All Moved In!

As promised, here are photos from just about every vantage point.


This one shows a little of the back door which lets in so much light. (Utility room to the left, and garage to the right). Not shown is the fantastic walk-in pantry across from the cooktop area right behind the niche.

This is the view coming in from the back door. Love that window!

Here's the view of "Zoe's Island" and down the hall to our bedroom. Note all those fabulous cabinets in the corner!

A slightly different view that shows the opening to the dining room which is undergoing a minor renovation as well.

Here's the famous niche next to the monster refrigerator.

This is what I see in the morning on my way in for coffee!

Now on with the party!

TA-DAH!!!!!

We're FINALLY done!!!!!

Jack met me at the door last night with a glass of wine in our new kitchen! He had worked all afternoon with the guys cleaning up the final details.

Ashley and Amy gave us these aprons for Christmas, and last night seemed like the perfect time to try them out.

And here's a sneak peak at the "niche".

Stay tuned for more details, photos and party plans to follow!

Fast Forward!

I always find it more difficult to write about unpleasant things, so I have been neglecting our blog. Living in a construction zone can be rather unpleasant at times. When I came home from Montana in early October, the demolition of the exterior wall was complete. The timing of all that worked out wonderfully. Here's Jack standing on the line where the wall used to be.

Here's another view including the spot for the art niche and the refrigerator.

The problem for me was the layer of dust that was absolutely everywhere in spite of the workers trying to cover everything with plastic sheeting. The morning before they finished working on the tile flooring, our cooktop was in the hallway, the microwave was on the floor in the dining room, we had to go in and out the front door, go around the front yard and back to the garage to avoid walking on the tile just to get to a refrigerator. Thankfully, that phase did not last long. David, Humberto, and Juan did a fantastic job on the tile, and it was worth all the headaches in the end.

We were late making a decision on our cabinets, so basically we were in a holding pattern waiting for them for about 3 weeks. Wednesday, Jack received a call that they were trying to deliver them, but couldn't get their truck down the driveway. He brought a trailer home, and helped transfer the cabinets and bring them up to the house.

Zoe really loved being so close to the heat coming from the ceiling vent.

The next day the installers arrived. They worked all day and suddenly we have a kitchen!

Welcome Back Workers!

After two long weeks, David and the gang have returned. They've been focusing on the roof and the sheetrock. Today got a little hectic when they accidentally cut through the freon line to the gameroom air conditioner! No problem for Jack Frost since he's an expert with HVAC also.

And just in case anyone is wondering, this is a niche. :)

Green Tag Means Go!

While David, Humberto and Juan were on another job down in Austin for two weeks, Jack spent the time running the electrical and plumbing lines. Here's our green tag to prove he knows what he's doing!

A Pantry and Some Wires

By last Friday David and the gang had framed in the pantry, and the plumbing had been started. The french doors are here, but not installed as yet. Jack worked on the electrical wiring over the weekend. There won't be much more visible progress for a while since Jack had to send the guys to Austin to work on another job for two weeks. All of this is a reminder of what we went through 25 years ago. We moved into our house way before it was completed. Back then, we set up a temporary kitchen in the garage. Oh yeah, and we had a 4 month old baby too. This situation is a piece of cake compared to that!

And We're Dry!

I don't know how he did it, but David and the guys managed to get our kitchen "dried in" in spite of the rain! It is so much more like an actual room now.

Jack and I spent most of Saturday selecting and purchasing appliances. Today, Jack started working on the wiring, and I was back to packing! Ashley even came out to lend a hand. She has a little bit of experience at moving! Thanks Ash!