Basement Framed In

The basement was framed in last week and the sheeting put on for the upstairs floor. You can see that the lumber has been delivered to begin the exterior wall framing early next week. In the background, the well pump is being installed. You can also see on the right that more dirt has been moved to meet the county's cut-back slope requirements for our driveway. Things are moving along well!

It's Almost Shootin' Time

Bruce, Nate, and I headed out to go an prep a blind for opening day. It looks like it is going to be on October 6th this year. We got a box of clays and popped away at them for a while this morning. It was painfully apparent to us that we probably will need to do more shooting prior to opening day. It was also painful shooting 3 in. goose load after goose load. I put Nate's sweatshirt between my shoulder and the gun because my pump is real light and kicks like a mule. Can't wait to opening day!

Foundation Slab and Underground Plumbing In!

The foundation slab was poured today. Elise and I went out after work and checked it out. All of the underground plumbing has been installed and there also has been a drain installed around the entire foundation. Framing is scheduled to start on Friday!!!!! This thing should really start looking like a house soon!



Here is our new power pole. The well has been dug and is just to the left of the second pole. We're good to go with all our utilities except for the propane tank. That will come in play in a couple of months.



I know this has nothing to do with the foundation or the house but it was a beauty I caught up on the Clark Fork last weekend with my brother in laws Keith, Casey, and my nephew Daniel. Enjoy.

Walla Walla Anniversary

Heidi and I celebrated 7th Anniversary touring the Walla Walla Valley wine country. We spent three days and visited several wineries in the area. It was a lot of fun and since it is fairly close to home, very easy to get to for a quick three day weekend. There are over 130 individual wineries in the area and we only scratched the surface. Wine touring in Walla Walla is fairly easy. There are three different areas that hold the majority of the wineries. You can find good information on the wineries and a map of the area at the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance website. It has a ton of info and you can pretty much plot out your tour using the map. I've included links to the wineries that we visited under the pictures. Check them out.


Waterbrook Winery


Sleight of Hand Cellars


Heidi and I were able to spend one morning at the local farmers market. Lots of people and vendors were there. The produce was right off the farm and cheap.


Spring Valley Vineyards


Northstar Winery


Saviah Cellars


Basel Cellars Estate Winery


Preston Premium Wines



Here is all the goodies we brought home from our trip. I also included a couple of links to a few wineries that we visited that we didn't get any pictures of. We would definitely go back.

Fort Walla Walla Winery
Va Piano Vineyards
Zerba Cellars

N.I. Fair

Elise and I went to the fair on Wednesday night. She had fun in the critter barn with all the animals. She wasn't afraid to touch the snake or pet an alligator. She had lots of fun.

Foundation Progress

Footings are poured and the forms for the foundation walls are being set. They are supposed to finish the walls tomorrow and pour the concrete. They'll come back on Friday and strip the forms. By this weekend we will have a complete foundation minus the floor. The plumbers will come in after the foundation drains are installed and is backfilled and do all the initial plumbing. After that the floor will be poured and it will be time to frame!



Elise is checking out the future rec. room. This is taken from where the Laundry room will be.



We are going to have a patio out front on this lower level instead of a deck like we had originally planned. We can make the patio bigger and that will help with not really having any yard to speak of.

Swim Lessons

Elise has been taking swim lessons this summer at a private pool down by NIC. She has been doing really well and has learned how to jump off the side. The photo is kinda blurry but you can see she's got some pretty good hops!


This is on the last day of swim lessons for the summer. Next up, Gymnastics!