Excavating [video]

We’re excavating the site for the house!

When I was 9, my parents built a house, and while I know it was insanely stressful for them, all I knew at the time was the excitement of the process and it became my fondest childhood memory. I can still remember the way the dirt smelled after the excavators came through. It was never my intention or dream to build a home before we found this land, but now that we’re here, it is so cool to me that we get to provide this experience to our boys. It’s the reason why I am documenting this because I know these are great memories that will stick with them their whole life. A guaranteed fond childhood experience. It’s so cool that they get to witness this whole process of how a home is built from the ground up, and truly are having a blast while doing so. Turner even got to join his Uncle Gabe in the cab for awhile!

The soil here is pure sand, which may not be the greatest for growing things, but it’s sure helpful for septic systems and foundations and… lack of mud on a Spring day. Several large sandstone boulders came out of the ground and they are going to be amazing for landscaping at the end of this project. The more time we spend on this property the more perfect it feels.

I know that while this all seems like an overwhelming amount of work to us adults, each step of the process is made up of a lot of fun memories and they are important; I want to celebrate each one. One day our whole family will really enjoy looking back on these days and this video will bring back that delicious smell of progress; fresh sand and faint diesel fumes.