requests for updated pictures of the house. Leann snapped this photo on her phone yesterday, but we will get some more and better pictures up here soon. This one shows the mix of siding and fake shakes. You can also see the"gray areas" that look like a wainscoating on the front of the garage. This is the area that is prepped for the stone work. Tomorrow we start laying the wood floor!!!!

The dry wall finishers are still hard at work - should be done tomorrow and ready for the painter! The deck/screened porch is going up today and it looks great.

Arches - before and after

Today they put some sheet rock on the new arch way - it looks great.

The arch way

The framing for the arch-way got finished today. The girls were very excited to frolic around in the living area, and pose in front of the new arches. Almost as exciting as the Golden Arches. With the sun going down earlier - you can see that we required a flash for this photo. Once Dad gets home from work and we eat supper, then run to the house it is pretty much night time. That's the only bummer about it being fall.

Hanging Drywall

They got the drywall up - 2 days to hang the sheet rock. Now they have to tape and mud. Amazing to watch that much rock go up that fast. It was like a zoo in the house with all the people working. Modifications get really tough after this :) Hopefully we won't need or want to change anything. It really is starting to feel like a house - and that there is a chance we might get to live in it eventually.

Marina in the kitchen

The living room

The foyer

The basement looking out

The basement looking in (You can see the doors to Aunt Sheila's bed and bath at the end of the hall.)

Hot Air....and Water

The furnace and water heater went in today.


The basement Bathroom got partially framed in

Our view out the back from the family room

The roofing and rough plumbing is officially complete today. Still allot to get done.