Basement

The lack of posts over the past 1-2months is indicative of the spare time we have since diving into our basement remodel....It is not so much of a remodel, as a finishing of something that was unfinished when we moved in.  If you recall from our blog while it was still in its infancy (November 2009), the basement looked like this:

After stripping everything out, and starting with a blank canvas, we were able to get the entire house re-rewired, and will soon be re-plumbing everything as well.  We added an egress window for Gus's future bedroom, and lots of storage space.  Other significant additions include phone jacks (which we had none of when we moved in) and insulation.

As always, Abe needs to gear up with dad anytime they venture down to the basement.

Window opening that we cut into the foundation.

Window opening prior to drywall going on.

Finally, as a final note, we regret to inform our readers that we have broken down and hired a contractor to install a new furnace and duct work.  We are not proud of our actions, but figured this is the only way we are going to get heat in the house before the winter is over.

Detour

We took Abe down to Westlake Center this morning for a quick Christmas Eve detour.

All I want for Christmas

Abe had a visit with Santa today, we are pretty sure he asked Santa for 3 things:

1. a central heating system
2. the ability to reason
3. a tape measure

The BIG One

Little known fact about me: I am a firm believer that "the big one" is coming. In fact, I am a little crazy about it, I subscribe to a ENS (Earthquake Notification System) all of our bookshelves are bolted, and I am stocked up on emergency mountain climbing meals, water and first aid kits.

Basically, Jeff didn't stand a chance when we discovered our house was eligible for a standard seismic upgrade. So by the magic of an amazing husband, some long waits at the DPD, some strategic demolition, a LOT of dust and some extremely loud drilling, we passed our seismic upgrade inspection today!

Here is a peak at one of the anchor plates in our crawl space - isn't she a beauty?

Abe did some work/damage at his Grandma's on Thanksgiving! (Thanks Mom!)

Happy Holloween

This skeleton had a blast!

Oregon Coast

Future Coug

We finally got back to Pullman this past weekend for the Homecoming football game.  We also discoverd Cougar Football Saturdays in Pullman are a lot more work with an extra set of legs to keep track of.

Abe enjoying the largest stuffed animal he has ever laid eyes on.