Friday, December 18, 2009

Wedding Pictures (just the highlights)

Hey Everyone,

We've received multiple requests for wedding pictures :) If you're not doing the whole Facebook thing - you probably haven't had a chance to see these yet... so here are just a FEW of the 450+... the best of the best. Our photographer was amazing and we highly recommend her for all your photography needs (she travels ;)).

Marnie McCown Guard
Crescendo Photography

Tyler & Kelsey Maxon
June 20th, 2009
Fountain Hills, Arizona


THANK YOU grandma, grandpa, mom, don, sarah, jenny, dad, kris, staci, jon, alec, terrin, john, penny, robbie, megan, todd, trevor, chris, corey and ALL of you who travel many miles to share our special day - we love you so much!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Houston: we (almost) have a house

The recent progress on our new home is nothing short of amazing. We signed papers back in late September on our dream house - a new build - completely from scratch. We've made large earnest deposits each month since then as a way to "finance" our down payment.

In late October, we grew concerned about reaching our estimated finish date of February 28, 2010... as NOTHING had been done on the house. However, we visited the property just before Halloween and here's what we saw :)

The View to the North


The View to the South


Wall-E (sustainable life - a token of good things to come?)

We were thrilled to see they'd excavated the land in preparation for the foundation. We were finally one step closer to our dream and proud of what we'd saved so far - - in order to reach our lofty goal. Within DAYS (no joke... only about three days) our plumbing was piped, tension rods and rebar were being laid, and our foundation was ready to pour!

Plumbing! (North View)

Tension Rods and Rebar are IN! (Southwest View)

Anxiously Awaiting Concrete... (South View)

And Finally... a Slab! (and seriously w/in a week!)

Front Porch

Our Cement Truck
(heading for the washout after pouring our foundation)

Once we had a foundation - we were elated! We felt like we'd finally arrived - - our dream is becoming a reality and time is flying. We've been to the property every weekend taking pictures and paying close attention to the building process. We're looking for mistakes, things we can ask to have changed - if minor - and honestly, we're so impressed with the quality of craftsmanship that Ashton Woods (our builder) has displayed. They take pride in their work - and they work FAST.

Here's what's been achieved in just four short weeks:

Two Stories of Framing is UP! (Southeast View)

Front Porch (garage is to the left)

Tyler in the Front Doorway

Me on the Staircase (no roof yet - just black sky)

Suddenly we have more Detail Work and Windows :)

Scaffolding is UP and the Crew can Start the Tyvek Barrier

Back Yard/Back Porch (Northwest View)

This Picture Shows the Scale of the House
(can you see me on the bottom left side?)
I know I'm a dwarf, but seriously, this makes me look even dwarfier! LOL!

So - today is December 10th... our plumbing, gas lines, electrical, and some cable/speaker wires are in. The house is wrapped and the roof is prepped for tiles. We have a "pre-drywall" meeting December 14th where we inspect and make any changes to the wiring, etc... then its full-steam ahead on the insullation and drywall and a crew will come out and get started on the stucco exterior.

Whew! It's happening so fast, but we're right on target - and we're so ready to be in our new home :)

Thank you for taking an interest in and sharing our journey. We are so grateful for family and friends like you - we wish you all the prosperity the world has to offer this Christmas!

XOXO - Kelsey & Tyler