Lot's going on!

Well, it's almost Christmas. We've had a lot going on. Janice completed her student teaching and is officially done with her schooling for getting her teaching credential. Yay! Now she's getting ready to take her tests. She already has had one school as her to apply for a long term sub position. Pretty cool.

We had an ice storm last week that many here are still recovering from. It was beautiful but dangerous. Fortunately, we never lost our power and the farmhouse we are staying in didn't have any tree limbs fall on the house - but a couple glanced off the roof as they went down. My truck would have gotten totaled if I hadn't moved it from under a tree. A branch came down right where it was parked ten minutes after I moved it. It had to be a God thing.

Our house is coming along - we've got our lower cabinets in the kitchen - I'm almost done with the kitchen counter tiling and we've made a lot of headway with finishing electrical (minus a few fixture installations) and we've started painting inside. We hope to be moving in around January 15th.

We hope to see lots of people in California over Christmas time. We'll be flying in on the 25th and flying out on January 2nd.
Beautiful ice!


Janice enjoying teaching

We've Got Sheetrock!

Yes! We've made a huge leap forward with our house. The exterior siding is almost done and we've even begun painting some of it - Although we'll probably not get to finish the outside painting until it warms up. Who knows - maybe Spring!

We've also almost finished sheetrocking. Which means we're days away from starting to paint the inside. Pretty exciting stuff.


A view of our front entry and den from the living room

A view of the fireplace from the living room

looking at the kitchen and dining area from the living room

Outside - what cool colors!

Fall Update

We can't believe its already Fall and almost Thanksgiving. We're thankful to be able to start sheet rocking next week.


Bruce is doing some electrical work getting everything perfect before it gets covered up for good!



We also continued to be thankful for all of the beauty here in Kansas.

We've finalized our Christmas plans! We'll be flying into Fresno on December 25th and return home on January 2nd. So, let us know if you'd like to get together - meet and have a cup of coffe or egg nog or a piece of pie or....

Kansas Sunrise in the Fall

For those of you with a jaded view of Kansas - you know - the Wizard of OZ, black and white, flat dusty prairie vision - I just thought I'd share how beautiful Kansas really is. Here's some pics of a recent sunrise that we watched while eating breakfast the other day.






We also had our first party in our new house. No, its not finished yet (as you can see) - but, we just couldn't wait to begin entertaining! It was a lot of fun. Janice made brunch and we sat around laughing and having a great time.

Our House

OK - Here are a few pictures of our new house.Janice was working really hard on calking the siding to prep for painting, which should happen really soon. We're shaping ground for sidewalks, driveway and landscaping and are hoping to pour some more concrete in the next few weeks too. Our garage door was ordered last week and all the exterior doors should be installed in about three weeks. Lots left to do but we're making progress.

Still Constructing

Here's Janice with the grandkids. Do you think she's in her element?

I'll be taking some pics of our new house to publish so you can see how close we are to moving in - Ha! Although its looking good on the outside there is still a ton of work to be done. We're working on roughing in the electrical, heating and AC, and plumbing on the inside while we're still finishing up the siding and getting ready for paint. Oh - and working on shaping the landscape - getting ready to pour sidewalks and a driveway. I'm thinking we'll be lucky to get in by Thanksgiving - but that's what we're shooting for.

Now in "Blogland"

Well, here we are in blogland. We're still trying to figure out how to do all of this stuff - but we'll try to start posting as we learn. Let's just say we're under construction.

Janice is busy with her student teaching and loving being in the classroom. The difficult thing is the busy schedule with all the driving here and there along with her night class on Wednesdays. Thankfully, it only lasts a few months. She'll be done at the end of this semester.

Things are going great at our new church. The people are wonderful and Bruce really feels comfortable being himself.

Our new house is coming along nicely. We're about 8-10 weeks behind schedule because of one of the wettest years ever! But we've got a really nice "farmhouse" we're renting about three miles out of town until our house is habitable. We're hoping to move in by Thanksgiving - which we think is realistic. We've decided to leave the basement "unfinished" for now and tackle that after we've moved in.



With the kids in Kansas!