More progress, here’s an updated front view, including the railing on our porch and balcony:

Here’s a view of the back, with the notable inclusion of the garage door!

Here’s a different view of the house, this time from the sidewalk.

And finally, a view of our unfinished stairs, which my daughter is already looking forward to walking up and down!

It was about a week between visits, and the put all the shingles on the roof and installed the fireplace in the house.

You can see the fireplace and the ducting through the window glare:

You can also see the hot and cold water pipes in the laundry room.

Coming along nicely, more next week!

Today the big news was not a change made (although they did hang our front door). It is signs of big changes they’re getting ready to make. The first thing I noticed when we pulled up to the house were the big bags of shingles sitting on the roof. Once they do the roofing, the only big exterior work left is the siding, plus minor things like trim, shutters, etc.

You can also see the sidewalk in front. There are two sidewalks, one a few feet in front of our house, and then one where a normal sidewalk would be, relative to the road. The space in between is a public green buffer, since we front one of the main roads leading out of the subdivision. So we get a big front yard that the association will mow and maintain!

There wasn’t any big change on the back of the house (except for a bag of shingles on top of the garage), but there was a little present in the garage. It may not look like much, shrink-wrapped and sitting on a palette, but that gray box is our fireplace! That’s right, this Christmas, I’ll get to hang my stocking by a fireplace for the first time in my life (fireplaces weren’t a great investment in Florida where I grew up). Of course, it’s a gas fireplace so we don’t have to worry about ash or cleaning or anything like that, and we’ve got to come up with a way for Santa to come down with no chimney, but we’re very excited. Hopefully next time there will be a finished roof!

No major changes this time, just the installation of the windows.

Here’s the rear view, including the sliding glass door.

Went by again, progress continues. There’s not much framing left, although I’m curious about the hole in the right side of the roof.

This shows mainly how the front will look, including the double porch.

These are our neighboring houses, both more and less complete.

This shows some of the interior structure in the attic and roof.

Well, I got my wish, the house wasn’t finished framing when I got back. They finished the second floor but there are still a few noticeable things left to do. The next set of pictures might be the last set of the framing process; after that, it will be things like siding, windows, etc.

This is the front view. All of the houses on our street have been at least partially framed now, and it’s amazing how much more impressive the street looks without the empty lots.

This is the view from the back.

And lastly, a peek inside including our stairs.