Princess Turns 2!!

SAY "CHEESE!!"

Happy Birthday to miss Leah, the big "2" today! She had a super fun, super busy birthday party with more pink and girlie stuff than you can imagine. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes...dress up items, her own TV remote, clothes, books, and her very own play kitchen. She had a blast opening up her presents, which she figured out pretty quick. Great-grandparents, Grandma, Amy, Hector, mommy, daddy, and Ethan all joined her to celebrate.

The event wouldn't be complete without something Dora...which she got a special little cake made for her. Leah isn't the least bit embarassed to sing to people, just don't do it to her. She started crying pretty good when "happy birthday to you" began. She couldn't manage the candles without some help, so Ethan chipped in of course. He was just WAITING to participate somehow.

So I'm home now with both kids, wanting to make sure we post the pictures for everyone of the day. THANK YOU to everyone for spoiling her endlessly with not just gifts, but with your love and support. She got so many cards, emails, texts...we love to hear from family. It definitely makes her day all the more special.

Halloween '09

Well, we had a SUPER fun Halloween this year! As we do every year, we ventured over to Grandma Shirley's house to start things off - this time, much earlier than normal. Before heading out to take the kids, we did a family dinner...visiting with friends and eating a yummy turkey dinner (thank you chef Ryan). After we were all sufficiently stuffed and liquored up, the kids got their costumes on and we braved the friggin' ridiculous wind. Ethan was a totally awesome Transformer; "Bumblebee". Leah was fitting in her fairy princess costume. She really did look sweet. We were surprised that she was so willing - she kept everything on and followed her big brother up to each door. Within the first two houses, she got the hang of "twee a tee". Our friends Jim and Katie brought their son Will over as well (he's a few days older than Leah) and we had Hector's daughter Hailey join us too (Hector is Amy's boyfriend...Hailey was dressed as Tinkerbell). They were a cute, cute bunch...and thankfully by the second round of houses, the wind had stopped completely.

The kids were pooped and stuffed on sweets and we had a really fun, fun Halloween. And Baba - I thought you'd enjoy the picture I took of Ryan following along behind Leah. Made me think of your comment about when dad used to take us out...beer in his hand and all. While Ryan didn't have a bottle, he was kind enough to carry his cup.

Fairy princesses are always so darn busy

Taking Shape

It's starting to look like a house!! We officially have the stem walls in place, forming the perimeter. Now that the foundation framing is done, it's much easier to see the size and shape of the house.

These pictures were taken on Thursday afternoon. As of today (Tuesday morning), we were told the concrete was being poured into the walls. Once it's dried up, we can get plumbers and pipefitters in to start whatever they do before we can pour out the remaining slab. Builder John says another week or two for that.

Facing East - Side of garage

Facing West - Front door area

-Bay window will be our bathtub spot

-Tahoe is parked on our street; Badger View Dr.

Ryan and Leah are standing by the front door

-Corner of garage, facing east

-Facing directly east

Some additional pictures showing the neighborhood/our street. You can see just how much open space we have surrounding us. All the houses are spaced apart nicely; everyone seems to have a good amount of privacy. We love how quiet and clean it is up there. We even have several neighbors with horses too...a very horse-friendly community!

-Facing east down Badger View Dr.

-Facing west down Badger View Dr.

-Facing north - Our driveway/house from the street

10-28-09

It's really bizarre for us to see how things are moving along - we've been waiting for this for awhile and all of a sudden, *poof*, it's taking shape. We walked the property this past weekend; where there was a mound of rolled and packed dirt, there is now trenching and filler in place. You can start to see the general outline of where future rooms will be. It all looks SO TINY right now as this basic footprint - we can't wait for walls!

Foundation should be poured at any second - everything looks good to go, we hear.

Ethan had a little too much fun "checking out" the property on Saturday. He spent a few minutes climbing all over the bulldozer, which he thought was pretty cool. Once he discovered the huge dirt mound in the back, he was a goner. Up and down the hills he climbed...his poor sneakers and sweat pants filling with the superfine dirt we have. It's literally like getting baby powder in your socks and shoes - it gets everywhere. Before he got back in the car, I shook off his socks and shoes - and got a poof of dirt all over me. Reminder for next visit: bring boots, dirty clothes, lots of rags, and plenty of garbage sacks.

We'll take some pictures soon. Ethan I know is anxious to get out and play in the dirt again, this time bulldozer toys and buckets in tow.

Dirt is moving!

10-14-09

Typical timeframe and weather delays, we are finally underway with construction! Water truck, roller, and bulldozer were out today moving dirt around to build up area for foundation. The "moon sand" in our area is making it difficult to compact...but we're already loving how soft and fertile this dirt is. Not a single rock to be found!!

Our Future Place

Ryan and I had been looking for land off and on for a few years, mostly out of curiosity and dreams (we all need them, right?) We'd spend the weekends driving around Tri-Cities looking at houses and pieces of land for sale as a way of getting a break from cooped-up-crazy-kids.

In May 2009, Ryan and I came across a piece of property that looked ideal for our family, critter, and "space" needs. When we drove to see it for the first time, it was really love at first sight. Not so much the unsightly utility poles in our backyard, but the neighborhood as a whole. This was such a perfect piece of property and we jumped on it. We officially own 2.05 acres now in Kennewick!

Here are some shots of the land taken shortly after purchase, in June 2009. This is looking at the property facing north from the road (Badger View Dr.) The utility structures behind us belong to the Badger Mountain Irrigation District. They also own the adjacent vacant land directly behind our property line. We actually looked at this as a favorable thing - because for one, we'll never have anyone build behind us. And, this small business makes for super quiet, private neighbors. No one back behind us to block our view, complain of noises, smells, etc. We actually get a great view of Badger Mountain in the distance.

From edge to edge of this photo, it shows you our property boundaries. We are standing directly in the middle of the land - almost where the driveway will be. Our property line actually runs about an additional 5-ft. beyond the row of trees in the distance.

Here is the official plans for our house. The only thing we've since changed is the upstairs bathroom (we made it a bit bigger). Otherwise, it should finish out pretty close to this!

Welcome to the Payne Blog!

Welcome to Our Building Blog

We wanted to create a go-to place to share the latest-and-greatest of our home building project. Many of you have asked for updates, photos, and tidbits on the status of the new house and us Paynes in general. Hopefully, this helps keep you in the loop and seeing just how we're coming along in building...and in life.


We love to hear directly from everyone as well, so please keep the emails and phone calls coming. We might be hit or miss with our busy schedules, but we will certainly try and connect.


Happy Fall 2009 everyone!


* Ryan, Gretchen, Ethan, Leah, Riggs, Gus, Tonnka, and Mr.Purple (the fish) *