Siding

Here's what the house looks like currently. I'm about half way up the rest of the house.
Basement floor gets poured first thing Wednesday morning & then I've got Thursday, Saturday & Monday off to start framing the basement!

Some great help!

I've had Mario & Spark-plug out helping me do siding in the last few days. They have made the time so much more enjoyable & it seems to fly by! Here's Spark-plug helping me with the starter strip at the back of the house:

Happy Anniversary To An Amazing Wife!

To my incredibly beautiful bride,

You are truly a gift from God & my best friend.  Thanks for helping me to accomplish more than I ever dreamed I was capable of. 

These 13 years of marriage have been filled with fun & adventure - I can't wait to see what this year holds!

Yours ,

I.B.

Summer...

Summer has been quite busy - even without house building.  A lot busier than usual....  Who knew that the nicest time of year would end up being the most difficult to get over to build a house?  Having a young family of 4 kids and an unusually busy summer with my job will do that!

I certainly don't regret the few days of camping we had as a family - AWESOME.  Or the few days I got away with my wife - AWESOME.  We really had no idea how bad we needed those until we were away.  And it was great to spend some time playing & relaxing with the kids and then some time away intentionally working on our marriage & having some fun without the kids.  After 13 years of marriage (anniversary today!), we're still learning about communication, personalities, how we approach finances, etc.  I think we've got our goals for the next couple years set and are dreaming/praying about 5-10 years.  Feels really good to know that we are working toward things deliberately (along with all of the surprises that come along) and to be able to see progress even in the overwhelming times.

I think we are slowing admitting (out loud) that we won't be able to move into our new home by Christmas.  It sucks.   It would be really amazing to get in by Dec 24th - but looking like a long shot.  I've got 3+ weeks of holidays to take this fall to work on the house, but still....

Basement floor should get poured this week & then I can start framing up the basement.  Along with that, I have started siding while it's still nice out and working on all of the things I need to add/fix to pass my framing inspection.  The most frustrating one is finished (and the one I thought would take the longest) thanks to Big Red.  It was his first visit, but was it ever timely!  I was really frustrated & dreading working on it, so to have him offer to help & show up when he did was quite a blessing.  Tomorrow FIL is coming for the day to help & then Putz is coming Friday night to help with siding.  It's been a lonely 2-3 months on the build, so it's nice to have a little help!

I'll get a picture up in the next few days!
I.B.