Settlement Picture!

Here is the long awaited settlement picture!  We could not have asked for smoother proceedings and we have these special people to thank for that!  What an awesome group of people who showed the essence of teamwork to achieve this goal!  Congratulations to all involved!  You are all so special to us and we have enjoyed getting to know you through the many, many months leading up to this event.  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your hard work and dedication to this project.  Literally, we could never have our dream home without you.  You have an open invitation to Hearthstone any time!!!  Love, thanks, and blessings to all!

Sean, Scott, Mark, Rocky, Brey, Roger, Audrey, Jack, and Diana

White Christmas

How blessed were we with such a beautiful white Christmas? I could hardly believe my eyes as I was getting ready for our Christmas Eve service and saw the first few snowflakes drop outside the cottage window. It seems so fitting that it would snow for our first Christmas at Hearthstone!!! Even better was when we came back from the service, the driveway was plowed for us!! Thank you Don and Donnie!! Here are some pictures. :) we hope that everybody had as wonderful a holiday as we did!! We continue to feel so incredibly blessed!!

Settlement

We are officially HOME!!!! Settlement went through without a hitch on December 21, 2012 with all of the key players in attendance (check back for a picture!). We could not feel more blessed, thankful, humble, and ecstatic! (As evidenced by my photographing the entire ordeal and jumping up and down). We cannot thank Scott enough (we could not have done this without you!!!!!!), Jack!, Sean, Mark, Butlers, and the rest who have worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality!! (Check back later for more pictures and details )

I couldn't resist posting some pictures from my cell to share with you all until I post a more detailed account of the proceedings. Thank you to ALL for their best wishes, love, prayers, and support as we have reached this milestone in our journey. It is ours!!

Emily & Erica's Visit

A couple of weeks ago, my step-sister, Emily, and her boyfriend, Jim, flew in to surprise Erica over Thanksgiving break.  I was so excited when my stepsisters came over to Hearthstone with their boys to check out the property.  We had fun walking around and seeing it again through their eyes.  I can't ever imagine turning into this driveway and not appreciating the beauty and magic of this place.  It is so amazing!  We got to hang out and enjoy each other's company even though the visit was way too short in my account.  We love you guys and thank you for being so excited for us!!  We had such a great time walking around, catching up, and sharing laughs as we always do!   <3

The waterfall is always such a huge hit :)

Erica <3

Emily & Erica

Jim & Emily

Roger and Felix checking out the massive bamboo forest!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

We are finally getting into our holiday spirit!  My Mimi, Jo, and Mom brought a truckload of decorating goodies!  Rocky went off to search for the perfect greens and Holly branches with berries.  We had Christmas music going at full blast and had a grand 'ole time!  Later, Roger, Anne, and Peter worked on decorating the large wreath for the driveway and carriage house/garage.  All was picked from our grounds, with Mami's touch of making the perfect bow...they turned out fantastically!  (Now only if it weren't for the blue colorr trim.....).  

You can see the kiddos peeking through enjoying watching the cold ones outside hanging the decorations :)

"Here Uncle!  Look at all these pine cones."  

Roge is apparently very skilled at decorating holiday wreaths :)

Mom, Roge, and Rocky getting together the wreaths and greens :)

Jo and Mimi were a huge blessing to my heart and a huge help in the festivities!!

I am SO SO SO Excited to finally be getting into the Christmas spirit!  Thanks ALL for helping/teaching me how to use fresh greens for decorations everywhere!

Check back for pictures of the live  (not to be confused with "permanent") tree that Rocky sent over.  Reilly helped us decorate it.  I think I will save that story and pictures for the next blog.

Happy Holidays!!!  xoxo

Gumdrop Trees

Here is one of Nana's delicious traditions we continued this holiday season at Hearthstone. After walking to collect greens and holly from the property, we cut a couple of pieces of the lemon tree's pointy branches. Next, we mixed up a bit of plaster into the bottom of a gardening pot. Once dried, it was the perfect gum drop holder. Nana used to do this same exact thing for her holiday table. Check out the pictures!

Daily Local News Article

A gentlemen, Bill Rettew, from the Daily Local News came over on Saturday to do a story on the exciting renovations at Hearthstone. We spent time walking the grounds and chatting about the history of the property. Today, the story is printed in the paper. Check out the link! Thanks so much Bill!!


http://www.dailylocal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121203/NEWS01/121209888

Winter Wonderland

The light snow dusting sets the scene at Hearthstone as it sits in dazzling white.
With the approach of the holidays, it truly makes us pause to think about all of our blessings...Hearthstone being a huge one! We are so thankful for all of our family, friends, and community who has worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality.
We received final township board approval last night. Wahoo!! (as I jump up and down) We are well on our way to finalizing this part of the process. We have a few more steps before settlement in December, and yet we are sitting for a moment to reflect and praise The Lord for these blessings. Thank you for all who are sharing in our excitement. Our hearts are full!

Garage Door Replaced

The old garage door was rotted and broken so roger replaced the ugly old blue door with the most gorgeous new door. It is mahogany with bebbled glass. It looks so quaint and beautiful with the stone work!

Cleaning up from hurricane sandy

We are so incredibly blessed that we did not suffer much damage from hurricane sandy. We had a tree split on the driveway bank that sort of fell on the main house. Nothing we can't easily clean up. All of the barn roof repairs held in strong and kept our equipment dry!! I am once again so thankful for that pettibone to have been able to repair the roof to protect it from leaking. Reilly spent a day last week with me helping me clean up the driveway and gutters. She also did an amazing job of picking up all of the sticks. Here are some pictures...