Construction - Day 40

It's interesting to see the differences in building between the house we're in now and our new house. When we signed a contract to build our house in Maricopa, the builders were selling a house a day. We signed in July and we closed in March. It was getting to the point that the trade workers were hard to come by. Shortly after we bought, they were selling homes using a lottery system. Dozens of people were on waiting lists to buy a handful of houses.

Now they're averaging sales of about a house a week and finishing construction in 135 days per house. They have an overabundance of trades, and they're very anxious to get properties off of their hands. Never mind all of the forclosures and short sales out there... but I'm sure you're all more than aware of that.

Seems kind of early for them to be welcoming us to our home, but counting the days, it looks like we're almost a third of the way there.




It still cracks me up to see the chicken wire on the outside of the house.

Grandpa Jim Campagna

My grandpa, James Joseph Campagna passed away on January 10, 2010, reuniting with his wife, Karen.

This is a photo of him in June of 1964 with his son, J.J. junior. It was J.J.'s first haircut, and the barbershop belonged to Jim's father.

My most cherished memory about my grandpa is the way he always got teary-eyed whenever family visits came to an end.

He will be missed.

First Tooth

Finally, at the ripe old age of nine and a half months, Avery has cut her first tooth! It's the bottom left incisor. I can barely see it, let alone take a picture of it, but I promise that photos will follow as soon as possible.

Construction - Day 24

We stopped by the house after the zoo to check progress. They started framing three days prior to these pictures. It's amazing how quickly things move in the initial stages of a house being built. There is still a lot of finish work that needs to be done on the framing, but the house has really taken shape.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

We celebrated New Year's Eve by playing in the snow at the Phoenix Zoo. Avery and Trent hadn't seen snow before and we weren't sure how they'd react to it. It took Trent a little while to get into it, but after a few minutes, he was having a good time jumping in, kicking, and running through the white stuff. Avery enjoyed watching all the kids, but wasn't too fond of getting her hands cold. I think both of them are fine with living in the desert and not having snow to play in during the winter. I think they would get used to it, though...