Building Pad Complete

Here is the building pad. All ready for the footings to be dug on Tuesday. We had to bring the lot up quite a ways so that our drainage will work properly.



Side and back of lot

Day 2

The picture is kind of weird but here is day two with the rest of the dirt there and the building pad being compacted.

Got dirt?

BECAUSE WE DO!!!!!!!!

And its still coming......

There it is

The lovely building permit!!!! We officially break ground tomorrow and the house pad will be ready by Friday. They will be digging footings next Tuesday (for once I'm sad there is a holiday on Monday)! Underground Plumbing will be by the next Friday and then hopefully the slab will be poured the following week! WHA HOO! I have to apologise that the house will probably hijack our blog for a while. For those that are interested I will be posting progress pictures as each step happens. For those that aren't, that means boring....but who cant be excited about construction! I mean John and I go to Model homes for dates and they are so romantic! To bad I'm not joking, it is one of our favorite dates!

Rolling Thunder

If there is one thing I love about living in the desert its the storms. I remember growing up in California waiting and waiting to see some lightening but you rarely could. It was 107 yesterday and totally sunny and then around 6:00 the dark clouds rolled in and the lightening started. Its incredible! It went all night long and between 4 and 7 this morning there were flashes every few seconds and then you would hear the thunder roll. I never knew what that meant until I lived in the desert! I love it. Of course the streets are all flooded and who knows whats happened with our lot. I don't thing they will start the grading today though. Half way though the night we were woken up not by the sound of thunder but by someone throwing up. I ran into the boys room and Davis was throwing up but wasn't waking up. It was the scariest thing ever. I'm so glad John and I heard him because I think he really might have drowned in it since he was on his back. When I did pick him up he started coughing it all back up out of his throat. We got him all cleaned up and Caleb had woken up in the commotion and the thunder was scaring him so I laid down with him in his room. I fell asleep and when the thunder was really loud this morning he would wake up and say, "Mom I'm sick." Up I would jump and run him to the bathroom and he would say "no bed" and then go straight back to bed. So on the sixth or so time of me jumping up with nothing he said, "Mom, I'm sick." Being exhausted I said "its okay honey just go back to" and that's as far as I got before I got it full in the face. Why does that always happen!

emergency room part I

We like this comedian he's pretty funny and hes clean. Enjoy. There is two parts so I posted them both.

emergency room part 2

Here is the rest of it

The Invisible Woman

I found this and loved it because it put everything in perspective. Its long but worth it.

The Invisible Woman

It started to happen gradually. One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, "Who is that with you, young fella?" "Nobody," he shrugged.

Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought,”Oh my goodness, nobody?"

I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family - like "Turn the TV down, please" - and nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, "Would someone turn the TV down?" Nothing

Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept right on talking.

I'm invisible.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more. Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going? She’s going? She’s gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, l ooking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work.

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving t hat bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a j ob that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Here's a view of the neighborhood

We went out to the lot today to draw out our house, look at some lots that had spare dirt, and to dig up our property lines. When we first started looking into building in Dixie Springs there we 9 houses started. Now there are over 20. If you click on the top picture it will blow up so you can see it better. This is just the first two phases, they still have C, D, E, & F to go. The second picture is kind of a top view of our lot. We are the second lot to the right after the street that cuts into the street at the half circle (hope that makes sense).

The kids come home tomorrow and we are ready. We got a lot done...still have a lot left to do...but we are way ahead of where we were! We miss our little guys!

Our 5 Year Anniversary

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary. I cant believe its only been 5 years, since it seems like we have been together forever and I cant really remember life with out him. As I was trying to find a picture to post on here with this blog it made me realise how much things have changed in the last 5 years since we don't have any pictures of just the two of us in about the last 6 months except this one. I just wanted to say that I am so grateful for John. Neither of us are perfect and each year that goes by I think we realise that more and more. Yet even when we seem to become more aware of our imperfections our love seems to grow stronger and more perfect. It does truly seem that Heavenly Father created us each to compliment and accent each other. I'm grateful that he is my companion for this journey in life and thank him for EVERYTHING! He is the best man that I know.

Building Permit in!!!

Yeah! We passed our architectural committee yesterday, turned our building permit in today, and will turn in our application for our construction loan tomorrow. All of that means that we will probably break ground in about 2 weeks!!!! I cant believe it and am so excited. I spent about 6 hours running errands today and going all over town looking at granite, tile, marble and all sorts of stuff. I cant believe how fast and how much I can get done without kids. I probably got a normal weeks worth done just today. Not to mention how nice it was to go to the post office without dreading it because it is the hardest place in the world to entertain kids!
Love my boys more that words but man it feels good to be efficient for once!

So lucky to stay home

The past couple weeks have been crazy as we are trying to get all our bids together and I'm on the phone ALL day long and need to run all over town. It really has taken quite a toll on the boys and on John and I. I have no clue how people manage to work and be a mom or even to try to work from home. It has made me realise how lucky I am that I get to just stay home and focus on our kids. Its crazy what a difference attention makes for them in their moods, how they eat, how they sleep. They both have broken out with really bad eczema. It makes me realise all those days that I feel that I didn't get a lot done just how much of my job is maintenance and as Kate said, putting out fires. I spend most of my days keeping the bad from happening and from stopping things right in the beginning. Building a house may be cool but I don't know that I ever want to do it again. Its so much work.

I want to give a big thanks to may parents who when I cried for help they jumped above and beyond and will be taking the boys for a whole week so that next week when I have a thousand (probably not that much of an exaggeration) things to do I will be able to do them guilt free. Next week is huge with our construction loan, our architectural committee, and our building permit all being submitted and we have to finalise all of the materials and little details that need to be picked out. Not to mention start meeting with subs and get contracts written and be sure that we are sure the bid includes everything we think it does. Thanks again, Dad and Mom.

Lightning Strikes During Softball Game in St. George Utah

John was playing on a baseball team but since he pulled his hamstring he has missed the last couple of games. This clip is of the team he was playing on and the person going up to bat is our good friend Tyler, our friends that we met in Prescott and also live here in St George. Weird!

Young Love

I cant believe its started but Caleb actually is using the word "girlfriend." We went to McDonald's to play on the play place today and we had to run to the car and he said "I cant go I'm protecting my girlfriend." (A bigger kid was chasing him and a little girl around). I finally got him convinced that we were coming back and as we were walking out to the car the big kid started to chase the girl and Caleb SHRIEKED "Oh no...my girlfriend, Mom Ive got to help my girlfriend!!!!" When we got back in and she finally left Caleb found another girl to play with and would say "follow me girlfriend, come here girlfriend, girlfriend where are you?" The best was when Caleb said "come here girlfriend" and she responded "you move to fast for me!" It was super cute too because she ran over to her Mom really fast and went, "Mom, he loves me!"

Boy are we in trouble!

CLosed on Lot

Yeah!!!!!! We are closed and official own our land! We are even more excited now that we had an excavating bid come in that was much more reasonable than the first one we got. We are trying to get our construction loan going right now along with our building permit. Hopefully we should turn the applications in by Friday and they should both take a couple of weeks until we can start moving dirt around.

Couldn't help but post the cutest picture of Davis at the park tonight....he has such amazing eyes. Its funny because at 8:00 the parks get way crowded here as everyone finally goes because its cooled down enough.

Good Friends

We had our good friends the Campbell's come down from Idaho today and it was so good to see them! Caleb and Brecken were the best of buds when we lived in Prescott. I'm lucky that I have Stefanie here with me in St George all the time but to all three of us together was very fun! The last time these kiddo's were together was in January when the babies were just tiny and now they can all play together! You don't realise how much and fast your own kids are growing until you see someone with kids close to the same age as yours after some time has passed and see how much their kids have grown!

Caleb and I were going through pictures today and I don't know if I ever showed Brian and Kate the Disneyland Pictures we took. So here they are! I got Briggs on his first trip on Pirates. Brave Boy!

House Plans and Elevation

Thanks to Mark I can now post our house plans and our elevations. We are super excited and its crazy trying to get the bids straight and make decisions about where to prioritise with the budget we have. Its so much fun though to pick EVERYTHING out. I guess that might not be a good thing if it doesn't look good. Ive got John to keep me in line though. He really has great taste!

Quick Learner

Davis has learned how to get up to a standing position without furniture! Now for some of you that might seem like a normal thing for a walking boy to do but Caleb walked for almost 6 months until he learned. Caleb would fall down crawl to the nearest piece of furniture to get himself up. So we are pretty excited that Davis has picked it up so fast. He still is pretty unstable on his feet because he gets so excited to be walking that he walks faster than he can balance. He will be a pro soon though with how much he is practicing!