Extreme Home Make-Over Meets the Cooks

OK, so we wish Ty and the group were doing all the work inside and out (on their budget) and they would have sent us away on a great vacation while the work gets done over a week's time...with the final "Move that bus" dramatic ending. But it's sponsored by Brad and Terri and. like all home improvements, it keeps growing along with the bill! It is going to look so great when it's finished. It will be just in time for us to enjoy it as we drive away to the airport for our return to Abu Dhabi.
All the work needed done to preserve the home and whether we enjoy in now, later or never the home holds so many great memories and holds a special place in our hearts just like all of our previous residences.
Cairo is having a difficult time adjusting to the idea of a change in paint color. She is a child that hates to even get a new car. She is emotionally attached to parts of our lives like cars and house color. Yesterday she was asking us if we could please just paint it the same color it has always been. It shouldn't have surprised us really. She will adjust and she will grow to like the new color just as she has grown to like Brad's new truck..that's 2 years old. She did ask me if, when we get another van if it can be the very same red color of the one we sold before we moved to Abu Dhabi.
This is not the most flattering angle to take a photo of our home but I wanted to include the roof because that will be replaced. I also wanted to include the driveway because Brad spent so much time power washing it and it really got a good "face-lift" to go with the rest of the home. We may be the only ones who notice the improved look of the clean driveway but it really does look a lot nicer. I just hope it stays clean long enough to make it worth Brad's time and energy.
You can see the places on the front of the house where the workers have already cleaned off the paint that was pealing away. I must say, the power wash they gave the house made a huge difference in it's appearance..(I didn't realize it was actually this color!)
The back of our house looks so stark and plain. The backyard is amazing and is really a showplace with views of mountains and enormous cottonwood trees. Brad has spent so much time and energy cleaning it up and getting it into shape so the sprinklers can get through all the ground cover and to the roots of the trees. I feel terrible that his time off is spent working so hard in the yard. He has worked so hard to maintain the yard and it looks fabulous!
This is a shot of the north side of our house. It shows the new paint color sample. We gave the thumbs-up and they will go buy enough to finish the entire house. (I'll be so happy when they are finished not only to see the finished project but to get the masking and paper off the windows so we can get some sunlight in here!)