Just over one month....

September 19th = closing date:)

I just couldn't wait...

Yesterday I mentioned that the house was a lot more finished than it looked...well, here's the proof:) With the siding on it actually looks like a real house! This one caught me by surprise when we drove out to see it. I was not at all expecting to see this much completed!!
Someday in my scrapbook, this picture will look really good next to all the other pictures I have of our front door. The progression will be neat to see next to each other....

And now for the good stuff...

We have recently begun pre-marital counseling with some friends of ours who will be performing the ceremony at our wedding. Hands down, pre-marital counseling is by far my favorite part of planning a wedding. I guess it's because it's planning for our marriage - life after the Big Day. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to learn more about Seth and to grow in the knowledge of what marriage is really about. We've been privileged to be meeting with 2 sets of couples for counseling and both are very open and honest about their successes and failures in their own marriages. I don't pretend this will teach us everything we need to know about being married, but I do know God is using it already to help us in our communication with each other as well as teaching us wisdom for the future.

So far my favorite nugget of wisdom that I've learned is that the depth of relationship in your marriage is directly related to your ability to forgive. What a wonderful and freeing thought! It is only because of Christ that we can forgive and through trusting in Him we will be able to forgive one another in our marriage, and love each other as Chris loved the church.

I'll keep you posted on additional nuggets we receive in counseling, but until then...the soon-to-be Apple household is coming along beautifully!

I must say that I'm way behind in posting the production on the house...it actually looks completely different now than it does below. But for the sake of keeping things in order, we'll pretend this is the way things are right now...

I don't know the technical name for the black paper on the outside of the house, but it's there.

This is Seth's favorite part of the house...the master bathroom. He's quite the bath taker for those who don't know him:)
Man, he's a STUD!
It's coming along!
Me and KB...if you need a realtor, check out Kristen Bradham's webpage at http://www.allentate.com/KristenBradham/DesktopDefault.aspx. We love her:)

Casa Construction Continues

Here's the next roll of film on our house construction!

This is the view from our master bedroom....as you can see, the neighborhood is a work in progress. However, I must say that they've done a lot of building from March when we signed on the house, through now. I'm praying we'll establish good relationships with our neighbors and have lots of opportunities to share about the Lord! Seth and I are really excited!
Vana Sarver showing us the beautiful staircase...
The view from our back porch (ie, 10x10 concrete slab)!
Behind me is our living room, and to the left of me will be our fireplace. That may be one of my favorite parts of the house (even though it's not real:) I still like the look, and I can pretend I feel heat coming out...

Further construction

It's coming along very nicely as you can see:)

Summertime in Summerlyn

Work has finally begun on our house in Summerlyn! Seth and I took a drive out there on the 16th of June and this is what we saw. This may not look like much to you, but we were pretty darn excited! From what I know, the stakes in the ground mark where the concrete will be poured, which is the next step.

And not ten days later we went back for our 'Pre-Construction Meeting' which meant that the foundation had finally been poured!
As you can tell by the bags under my eyes, it was an early morning meeting out at Summerlyn. But we were happy to see the progress! The builder explained to us what we can expect to happen next, which is that the framing should be up within the next couple of weeks, and not long after, the walls and windows:) It's amazing how fast homes are built once production begins!

The Apples

I'm way overdue in introducing the Apple family, and I don't have pictures of all of them, but without further ado....ladies and gentlemen...The Apples!From the left: Cherry (Seth's mom), Seth (the giant jolly green fellow with a water stain on his shirt), Elizabeth (Grandma), and Robert (Seth's younger brother). This picture was taken last August when we went to Elizabeth's to celebrate she and Seth's birthdays.
The couple to the left in this picture are extended family...Janice and Irvin. They joined in on the celebration and it was nice to get to meet them!

This was taken last Christmas when Seth went home to see his family. Below is Angie, his older sister, and her first son Dylan. I'm ashamed to say I've yet to meet Dylan, but he will be our ring bearer so I'm sure I'll meet him sooner rather than later. Also, Angie just had her 2nd son, Cody, last week! I'm hoping we get to meet him soon!