Almost There

We have been steadily working away at the finishing of the interior of the lodge. The first floor is nearly complete. Over the fall, we drilled our third and fourth wells. The 4th finally produced water @ 240 ft, with 10 gallons (of pure, clean water) per minute. PRAISE THE LORD!!! This has been our biggest obstacle over the past 5 years. Now, just to get it piped up to the house and we will be pretty capable of living there.

Rose and I textured the sheetrock the last two days, while Anna kept the little ones and the home fires burning. Brian has been working on the gas lines to a small heating stove in the kitchenett, the cooking range, and a fireplace in the Master bedroom.

We have had lots of help from friends in getting the plumbing, sheetrock, and other details done.

God is so Faithful to provide help and funds to keep our project going.

We picked up some closet doors at Habitat for Humanity, our favorite building supplier. They are solid wood panel doors that the girls and Julianne stained and finished. Like our bathroom door, we were able to buy it at a fraction of the retail cost because of defects, which have been easily delt with.

Rose and I didn't really have any idea what we were doing, but like so many aspects of building this home, we just dug in and did it anyway. I think it turned out pretty good too. There have been so many times that we did not know how to do something, and we just prayed for wisdom, and God answered. The kitchen is a good example of this. Having bought cabinets that were second hand, we had to figure out how to make them work in our space, with our needs. After much thought and prayer, we were able to make all the cabinets fit by using some of them for an island which our very wonderfully helpful friend Bill created for us. We topped off the island with stainless steel to match the other appliances, and be a clean surface for processing the wild game that we harvest each year.

A friend from church is painting the walls today, with the hopes of having Thanksgiving dinner there next week. We are going with Navaho White, except for the stairs wall, which we are doing in a sage green since it is a high traffic area. Even though we hoped to be all moved and settled by now, we remain extremely thankful for the abundance of incredible circumstances that have allowed us to build this dream come true home for our family.

Cuteness

Children, particularly our children,
never cease to amaze me.
They provide us with abundant laughter, humor,
"character development opportunities,"
and enduring memories.
Some things are terribly important in a child's life, 
like showing daddy the amazing frog they caught, 
even though daddy is in the middle of plumbing the bathroom. 

They delight us with their enthusiasm for watermelon and chocolate chip cookies.

They grace us with beautiful smiles, and bestow on us slobbery kisses.

Our children give us continual joy in the midst of difficult circumstances.



Truly, I am having a hard time believing that grandchildren are going to be better. :-)

We just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.
We bought ourselves an anniversary gift that now graces our dining room wall.
It reads:
"Live so that when your children hear these words they think of you...fairness, caring, integrity, honesty, love, trust."
Don't ya just love that?
We have so much to be thankful for!
Top of the list is our family, they are an imense blessing.

All this because two people fell in love.

The Faithful Provision

We have been working on building the interior walls, wiring the first floor, installing the kitchen cabinets and countertop, and plumbing. Most of the first floor is finished. We had to go to town for supplies, so we stopped by Habitat, and lo and behold, there was a like new tub/shower unit perfect for the children's bathroom. Not only that, but also a large shower unit perfect for the master bathroom. Add two toilets for $10 e and we were fully outfitted for our bathrooms at a 70% savings! To top that all off, a good friend with a two ton flat bed was also in town and he drove over and picked up our goods for us!

Well, our building fund was nearly dry, and we were praying," God, this is your house and your project, please supply the funds to be able to keep work progressing." Saturday, a man walked up to Brian and stuffed a check in Brian's pocket and walked away. Thanks so much D.D you are such a blessing to us!

Meanwhile, Rose and Julianne tackled refinishing a yard sale table for porch dining. Brian and Julianne made some benches from scrap lumber, and all were stained and then enjoyed with a romantic dinner on the porch.

Father of Lights

One advantage of taking several years to build your home is the ability to bargain shop.

Every time we are in town, we stop by Habitat for Humanity. We have found all but one of our light fixtures this way, and haven't paid more than $15 for any fixture. Most were under $7. Basically, if we liked the form we bought it, and to keep a consistency in style, we spray painted everything black. Missing globes have also been discovered via thrift shopping, usually $1 each verses $6-$10 e. retail. The most amazing thing is, that of our porch lights. Now I always pray on my way to town, asking that the Almighty God and Father provide our needs in an affordable way. About 3 yrs. ago we found these porch lights for $10.

I knew that we would need a third light for next to the door, but we had plenty of time to find it. Low and behold, a few months ago we were at Habitat for Humanity and look what was there:

A matching porch light! I contribute this small miracle to the Heavenly Father who knows and cares about the details of our lives. Now isn't that cool!