The Trusses Have Arrived

We were so excited to see the trusses go up today! The picture below shows the crane lifting the trusses onto the top of the logs. Can you see how the jacks from the truck are picking up the front? At first glance, Debi thought the weight of the truss was lifting the truck up and she freaked out just from looking at the pictures. (She was at school when all of this actually happened.) Gary explained about the jacks on the side of the truck that helped to support it.



The crane lifted the trusses onto the top of the logs. We hired a professional crew to install the trusses and Gary sure is glad we did! They got most of the trusses up in one day.


The picture below is of the south side of house, looking east, showing the trusses already installed. The crew arrived at 8:00 a.m. and left around 5:00 p.m.


This last picture is of the south side of house, looking toward the west. Notice the six-foot cantilever on the trusses. (Gary had to explain to Debi that a cantilever is not technically an "overhang", but just think of it as having six feet of roof overhead all around the exterior of the house.) Cantilevered trusses will shade the house during the summer so we won't have to spend so much on cooling here in the desert. The weather forecast concerns us because the news is saying that the worst cold spell in fifty years is supposed to hit southern California next week. We hope the rain and snow will stall off the coast for about a week. We love snow and rain, but this is a terrible week for that kind of weather to pass through Oak Hills. We still need to install the sheathing and then the shingles. Our goal was to have the roof on by Christmas, but the weather may change our plans!

Debi's Newest Nativity Scene (Christmas 2008)

Many of you know that Debi collects creche scenes from around the world. Every year, Gary lets Debi buy a new nativity to add to her collection. This is a picture of the very first nativity scene she bought in 1985. It is a traditional creche.

This year Debi purchased a "Delft Blue" nativity from Holland. See the windmill ornaments in front? They were bought separately from the same company. Debi saw this creche last year, but the company sold out right away and she wasn't able to purchase it. When she saw it again this year, she didn't hesitate and bought it immediately. This is her 2008 Netherlands creche.

The Exterior Log Walls are Finished!

The final logs were put in place today and the exterior walls are finished! In this picture, the final support beam is being held up by the Kubota tractor as Gary and Carl nail and screw it in place. The beam will have half-round logs placed over it on the outside so that it blends in with the other parts of the log cabin.

This picture shows that 10" "Blue Ox" screws that are used to fasten the logs together.

On Saturday morning, Jacob Kayser (age 12) helped clean up the job site by hauling away the pieces of log that were not used, and then sweeping the interior of the cabin.

Jennifer Kayser (age 11) helps Colin (age 5) count the nails and screws he collected around the job site. We told Colin we would pay him one cent per each nail and screw he picked up. (It saves us from getting one in our tires.)

Colin holds up his bag of $5.22, which represents the 522 nails and screws he picked up around the job site.

Gary and Gina Doane's Wedding Reception (Dec. 6, 2008)

Debi's cousin, Gina, was married on October 28th, in Bali, Indonesia. Gina, and her new husband, Gary Doane, had a reception at their home in Hermosa Beach, California on December 6th. As we entered the driveway, we were greeted with traditional Indonesian scarves and plumeria flowers for the women, and headpieces for the men to wear throughout the night. As we walked up the stairs and through the front door, we could hear traditional music playing. Imagine our surprise when we saw a musician playing a traditional Indonesian instrument.

The house was decorated with flower and fruit centerpieces, and candles lining the stairway.

This picture shows Debi, Mom, Dad, and Lisa standing next to the fireplace. Uncle Dick is sitting in a chair next to Debi--he is wearing the traditional headpiece that the men were given.

Debi and Gary stand out on the patio to model the traditional scarf, plumeria flower, and headpiece that each guest was presented with when entering the reception.

The Scarlet Sisters: Aunt Carma, Mom (Doris), and Aunt Irene (Scarlet) out on the patio. Can you see the ocean in the background?


Uncle Dick and Aunt Carma on the patio. The patio was decorated with lights and paper to make us feel as if we were in Indonesia.

Gina and Gary had traditional dancers entertain us at various times throughout the evening.

Gary and Gina Doane watch the traditional dancers. (Aaron Martinez, Gina's younger brother, is standing to the right of Gary Doane's side.)

In this picture, the bride and groom are toasted.

Gina and Gary hired a professional chef to make the delicious traditional food that was served.

The wedding cake was yummy as well as beautiful.

Thanksgiving 2008

We decided (at the last minute) to go to Utah for Thanksgiving. We knew it would be our tenth wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving, but we wanted to be with family rather than in a hotel with strangers. We called Scott and Evelyn on the Monday night before Thanksgiving to see if we could come up for a visit. Debi only had to work Monday and Tuesday and didn't have choir practice on Wednesday, and Gary cancelled his Wednesday night class, so we left as soon as Debi got home on Tuesday afternoon. We stayed at Scott, Evelyn, and Nicole's house in Riverton. We were excited to stay in their guest bedroom because it is decorated like a log cabin. There is the deer head, that Scott shot last deer season, hanging on the wall to the left of the window. (Sorry, I didn't post that picture!) The lamps have a silhouette of a moose on them. There are several pictures of deer on the wall, too. So, we celebrated our tenth anniversary in a log cabin-style room! Staying in this bedroom only made us more anxious to have our log home finished!

Lorelai loved the Hodges' cat, "Cinder". This picture shows "Lolly" looking under the bed for the cat. We enjoyed watching Lorelai walking all around the house. She entertained us with her cell phone antics, too.

Four of the cousins were able to visit the day after Thanksgiving. This picture shows Luke and Megan next to Nicole and Lorelai sitting on Scott and Evelyn's bed.

After much protest, I convinced my sisters and brother to pose for a picture. This shows (left to right) Evelyn, Debi, Tom, and Denise--four of the six Greenwood kids.

Windows Are In!

There has been progress this week and most walls are now seven courses high. The finished walls will be seventeen courses, which translates to nine feet high. This first picture shows the windows in the living room. They are painted "Hunter Green" on the exterior and are "wood clad" on the interior. We plan to make the roof shingles green also. We originally wanted a traditional metal roof, but due to the cost we decided to go with standard composite shingles. The windows are installed as the log walls go up utilizing the "smart jamb" made by Middleton Timber, our log home manufacturer. It's starting to look like a real log home now!

This picture shows a view of the entire home. The garage walls are about fourteen courses high in this photo. You can see the east-facing garage wall in this picture. George and Charlie Kayser are working with Gary to install the windows and logs.

Five Courses of Logs Are Now Up!

It's been a couple of weeks since we could add some pictures to show the progress on our log home. Gary had a week of Jury Duty, then the weather turned rainy the following week, and that shut down the work. This week, there were just two days that Gary and Carl could work on the log cabin due to prior commitments. Here are four more pictures of the log cabin--our future home! This first picture is of the northern wall of the great room/living room. (Right side of picture is facing north and the wall facing you looks east.)

In this picture, Debi is standing in the space where the future French doors will be in the master bedroom. She is facing west toward the big pine trees in the backyard. We positioned the French doors and windows of the great room to take advantage of the wonderful view of the trees in the backyard.

This picture shows the northeastern corner of the garage wall. We are really enjoying the look of the knots in the logs. We had purposely requested as many knots as possible--we like the character that knots give a log cabin.

This picture shows Debi standing in the space where the front door will be. The front entry will have rock around it, but we still haven't found the "perfect" front door. We've looked and looked, and the one that we like the best is WAY out of our price range. We may just put in something really simple (and inexpensive) at first, and then save up for the front door. We can't wait to open the front door and see you standing there!