Saturday June 28th

We had a productive day. Andre was here helping us get things together. He and Nick cut brush, cleaned the "compound", cleared the drains, painted the shed and helped John put together yet another shed. John and I went to a slot tournament but came back with nothing but two T shirts!

June 27th NOTHING BUT DIRT

There aren't any pictures because there's nothing to see but dirt. Dirt, dirt and more dirt. Oh, and lots of dust! It's awful. I think I've gained 5lbs from inhaling it. The UPS driver thought nothing of barreling down the dirt driveway and coming to a screeching halt in front of my door. I couldn't see him through the cloud of dust. He's not allowed down there any more. I'm putting a box at the top of the hill for him! We have our house plans in process with the drafting company. I'd love to get them on the blog. I have to be more techno savy or get the boys to do it.

FATHER'S DAY 2008

Sam and Nick got a new tool box for John and grilled burgers for dinner. They all love the guy stuff! Now John needs to fill it up and LOCK it!

Summer nights by the fireside

Hi there everyone, this is Nick again. I've been told to post a picture of our fire ring in our new compound where we're living. For a while I had been riding my dirtbike down in the grove roads, passing an old wash tub from a washing machine. I finally went and grabbed it, then dubbed it our fire ring. It burns wood relatively slowly and warms up rather nice. It quite a find as these exact things were being sold near my old high school.

(Click to enlarge)

The parents are leaving to head up to Solvang this weekend, So I'm going to need to find out how to occupy myself while they're gone.

Hope everyone is well.

June 12 MORE RUBBLE!

Hard to believe we could get any more rubble out of our house, but here it is. The hard scape and slab are being removed. Forward progress. Preston loves being a wet, dirty dog. He found the uncovered, rain water filled fountain and took a dip. I took him to the groomer just a few days ago!!! The floor plan is going through it's final tweaking. It's a happy/sad time.

June 10, 2008

It is amazing, what took us 22 years to create, could be destroyed in minutes. Yesterday was a very emotional day for me. I was still trying to salvage what was left of my plant life while the dozer was ripping things up. I finally had to just let go and trust that I had done enough.

June 8, 2008

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT KIND OF DIFFERENCE A LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT CAN MAKE TO A PERSON. WE SO MUCH APPRECIATE THE PRAYERS AND UPLIFTING EMAILS. THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO COME AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME. WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!
MY EMAIL IS: jstrizver@gmail.com

Friday, June 6th

It's been more than a week since my last update. We've had quite a few ups and downs. The pictures were from the Thrivent Lutheran helping Hands Day. We had a dozen helpers from our church family. We totally moved everything large down the hill. The guys had to balance the weight of the laundry shed and back it down with the tractor. The dog pen got a new location as well. Then on Sunday we had a major electrical problem. Several "very expensive" appliances in the motor home took a 220 volt hit. Needless to say they got fried! We didn't have power for a few days and I'm still jumpy about plugging my laptop into the outlet. John is getting very drained from the treatments. It's hard for him to just go lie down. There's so much to do. Now for the good news. We should have the burned slab and hardscape taken out on Monday. The floor plan is looking good. I have to just get comfortable enough to live with it the way it is. Making changes is very costly. Keep the good thoughts and prayers coming.