Pre-Easter Fun and Plumbing Progress

Last Saturday we joined some friends in Newberg, OR for an Easter Egg Hunt. There were 13 little "hunters" wandering around, all under the age of 6. Taylor was the oldest and I think that might have had something to do with his achievement of finding the most eggs. Aric was tied for second, so they each got to take home an extra prize. It was a LOT of fun and they are so excited for more egg hunts this weekend.

Jeremy's been doing a lot of plumbing work recently. It's been slow going, as he's had to cut through a lot of concrete in order to access old lines and install new ones. We've been ambitious in our planning, moving pretty much every piece of plumbing in the house. Jeremy has been bravely tackling this huge project with high hopes for completing it quite quickly. Here's a picture of what will be our main floor bath. We've got a shower (so once we actually live in this house, we'll be happy to have overnight guests make the drive and stay awhile with us!), then to the right of that will be a toilet. About where I'm standing, the sink will be on the righthand wall. Right now it's all kinda undone while we wait for the plumbing to be inspected. Then Jeremy can finish out this section of floor, which he's had to build up from the level of the garage to match the rest of the main level.

Just outside this bathroom is a "mud room"/entryway from the garage where the kids (OK, OK - and the grownups, too) will be able to dump coats and muddy shoes without them being in the way. That floor is all built up and the wall separating it from the garage is built. (Yay, Jeremy!) It's hard to tell what you're looking at in this picture, but that shower is visible in the back corner and the wide opening just to the right of center is where our garage entrance will be. You can kinda make out (maybe, if you're creative :-) how we'll enter and have a mud room here, with the bathroom to our right. Then the hallway will open in front of us, extending past the family room (on the left) and kitchen (on the right) and dumping us into the formal living room / dining room area.

Here is a peek downstairs. Jeremy has spent many hours cutting that trench to the right of the picture (sorry it's a bit dark and hard to see down there). We are moving the bathroom into its own space from the tiny room where it used to be combined with the washer/dryer/water heater room. That means all the plumbing used to stop in the middle of the picture where you see that pipe sticking up. Jeremy's replacing it all and moving it all the way to the very back wall, where the kids' bathroom will be. It's been a long arduous process and he's not there yet, but he's doing good and keeps consistently moving forward on it. It's exhausting work for him, and I'm so thankful he's willing to do all of this to make the space nicer for our family. I'm also thankful he's such a quick, competent learner (the Home Depot plumbing book has been an invaluable resource).