Catching Up

A lot has happened with the Kolberg family since my last blog! We are officially moved into our third rental house in two years...thanks to all the friends and family who helped us out. The new house is only a 1/2 mile from where we use to live and is in a great little neighborhood. So far all the neighbors we have met have been super welcoming and there is even a woman down the street due to have a baby boy one day before me! Moving into the new house....Ryan gets the difficult task of carrying in the baby grand piano!

Nana and Grant making the front porch beautiful.

In addition to the move, Josh finished up his 2nd year of graduate school last night! Two down, one to go!!! It is hard to believe that he is 2/3 complete and at this time next year we will be celebrating a big accomplishment as he graduates. His dedication to the program and natural artistic talent continue to amaze me....I am very proud of what Josh has taken on.

The property on 54th is now bare of a house and swimming pool! It looks so different and has us very excited for the next step in the construction process....getting our house started. Grant loved visiting the site as demolition was taking place and seeing the big digger moving the rubble. He even got his turn in the driver seat! What a thrill for a 3 year old boy.....now he says that he wants a "big digger" for his 4th birthday! I wonder where we'll park it? :-)

Grant takes control of the demolition!

A little boys dream....a big machine.

Making room for the new house!

A big pile of debris....

Some fun in the midst of all the chaos....although the last couple weeks have been busy for us, we have somehow managed to have a little fun along the way. We celebrated Josh's Grandpa Stan's 84th birthday with the family, my grandma's 74th birthday and my mom's (29th) birthday! Grant and I had a couple play dates and a fun trip to OMSI with April, Ethan and baby Amelia. Now we are headed off to Sunriver for a much needed relaxing week with the Kolberg Family! Grant with his second cousins, Spencer & Blake at Stan's Party!

Looks like Grant's baby belly has taken the lead....

Ethan Baker & Grant at OMSI

Having fun at the water table...

What sweet boys!

Grant has officially finished his first year of preschool. Josh and I are in awe of how fast he is growing up and what a good boy he is. He loved school, his teachers and has made some really good friends at Sonshine Express. Next year he will start the 3's program at Sonshine. It is true...time flies when you are having fun. It seems like just yesterday he was learning to walk and talk.

We are all excited for late August....especially me as I have now entered my third trimester of pregnancy. I am officially 28 and a 1/2 weeks along and still feeling good. The contractions still come- especially when I am super active, but I am much more aware of what my body is doing this time and have been trying to take it easy. We want little Will or Davis to stay in there as long as possible. No, we haven't officially decided on a name yet. The online, blog poll basically was a wash as the results where almost 50/50! I guess that we'll save the other name for our 3rd baby boy (just kidding). Hopefully Josh and I will come to a conclusion on the name of Baby Boy K. on our drive over to Sunriver.

Have a great week and I am sure I will have lots of pictures to post after our Sunriver trip.

Out With the Old....

Two years after purchasing our property on SW 54th we have officially started construction! Or should I say de-construction. Below is a view of the existing house that is currently under asbestos removal, which should be complete today. Tomorrow the demolition of the house begins. Our plan involves removing the old house and essentially building our new house in the same general area.

Right now there is a lovely in ground swimming pool in the back yard that will be filled and made into a lawn area. I am sure in it's day it was a great pool, but is now beyond repair and not really practical for Oregon weather! I am sure the tadpoles, frogs, salamander, mosquitoes, etc will be sad to see it go.

The design of the house was done primarily by Josh, Steve (his Dad), and my myself. We started with a blank piece of paper and now have a complete set of plans. What a process!!! We are so blessed to have an amazing architect and designer in the family and an aspiring one as well (Josh). Steve's patience with us through the process was extraordinary and we thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his loving guidance and thoughtful advice.

Now it is time for my dad, John, to take over the task of helping us out! He is our general contractor and is leading the charge to get this house built. We made him post a sign at the driveway so all neighbor complaints/questions come his way- and business too :-) We look forward to working with you Dad!


A view from the driveway! We have over 100 trees on the property right now and are planning to keep many of them. Of course we will have to take out some to get a large enough driveway to fit our friends cars for the blow out parties :-)

A view looking towards our property and down the street. Grant is already thrilled to go out to the property and scout around....just wait until tomorrow when the big equipment gets here. A little boys dream come true.
You might wonder where exactly this place is....well it is in between the Garden Home area (Old Market Pub) and Multnomah Village off Garden Home Rd., which runs parallel with Multnomah Blvd. The old Smith Elementary School is just a few hundred feet up the street from us.

We can't wait to call this place our HOME. But for now, I have got to run and get packing as we make one last move into a new rental house :-)