And so it begins ...

We closed on our construction loan on Thursday, and we met with our contractor/builder yesterday morning.  They've got our first draw from the construction loan, and the wheels are now in motion!  After five months of drawing up plans, trying to determine how construction loans work, clearing out the existing structure, and weighing the pros and cons of building vs. buying, we've finally chosen our path, and we're excited about moving forward.

This is the view from the street in front of the house.  The current home is barely visible behind the trees, some of which were just saplings when Matt was growing up here.  In fact one of the trees bears a small wind chime that Matt's nephew Duke gave to Matt's mom. The wind chime is now 20-25 feet of the ground, the tree trunk has enveloped it so that it is part of the tree now.  Pretty astonishing.  Unfortunately, some of these trees are not in the best shape, and they will have to come down as the current home is removed.

The new build will be closer to the street, which is fine, since it's a dead end.  It's a very quiet neighborhood, and we regularly see wild turkeys running around by themselves or in small herds (?).  Those suckers can move!

This is a view of the back yard.  It's about an acre lot, and when the new home is built closer to the street, the back yard will get even larger.  Behind the trees in the back of the picture is the Arkansas River.  We plan to clear some of the undergrowth, so we can enjoy a view of the river like our neighbors on either side of us.

Here is a view of the river in the backyard of the property to our south.  Mighty pretty, right? We're hoping for a similar view of our own some day soon.

The loan is 6-8 months, so we're hoping to move in between the end of April and the end of June.  Woohoo!  

This property is a mile or two away from the train tracks, and Katie is looking forward to the sound of the train the distance, which reminds her of her childhood in Emporia, KS.  They will lull her to sleep.

We hope to post a link to a video Matt created, touring the Cramer Family home one last time before demolition.  It's currently loading onto YouTube with 1200 minutes of upload time remaining ... this could be a long process. :-)  We'll keep you posted.