Dec 17

Well, it was a frantic month, but just before Michael and his family came for Christmas, we got hot water, power, and the appliances in.  The house was a mess, but we put it into some semblance of order and here is the result in photos.

The guest bathroom more or less in working order.  Notice the bucket for garbage.  We have no
garbage cans yet.

The beautiful Koa pedestal counter that Gary, our cabinet maker made for the powder room.

Still no mirror.

This is where the kids are sleeping - on air beds.  Nice curtains, eh?

Mike and Larissa's bedroom.  Another aero bed and moving blanket curtains,  Kind of like the early

days at the lake.

Our first dinner at the house.  Daniel has been quite proficient at doing card tricks, so he has everybody

mesmerized.

Our bedroom.  Still not put together but we don't have an aero bed.  We made sure we got one - at

Sears of course.

The hutch looks like it was made for this place.  Fits perfectly.

And of course, we got the tree up.  Yes, it's fake.  We're getting old and trees here are very expensive.

Of course we still have a lot of this going on.  Slowly but surely.  

Dec 10

So, with Michael and his family coming tomorrow, we've been frantically trying to get things done.   It's hard because of the plumbers and the electricians.  They have a lot of jobs on the island and they fit us in when they can.  It would be easy for them to give us a list and then we could go buy everything and do it all in one fell swoop, but the electrician was waiting on the countertop guy; the countertop guy was waiting on the cabinet guy, the plumber was waiting on the cabinet guy; and we were waiting on everybody.  But hopefully tomorrow the electrician will be done.  The countertop guy is finished and so we wait on the plumber for water.  Everything is in place for him.  Just show up because we move in tomorrow night.  We've been "teased" a lot.  Like the plumber came, did a lot of work, then we didn't see him again.  Normally it wouldn't matter, but because Michael decided to come early, everything has been moved up.  And we are at their mercy.  We have enough electricity, now for some water.  So here are some recent shots.

Crissie with Gary Aguirre, our cabinet guy.

This is why he's good.

And here it is together.  We still have to get cabinet and drawer handles.

Here's Rogelio (left) & Leonardo (right) working on the hearth.

Rogelio did all our countertops.  Great guy.

Here it is after set up with the stove.

Putting up the chimney pipe and caulking the rain cap.  Nice that it's a one level house with
a low pitched roof.  No snow or ice here.

Waiting on the plumber for the sink, dishwasher, and water to the fridge.  No, we can't do any of it.  State law.

Best way to do the doors.  Stand them up and hook em together. Should be done in two more days. Tony did one side

and I did the other.  Got two coats in today.  So some light sanding and one more coat and we should be done, but I'll be 

working alone since Tony has to go to work.  He can't wait for retirement.

So that's where we are right now.  Crissie is opening boxes and we have beds set up.  So with or without water we'll be sleeping there tomorrow night.