Examples of Faith

We love this family! They lived right next door to us in Aurora. Our kids played together, we went to church together, they have been great friends. This picture was taken in April 2012. During the past year, they have been a great example of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as Harold battled cancer. An interesting date- yesterday was Thursday, June 27. In 1844, June 27, was also a Thursday. That was the day that Joseph and Hyrum Smith died. I think Harold left this earthly life because he,

maybe, had a gathering to attend, along with some other great and faithful priesthood holders.

Sad day, but we rejoice in the knowledge that we have of the gospel of Jesus Christ

and of eternal life.

 

 

Guess What?

Remember...one of my first posts of 2013 was called "The Year of the House"? Well...you guessed it- more house pics :) And we are only half way through- aarrgg.
We now have windows. The trim and some hardy plank siding is ready to paint. Then they will do the stucco (most of the exterior is stucco, with just a few areas of siding). Then they will do the gray, metal roof. The interior framing will be finished by tomorrow. Plumbing has all of the shower pipes and sink pipes in. Electrical has all of the boxes set and lights set- just needs all of the wiring. I will only share two interior pictures and a few exterior.

Here I am standing in the living room, looking into the kitchen. Behind the half wall is the dishwasher, and the sink. It will be super fun to watch the progress here with cabs, tile, appliances, and counter. (I will try to keep taking this pic from this spot for a few months- just to watch that transformation.)

 

 

 

Here is part of my walk-in storage room. I am still wondering how I talked Ron into this. And he is still wondering how it got this big! Since we have this room- he might actually get his dream...to be able to park his car, inside the garage! (The rectangle hole in the floor is a stairway that goes down into the garage.)

 

 

 

 We have windows, but no front door yet :) Bottom left windows are Ron's office. Top left windows are my office. Center windows are part of the game room. Top, right windows are in the bunk room. Bottom, right windows are in the dining room. (although the best use of that room is for board games and card games- who uses a dining room for dining?) That porch roof will make a perfect escape slide from those upper windows, except for that last little 8-10 foot drop off :)

 

 

 

This is another spot that I am trying to take a picture from, each time we go. There, again, to watch the progress on the front of the house. I am standing, front and east, and in the drive way.

 

TOTALLY AMAZING!

We pinch ourselves, each time we go there, to check and see if we are still alive and awake? Or if we have gone to heaven or dreaming? :)  



House- June 15, 2013

Here you go- a few more pictures. Pretty amazing to see it go from paper to reality. 

(I only gave you a few of the inside, it's still pretty hard to tell what's what's there.)

 Here...I am standing in the doorway of our bedroom- looking across the living room at my kitchen. (with the dining room beside the kitchen and the library and laundry room behind the kitchen).

 Standing in our bedroom...looking out to the back porch. 

The three large openings are two doors and one window making the back wall of the living room.

 The breeze way between the house and the garage- looking toward the back. The larger opening, on the right is a "sink area". The door on the right goes into Ron's shop.

 Three car garage with Ron's shop at the back.

 West side porch.

 Front porch...looking toward the garage end. This front corner of the house is Ron's office. The opening you can see, just past the two windows, is the front door area.

 I have been all stressed out trying to pick out roof color, trim color, stucco color etc. but this is what you see of the house from the street. I guess it can be any color I want! :) Although, I'm thinking maybe I should have picked the GREEN roof, to match the trees (instead...the roof will be gray)

While, the river right behind us is still dry- here is an area not too far away where we could take the grand kids to play. This is called English Crossing.

Cowboy Room

We went to Bandera on Friday evening and stayed in a motel there. We have stayed there before and even in the same room. It looks like someone used spray paint and painted a cowboy mural on all of the walls. It's kind of interesting :) At least this time, we remembered to take a few pics.

Happy Fathers Day

One of the best parts of Fathers Day happened this morning- Ron didn't have early morning meetings to attend, so we didn't get out of bed until 9 am. (See...good to know for my kids... there really is life after kids!) As for trying to plan some special food and/or dessert for today- we went to Bandera Friday night and yesterday- which came at the end of a busy week- which meant no food shopping or planning- so, yeah, fancy dinner with pie...that's not going to happen. hehe For brunch, I ate the rest of my hamburger from lunch yesterday and Ron ate the rest of his shrimp enchilada from dinner yesterday. Dinner today, was whatever leftovers I could find in the refrig. I did get Ron a couple of gifts for today...I am going to give him a waste basket...and we are going to have a "phone throwing away party". Ron's cell phone has been a major problem for awhile now. So he gets a new I phone and he gets a new suitcase to use for his trip to France in July. Oh, yeah, and he got a cookie at church. Pretty exciting celebration :)
Ron is still the love of my life. I appreciate all he does for me and our family. He is a great husband and father. It's amazing and a great blessing that we still "like" each other after 37 years :) This year we are living a dream come true. Neither one of us can believe it when we watch the house being built- seems like something other than reality. Plus it is amazing to see it go from "on paper" to "3D real". We love to hop in his car, and head WEST with a Don Williams CD playing. He loves being there, where the house is, and seeing the wildlife. God, willing, it's going to be a great life with my best friend and the grand kids :) Okay...maybe with the kids too.

For Jaden and Hailey

When Jaden and Hailey were here, they helped Papa plant some wild flower seeds. While the result was not overwhelming :) - here are a few pics.

Man Cave

A website that I have been using during the past 6 months is called Houzz. It is filled with house decorating ideas, of all kinds. A couple times a week I get a new email update on that. This morning, one of the articles featured "Man Caves", maybe in honor of  Fathers Day. Ron is going to get a new "Man Cave". It needs alittle work... but here is how it looks so far :) hehe

This is his work shop on the end of the garage. It will even have a 1/2 bathroom in it and a shower (on the OUTSIDE wall :) and another sink in the breezeway. No need for him to ever track or carry any dirt into the house- right ?! ha