It's a HOUSE not just a hole!!!!!

wow...woW...wOW...WOW!!!  I blinked and we have a house going up!
Thursday we had the concrete for the foundation poured.  It was a cool afternoon with a strong breeze, okay more like a wind, and as much as I'm thinking these days (which is not much) I forgot to bring the kids sweatshirts or my own, so thankfully I had blankets in the car and we all bundled up and sat in our lawn chairs to watch the action.  I must say, I am glad I don't do concrete work for a living, that's a rough job!  We were SO grateful and blessed to have some extra help because the size of the crew for a few weeks is only 4 including Nathan, but Al's son-in-law Ben came out to help and so did Bob and Trevor.  I don't think it would have been done without all their help.  THANKS GUYS!!   After the day was over Nathan stayed and worked with the Power Trial (not sure if that is the correct word or spelling, that's a girl for you trying to relay all this building information) to get the concrete smooth. 
Friday, Nathan worked in town and went out to the property in the evening.  He came home around 11PM and informed me that he had put up 3 basement walls.  I could hardly believe my ears!  So by the time I made it out there Today there had been a lot of progress with walls going up and as I write this they are finishing sheeting the whole basement!!!  So I think we can now say "We're going to the house" instead of the "property".  I am continually blown away by how the Lord is blessing us through His willing servants, friends who come and give of their time to help build our new house.  Father's and Son's.  Layne came out around noon to help and Bob and Trevor were out in the morning and went back out this evening.  We had some dear friends, the Morrow's stop by for lunch and fellowship today and in the early afternoon Terry and his son Dwight went to check out the house and helped out a little while they were there. It brings tears to my eyes, they are all showing us a sacrificial love, even their wives and families who are at home without their spouse or father, they are all blessing and serving our family.  We are so undeserving and yet SO incredibly grateful and blessed beyond measure.  That is how the Lord's love towards us is, only SO far greater, He loved us so much that He willingly died on the cross for each one of us and He desires to have a personal relationship with everyone.  HIS LOVE is AMAZING!  

^bundled up and ready to watch the action^

^getting started^

^everyone's busy^

^filling it up fast^

^trying to stay warm.  it was VERY windy and cold^

^not so entertaining for miss Kenzie^

^working the power screed^

^almost halfway finished^

^getting nice and dirty^

^getting close^

^some finishing work^

 ^the finished product^

^power trowel. Nate glad to be done after a long, hard days work^

^what the house looked like Saturday morning by the time I got there to take pictures! WOW^

^quick results, Nate's in his element: framing^

^building a header^

^the guys stopping by to check out the progress and give us a hand^

^basement family room windows^

^utility room and guest room where the window is^

^schoolroom window^

^getting it level^

^our basement!!^

^sheeting going up^

^5th bedroom window on the right and downstairs bathroom window on the left^

^playing in the puddles^

^plywood for sheeting^

^one of our ramps to get into the house now^

^sheeted^

^a beautiful rainbow over our new HOUSE!!  Thank you Lord!!^

Please join us in prayer for the Lord to hold off the rain this coming Monday.  Our rivers are flooded and we are hoping to get a full days work in because Nathan and the crew will be working at a different location for the next week or more, so we really need all the time we can get to work on the house.  Please pray for no rain or for it to part over our house! 

Progress

We're making progress, and the frame of the house is right around the corner!  Nate and the crew have been getting everything ready for our basement foundation to be poured tomorrow (Thursday, May 26th).  It was rainy this past Monday morning so only Nathan made it out in the afternoon to work at the property, with Bob and Trevor's help in the evening.  They layed out basement wall plates and built a few main floor walls which was exciting to see. Tuesday the crew came out and finished packing the gravel and put in the water line.  In the evening Bob and Trevor came out to help lay out insulating board and help put in the floor drain.  Today, the crew was out again, getting everything ready for our foundation to be poured tomorrow.  We've decided to put in in-floor heating (radiant heating), it will keep the basement floor warm and help heat our house so they layed insulating board down and put in the pex tubing today.  The plumbing for the basement was roughed in the bottom plates for the basement walls were also put in.  The kids and I headed to the property with Nathan this evening after dinner and that's always a special time when we can be out there with him, the kids feel so special being able to help and it's great for them to be apart of the building of our "new home"!  So here's some pictures of the progress that is being made:

^Nate measuring for walls^

^Bob and Trevor building our first main floor wall: dining room window^

^finishing packing gravel^

^hole for the water line to be put in^

^laying out the insulating boards^

^beautiful sunset around 9:40pm^

^roughing in plumbing for the basement floor^

^pex tubing for radiant heating^

^Kenzie running through the pex tubing maze^

^Zeke helping Daddy measure^

^So excited to watch Daddy work!^

^big helper^

^another big helper^

^They love riding in the backhoe with Daddy^

^filling in the waterline hole^

New 'Do

Why is it that when you're almost due you feel like you need a new 'Do?  I've know many pregnant women who have gotten a new hair style or color or done something fun just before they're ready to deliver.  Well I've done it before and I did it again.  I know how I feel come 5 weeks to my due date, I'm uncomfortable, tired, busy and BIG and tired of my hair 'do, looking to have something be fresh when I feel a little drab.  So for Mother's Day this year I asked if I could get my hair colored, and I was so excited when Nathan said yes!  I enjoyed a few hours of pampering this afternoon, some lighter highlights (getting ready for summer) and I got my bangs cut and my layers trimmed and I feel wonderful.  Definitely a splurge for me at this time in our lives, and definitely not a need but I was grateful for a little change and a relaxing afternoon.  Here's the result:

 

big belly

34 weeks prego

Sunday Family Days

  Sundays we've purposed to set aside as a day of rest and our family day.  We're getting to the busy season, if it works out with the weather Nathan can be at the property until sundown which is 10pm right now, so the days are long for him and the kids don't see their Dad much right now.  That is why we've felt it is SO important for us to spend Sundays together as a family.  We have church and lunch with our homechurch family and will spend some time in fellowship with everyone and then in the afternoon we purpose to get away together as a family.  Today we enjoyed an evening pizza picnic in the park.  It made Zeke and Kenzie's day, they were so excited to be going the the park!  It was such a beautiful day, the grass is finally green here and the trees are beginning to sprout their leaves, the air is warm, a much needed and welcomed change after our long winter.  We had fun chasing them around the playground, laughing and playing together as a family.  What a wonderful evening! 

 

 

Flooding

 We've had flooding here since the snow has melted, it's been a bad year.  In the town of Minot, everyone has been okay for the most part but beyond the city many people have suffered, and continue to.  The river has yet to go down, and has actually risen, being at it's highest point yet just the other day after it rained.  They say it won't recede for a while because we are now getting runoff from Canada.  Many families continue battling daily, even around the clock trying to get water out of their homes or basements or to keep it out as the river recedes and rises.  Some of the areal views from our property show you the river, which it's hard to understand the vast flooding without seeing what the river looks like when it's at it normal range but you can use a little imagination.  Here is a picture of the river in town at a bridge. 

^ the water is almost touching the bridge^