Have a happy Thanksgiving! We are going to visit my parents and our friends Rob and Ali Cleymaet over the holiday. We return on 1 December. On 3 December we have our house orientation, and on 5 December our closing. Going to be a busy few weeks!

We snuck in and got some more house pictures. I apologize in advance for the poor quality. Carpet is going in. Appliances, lighting, and other flooring are in, along with the painted pickets in the railings. House will probably be pretty well locked up from now on, so likely no more indoor pix until our orientation on 3 December. Ashley meets with an interior designer tomorrow to get some decorating ideas.

• Archway to dining room
  
• Stairway
  
• Laundry
  
• Study
  
• Family Room
  
• Kitchen
  
• Kitchen
  
• Family Room
  
• Upstairs Loft
  
• Laundry
  
• Powder
  
• Stairway
  
• Dining room
  
• Fridge
  
• Kitchen sink
  
• Double ovens
  
• Fireplace
  
• Kitchen
  
• Master bath
  
• Main bath
  

Here is the latest round of pictures. We went to the Breck house last weekend, so there's one pic from that. The rest are of our new house. Ashley informs me that as of today the interior is pretty much done except for the carpet. Things are closing in fast!

• Breck House - Just a bit of snow
  
• House on the 15th
  
• On the 18th - Fully painted except for door
  
• Kitchen on the 18th - Linoleum in
  
• Kitchen - Sink too
  

House pics from today. They have done a lot of interior work, from putting in cabinets and countertops to tiling and bathtub installation. They've even put in the insulation in the basement. Enjoy!

• Kitchen
  
• Fireplace
  
• Banister
  
• Den Closet
  
• Powder
  
• Laundry
  
• Entryway Tile
  
• Upstairs Hallway
  
• Main Bath
  
• Main Shower
  
• Master Tub
  
• Master Bath
  
• Master Shower
  
• Master Doors
  
• Basement
  

Here are pictures of my recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Besides attending a meeting, I also got to hang out at a great hotel with its own beach, and help them release baby sea turtles!

• View from my hotel room
  
• Front of my tower
  
• View of Club Tower and beach
  
• More beach
  
• Muchas tortugas
  
• !Vaya con Dios, Tortuguita!
  
• La tortuga corrio muy rapidamente.
  
• View of part of Puerto Vallarta
  
• Palms and ocean
  

More house pictures, taken Saturday. Place is locked up now, and we have to take pictures from the outside. Interior painting is done, and they are adding floor molding, doors, and trim.

• Front
  
• Living Room and Dining Room
  
• Laundry Room - Now with shelves!
  
• Den
  
• Kitchen
  
• Family Room
  

House pictures from yesterday. Got our first snow (and ice storm!) of the year, and our house continues on track. Indoor texturing and the front and back porches/landings are done!

• Front - Porch is in
  
• Entryway
  
• Looking toward dining room
  
• Stairway from outside
  
• Family room
  
• Back landing
  
• Coiffered ceiling in dining room
  
• Texture up close
  
• Front porch
  
• Back of house
  

House pictures from last Friday, when my parents were in town. Dry walling continued, with them at the taping and mudding stage at that point. We close on Dec. 5!

• Front
  
• Living room
  
• Kitchen
  
• Master
  
• Third bedroom
  

House pictures from today. They started the dry wall, and have made great progress. We should get a closing date very soon here.

• Front
  
• Porch
  
• Front walkway
  
• Living room
  
• Kitchen nook
  
• Loft from below
  
• Front entryway
  
• Master bedroom
  
• Loft
  
• Neighbors - One is getting framed, the other their foundation
  

More house pix, from Saturday. Electrical and plumbing look pretty close to being done. Next up will be insulation and drywall, we believe.

• House front
  
• Outside meter box
  
• Front entryway - Getting ready to put in porch and walkway
  
• Main bath tub in
  
• Water heater in
  
• Circuit breaker box
  

Well, the house keeps being built. Here are some pix as of Wednesday. We just got a 1% discount on total purchase price because I work for CSU!

• Ashley in front
  
• Another front view - Brick and roof in
  
• Exterior faucets added
  
• Neighbor house foundation in and backfilled - They have a walkout basement
  
• Interior wiring going in
  
• More wiring
  
• Plumbing going in too - Laundry room
  
• Furnace is in
  
• Upstairs master shower going in
  

More house pics. Interior design items have been chosen and the final price determined. Wiring should commence next week and we should have a closing date for late November/early December soon. All pictures were taken yesterday. Our garage door was added as of today.

• Master bath and powder faucets
  
• Main bath faucets
  
• Flooring and laminate
  
  
  
  • Left - Laundry and powder; Middle - Main and master baths; Right - Kitchen
    
  
  
• Carpet and entryway tile - Plus laminate for upstairs hallway cabinets
  
• House front - Windows and siding in
  
• More house front - Not painted yet
  
• Interior archways are framed
  
• Back of house
  
• Family room fireplace is in
  
• Other side of house back
  
• Neighbor house going in - Garage on our side, so close together there!
  
• Brick for garage front - A bit of a purplish hue!
  

More house pics. By now it is pretty much framed inside and out, and siding and ducting are being placed. Our neighbors have closed on their house and moved in. We've met them and they are quite friendly, close to our age with two Rottweilers and a cat, no kids. The other neighbor's house has started, with their initial hole dug out. Another house on our block was started this week as well. Some miscellaneous cat pix in here too.

• House on 9/23 - Pic 1
  
• House on 9/23 - Pic 2
  
• House on 9/23 - Pic 3
  
• House on 9/23 - Pic 4
  
• Minette is hiding ...
  
• Can you spot her?
  
• Sunshine
  
• Getting the brush
  
• Feels so good!
  
• House on 9/26 - They move fast! - rest are from 9/26 too
  
• Another front view
  
• Ducts are starting to go in - garage
  
• Ashley climbs our stairs
  
• Ashley in the master bedroom
  
• Ashley in the loft
  
• In the basement
  
• Ashley looking out our one finished window
  
• View from the formal living room
  
• Back view - siding is starting!
  
• Other back view
  
• House at sunset
  
• Sunset
  

Here are some new photos, some of Hannah Port and her dog Esther during their visit here, plus house photos from last Friday. Framing is proceeding rapidly, and Ashley and I meet with the design center person on Tuesday to pick out interior design stuff like carpet. Hannah is working at a Fort Collins practice for a couple weeks. She stayed with us for a few days, and now is staying with others. She may stay with us again sometime next week before returning to her veterinary internship in New Mexico.

• Ashley and Hannah by "White Trash Lake"
  
• Esther fetches
  
• Esther returning with her prey
  
• Esther at attention
  
• Esther's all wet!
  
• Esther retrieves another drowning stick
  
• Esther gets the shakes
  
• Minette rests on our new ottoman-style stool
  
• House from the NW
  
• From the front
  
• Another view of our front bay window
  
• Garage and driveway concrete is in
  
• From the east side
  
• Looking inside the house
  
• Basement is poured as well
  
• Ashley in her kitchen pantry
  
• Looking out the family room window at Horsetooth
  

Lot is graded, and foundation is backfilled. Our yards will be a lot bigger than previously thought. They start framing on Monday!

• Pic 1
  
• Pic 2
  
• Pic 3
  
• Pic 4
  

More house pictures, as the basement walls go up. These were taken last weekend.

• Pic 1
  
• Pic 2
  
• Pic 3
  
• Pic 4
  

Ground has been broken on our house! The hole for the basement was dug, and they started putting in the concrete for the basement. So things are moving along! Looks like our garage will be on the right as you look at the house. Our backyard definitely will be shallow, but our side yards will be decent size, judging from how the hole was dug. We think they started last Thursday, but we have some pictures from Friday. Enjoy!

• Pic 1
  
• Pic 2
  
• Pic 3
  
• Pic 4
  

I've added two new sets of pictures to our home page. One set is from my cousin Mary's wedding in Minnesota, and the second is from my recent conference trip to Seattle. They are listed toward the top of the pictures links. Things are going well on the house front. We've signed the contract and filled out the loan forms. Now they just gotta start building!

Ashley and I are going to build a new house! Read all about it here. Pictures from my cousin Mary's wedding will be posted later this weekend. Take care!

Finally got the last two rolls from the underwater cameras developed, so we've added 30 new pictures from the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling adventure to the Australia and New Zealand picture page. Ashley started her new vet job after we returned from our trip, and is enjoying it so far. She is commuting to Boulder for the summer, and will move to a Fort Collins clinic in a couple months. We're starting the house-buying process, much to Ashley's delight! We spent the 4th in Brush, Colorado, with the Browns, Kay, and Tom and Amy Murphy (plus their kids). Was a lot of fun! Brush, which is out on the eastern plains, has one of the better 4th of July celebrations around, with a big parade, a rodeo, and some great fireworks. We were so close to the fireworks that it shook our bodies!