Smokey and his buddies

Indo is not afraid to get in and chew a bit on Smokey














Keller is very patient with Smokey and let's him jump all over him.








Smokey really likes to get into playing with the toys.

Heaton Ranch in Stout Canyon

I seem to remember when I was just a little (fill in the space) kid, our family went up to the ranch to BBQ, eat tons of watermelon, hike around and climb on the rocks.

I have been assisting a family to get a cabin built in Stout Canyon at the Heaton Ranch. Betsy Beaver 's father is Grant Heaton and her grandfather is Charles Heaton. She thinks that the whole area used to belong to Thomas Chamberlain. Here Smokey is chasing a stick that I threw in one of the two lakes that are out front of the older cabins and homes.
Smokey is checking out where the squirrels went to.
This is beautiful country. We have been invited up to use the zip line at the upper lake. So Smokey is practicing his swimming for when it gets warmer. I don't think the water will get any warmer though.

Build'n Green

Porter and Michelle came down from the cold north and were the first to stay in the house. Indo and Smokey had a blast running around the country.









Debi's brother Art was a huge help in assisting us with electrical work and so many other things on the home.




Just looking at the fire pit makes me feel warm. It looks like the trailers going up in flame.








Porter and Michelle help with getting the foil barrier up that radiates the heat back into the home in the cold time and keeps the heat out in the summer time. Not that their is a huge need for cooling in the summer and fall time. Just open some windows or turn the ceiling fans on.

The Basement - It's a Wash-out. I mean a walk-out.

Aiden is here beating up on Smokey Bear. I hope you're lifting weights Aiden so you can keep beating up Smokey now cause he runs into Keller (our neighbors black dog in pic) and knocks him down.






Carmela, Hannah, Breanna are here with Debi enjoying the sun shine on the porch at the Eagle Feather before the big winter of '07-'08. Some people say the winter never ends here in Alton.












The basement has a ceiling that was 9 ft high and so I built a coiffured ceiling in the living room and then I rounded the walls and built the niches and entertainment center. This outside shot shows the walk-out bsmt on the west and south side. There is a big porch under the main floor deck.

House Details - The tile

Jared is working on the tile in the kitchen before the cabinets are in.

Jared has now worked himself into the closet. OK not really, he is in the Art's room (named after Debi's brother Art who helped out tremendously with work on the house) and Jared is in the hall going out to the loft.
Randy Demke worked on the loft tile. Here he's putting down the 18 in. pieces that have cut outs for the 3 in black stone that goes in later.
I finally got the trailer with the tile and thinset past the driveway corner that it was stuck at. Still it was a while hauling the 6 tons of tile and cement into the garage and eventually into the house.

Hank, Aiden, Racheal, and Debi working on the living room floor.

I'm showing off the tile work that Hank, Jared and also our friends Randy and Hal Demke did.

Here is the kitchen (well actually I did the counters and I was going to update the picture but know the camera is broken since I dropped it on the tile)










The stairs are all tile as well. I guess that means no sliding down on your back side.
The view of the tile work that Hank did on the dining room floor is really nice. This is looking down from the loft.

OK, I'm getting the hang of it, now add some more

I found the kitchen again (see end of post) the sun is shining threw the high windows from the west.
Here is the pic from the drive-way of the front of the casa. Garage is at the left with the deck off of the Art's room.
I'm working on the retaining wall. This is the view from the walk out bsmt and fuel storage area.This is the north and west side of the from the street. Everyone comments on how big the house is but we are finding that it looks bigger because it is almost square instead of long in the front and shorter on the side (rectangle) as most houses.
This is the neat niche's that Debi designed by the side of the stairs. You can see the two arches, one that goes down the short hall to the master bedroom and half bath and the other goes to the kitchen.
This is the dining room with doors going out to the south deck.


Here you're looking to the living room from the dining. The big screen is pulled out from the wall and faces the couch, but you can turn it all the way around 180 degrees.

This is the loft looking to the west and the dining area and living room. It's the Tree of Life again.
Here is the front of our casa, hey were did my pics go from the drive-way and the kitchen? I guess I highlighted and pushed too many keys, oh well. Anyway here is the front with the temp walkway in til I finish the retaining wall and backfill. You can also see the north deck.

This is the kitchen.

Get some pics on the blog

Finally some pictures of the house showing the progress of this great adventure. After seeing a few of the pics I'll start with the most recent and go back from there.
This one on the right is an older one that shows our Tree of Life, the birds in their new cage and the tv spot. That's me if you didn't know. I just realized that it looks like the wall is curving and that's because it is. Between the windows it curves into the room. Here is a view from the loft. It's looking at the double entry with some stain glass above the door and the sitting area with the entertainment center. I am in the process of locating the speaker wire for the sound system. You can see one speaker mounted at the top of the pic.

To blog or not to blog? What kind of a question is that?

Here goes. It is early morning and I am excited about conference. We have just moved into our home this last week. It has been a wonderful, tough, crazy, year building our home. I love it here in Alton. The area is beautiful and our views are gorgeous. Spring is coming and the snow is almost all gone. That means get the outside of the house finished. Now that we are in our home I don't need a hobby cause all my time will be spent on the little details that may never end.
Well would I do it again. Yes.
I realize that "if it doesn't kill me, then it will make me stronger."