Looking Back

We are still in the finishing carpentry stage but we are seeing a difference. In a typical construction project, the finish carpenter usually needs a week or so to finish. Ah, but we are anything but typical. We are slow. We make mistakes. We sometimes have to do a job several times before we are happy with it. But at the end of the day, it's getting done. 

Slowly. But surely.

Steve is putting the finishing touches on the trim in his and Joey's room. The trim is ready for the second coat of paint. He has been able to do a lot of the work on his own room. It's fun to look back now and see how much work they've done and to know that he has been a such a big help along the way.

The first walls go up on their room. Such an exciting time!

The trusses are installed.

The roof is on.

The interior walls go up! It's finally a bedroom!

The wiring goes in.

Ben helps install the window.

Insulation!

Drywall is in! Vaccuuming up the mess.

Putting the primer on.

Painting the room.

Laying the floor.

Installing doors.

Which brings us to the trim! What an accomplishment!! Obviously, he didn't do all the work himself but he was able to see and help with each stage. And that is pretty neat! (Steve, however, doesn't particularly care to have his picture taken, if you're wondering why you seldom see him. I *try* to accomodate him.  Ahem, *most* of the time.)

Not everyone can help build their own room but there are lots of other ways to help! Abby joined me to help with the clean up after sanding trim.

We enjoyed working together!

 And all that work is noticeable!! It's beginning to look more like a house and less like a construction zone!

The tape is coming off and rooms are being finished!!

I love the way the closet in our room turned out!

The bedroom doors ending up getting a third coat of paint. I'm pretty sure I wasn't putting enough paint on my roller. Rookie mistake, right? I was being careful to avoid having runs in the paint but I ended up making more work for myself. Oh well, live and learn!

The tung oil is soaking into the beam in the kitchen. It looks great!

Still working on our bathroom window!

The view from where I'm working.

Phil picked up the hand rails for the stairs. A sure sign we're getting close.

Finishing the windows downstairs, too!

We are still waiting for the kitchen counter. They are working on it this week and it should be finished soon. Once that counter is in, that will enable us to finish the kitchen and once the kitchen is finished, we can move on to hooking up the water and finishing the plumbing. It is really neat, though, to have areas of the house that are actually finished! Some of you were wondering about the siding and no, we haven't forgotten about it! Our goal is to get the interior finished first because the siding is not required for the final inspection, and leaving it for now will allow us to move sooner. Which we are anxious to do. Very anxious to do. We've been anxious about a lot of things lately. How thankful we are that looking back, we can see the Lord's hand at work, providing everything we need. Everything. Why do we worry? Mostly because we think that things might not go the way WE want them to. That things might look different than WE imagined them. But we know that the Lord is good. His way is perfect. And for that, we are very thankful!

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God 

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1