Our Home

I tell Paul many times that our house doesn't seem like it is really ours it seems like it belongs to someone else. This house has just been a project we work on together. After telling him this I decided we needed a way to mark this house as our own.

Paul's mother, Rita, had suggested a sleep-over in order to make this home a reality to us. We all decided yesterday this was a great idea. We quickly packed up our beds and headed over to the house at dusk. Rita joined us for a night of fun, and brought a thermos of coffee for in the morning.

Once the beds were set up we enjoyed the rest of the evening on the balcony staring at the far off lights in San Angelo. We shared a bag of popcorn Rita brought and talked about the many thoughts we had for our new home.

From this day forward the house has been marked "Our Home." Great Joy in my heart today, this last year and a half has been a long journey.

Rita Ann, whose feet are these in my jacuzzi?

Nice Green Roof - Pretty Red Kayak

We have had many nice compliments on the green roof from friends and family. I took this picture Friday evening after the roofers had finished for the day.
This weekend Rita (Grammy) and Elizabeth tried out their new kayaks. They both took off in the river like they had been kayaking all their lives. They joined Paul's brother Dan and wife Debbie for a trip up the river. They decided to launch from a very pretty place known as Mineral Wells Crossing on the South Concho which is up river from where we are staying.

Labor Day

If you look at the previous house photo and the one above you will notice the stucco trim work is now complete. The color of the stucco we chose was the closest to the color in the mortar.

We were expecting the green metal roof to go on this week, but recent rain caused the roofer to get behind in his schedule.

Our Labor Day weekend was fun filled with company driving through to see the house. Rita's two sisters and brother-in-law were visiting her from San Angelo and College station.

Also, Paul's brother Dan and wife Debbie bought two new kayaks. They were gracious to share their new toys with everyone which was great added fun together this holiday. We all took turns paddleing round the river where we are staying. Rita was the only one of her sisters confident enough to try her hand in one of the kayaks.

Roof Decking

The rain poured yesterday in the morning until after lunch. The framers did not come out to work on the fourth of July as they had planned because of the rain. However, with no rain showers today they were able to start covering the roof. We were doing the happy dance to see this much of the decking completed today. We really hope this rain lets up soon.

Yesterday we had a nice 4th of July grilling out in the rain. Hamburgers on the River is our traditional meal to celebrate Independance Day. We couldn't think of breaking tradition so we covered the grill with a canopy and it worked out just fine. Delicious!

Roof Trusses-Rain

These pictures were taken on Monday after the concrete was poured on the outside patio and upstairs balcony. In these pictures I was trying to show you the progress of the roof trusses as they were set in place through out the afternoon.

It seems like we just get going on several days of building and the rain starts again. This morning at 5:15 a.m. we had a big rain and it didn't stop until after nine. Paul and Elizabeth went over to the house this morning and found the second floor under two inches of water. The builder was there trying to sweep out as much of the standing water as he could to dry the floor.

Tuesday Paul's Aunt Nancy and her family came for a visit. We spent the day swimming and playing with everyone. They enjoyed touring the house and had lots of nice compliments. We had another fun day today with them. Despite the rain this morning it turned out to be a beautiful cloudy cool day. Elizabeth and her cousins, Sarah and Nancy tried their hand at boating this afternoon.

Christoval Toenail Trail Days

Toenail Trail is the highway through Christoval. This morning was a small parade kicking off the annual Toenail Trail Days event in Christoval. The event starts with a very short parade which walks about a quarter mile down Main Street. They had horses, carts, cars, tractors and children walking with their pets all dressed up in costumes for the parade. The parade ends at the City Park filled with food, some art and craft booths, and a few rides for the children.

Watching the parade we were trying to figure out how we can be a part of the parade next year.

Yes, we're living large!

Sunday Church Service

Today we had the opportunity to attend our first "Church Under the Tree," service. This is an annual event with a hamburger cook out afterwards. The message and the meal were both very good. There is no telling how old this massive oak tree is. It is so large I don't think we could get all of it in one picture. The oak tree is on one of the church members Ranch. Steve Gains, our builder also built their beautiful one of a kind chalet style home. They had many compliments about Steve and his building talents.
The framers will be on the job tomorrow and am anxious to see all their progress this week.

Sunday's Swim, Sun and Fun

Elizabeth's Sunday Bible study class had a great time together. Liz Anderson, their Bible study teacher is in the center of the photo, who is also the pastor's wife and just fun to be with.

Grammy Rita brought her famous River Mouse boat for the girls to enjoy. It is an old amusement park boat she found and restored. It was a big hit with all the girls. Aunt Debbie gave tutoring instructions on the "how to" of the tree swinging which made for a successful day of swim, sun and fun together.
The gas line up to the house is now completed and the trench is covered. The framing crew is presently scheduled for Thursday if the rain lets up. We have had a big rain every evening since Saturday. The weatherman says the rain should stop on Wednesday, hopefully the framing can start on Thursday as planned.