September

So what happened in September?

Grandpa and Grandma came and took the kids on the mountain fishing.

Dad sold his favorite horse to buy a ram so that we can have more lambs next year for the fair.

(Just a funny little story. We drove down to Logandale, Nevada to buy this ram from people who had bought it at an auction in Toole, Utah. It was taken to the auction in Toole by the people who raised it in Salina, Utah. It was a long trip for the ram just to end up 25 miles away in Annabella.)

And we finally were able to move into our house after 9 months of hard work.

We began moving in over Labor Day weekend. We did it one four-wheeler trailer load at a time. Because we only had to go through the block we thought it would be best if we cleaned, sorted, junked and went through every single item we own as we went. We took the essentials first like beds, clothing, toiletries and food. After a couple of weeks of living very comfortably and orderly, we began wondering why did we need to spend the next couple of weeks hauling all of the non-essential stuff over that is just going to clutter up our new home. Nevertheless, it was over Thanksgiving that we finally cleaned our old house and hauled the last thing, the chest freezer, to our new home.

We can now say that we are finally moved in!

This is our first night in the new home. Everyone was excited with their new bedrooms....

Except Anna.

But she finally relented.

The first week we didn't have a kitchen table. The weather was fantastic so we ate all of our meals on the patio. It was a glimpse into all of the future good times to be had on the patio.

Of course, it didn't take too long to break the house in. But, how can you be too mad at such cute little kids.

We purposely didn't blog too much about our experience of building the house. We felt a little funny about it. You know, maybe boastful or something. We were very content in the little grandma house we were living in, but the time was right to build. Our lot was paid off, the contractors were out of work and the interest rates were very low. We took lots of pictures of the building experience, 970 to be exact. We took a few pictures nearly everyday and of every phase of building. We won't bore you and post them all, even though they are very fun for us to look back at, but here are some so that you can kind of see what we have accomplished.

Building Our House 2011

Our house was built where this shed and corrals once stood. We had a lot of cleaning up to do prior to building.

After designing it on graph paper, just prior to taking our plans to a draftsman...

We drew the house to scale on grandma and grandpa's driveway. Nerdy, yes. But it did help.

We were originally going to be our own contractor, but decided during the financing part of it all that it would be way easier and less stressful if we hired a contractor. It was a very good move on our part. In our opinion our contractor was the best and only hired the best subs.

Hiring a contractor turned out to be a really good decision because the original plan was that we would build it during the summer when we were out of school. Everything just took longer than we thought, the design, the drafting, the bids and given the banking climate at the time, the financing process was horrendous. We finally got the hole dug December 9, 2010.

It turned really cold all winter long and we had a lot of snow but the workers were incredible and kept plugging along.

We had to have Levi pose for this picture. We saw him over looking really close at the cement. When we asked what he was looking for, he informed us that when he was over watching the workers pour the cement, when they weren't looking, he quickly put his thumb in the cement.

Although we did hire a contractor, we did earn some sweat equity by doing all of the painting, the tile work and the wood floor. It took most of the spring and summer for us to accomplish these things. We weren't super fast but we did a fantastic job. After all, we still had to live. Raising 5 involved and active kids is a lot of work. Plus, we were very fussy but it paid off. It all turned out really well.

A big shout out to Uncle Dal. He owns a chemical company that manufactures products for finishing concrete. He sent us some product. We finished the concrete in the basement as well as the garage. It turned out awesome. Thanks Dal!

We are now anxiously planning our spring and summer work of putting in a yard.

We don't get many visitors as we are off the beaten path. But please know the porch light is on and the welcome mat is always out. So consider this an official invitation to any family and friends that need a place to stay in Central Utah. Whether you are passing through or if we are your destination. We are looking forward to your company.