Life is funny

We're just sitting here laughing because our life seems quite funny right now... We just finished eating pizza out under the trees, listening to the swing band playing tunes next door. Our neighbour is hosting her own birthday party and has hired a band of eleven members which is playing on her large deck as I write this and there's over a hundred people milling about on her deck and yard, which looks directly over ours. This is funny because our property looks slightly like a bomb hit, definitely a construction zone! So, we won't be going to bed til late tonight as the tunes will keep going til late. We're just getting the dirt cleaned off the kids so we can go over and dance and join in. Last month she hosted a healing through laughing seminar and the whole weekend we got to listen to many people laughing at the top of their lungs. She's a sweet heart though. Well, off now to dance and laugh...

Tubing rocks!

I've been wanting to post these pictures for quite sometime... We went to Powell River at the end of June to visit my Nana and my Uncle Gord and Auntie Jan. Gord took all of us tubing and it was a thrill! The reason I really want to show you all the picture of the boys tubing with Christian is because it's so shows the boys personalities. Isaiah is much more of a thinker about things and gets scared more easily, but Brennan just jumps in and has a blast doing everything whole heartedly without thinking about the safety issues. The whole ride, Isaiah's and Brennan's faces looked exactly like the picture shows. At the end they both said they loved it, but I think the picture tells the whole story!! Brennan with a huge grin and Isaiah with teeth gritted. I was honestly terrified watching my precious jewels ride around on a tube... If our kids turn out anything like Christian, I'd better get used to it as he was a cliff jumping thrill seeker when we dated. Thanks for all the fun in Powell River Uncle Auntie, and Nana!

Fun in the Fraser Valley

The kids and I just got back from a fun filled week in Chilliwack and Abbotsford. We decided to go and visit my sis Heather and family who just moved into their new house a couple of months ago. Also, we hadn't yet met my niece Violet who is now three months old. Sadly, I don't even have a picture of her cause my camera broke right before I was going to take her pic. She is a cutie though and I'll post her picture another time.
We went to the Vancouver Game Farm one day which the kids LOVED. Their favorite part was getting to see the lions and tigers eat their meaty lunch.
Most of all though, it was great to visit with my sister and her family as well as some of our good friends from Abbotsford. The boys were so excited to drive by the condo, Isaiah's old school and the hospital where they were born. Brennan said, "Mom, I really am a true Abbotsforder!"
While we were gone, Christian and his parents were working hard taking down all the interior parts of the cottage. I know they got a lot more done with us gone, but I did feel guilty at least once for having so much fun ;)
Now we're back to our sweet little trailer. The only horrible part is that Isaiah now has the runs and Brennan and Abby spent our first night home throwing up. I guess we picked up the flu somewhere (probably Adventure Zone, hey Rachel?) Everyone is still not completely back to normal. I've made too many trips already to the laundry mat to wash sheets and blankets. Yuck!!!

WAITING...

House Of Stone

Our patience muscles are being tested! It seems like we're waiting for everything right now; the financing to go through, the building permit, hydro to come and switch our power to our new pole... I truly think this beginning stage is going to be the hardest part of building our own home, at least I'm hoping so ;) The financing is the biggest sorce of stress. When you apply for a construction loan you have to give a cost estimate that includes the prices of all labour that needs to be done. We're doing tons of the work ourselves, but the bank does not want to know this as they want to know that the house will be built quickly. So, you need to get qualified for a much bigger sum of money than you'll actually end up using. Christian and I were laughing last night thinking about what we would do in the financing fell through! This verse I read today gives me comfort:

Psalm 62:5 (New International Version)

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

I know this is so true. When Christian was out of work and we were waiting to know what he was going to do, God gave me so much peace in the middle of the waiting. So today I'm going to rest and wait to hear about everything.
In the middle of all this waiting though, we've been very busy. Christian's Mom and Step-Dad (Chris and Bill), sold their motorhome that we were going to stay in and bought us a 31 ft. trailer. It's a funky 1976 special but it has a lot of cupboards and a lot more room, so that makes me feel happy. We're almost completely moved into it now and we'll begin tearing down the cottage tonight. I'll take some pictures of our new digs in the next day or so. The boys are tenting it for now and Abby sleeps on the couch in the trailer. Abby has been a challenge as I think it's hard for her to understand why we keep moving to different beds. She's been VERY grumpy. It's so hard for a three year old to understand what it means to be building a house...
Well, I should get back here to packing up the cottage. If you read our blog, leave a comment and then I can keep track of who's actually reading this thing :)
-Jenn

Another Day at Work...

Well, looking out the window from the studio last night, I couldn't resist taking a picture. First day of summer and all. As I snapped the picture, I realized something was flying in from the left side. I didn't think it was captured on the camera, but it was...man, I feel blessed by God that this is the view from my office! -Christian

Funny things kids say...

A few days ago, Brennan said, "Mom when I grow up I want to be a basketball player, because they can draw all over themselves!" I then told him that those are called tatoos and they have to put the ink in with a needle. He then said, "Well, I guess I'll have to be a basketball player without tatoos."

Trees a fallin

I'm wondering where the past week and a half has gone! It's been very busy around the property... Many trees have come down, more salal cleared, many branches wood chipped or burned, the shack torn down and a new shed almost built. We're finding that we really find it rewarding though working on our own property. We ordered the house from Nelson Homes today and the first load will be delivered in about eight weeks. We were hoping for more like six weeks, but that's o.k. this will all happen in God's timing. I'm sure I'll be one of those people who build and say "I hope we're in the house by Christmas!" Our little boy monkeys caused some havic last weekend when they decided the windows we salvaged from the old shack would be fun to break with a sledge hammer. That was not fun to clean up... They were all disciplined by having to wash the vehicles spic and span on Sunday afternoon. I find interesting things usually happen when you get a group of three or more boys together with creative heads!

This first pic was Brennan's last climb on this tree before it came down.
I can't believe how much more light we're getting now with the one grove of trees gone. I think our neighbour almost had a heart attack when the tree falling truck pulled up. I told her the trees were going but I don't think she thought about how fast it would happen. I don't like being a "tree killer", but those ones had to go to make room for the house. We've actually been so blessed by our neighbours. On the one side, our neighbour has a little bobcat and took all the logs off our land over to his to use as firewood. He's also going to help transplant some trees for us. On the other side, our neighbour has offered to store the rest of our furniture when we move into the motor home. I love friendly neighbours :)






x

We're on our way!

Well, I've been inspired by reading my friend Rachel's blog and how it is such a cool way to keep up with friends that I've decided to start one too :) I thought since we are building a house too, it would be a good way to keep you all updated on the progress... Things have been crazy busy around here. I can honestly say I didn't realize how much work has to be done before you ever even get started on building a house. Construction loans, building permits, sewage permits, electric permits, temporary power pole, and the list goes on... Every night we hit bed exhausted! We are still living in the cottage on our property but that should be torn down by next weekend and then we'll be moving into a motor home for summer. Here's a few pics of things:


This is where we're living now












This is one of many burn piles we've had and will have












The horrid shack in the back of our property that we're tearing down. It's full of old bottles of wine and other junk. Many trips to recycling are yet to come...











This is what we'll live in by next week. Aaaaaah! What have we got ourselves into!