Happy 2011!

We can only hope that everyone had as much fun this holiday season as our little nephew A.J.!

A.J. will clean up beautifully for his gig in October as ring-bearer.

A lot of work has been done on the cottage in this new year.  We have walls upstairs!  Here's a look at our room:

And the upstairs hallway, leading to Maddy's room:

And to Alex's room:

We like how tall the upstairs ceilings are and that there are lots of angles which remind us of the original charm of the cottage.  Plus, there are many places to hang good artwork, especially our Christmas present from Maddy and Matt:

The tummy shower!!!

 The door leading from the living room to Alex's old room has been removed, the wall has been patched, and the trim has been replicated:

  We have a ceiling on the screen porch:

Wallboarding is also completed in the kitchen and the new kitchen door is in:

We spent quite a bit of time with Heather Rawles, our kitchen designer, and finalized all decisions on the cabinetry.  Cabinet installation is scheduled for February.  Wow!!!










Outside, dedicated craftsmen have worked hard and braved the icy winds off Lake Wawasee to begin installation of shingles, siding, and trim.   Here's what we saw when we pulled in the driveway (along with a lot of trucks...)

The bars under the eaves are preparation for decorative brackets that will be installed soon; all the siding will be painted to match the color of the shingles.

Here's a view of the cottage from the east side:

The west side:

And the front:

While the framing work continues outside next week (weather permitting), inside work includes painting and flooring installation. We're trying our hardest to keep away and stay out of everyone's way so they can continue to get their work done at this record setting pace...but it's not easy!

We'll keep you posted!