A splash of red.....

Tomorrow is the last day of January.... 2012 is already going by so fast! We've been so busy with the house that we've forgotten about house updates! So here's a little update.....

The kitchen has been coming along SO nicely! Here's after the floors and lights were installed:

The cabinets came on my birthday! How fun is that?! They are amazing! There's even a plate rack! Then a couple days later the appliances were delivered. Again and again we are thankful for God's amazing provision shown to us throughout this project. An example is the appliances - there was a great sale at Sears the day we decided to randomly look! Love how God surprises us with blessings abundant!

The last big piece of the puzzle was the countertop. The night before it came, I'll admit, I had a small freak-out. I couldn't really remember what the countertop looked like and was worried it wasn't going to work. But my fears were totally unfounded! You can't see it in the pictures, but there are little spots of maroon red throughout the granite. It's so cool!

One of the first things I put in the kitchen was my KitchenAid. It was my 21st birthday gift, so it's been sitting in its box for a while. I think it's very happy to be 'sitting pretty' in its very own corner. Now to get a few hooks up under the cabinet to hang the two extra attachments in an conveniently organized but cute way.

Just today our contractor, Brian, put the hardware on all the doors and hooked up the water to the sink. Now it is a real, live kitchen! Here are a few of the most recently added items..... it's all about the details!

That is the update for the kitchen! Very exciting! We are already thinking about recipes to make and what we should make first. It was suggested that pancakes be the first meal we make in the house. We all have fond memories of sitting in the kitchen at the bar eating Grandpa's huckleberry pancakes..... so wish he could see the kitchen now! As a kid, I just knew he made the best pancakes ever because they were often in different fun shapes and such..... my opinion hasn't changed. Grandpa made the best pancakes EVER!

Making Progress

We are making progress! Here is a picture of the front of the

house when we first bought it....

Here's the front of the house now!!

Here's a photo of the back of the house when we first bought it. The septic

tank is in the driveway therefore the garage unusable and it was covered

by grass and overgrown bushes.

Here's the back now! A big difference, huh?!? There is a driveway (of gravel!), the rock walls are back up and the garden beds are all cleaned and ready to be planted

this spring. We have wrapped up most of our big outside projects outside and

just in time as we woke up to some snow of the ground this morning!

First on the list.....

Now that it's official, the first thing we really wanted to do was rip up the carpet. It was dirty.... and smelly! Dad was out of town and going to get home on the late flight, but that didn't stop us girls from 'going to town.' We ripped out the carpet in the dining room, living room, hallway and guest bedroom!

As you can see in these two pictures, it looks like wood flooring underneath. But it's not really; it is plywood with a dark stain. Whoever put it in even drew dark lines on it to try and make it look like wood planks. Very creative! But it gave us a chance to see what a wood floor will kind of look like, because we are planning on putting down engineered wood floor in the kitchen and dining room, and we liked it! A productive night tonight! Now only the master bedroom, attic and basement left.

Deck of Memories

Here is a picture of the present deck on the back of the house - not so glamorous. It will be one of the first projects for our contractor, Brian (who is WONDERFUL!!). We are hoping to do a lot of the work on the house ourselves, but the deck is one project we don't want to try. I'm not a prophet but I'm pretty sure I would foresee pain, part of the roof collapsing and a lot more work to clean up our mess if we tried our hand at it. But this deck has some wonderful memories connected to it. When thunderstorms would roll through in summer evenings, we would, as a family, sit on this deck, shelling peas, watching the lightning. There were many birthdays, 4th of July parties and just family time spent on their deck. Another fond memory was Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma's house. After we had eaten dinner (our tradition of shrimp and cocktail sauce for appetizers and spaghetti for dinner - don't ask me where those traditions came from, we're Norwegian..... not Italian) and after all the other presents were opened (including the matching PJs for the three of us kids) there'd always be one present for the three grandkids still at large. It was a special gift, Grandma would say, as it was from Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. There'd be glitter or something marking the path where we'd find the presents and often they'd be hiding on the deck (because Rudolf doesn't have hands, so there'd be no way he could open the door, of course, hehe). So many memories for such an insignificant place as a deck! We are looking forward to sitting on the deck and reminiscing about old times.... and making some new memories, too! God is too good!

God Answers Prayers!

In 2001, Grandpa and Grandma Siblerud moved from their house in Creston. It was the house my Dad grew up in since he was 8 years old and we have lived next to them since 1990. We've watched their house go through two owners and a few different renters and the property diminish since then. This summer Grandpa's health diminished and he passed away on July 16th and since then Rachel had specifically been praying that we might be able to get the property back. Growing up next to your grandparents is a rare and beautiful thing and we wanted the opportunity to have that again for future generations. About a month ago, Mom was up stairs and saw someone walking around the property as if they were inspecting it. She immediately wondered if the house might be for sale, so, in a step of faith we sent a letter to the owners stating that if they were ever interested in selling we would be interested in buying. Two days later we got a call from the owners saying they had just put it on the market!! Providential!

We are going to be posting pictures, stories and movies of our work on the house - 4798 MT Hwy 35. It's going to be quite the project, but a labor of love to be sure!