Have Tools...Will Travel

Okay, I am back. Things got a little crazy around these parts, but we are climbing out of the hole of ciaos and getting back into a routine. It is all part of life, right?

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, the building industry is booming which makes subcontractors hard to find and hard to afford. As our move-in date keeps creeping into the holiday season, I become more anxious. Trying to find subs at an affordable rate is adding to my sleepless nights and I am not even the project manager.

Don't get me wrong, construction continues to move along, but we were in need of a little push. So, Joe and I called in for back up. My 'little' brother, Matt, just happens to be a carpenter. He remodels kitchens and baths for a living. Only problem, he lives in Florida! Joe came up with a plan... if we flew Matt out to set all the cabinets, it would free up money and time for the carpenters to do all the other stuff (doors, wainscoting, base/casings, crown molding, etc). When we discussed that plan with Matt, he was immediately on board and said, "Have tools...Will travel."

We scraped together the airline miles and put Matt and my sweet little niece, Finley Frances, on a plane for Seattle. While Matt worked on the house, I got to have some Aunt Carrie and Fin-Fran (that is what I call her) bonding time. It was so much fun to really get to know her cute little personality and see the kids play together.

Dancing at the construction site.

 

Hiking through the woods.

A fun picture opp on the hike. Olen didn't think it was that fun.

I think there is a picture just like this of me with my brother and sister.

Showing Finley our city ducks.

 

 

Unfortunately, the week Matt and Finley were here, a plague of sickness hit the family. Thankfully, Matt and Fin-Fran escaped back to Florida without a trace of sickness! Because of the nasty bug we weren't able to do as many fun adventures as we had planned. The positive side of it all was having the cousins spend quality time together, even if we were in our jammies all day.  

 

We are so thankful for Matt working his tail feather off to help us move one step closer. The other subcontractors on site were very impressed to see one guy set upper cabinets by himself.  

Hard at work.

 

Working on the kitchen island.

The basement bar.

The Fun-ctional laundry room. I can't wait to use those laundry basket cubbies.

The master bathroom.

 

The man, the myth, the legend...Matt 'Mr. Lucky' Ryan.