In March of 2003, I was pregnant with my second child and Mark was working on our second house. We were living at my mom's house after moving there with our first child from our first home we built. We organized a timber frame raising for our new home with so many supportive friends from our Prairie Farm community and beyond. It was a traditional timber frame with four bents to raise, and we hired a huge crane for the event. We labored all day in the melting snow. It was stressful, amazing, and beautiful. It almost makes me cry to think about that experience.
Fast forward to August 2016, our third child is 2 1/2 years old, and Mark is building our third house. (Hmm, this is a pattern. Luckily, we are not having any more children.) We organized another timber raising for this house, but it was only for 7 posts, 5 beams, and 6 knee braces. This house is designed as a conventional structure with timber frame accents. We decided not to build a complete timber frame due in part to the narrow footprint of the house, and partly to save time in our building process. We had around 35 people show up to assist in the raising, and no crane. Just the power of human hands working together to lift these heavy beams into place. It was not as stressful, still amazing and beautiful. Our hearts were warmed to find a new community of people from Ely and beyond who were willing to take part in making our home.
Several people contributed photos and some videos from this event. There were so many great shots and moments! I decided to upload these to Facebook as well as create a gallery here in the blog. The middle school girls were photographing the event with our camera, so be prepared for some cheesin'! Other photos were taken by our friend and neighbor Sharee Johnson, and she did a wonderful job!
Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com
One of our visitors was David Wright-Racette, and he was able to stay long enough to take a boat ride around the lake after the celebration of the timber raising. He also won the heart of Fiona, who threw sand at him, splashed him with water and then let him carry her back to the house from the lake. It was great to have a representative from our Prairie Farm community involved in our timber raising.
As I look back on my last post, it was my birthday and I turned 42 which is the same age my dad was when he died. Since then, we attended the 24th Saunders Week celebration, a 9 day family reunion that my uncle and aunt host in Crosslake, MN. Every year it is the same but a little different and always a blast! My mom also attended, and then took the older kids with their cousin Thea to Lake Eshquagama for a week of playing at the family cabin. They also traveled up to Ely for an overnight and visit to the Bear Center. She started taking our kids when they were 2 and 4 years old for this week at the cabin, and this was the first year without Grandma Nonie there for the experience. It was bittersweet change for those middle schoolers.
In car related updates, we finally found a replacement for our little red clown car after the unfortunate crash. Mark's parents sold us their Ford Exporer with 145K on it but in great condition! It is the second Ford Explorer we have bought from them. It will fit the skis and equipment nicely, and even has a 3rd row for extra passengers plus 4WD for those winter roads. Sweet!
I start my new teaching job in a few short weeks, and kids are getting ready to start school. We are prepping Fiona for her re-entry into daycare at Wild Within, and she is starting to adjust to the idea. Raif has started cross country practice, and Cora will begin dance in Sept. again. I will be choreographing for the fall musical "Mary Poppins" - so exciting! Mark is laboring away on the house and wondering how he will manage without the help of Raif and James. He has taken very little time off this summer, and this fall he plans to take a few short trips for wild ricing and fishing.
Our house design continues to change as we walk through the spaces we are creating. It is a blessing and a curse to be the architects and builders both. As we experience what it will feel like to live in the rooms, we can adjust the flow slightly to make improvements. We alternate from feeling so much joy and satisfaction in our progress, to feeling like we are crazy for the life we are choosing. One thing that grounds us is watching the sun paint the sky in the evening as we immerse ourselves in the cool water. Keep lovin' life even when life is crazy.
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