One of out last major projects...the patio. We had stamped concrete done in front of the house and then about 4" lower we had exposed aggregate. At the front door we also did a pad of stamped concrete with exposed aggregate for the pad in front of the garage and the sidewalks that go all the way around the garage side of the house. It sure keeps things alot cleaner. In the exposed aggregate we put in a hopscotch pad! Looking forward to having the family home to enjoy.

We are surrounded by nature here! Well, sort of! One sunday afternoon while sitting on the patio we saw this little black bear walk across the back yard. Once I got the camera he had moved on to the neighbors yard...checking out the food in the dog kennel. However, the dog came out of the doghouse and up the tree the bear went!!! He was one scared little bear. We hope that we don't see him too often! Then we have been watching 5 humming birds battle it out for the feeder. Cal said it sounds like 'Star WArs'. The chattering and humming of their wings is actually noisy. Its amazing that they can tell where they are going they go so fast. We are loving all the creations around us.

This deer walked up our bank, fed a bit in front of the house and then proceeded to just lie down. All of this while we were enjoying an early pancake breaky. This deer is within 40' of us and we found out today that they 'chew their cud'! we watched her for about 15 - 20 minutes and then she heard something down the hill, got up and pointed her ears in all directions...trying to figure someething out. We are just loving the sights we get to see up here.

Our bar stools have finally arrived and we aare able to enjoy our meals looking out on the mountains.
Below is the entertainment cabinet that Cal construsted out of the damaged kitchen pantry cupboard. it was perfect in size as well as color as it tied the kitchen and family room together. Cal is one very handy guy.

This is some of our spa/ensuite. Pictures do not do it justice in my eyes...however, it is probably the most favorite room in the house. a retreat within a retreat.

On the shooting range! Well sort of. We took a long awaited little holiday. its been 2 1/4 years since Cal took holidays...for holidays. It has been work, work, work. We flew down to Redmond, Oregon to visit our dear friends Dan & Linda Jackson. Had some really good times as you can see. Their son Danny had a few guns and while we were out 'looking' for this ice cave, we took some time to shot a few rounds from both his pistol and rifle. Danny is quite protective of his armery so we are thankful that he was willing to let us have some fun. We were aiming at pine cones that were about 40' down...at the bottom of a crater.

Our neighbor gave us this heron which we placed on a little shelf at the top of the open foyer. It was quite a nice spot.

This is one of our special features. We hired the stairwell out and the guy did a beautiful job. Wish I could get the whole thing in the picture.

We took a bold step and paint-washed the living room fireplace a dark green. It tied in beautifully with the area rug. Friends have asked us to house a couch for them...not sure how long but we are thrilled to have it. We get more compliments on the couch...maybe one day we will buy it! As you can tell we haven't got the furniture to fill the gaps just yet.

Can't get a full shot of the back side since it is on a hill! However, the windows from the right to left on the bottom are living room, dining room (the doors) kitchen, kitchen, kitchen (door), family room and around the corner from there is the laundry room and garage. The top floor it corner bedroom (2 windows), bathroom, master bedroom.

This is the front of the house. Above the front door is a window that is featured in the entryway. Another picture will show you the heron (that a neighbor gave us) perched on a ledge. After 34 years of marriage we now have our first 'doorbell'!!

We were able to match the hardwood floor color to do the gas fireplace with. This is in a corner of the family room. Visible is Cals gift to himself...the plasma TV for watching all his hockey games in HD!

Sure glad we have the Kubota...Cal spent much time today clearing all the driveways/hills. This pic is the first of the snow this morning and he has had to plow again this afternoon. The drives are now clear so hopefully we don't get too much cool air to make them icy. It is a beautiful winter wonderland and we are having such fun watching our two eagles.

This was SO much fun as we were snowed in what better thing to do than to set up a tree. Tyson, Hannah, Natalie, Joel, Chloe, and Sam we are ready to see you some time during the christmas season and Max and Maddy, if your parents have any available time we would love to see you to.

This it the buffet of the diing suite. And YES those are christmas decorations. Ward came on Saturday to do the clear coat on our stair well and surprised us with his family. We were so thankful that we had the big table and we enjoyed serving everyone a few meals with extra room. We had another surprise as the snow fell on saturday night...and continued through to sunday morning....

On Friday, Nov 24th we decided that we were ready to move in the last of the big furniture...something that I have waited a year and a half to see in the house....our dining room suite. We sat at the table that night just imagining what it will be like to have the family sit together at the table - the WHOLE family! Can hardly wait.

These are just 15 or 76 pieces that I had to stain for the stair well. The 'artist' who is building it has been doing stairwells for 22 years and his craftsmanship has been amazing to watch. We hope to have the jigsaw puzzle put together next week.

We had the priviledge of caring for Max and Maddy for 9 days while mom and dad vacationed in Cuba. It was fun but exhausting as we have them 24/7!! We had many smiles as we watched their antics and things they said. One day we piled a bunch of leaves together and took some pics...Maddy LOVED getting down and dirty while Max didn't even want to sit in the leaves! Too funny! Needless to say that we didn't get much done in the house and the kids just took the majority of our time - such a blast.

our bedroom being set up! We are moving in! We keep pinching ourselves as it seems just so unreal sometimes. Nothing much else is worth blogging at this point as we are still in the finishing stages but will keep you posted in another week or so. Also we are entertaining two of our grandchildren - Max and Maddy for a week so not much will get done.

Well, this was one exciting day as the granite was being installed. Can't imagine how it will look on the bigger scale but we are SO pleased with the color match. They had a few problems getting the one piece in the corner as there were 3 corners that were solid and it just didn't bend into place...thus we have a few nicks in the gyproc. No big deal, as long as it got the granite in place.

I put alot of cupboards together...the laundry room, the bath on the main floor and these are the ones for the upstairs bathroom. Once I got on a roll it was fairly simple but the first cupboard I had to take apart about 3 times!!!!

The basement is starting to get cosy with the carpeting down and the electric fireplace up and running.

It took some time to do all of these ovens...acrtually it was one oven per evening. Also the warming drawer had to be redone for the electrical inspector as he didn't like the placement of the receptacle...even though we did it according to the installation instructions!!!

Its coming right along. This is the pantry wall!

Kitchen cabinets finally go in. It took 3 days for installation.

GOOD NIGHT! Well, I have only posted these few pics and it has taken 40 minutes...that is all you will get tonight. This is at about 8pm a few weeks ago. It is so nice to see the lights on and we are thrilled with how the outside looks. Till next time.....

This is is just one of three piles of garbage from unwrapping the cupboards. I love to build a fire so I just kept piling it on. In the background you can see some of the cabinets...waiting to be installed

Well, its been a while but we haven't had much time for playing on the computer! Actually, I have tried a few times and with this 'dial-up' it takes forever to load one picture and then the web page doesn't show....very frustrating. Anyways, tonight I have a few pics for you. This is Cal and I moving the kitchen cabinets from the squash court (the warehouse!), up the hill to the house. It was some ordeal and I am SO thankful it is done. The pantry's are very delicate things!