Why, In the Middle of Winter . . . ?

I mentioned a few days ago that we were working on a stone wall behind our gas heating stove. What I didn't mention is why we were working on it IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER!!

Last month, some friends of ours were facing a deadline to finish building their home. I had previously offered to help them do some tile work, which I have done quite a bit of in our own home. So I helped them with that, and Mark helped a little bit to install the carpets, which he also has some experience in doing.

As a thank-you, they offered us some stone that they had an excess of, plus some cedar shakes, which we will put on our house in the spring. I called my son Jake, who does this kind of work for a living, and since it is his slow time of the year, he had a few free days to install the wall.

Before . . . And of course I had to get in there and help a little. Probably slowed him down more than anything, but he showed me how to do it, and we had a great time together.

During . . . His labor is our Christmas present from him this year. Pretty great!
Wall is complete! And it is beautiful! And I got to spend some great quality time with my son Jake! I think that was the best gift of all...

(Now if we can get the dang stove to work. Something happened to it when we moved it, or we aren't hooking it back up correctly. So the stove people have to come out and work their magic. So it's still cold in there!)

A Couple Random Cute Pictures...

Evalie and Tanner by the Christmas stockings...

Tanner and Isaac thought this was a really cool piece of wood. So Tanner posed while Isaac took the picture. Funny kids!