Year six

Since I last left you with a post about our fifth wedding anniversary and we're 1/3 of the way through our seventh year of marriage I thought I should take some time to update you on year six. It was a great one.

We spent most of our time and energy on The Makeover of 405 E. Ash. Although we feel incredibly fortunate to have a home of our own to work on, it is a big job. One we seriously underestimated and needed a lot of help to finish. I say finish lightly, because I don't know if it will ever be finished. But it is livable and we are moved in! Maybe someday it will look presentable enough for 'after' photos but today is not the day so I will share some 'during' shots.

First we demo-ed everything. Bathroom, kitchen, walls, ceilings, stairs. Everything.

 

Then we halted progress for about three months while I worked on perfecting the floor plan and we found someone to help us put it all back together. This waiting/designing was the hard part but we found great help and love the open feel of the floor plan so it was definitely worth it. We added a bathroom, new stairs, structural beams where we took out walls and lots of additional floor support.

Of course we couldn't leave well enough alone on the outside, so we added a chimney, put on a new front porch and turned the pack porch into a laundry room.

I haven't organized the interior photos so I'll spare you the floor refinishing, new roof, new plumbing, windows, electrical, insulation, sheetrock, painting, trim work and masonry. We have exterior painting and landscaping to do this summer but we are loving it and living in it which is good enough for now!

I don't want you to think that year six was all work. We did managed to have a little fun. Jason bit the bullet and bought a boat which provided countless hours of entertainment and made him that much more popular with his niece and nephew.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed Lake Roosevelt, getting a few camping trips in with the Barnes and Sandersons.

 

We welcomed a sweet sweet new niece

 

And then received the very welcome news that we're expecting a little boy in early March!

So all in all, year six was everything we could possibly dream of. I'll give you a little break to process the fact that I updated the blog before we start on year seven :) We're on the final stretch and counting down to baby's arrival!