Sights and Sounds

Since the kids are busy in school all week, we try to give Annabel and Thane a little "down" time on our busy weekends at our new home job site.  One new favorite past time is searching for golf balls.  We're not sure if a previous owner of the land in our subdivision liked golf or they had some soil moved there from a nearby golf course, but either way there are a LOT of balls to be found.  Here's a recent day's haul:

Another favorite activity is loudly playing in the crawl space beneath the house.

They also love spying out the various critters we've spotted in neighboring pasture:

Regardless of the the work/play ratio of any given day, we all enjoy taking in the gorgeous sunsets at the end of a long, cold day.

Life is good.  Exhausting, but good!

Progress

 

The new house is coming along well - especially considering that we are working on it part time and that the crew consists of Jordan, me (a complete novice!) and Jordan's 79 year old grampa.  Oh, and we get lots of "help" from the kids on the weekend!

We've gotten the foundation and subfloor down, the first floor exterior walls framed, and the second floor load bearing wall and subfloor installed.

We've even managed to get the garage framed in.

We've been working hard, but we try to take a few moments here and there to enjoy the experience.  This was especially easy the other morning when we watched a hot air balloon land in a neighbor's field.

 

And it just wouldn't be the same without our faithful mascot Blue (Grampa's mini Australian Shepherd):

Groundbreaking News

So this happened last week:

 

 

Even though 2020 has not gone according to plan by any stretch of the imagination, Jordan and I are learning that we can trust God in the details.  Although we were unable to purchase our dream farmhouse in Maine, we both have peace that God knows the end from the beginning and that He knows what is best.  The silver lining is that after months of pouring over seemingly endless floor plans and architectural renderings, we broke ground on our new home last week.

 

 The slab has been poured, and the basement wall footings will be poured in a few days.

We even have a rudimentary driveway - an absolute necessity with the Wyoming clay that serves as the topsoil on our land.

We have not been able to watch sunrises and sunsets at our home in town, but we've discovered that the views from our new place will be spectacular.

We'll keep you updated as the work moves along. 

A Down to Earth and Interstellar Halloween

 

Where, oh where, has the year gone?  It doesn't feel like November today (it's 74 degrees right now), but snow and cold weather is in the forecast.  SIGH!  The cold weather always makes us peckish, and the kids are now old enough to help satisfy those cravings.  Annabel has been checking out cookbooks from our local library, and we have definitely reaped the benefits of her studies.  Last weekend she made delicious homemade soft pretzels.  Um, yes please!

Halloween day was busy for us.  The kids and I drove down to nearby Fort Phil Kearney, site of the Fetterman Massacre.  It was interesting to learn more about our local history.

Later the kids did some COVID-friendly trick-or-treating around town.  This year they were Star Wars characters:    Raye and Kylo Ren.

On our way across town, we got a good view of the buffalo that live in our local park.  Jordan commented that "We really need a pet buffalo.  It would look so cool on our lawn."  Um, NO!

We rounded out the festivities with some good, old fashioned pumpkin carving.  The theme, again, was Star Wars.  

Happy Halloween from the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda!