This is really starting to look like a house!

Wow, crazy stuff has happened in the house. Jayman emailed us this week saying that this week would be 'cabinet-week'. We were really excited to see the house today. When we entered it we were surprised that the kitchen cabinets were in! Check it out. This is a huge kitchen. We will have to be careful not to get lost walking over to the fridge! ;)
All the doors and the door frames were in and the base boards were in on the top floor as well.
The bathrooms upstairs are starting to take shape too. By next week I think we will have sinks. Also all the light switches and outlets are being installed. Cool the see a working light for the first time!
The pictures also show the first coat of paint that I was talking about in an earlier post. And you will also see that weird (a.k.a. Canadian) ceiling finish.
On to the pics!

Say hello to our new family member!

It was quite a busy day yesterday. We took possession of Sarah's new ride. We've bought a new Ford Ranger. Sarah has always wanted a little truck and with that Ford Employee Pricing going on last month, it was too good to pass up. So it's a brand new Ford Ranger Sport, Supercab, 2 wheel drive, 4.0L V6, 210 hp.




So yesterday we took it for his 'maiden' trip to the mountains. But first we went to see the house. The house is looking great. This time around we had gutters all around on the outside. And the concrete foundations had that 'stucco like finish' that I talked about in an earlier post. On the inside a lot has changed too. The first coat of paint was on. Looks fabulous. Also the railing on the stairs was in. That looks very good too. The casing around the bathtub was in. And there was a trades person in doing preparations to install the doors. He was attaching a million hinges to the insides of the door frames.
After visiting the house we drove to Banff. Enjoying our little truck on the highway. I was surprised about the handling of 'Roger' (o yeah we've named him 'Roger the Ranger', sounds good eh?). We strolled around in Banff. Sarah bought some really cool winter gloves. And around 6 we drove to the third Vermillion Lake. I wanted to do some sunset photography of the Mount Rundle and Sulfer Mountain. I found a perfect spot. I installed my gear and 20 minutes or so before sunset, 9 other photographers joined me. It was quite busy. But I had the best spot. Lesson of this is kids: better come an hour early then 10 minutes late!

The sun touching Mount Rundle at sunset. Sulpher Mountain is to the right. Notice the light is still warm and yellow.
By now, the sun has set. Notice how the light changes to salmon pink.
The sun has now set for about 10 minutes or so. The sky turns purple. That dark purple region on the lower left (in the sky) is actually the earths' shadow.

Long weekend!

Last weekend was a long weekend here in Canada. It's called 'Labour Day'. We decided to book a hotel in Lake Louise for three days to enjoy the mountains (again) and to do some hiking. And I planned for three days of photography of course!
On Saturday we hiked to the Plain of the Six Glaciers. The weather was fine and we enjoyed this awesome 7km hike (one way). The hike ends on a viewpoint above Victoria Glacier. From up there you can see six glaciers (hence the name, duh).
On Sunday we did a short hike to see the Silverton Falls (yeah me and waterfalls). After that we hiked to Boom Lake. The weather had turned for the worse. Showers and it was gray and cold. But with our new hiking gear everything was OK! ;)
On Monday (the weather was still not cooperating) we hiked to the Ink Pots at the Johnston Canyon. The Ink Pots are 6 turquoise blue cold spring pools. One pool flows into the other and the water is a constant 4 degrees year round. When you do this hike you pass the popular Lower Falls in Johnston Canyon and the Upper Falls (which we had never seen before). Johnston Canyon HAS TO BE one of the most touristic places in Alberta! The cars are literally lined up to get in. The trick is to come early!

Now on to the photography part of the post!

Castle Mountain in evening light.
Moraine Lake at Sunrise.
Mount Weed and Silverhorn Creek in evening light.
A little stream in the woods on our hike to Boom Lake.
Silverton Falls.
Upper Falls in Johnston Canyon.
Upper Falls in Johnston Canyon from the observation platform.
'Middle Falls' in Johnston Canyon.
Mistaya River in gray, rainy, evening light.

On our return trip on Monday, we passed by the house. We have a finished ceiling and the walls were prepped for painting! Next step will be the installment of the door and window casings and the installment of the doors. Pretty exciting!

Another House update

SO we just came back from the house and it looks great. The outside is almost finished and the colours are just perfect! It's been a while since we've seen the colours on the little swatches at the show home. We were relieved that the house looks very good!
The things that remain to be installed on the outside are: the rain gutters, railing on the deck and in the entrance, stone finish on both sides of the garage and entrance pillar, finishing the concrete of the foundation on the outside with a layer of what looks like stucco, and finishing up the pot lights and switches.
On the inside another step was made. All the dry wall seems have been closed. And the sanding has been done too. Next step will be the ceiling. They cover this with some sort of uneven plaster. Looks really weird the first time you see it. And it's kind of hard to explain. But I will post pictures in the near future so you can better understand what we mean.
So on to the pictures! I did two 360 panos again, this time with descriptions of where everything will be located in the house.
O and don't be shy to leave any comments behind. We LOVE reading them!!!