"Happy New Year",  ok little late but sincere all the same.  Christmas in our cabin was a quiet one with all the kids at their in laws.  I had my 93 year old mother over and my brother.   It will go down in my "Christmas Journal" as one of my most favorites ever.  There is something to say about having a quiet Christmas with three people who are very dear to my heart.  Dennis, my brother, arrived on Wednesday with an agenda to do some cabin projects.  Who are we to say no.  Terry took the day off so Terry and Dennis built a retaining wall by the porch.  The wall was built  to get ready for our driveway which was poured this week.   We have decided to pour a concrete pad under our portico  and another concrete pad down by our garage.  The circle drive in front of the cabin will be gravel.   A friend of ours who owns a landscaping company said this would be less harmful for our trees.  This sure has changed the look of the cabin.  The cabin is beginning to look more finished.   The new concrete pad now provides a more easier access into our home.   Look for pictures of the finish project in the next  blog entry.  Another project completed during Christmas, was the hanging of the barn doors for my closet. just saying...I LOVE BARN DOORS.   Terry and Dennis also started laying the lower deck.  As I mentioned in the last blog about some of my "to dos",  I did finish the rope trim.  I have been working in my mud room staining the cabinets that Terry hung.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Terry and Dennis taking a break on Christmas day.

Christmas Eve project

Beautiful Barn doors for my closet...Thank you  Terry

Our little Christmas tree looking from the loft

Closer look of our Christmas tree...

Gravel work before concrete is to be poured

The drive down to the garage, another pad is to be poured.

We are here....our cabin in the woods.  We will close on our Tulsa home Tues.  December 15th, but went ahead and moved in the week before Thanksgiving.  We had our first family holiday in the cabin having the crew here for Thanksgiving.  For the most part we had the house ready for family.   Beds were made, groceries bought and Chex mix made.  The kids will be at their in laws for Christmas this year so ours will be quiet and the cabin will have just a touch of Christmas on display.   I am thinking about having our open house NEXT Christmas so keep that on your radar for December 2016.   I am looking forward to dressing up the place in all of its Christmas Glory.   My kids do not call me "Mother Christmas" for nothing.   Someone said we will be working on the cabin for years just to get it finished.  I'm beginning to believe that to be true.  We still have boxes to unpack and trying to find places to to put the "stuff".  Thank goodness for a basement with a storage room.  The basement walls are only sheetrocked at this time.  So add this to the "to do list" as well as landscaping, lower deck and driveways.   There are the smaller inside jobs to do as well.  We try to knock some of those out on weekends.  Today Terry made the "barn doors" for our bedroom closet.  I have sealed the shower ceilings and my next job will be to finish placing rope where the logs meet sheet rock.  This really gives a good rustic look.  Enjoy a few of our pictures.

Merry Christmas to all!

Love the fireplace.  A few Christmas decorations.

Grand kids enjoying walking in the woods.  They ALL love being outdoors.

Kitchen and the appliance....can I say I love my kitchen?

The great room.

Beautiful quilt made by my sister as a gift....love it!!!

The "powder room".

"Welcome to the Cabin" sign a gift from a friend.

Cabin Fever

A lot has happened since our last entry.  The biggest news is we have a contract on our home in Tulsa.  Our closing will be first of December so we are hoping to actually move into the cabin the second week of November.   Is it ready??  After a year and 2 months, it will be move in ready.

  Tomorrow our white oak floors will be sanded, stain, and the finished. Our last big project.  By the end of the week our appliances will be delivered. Now we'll work on our punch list and in a couple of weeks we will make it our home.

Enjoy pictures of our latest projects.   This has been quite the adventure thank you for letting us

share it with you!

Out of the same wood of the barn door below, Terry built this
"baby gate" to keep our 5 grandkids safe.  We have one for
the second floor stairs as well.

Barn door made by Terry which leads into the mud room.

One of the guest bathrooms

Terry brings a whole new meaning to
"Fixed the newel post"

Looking at our entry way

Even though have not moved in, we love
making fires on a chilly day

My kitchen island, I will love having this while cooking

Love my kitchen, Big thanks to Donna and Gary for
allowing the Armstrongs recycle their old kitchen cabinets.
A little sprucing up and the knotty pine cabinets look great.

Another pic of kitchen.  

The antique door was at my house growing up.  It has new
life in the cabin now as a door for my pantry.  I found the glass
knob in my dad's dresser.   It too has a new home

    October should be our move in month.  These final two months have been a whirlwind trying to get our Tulsa home ready to sell and continuing to finish the cabin.  The house is on the market and we have had 2 open houses.  No offers yet.  We are to close on our cabin Sept. 25th.  Keeping  the faith and praying our house in Tulsa will sell soon. 

     Help from family and friends continues to come.  All but one room is now painted thanks to our friends Gary and Mike and my brother Dennis and my sister Melinda.   It is always good to have women folk around to give new perspectives on how our kitchen should be laid out.  Had good advice from Donna and Sue.  I now have my kitchen how I have been wanting it.   And a big thanks to my sweet sister in law Margaret for bringing a lunch out on that day of painting.  All help in their own way.  Terry's brother Dan has been coming a lot lately to hang lights throughout the house.  He has wired up our outlets and switches and added covers.

     Granite and carpet has been ordered and is coming soon.  This will really change the look of the cabin.   Our septic system was approved by the DEQ and our propane tank will be delivered this week.  We have a friend named Rich who will help us decide how to finish our driveway so Finn our grandson can get into the house easily in his wheelchair.    This Saturday a group from our life group will help with  clean up, a little staining, and pull plastic off the windows.

    Here are  the "latest" pictures on what has been done since our last blog.  Enjoy!

I love my chandelier that Terry's brother Dan hung for me.  This is my "mud room" which  will house the washer and dryer.  Terry and Mike finished the tile floor.  It turned out great.

This light is in the entry way.  I am tempted to add some "bling" to this one too.  Thanks to Gary and Donna for this light.
They were getting a new light for their kitchen makeover so our cabin is the new home for their light.

A front porch was added last week.  Railing will come next.

My kitchen.   I have a farm sink which I have always wanted.  The island will have an exotic piece of granite with a more solid slate color for the counter tops.  I am so excited to see the kitchen completed.  

This is our walk in shower.  Terry did another awesome job on our master shower.
All bathroom vanities have been ordered.  Toilets are set and we're waiting for the vanities to arrive.

 Fans and lights in the Great Room

Out new garage door.  The cabin is feeling more secure.





Thank you for following us this year of building.  We are getting closer and could not do it without you

  Work continues as we are  coming down the home stretch.  Since our major project of the fireplace over the 4th Terry and another friend Mike laid our white oak wood floors.  Before the floors were laid I made sure they were free of dirt and dust.  We have not seen the floors of the great room empty of tools, rock, wood, saw dust, scaffolding and for sure dirt since the building began.  Great job boys on the floor.  Can't wait to get the stain and finish on them.  We will have carpet in all bedrooms and the loft to soften the noise on the second floor.

empty  great room

The floor now with  solid white oak.....BEAUTIFUL!!!

Terry has starting doing some tiling as well.  The two bathrooms have tile around the tub.  We decided to have a walk in shower in our bedroom.  Framing and installing the drain and shower floor is done.   It is good to have the tubs done.

My brother Dennis is helping out by grouting the showers. a HUGE help as Terry is finishing the sheet rock  on the upstair bedrooms.   Great job Dennis.

My sister Melinda has started painting the walls
in the kitchen.  Thank goodness there is not as
many walls as a traditional home.  Thanks
to my sis, you are the best.

 Terry and I feel very blessed to have family and friends to continually help us.   We are in crunch time mode,  needing to get the cabin done in 60 days AND Terry and I are needing to get our house ready to sell.  We are not sure if we are coming or going.  Our goal is to finish our  "Tulsa" home project by Aug 17th and put the For Sale sign in the yard.   While Terry was at the cabin on Sat putting in floors I stayed in Tulsa working on our home.  A BIG thanks to Joey and Ashley for helping me haul off boxes, furniture and other items to a recently rented storage shed.  It takes a village right now so we are ever so thankful for all the help.   Prayers will be appreciated as we work on both projects, getting them done in the projected time line, and keeping our energy going.

Thanks to Barbara a co worker from work.

Melinda and Dennis starting to paint the mud room.

We have mentioned before our friends and family come by and see the progress of the cabin time to time.   We love sharing and showing what has been done.  Over the 4th Danny and Raylea Whitman with their son Noah came for a visit.  We had not seen them in a long time so it was so good to see them.  They had just dropped off their daughter Lizzie at New Life Ranch.  Gary and Claudia Walthall are missionaries for BSF in Bangkok.  During their time  back "home" we drove to the cabin along with their grandson Zane.   By the time they come back to Oklahoma the cabin will be done.  It is so exciting to think about sharing our new home with who will ever make the drive to our little "cabin in the Woods".

Zane loved "driving" the tractor .  It was a good time.

My dear life long friend Claudia.

Ok like I said this is the home stretch.  Remember us in your thoughts and prayers as we finish the cabin and put our home on the market. Timing is everything so we are praying for God's perfect timing.   Blessings to all.

      In our last post I mentioned I had some time off over the fourth so we were heading to work on the cabin.   The weekend turned out to be not only productive, the fireplace was finished, but also had just a good o'l time.  Having coffee on the back porch each morning was a treat.  I arrived later on Thursday after getting some errands done during the day.  Terry had spent the day getting a toilet hooked up so we would not have to use the outdoor John.  So yes we had the working toilet.  Friday Mike Blackburn arrived to help with the fireplace.  I started out trying to attach some of the rock but found out quickly I was too slow.  I had to take a piece of "humble pie" and let the talented ones do the work.  Terry suggested I run the tile saw, so I did.  The masters really took off then.  I cut, they attached.  Perfect harmony taking place.  Later that night we were pretty dirty so we were able to take a shower at the club house.   Hot water and clean bodies, doesn't get any better than that after a hard and dirty day of work.

     We slept in one of the upstairs bedrooms.   Terry installed a ceiling fan I brought Thursday and the air was on.  Not too bad of accommodations.  Saturday morning we supported the local volunteer fire department by eating their breakfast.  Biscuit and gravy, bacon and scramble eggs is not a bad way to start the morning.   Then off to Jay for the huckleberry festival.  We were able to see some of Terry's family and visit with them for a while.  This was a good break from a very heavy day of work on Friday.  After our break on Saturday we went back to the cabin to tackle the fireplace again.  This time we were sola.   Same process though, I cut and Terry attached.    We continued until it was done.   We finally finished around 4:30 on Sunday.    As Terry said, "it is good to get that one behind us".   

  Finn and Paisley LOVE the back porch.   Ashley, her parents and brother came by on Sunday to see the progress.

I was able to help Terry a few weeks earlier.

The view from the loft

I learned to use the tile saw.  Add that to the many new things I have learned during the building process.

Terry on his perch....nice and safe!

Beautiful work young man..love it!

As we had mentioned before, the mantel is an old beam from a barn in Blackwell, Oklahoma.  We rubbed on a tinted wax to bring out it's beauty.   A slab of stone was bought for the hearth which fit perfectly.  Could not ask for a better fit

Working toilet..yeah!!

Brought a couple of mattresses from home..it worked!

Flint Ridge Volunteer Fire department

Jay Oklahoma is where Terry grew up.  We were able to see his sister Carol Ann and her family while attending the Huckleberry Festival.   It is always good  to see family. 

Our staple while working on the cabin.  Provides a quick energy pick me up...or maybe they just taste good!

Joey came by on his way back to Tulsa from spending time with Ashley's parents.  We were able to have a fire and roast our supper.  Early that day Linda, Terry's sister, also came by.  It was good to see her too.

Yes, I got to see several deer during our stay.   It never gets old.   We are always on the look out for deer.

   Next project according to Terry is getting the bathrooms done.  Tiling, building cabinets, setting toilets and sinks is on the agenda.

Thanks to each of you for sharing our experience through your awesome comments, encouragement and support.  We are so thankful to our heavenly Father,  allowing us to build this cabin and be able to share this experience with our family and friends.