Diane and Richard's Burnet house

Today I drove to Burnet with Diane and Richard to see their new house. They had a final walk-through scheduled today. Here are pictures of Diane and Richard's new house on Eagle Ridge Drive, in Eagles Nest, Burnet, TX.

First stop, pick up the mail.

 

Bluebonnets on the roadside driving up Eagle Ridge Drive.

Builder sign, portapotty, and of course, lots of prickly pear.

And here's the house. Landscaping is a few weeks away.

 

View from the front of the house looking out toward Highland Lakes.

 

 Entering the front door, looking to the back of the house. 

 Dining room on right, study on left with glass doors.

Looking from the kitchen through the dining room back towards the front door.

Walking straight toward back of house, the kitchen and breakfast room are off to the right. Laundry and garage are off the kitchen.

 Another view of breakfast room through archways, with lots of light from windows and door that goes to outdoor kitchen/patio/pool. To the left you see one of the 3 large windows that look out to the back patio/pool area.

 Kitchen builtins, oven, microwave, stove and vent.

 Countertops are silastone, an engineered quartz, I think.

 Fireplace is across from breakfast room.  On the wall to the right of the fireplace are the 3 large windows  that look out to patio and pool.

Handscraped wood floors.

 

 I love the handscraped mantle.

Master bedroom, 3 large windows that look out to back, you can see the edge of the pool. There is also a door that leads directly from the master to the patio.

 Master bath, Richard's sink. Diane's is shorter with vanity and more countertop space.

 Jacuzzi tub with corner windows looking out to back and side of house.

 Love the shower, seamless and large.

 Closet is huge and Diane had storage racks installed from Container Store.

 Out back is the outdoor kitchen with sink, grill and outdoor fridge.

 Pool, not yet filled, for hot summer days.

 Gas firepit for cold winter evenings.

 Outdoor speakers and plans for outdoor TV.

View from pool looking back to back of house, patio and outdoor kitchen area.

And here is my property, a few hundred feet away, with NO house on it.

 But the cactus are thriving!

Moving day is Friday, April 5. Richard goes up April 4, Diane returns from Dallas to Conroe. Diane drives to Burnet April 5 with the dogs, who have been very well behaved here. April 6 Mom and I drive to Austin for family event, and make a stop in Burnet to see the house. Mom hasn't seen it. Sunday, April 7, I move back downstairs, the cats move back into the house, and my life returns to normal, fairly dull and routine. After listening and seeing what all Diane and Richard have been through building this house, I can only hope I have the stamina to do it when I am ready.

Change is the only Constant

One change is my current house guests.  My sister Diane and husband Richard are in transition, Burnet house is not ready but rental house in Dallas has sold, so they were homeless. But being family and all, I took them in for a few weeks.  Since 2 dogs came with them, I moved to my upstairs guest rooms with the cat and let them have the downstairs for themselves and the dogs. It is working out very well and I am enjoying the company.
Here is our first dinner together, the second night they were here.  JanMa's famous chicken and Bertolli Plus farfalle pasta, with peas and broccoli, kind of spicy with seasonings.

 The following weekend was a trip to Dallas for the weekend to attend a wedding in Ft. Worth.  I drove Bill's car while he set up his satellite radio in the car.  The navigation system also came in very handy to get to the church and country club for the reception. Bill did projects with Brent while I visited with Jason and family and then went to the wedding. Below is mother of the groom visiting with friends at our table.

Is it a bird? A plane? It's not Superman, he is in the picture. I think Taylor and John were watching the progress of some type of insect crawling along the pergola. The first thing John said to me when I walked into his house was, "I'm four" and he held up 4 fingers. Then Taylor told me she would be 3 on her birthday, but it wasn't for a while. JanMa said, "so you are 2 right now?"  Taylor said "no, yes".  It is a lot to process for a 2 1/2 yr old.

This isn't a lovey dovey picture, I was trying to get a picture of the 3 of us, and John kept butting his head in to cover up my face. OK, so he and Taylor are a lot cuter than I am, but I did want to prove that I was there!

 Taylor tried on JanMa's shoes for size.

John was showing me how he could control his RC Monster truck, Son of Digger, I think is the name.

 Here is a video of the Monster Truck and Taylor showing her favorite way of swinging.

One evening we had a fire pit, Mimi and Bill came up, and Diane's daughter-in-law Erin also joined us with her mother, who was in town for the weekend. We turkey tacos, sausage and of course, adult beverages.

Another change is that the twins are starting a preschool program the first week in April.  Mom and Dad went to the parent orientation night while JanMa watched the kids. They came home with new backpacks from the school, sticker books and t-shirts. Claire is very excited, and Jake will have fun once he gets into it. I get to pick them up 2 days a week and bring them to my house for a few hours til Mommy gets off work.  I am really looking forward to it, I have 2 car seats in my car now.

And another change is a new sub job location, at the front reception desk of the CISD admin building.

I had a nice welcome when I showed up the first day.

In a month or so, the house guests will be gone, the sub job will be over, and the twins and I will be settled into their new school routine.  Changes will be over for awhile.

 Last week I took the twins for an outing at Wonder Wild. The jumping was a big part of their time there. Jake also loved playing with the train and an airplane. JanMa got a puppet show going with Claire, she has a great imagination and really enjoyed it. Even Jake stuck a puppet on his hand for awhile.

Here is Jake playing with the train.

Claire did some riding around on this guy.

Over the weekend Bill worked on his airplane, then we went for lunch at the diner in Brenham. 

There were LOTS of planes there, parking was tight!

 The waitstaff dress the part in their poodle skirts.

 Bill and I getting ready to leave, other planes visible in the background.

 View of Del Lago on Lake Conroe from about 1500 feet up.

 Jamie Bone and Travis and Allison met us at Hooks when we landed. The kids enjoyed sitting in the plane and listening on the radio to the current weather conditions. Jamie says she is willing to go for a ride with the kids in the plane sometime. Bill will try to make that happen.