Fire update

Last night the evacuation notice for our subdivision was lifted at the cabin. Well, we are still in "pre-evacuation" status, but better that we can go in there if we want to. The fire is more contained today, and hopefully every day it gets better. Those guys are working so hard to stop the fire --- THANK YOU! As long as the winds don't pick up, they will continue to make progress. NO WIND PLEASE!! :)

Thank you

Julie -- just wanted to THANK YOU again for the beautiful flowers you sent me. They really did make my day..and made my week end on a much nicer note. Nice to have something to look at and smile about instead of stressing over something else. Thank you for helping me through a difficult week, and I hope we get to see each other soon. Miss ya! ---dawn

House update (8/1)

We had a showing at the house this afternoon so went to visit the new house. :) We couldn't go inside the house...the painters were in there!!!!!!!! YIKES!!! We think they are probably just priming the walls and ceilings today. The guys were all there working on the rock again. The outside is soooo close to being done. Look at the entry way...cool, huh? Chris is absolutely in love with it...and it is EXACTLY what he wanted. I will admit it looks great, but those bases are HUGE! I wonder if I will ever get used to the size of them. The mailbox was almost done too, but I didn't take a picture of that when the guys were working on it. Maybe this weekend I will get one. :)

Next week...paint will be done early in the week, flooring starts, and trim starts too! Now is when I get nervous...cause this will be all our decisions coming together. I hope it all looks good.

House update (7/31)

We cannot get over how different the house looks! It looks FINISHED...it is a house now! :) We had to go to the house today to look at paint colors (eek) and talk to the painter. They are finishing up the garage taping and will be spraying the texture on that on Friday.

The rock crew was out there again too..making great progress outside. They said they hope to finish up the outside of the house on Friday...then they move to the inside to work on the fireplaces.

The big news of Thursday...the windows are in the living room finally! And they look great!! :) It took a long time to get them in, but they look awesome and well worth the wait. :)

A few pictures (yes...the home computer is back working...but sorry they are using the "old" camera). :)
(1) Entry way
(2) Living room with ALL the windows in!
(3) Look...a mailbox!!!!!!
(4) Updated picture of the outside of the house

House update (7/30)

The house continues to move along...fast! We stopped in the house last night and wow does it look different!! They sprayed the walls with the pre-texture primer and then textured all the walls and ceilings. It looks AMAZING in there!! Really looks finished now!! I guess the garage isn't done with the texture so they will probably finish that up today. Not sure if the painter will be in there this week or if they will wait and start on Monday. One week from today they are suppose to start flooring...yikes!!!!

Outside the rock work is moving along too. They should probably finish up with the outside of the house tomorrow I think. Then they have to do both fireplaces and also the mailbox. But, once the outside house rock is done, the siding will be started. It is really coming together now!

Sorry....computer still broken so no pictures. AND, the good camera broke too and was sent off for repair yesterday. Not a good time! :(

Picture

Here is a picture from the fire...not pretty --> fire

The worst thing...

Many of you know already, but in case you don't, the beautiful mountains of Red Lodge MT are on fire. The forest fire started on Saturday around 2:00 PM MT. By Monday morning over 5,000 acres were burned. Because of the steep terrain and many other factors, the firefighters are only working to save structures right now. The fire is 0% contained and will be that way for some time. They said it might even burn until September and likely will not be completely out until there is snow on the ground (I have never wanted snow so bad in my life!!).

The fire is being called the "Cascade fire" because it started close to the Cascade campgrounds. This is close to Basin campground...and Wild Bill lake (where we go fishing all the time)...and close to the cabin. If the fire continues down the canyon like the crews think it will, it is headed towards the cabin. Chris and Doug got two big truckloads of belongings out on Sunday, then on Monday Chris and I got another car full, and then Clay and Marjie came to get another truck full. There is still so much inside there. It seriously makes me sick to think of this place going up in flames. Not just the cabin..but the mountains...the other homes...the animals...the beautiful trees. This is where we spend our time away from home. This is why we moved to MT...to be close to the mountains. This area that is burning...this is Chris' favorite place in the entire world....it is part of him...it is part of all of us now. And now it is burning.

The kids keep asking if the fire is out. Hailey keeps asking about the cabin. Ryan wants to go up there as he said he can put the fire out (we all wish you could put it out buddy!).

Please keep the crews working on the fire in your thoughts and prayers. I will post updates when I can. I do have some pictures from the cabin yesterday...but the home computer is still out of commission!

Please pray that the fire is out soon...

Here is a picture of Wild Bill from last year -> pretty place

And, one from July 4th weekend (again at Wild Bill) ->

Posts and weather

First, when I went to get ready for this post I noticed something. Last nights blog entry was #200!! Two hundred posts already?!?! It doesn't seem like there are that many out there, but must be. :) Just proud of myself for keeping this up. There have been times when I have wanted to stop...but keep it going. :)

Second, last night we got a doozie of a storm. I was actually working on my laptop and had the home computer on as well (nothing unusual at all). The storm hit...and the power went off, then on, then off, then on...then off one more time and on again. Nothing too major....except.......now the home computer won't turn on!!!!!!!! The monitor works, everything else works. I tried to plug it in another spot, and nothing. So, there won't be any pictures posted until Chris gets home and figures out what is wrong with it. I hope it is an easy fix :) I will try to still update and will add pictures once things get working again.

House update (7/22)

Well, I got to go inside today...all thanks to the realtor that called to show the "old" house! I had 15 minutes to vacuum the main floor and upstairs, open all the blinds, clean the kitchen counters, sweep the floor, take out garbage, turn on all the lights, pick up any mess around the house, and load the dog up! I was out of breath when I got in the car ON TIME! :) No news on the showing, but still happy to have a showing! :)

The new house is cruising along like usual! The rock is now finished on the front-street facing side, and started around the south side too (see picture 1 and 2). I LOVE how this looks! I went inside and saw the guys busy working on the sheetrock. They are FAST...I told them to slow down again too :) Poor guys...it was 100 degrees OUTSIDE...and well over that upstairs!! At least they were working in the basement when I was there. There are two pictures of the progress inside(my office and the kitchen/dinette)...that is all I had time for or patience for as it was so hot in there! :)

VBS

This morning the kids got to go to something new....Vacation Bible School (VBS). The church where they go to preschool offered it this week...and even Ryan could attend!!! They have that from 9am-12pm every day this week. I wasn't sure if Ryan would want to stay, but he did and he was so excited when I picked him up today. They both just had such a wonderful time, and Hailey was singing songs all night long!! :) What a fun summer activity for them...and they both listen a little more when I threaten to make them go to daycare instead of VBS this week! (I know...naughty mommy...but if you know these two you understand where I am coming from!) ;)

Here are a couple pictures of them when we first got there. I didn't stay so there aren't pictures of any activities, but trust me they will tell you all about them if you ask!