Happy New Year!

Trent is showing off where he is going "swimming" in the new house - Mommy's tub.










I have been very remiss on providing updates on the house - thankfully our builder is more on top building than I am of writing! I remain so amazed at what progress has been made and how well it is all coming together.




So much has happened in the past month:

• tile is done
  
• hardwood is done
  
• painting is so close to being done (Brian has done it all!)
  
• kitchen cabinets are in
  
• vanities are going in


• outside lights are going up


• inside lights are done



• BUT most importantly we had a wonderful Christmas holiday and new year! We even had a white Christmas this year and the boys so enjoyed the snow.

I was able to have a 2 week vacation for Christmas and Brian spent it painting the house, so the boys and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together. We even went and picked out the carpet for their rooms and I think they all chose wisely: Barek - dark blue; Drake - dark gray, frieze; Trent - light gray. We'll order all the carpet next week so it is ready whenever Mike needs it.

I walked in to the kitchen tonight and got butterflies in my tummy. I couldn't believe the cabinets. (Picture is from last night - halfway through installation.) All of the cabinets are in now - even the islands. It took them only 3 days to install the kitchen. Brian and I just stood and stared - we are so thankful and blessed that we are able to provide this home for our family.

This is the master shower. I am so impressed by the tile work done by a family of 3 generations of "Joes" - I had to show it off. We had "Joe", "Middle Joe" and "Little Joe" who worked on the tile and hardwood flooring installation. They are so good at what they do and took such care - it was so neat to watch them work.

Brian and I remain so grateful for the wonderful people who have worked to build us this home. They have all been such really good, hard-working folks who truly care about the job they do. I feel they are truly treating this as if they were building it for themselves and I can't ask for more than that!