Moved in, but internet challenged

Hi all, sorry for the break in updates but we have been busy. We have moved into our new home and have been rapidly settling in. Moving day went very well as we were blessed to have over 25 family and friends there to help. It went very smoothly.
We needed to get unpacked and settled pretty quickly since Sandy's family would be coming over for our annual Christmas Eve celebration only 9 days later. The team all kicked in and worked together, it was great to see. We even had some time to finish out our Christmas shopping. Sandy's brother Alan was able to come by a couple days and help us unpack and put the beds back together...that was huge. Valerie took charge of decorating for Christmas and did a really great job...there is some real talent in there that she has been suppressing. The Christmas holidays have been really enjoyable and we were even able to sit in front of a cozy fire in our new fireplace and enjoy time together as a family.

My one glitch of the move has been getting my high speed Internet connected...they are still working on getting the DSL activated hopefully by the end of the week...so we have been Internet challenged this past week and email deprived. Consequently I am driving in to the office to work in Downers Grove. While it is more miles than from the old house it was about the same amount of time, maybe even a little quicker with the light holiday traffic.

I will update more with some pictures when we get connected from home.

Walk-thru

Dad and Mom did a 4 hour walk-thru on Monday, checking to make sure everything worked. There were a few cosmetic things such as touching up paint on walls, but pretty much everything looked good. Here's a few pictures from the walk-thru.

Our lovely fireplace and family room! Perfect for these cold winter days.

Living room inspection.


Main entry and stairs.

Music studio (with beautiful arches) and entry into the kitchen.

Kitchen (picture taken from family room)

Morning room (we will use as dining room), big enough for our table!

Upstairs is looking good as well.

Outside......we now have 3 trees (1 in back) and a couple of bushes planted. The front is all sodded although that's hard to see with the snow. Just about ready for us to move in!

In the midst of all this packing and moving, our little Lisa turned 5! It's hard to believe that she is already 5, but she daily reminds us that she is growing up.

The Finish line is in sight !!

Hi all, It was a rainy day here with chances of snow tonight. Joe is home for the Thanksgiving holiday with one of his buddies from school. Everyone but Dad went out to check out the house today, Dad had to work.

Having the railings stained makes a big difference. They really look nice...so I am told :^))


Here are a few pictures...you know you're getting close when the appliances begin to show up.

Hard wood floors are all in, the tile guy is working diligently on tiling the bathrooms and the trim man was still finishing up on trim.

Most of the kitchen cabinets are in place now, they still need to complete the island and then do counter tops and sink and all.
We also have the top soil (black dirt) spread...looks nice for dirt....grass will be much better.

We have a walk through on December 10th and closing is tentatively scheduled for December 14th.

Looks like we will be in the new place before Christmas.

Railings, Electrical, Painted, Trim and Floors Started

The oak railings have been installed as well as the bottom oak step. They have installed all the electrical outlets and some of the light fixtures. The painting appears to be completed and the trim work started.

They have installed the closet doors in many rooms and there are kitchen cabinets on site. Underneath all that cardboard in the kitchen area below is hardwood floors. The heat appears to be running, which is good for the floors. There is ceramic tile in boxes ready to be installed.

Below is the morning room...they are still working on the hardwood floors here. You can see the color as some is left uncovered.

Progress continues...not sure how much will get done next week with the Thanksgiving holiday. Our neighbors on both sides have their foundations poured. They will probably begin framing their homes in the next two weeks (weather permitting). Sandy will probably go inside next week....so expect a bunch more pictures and updates.

Gutters, Driveway and Neighbors !!

This week they completed the gutters and the driveway on the outside. They also moved the electrical location for the air conditioner to where we wanted it and started to spread some dirt. On the inside they continued working on the mudding and preparations before painting. I think the colder weather has slowed the dry time so they have a portable propane heater running to warm it up inside and dry things out.


We also have neighbors building on both sides of us now...one has the foundation walls up the other just has the footing forms set in place. There is also a hole dug across the street and down a few houses .... hey, that makes a Neighborhood !!

Siding, Shutters and Sidewalks

This week they got the first coat of taping and mudding done. They have also completed the siding including the shutters, and we have sidewalks.

Next week they plan to finish the mudding and possibly get the painting started. They are also planning to put in the driveway at the end of next week.

There is someone working at the house every day.

Here is a new look at the front of the house.

Family Update

We went to Jared and Becca's house for the weekend to help with some projects while the ladies attended a retreat. We were also able to celebrate Jared's 25th birthday and Kimberly's 13th birthday at Mom and Dad Barta's.

Heidi will be staying at Becca's for the week to get in some quality time with her.

Julie is down at the Fine Arts Festival this week as a sponsor and accompanist for many of the MMBA students. She enjoys this time down at BJU because she gets to catch up with some friends and see the Tompkins family.

The younger kids have also been having a good time building box tunnels in the garage before we get the boxes all packed and ready to go.

Joe continues to do well at school and is looking forward to coming home for Thanksgiving.

That's the quick update, the rest of us are just excited about the house.

Drywall is in place

The drywall is now in place, they will begin taping this week. We also have countertops and the oak railing in the garage ready and waiting.

A few new pictures.

Pre-Drywall inspection

The pre-drywall inspection went well. We just realized that we needed to add a couple of outlets in the MB closet. We are also having them move the placement of the air conditioning unit outside to be behind the 3rd car garage instead of being close to the guest bedroom.

It was cool to see all the insulation in place and every opening/gap between floors and the outside foamed also. They will begin doing the drywall later this week.

Here are just a couple pictures, they have also begun building the front porch and trimming out the garage.

Pre-drywall inspection today

Sandy and I need to go meet with the builder today and do a pre-drywall inspection. We will be checking all the outlet locations and things that are installed behind the walls....it is so much easier and cheaper to fix those things before the drywall is in place.

Hopefully we will be able to post a couple new pictures later today.

October 10, 2007

We now have garage doors.

No more falling into the basement with the new window well covers. They are also working on the electrical with conduit stretching all over the place.

House progress on 10/5/07

Here is the most recent house progress...we now have a fireplace, bathtubs and duct work everywhere.


Check out all the duct work up to the second floor.




Julie really loves the Arches into her music room.
We never had a fireplace before, may need some guidance on how to use it. But I am sure we will enjoy it.
This is the soaker tub in the Master Bath.
This is the bathroom on the second floor.

Some House History

Earlier this year the Lord really impressed upon us that it was time to change homes. After some looking we found one we would like to build. The developer had just opened up Phase 2 of their plan so we got to choose whatever lot we wanted; they had one large lot (just over half an acre) for no extra cost. It will be great for our family to have some room to play.

The house began as a BIG hole in the ground at the end of August. Here are a few shots as we progressed through building the initial structure.

We are now under roof and all the interior work has begun. It is really fun to watch it move along so quickly.