Reasons to be Thankful

We have so many reasons to give thanks this year. We have two healthy, wonderful children, we both have jobs we love, we live a beautiful place, with wonderful neighbors, in a country where we enjoy many freedoms, comforts and safety. As if that wasn't enough, we have some terrific family close by to spend the holidays with, too.

After Thanksgiving dinner, it was decided we should take a family photo, so here it is! Pictured are Cousin Debbie and her husband Garth, Lori, myself, Wes, Anna, Cousin Jennifer and her husband, Joe. Missing from the picture was : the dog, the cat, and YOU! Wish you could have been here with us!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Garage rises from the driveway

Yes - we really have a garage now. We have even parked in it overnight! There is still work to be done, obviously, but our contractor is confident it will all be finished and cleaned up before Christmas.

The siding and garage door were added this past week, as the pictures below show. We also added a new front door on Tuesday. As an afterthought, we designed and added a new mailbox to match the pillars.

The next design question will be whether or not we keep the shutters around the windows. Any thoughts?

The bricks on the corner we salvaged from the part of the front of the house which is now enclosed in the garage, so they match nicely. The beams are real, solid wood. They will be stained next week, and the stacked stone matching the bricks will be added to the pillars.

Many thanks to Matthew Hanks, of Peacemaker Sustainable Construction, our contractor and friend.

Garage progress continues

Three weeks ago, we had a huge hole in the front yard, and our driveway was gone. Anna and Wes got to learn to drive the small excavator! Then, two weeks ago the foundation concrete was poured, and the driveway was poured on Halloween. This week the framing is underway. Hopefully, the garage will be done and ready to move stuff into before Christmas!

Veteran's Day

We went to the Veteran's Day parade here on Saturday. They say it was one of the largest and most well attended in the country! Thank you to all our veteran's, including my uncles and my dad, for your service to our country! I am very proud to say I am related to several vets.

Retired Marines, Army, Air Force, Navy ROTC, and other local military groups participated along with dozens of high school bands, boy scouts and other clubs. Here are a few photos Anna took.