Construction Update

Here are the first pics of our ICF basement. The blue you see are the styrofoam forms that are filled with cement which will make for a very insulated house. The black area will be the front porch. Here is the side shot of the garage.

Now we're down in the basement looking out the backside of the house towards the woods. The septic system is already put in and the only approved place by the soil engineer and the health dept. is in the woods. A couple friends cleared the trees and now we have a ten person capacity septic system. Why so big? Well, they count bedrooms and multiply by two not the actual number of people going to be there. "And what's that room over there?" "um, another study" " and that room over there?" "an exercise room?" Sure, we'll go with it or we would have had a septic system the size of the entire woods:) Rest assured that when you all come to visit there will be plenty of room for...whatever.
The other corner of the garage.

The garage straight on. You can see the pond and pier in the background which will be our view from the front porch.

After 8 months of planning, a couple builders, dozens of different plans, we're finally starting! It's been a whirlwind of architects, engineers, and government offices, but it will be worth it in about 6 months. To come: the SIPS on the main and upstairs levels. Those are also very high energy 6 in. thick solid foam panels that are precut for the house. It's like putting together a puzzle and gluing all the seams.

Trunk or Treat

We missed our ward's Trunk or Treat because we went to see our dug out basement (pics of the home construction coming soon). On Sat. we arrived home at five and needed to leave at 5:30. We actually weren't planning on going until friends from this ward invited us to go. Oh, and it's a chili cookoff. Right, we need a pot of chili, four kids dressed in costumes, and the dirt and grime from being out in the country overnight off in the next 25 mins. Luckily, the church is 5 mins. away. Well, I ended up making vegetarian chili since meat would take too long to defrost. I threw in some zucchini and corn, etc. When my back was turned Ashton dumped in some ginger. I tried to scoop it out; add a little tabasco sauce and some more cumin. Done, call it good. The boys had a great time and we got to see friends that we don't normally see and their candy I will say was much bigger and better than our wards. Also, the funniest part is I ended up winning the chili contest. I didn't see that one coming:)

Our Races

Indianapolis Half-Marathon: 1:53:19
This is Kelley, the only smart one among us, although Marie was smart enough to climb in with her later.

Isn't it convenient how the race ended in our driveway? Immediately after getting home Marie wanted to go garage sale shopping down the street... so we raced to it.

The Mighty Mississinewa Triathlon- Sept. 11, '10
I whooped him in the water (by 4 minutes), but since he had a head start, we got out together and enjoyed a brisk 17 miles in the 45 degree, gale force wind, pouring rain, beautiful day. Luckily the rain let up for the run, and our toes thawed out by mile 3.

Lucas and his hat

He just played and played with this hat. It was sooo cute. Here he's talking on the phone.

Now he's eating it.

Not wanting to wear it.

Let's share.

A boy and his grandpa

The boys had a great time catching fish last weekend with grandpa. It seemed like a line went in and a fish came out. It was amazing.

Taylor's Baptism

Birthday Suprise

I remember when I was younger, my sisters and I making secret potions. We would go through my mom's herbs and spices and make nasty smelling and tasting potions and try to get people to taste them. Well, for my birthday Devin and Ashton were insistent that I needed a cake. Since my DH was working a 24 hr. shift I wasn't going to mess with it until he came home the next day. The boys started mixing and stirring and made me a garlic, pickled, basil cake. Yummy!

Ashton wanted to cook it in the firepit.