Official Word: Framing Begins Next Week!

Yesterday, I received a phone call from our builder, Mark Rigg. He informed me that we had lucked out and that he was able to procure a lot of free dirt from the men putting in sewers down the street. This should save us some money! That's always good to hear.

Here are some pictures (they're not very good) of the basement and the garage. I can't wait until there is more to see!

The Basement Is In!

Today my mom and I stopped by the house and were surprised to find a man putting in the windows in our basement. So, after dinner tonight, Michelle, Jeromy, and I headed over to take a closer look. Here are some pictures of the progress:




I had to stand on one of the dirt hills to take the pictures. I kept sinking in and losing my shoes. By the way, we discovered that the "wall" things that I thought were part of the foundation were actually the molds for the basement wall.

New Pictures of the House

Okay, I'm not really sure what exactly was done, but I think it has something to do with the foundation.

Kids Say the Funniest Things...

Kelly: (standing in front of pen with sheep in it at the fair) Alex, this is what we eat on Easter Sunday.

Alex: Mom! Shhhh! You'll upset the sheep!

Lucas County Fair

Yesterday, Kelly, the kids, and I went to the Lucas County Fair for "Free Day." Kelly and I were both disappointed with the amount of animals. We were in 4-H when we were younger and remember the fair having a huge amount of animals. There are barely any animals at the fair any more. We did see some animals however and Alex and Elena were able to ride the pony ride. Here are some pictures from our day:






We also ate a funnel cake and drank some lemonade. You can't go to the fair and not eat something.

It was a good time, but Kelly and I agree that we would only go on free day.

The Footers are In!

Okay, to be completely honest, I am not entirely sure what a footer is. I am assuming from what I saw today that it is a ring of cement that runs through the foundation and is about one foot in height.

When I drove by the lot around noon today, I was surprised to see that they were done digging the hole that is to be our basement. In the driveway was a truck and a car and there was a ladder in our hole. There also seemed to be wood frames in the trenches through the garage and around the crawl space. When Mom and I drove by around 2:30, work was finished for the day (at least no one was there) and I thought I saw concrete in the holes.

After going shopping (we got some great deals at Linen and Things since it is going out of business), picking up Alex and Elena, and stopping at Burger King to eat dinner, we drove by the house to check it out and take some pictures for Jeromy who is at work. Here are the pictures we took:

A close-up of the "footer".

A shot from the front of the house. If you look in the top left hand corner, you can see Alex.

A view from the back yard.

Alex playing "King of the Mountain." We could barely get him off the hills and in the car. At one point he was making "dirt angels." He will definitely need a bath today.

Elena even joined in the fun. She didn't move as much, but she seemed to have fun! By the way, Alex is holding a feather.

First Day of Digging

Here are the results of the first day of digging:




I probably won't update on the house again until it has progressed a little more. Of course with Mark, that could be tomorrow or at least Monday. We have a builder that doesn't like to mess around.

They are building our house!

...or at least digging the hole. We closed on the loan which covers our land, the construction of our house and pool. This morning mom called to say that she was driving by our lot and that our builder was out front and they were beginning to dig. Jeromy and I are really excited! Hopefully we are in by the time the baby gets here!

Here's a picture my mom just sent me of our hole!

"Slow Fade"

I really enjoy the band Casting Crowns. I like them because they really make you think about your life and your relationship with God. I was on their website to see if there were any upcoming websites and I found this video of one of their newest songs. It really makes you realize how simple it is to lose track of what you should be doing in your life. It also shows how one person in a family can tear that family apart. Check it out here.

Standing on the Promises

Last night, our church had a very special program out at the new building. They are laying carpet later this week (I think someone said Wednesday) and someone came up with a great idea for everyone to participate in.

At 6:00, a large group of people met at the new building for "Standing on the Promises." Pastor began with talking about his life verse and then he asked for people's testimonies. I missed the end of testimony time and the singing because I had to move around and luckily Elena was becoming antsy as well. So, we went for a walk outside.

When I returned, they were laying out markers. With the markers each person present was to write one of their favorite verses from the Bible on the concrete floor. This is so that we know once the carpet is laid that we are "standing on the promises" that the Lord made. Here is a picture my mom took of Jeromy and I writing our verses:



For those of you who know her, Robin will be out there for the next few days. She is writing out all of Hebrews 11. She was completing the first 13 verses last night and was coming back out tonight.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the food. We had apple pie and hot dogs for dinner (can't get much more American than that). Mom packed Elena macaroni and cheese since she is "allergic" to hot dogs. We were also given a tour. I have been out there before, but hardly any walls were up. It was very hard to picture. Now that the walls are up, it is amazing how big the building actually is. It will be very neat when it is finished.

4th of July

Okay, so I've been a little slow in updating. Saturday, of course, was the 4th
of July and we spent the bulk of the day at Kelly's house (well, I did.
Jeromy had to work until 6:00). There was quite a crowd and a lot of
food! We had a lot of fun hanging out, talking, and eating. Some people
went swimming, but I was having fun talking so I did not go there.

At around 6:00, we left Kelly's house to go to my mom's house for
fireworks. Andy bought a large amount of fireworks this year. Laura
says that the 4th is his Christmas. Here is a picture of all the fireworks he bought.



I really don't know if that is an accurate picture. It seemed so much more massive in person. After arriving at mom's house, Andy had to then transport it across the river that has formed in her backyard to the dry spot beyond it. Here is a picture of
him doing that.



It's hard to see, but the water, at times, came up to his knees. Well, we watched the fireworks and they were beautiful! The next day, I joined Mom, Kelly, Gail, Aunt Cindy, Aunt Judy, Uncle Jim, Jim and Jen in cleaning up Mom's backyard of all theshrapnel. It took us about 2 hours. Of course, then we ate.

Oh, Julie and Lee are making a video of the festivities. Once I get it I will see what I can do about posting it.

The Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down Down...

Any Winnie the Pooh fans should recognize the song in the title. Just
imagine Pooh upside down in a honey pot being swept away by a flood.

We had that kind of rain last night. Much of Toledo is flooded. We are
lucky because our yard is so high that we are not much affected by the
rain. Our side yard is flooded and as a result our garage is probably
kind of wet, our pool is also filled to overflowing. But, other than
that, we are okay.

Mom's house is fine because of how high it is as well. But, she has a hill in her back yard and at the bottom is now a lake. It flooded so much her sandbox began to float away. Here is a picture of it in the neighbor's yard.



Kelly said the creek next to her house has
overflowed but has not affected her house either. However, the golf
course behind her house is flooded. I have not heard from Laura. I'm
sure their house is fine, but they live in Findlay which always floods.

A Trip to MaGee Marsh

This morning, Mom called to see if Jeromy and I would like to join her
and Alex as they traveled out to Crane Creek. So, they picked us up and
we began our trek out Rt. 2. Jeromy had the pleasure of sitting in the
backseat with Alex reading to him. (He is becoming a good little
reader.) Well, we soon discovered that Crane Creek no longer exists, it
is now simply calledMaGee Marsh.

While at the park we visited
the visitors center (Alex's favorite thing to do) and climbed to the
top of the observation tower. We also went for a walk on the boardwalk,
but it was really buggy so that didn't last long.

Afterwards, we drove back and went to eat at McDonald's. It was fun to get out of the house.

Here is a picture of Jeromy and Alex at the top of the observation tower (Alex said it was too sunny).