Landing

Erick arrived one month after I did. At this point, I had a property eyed, house picked out and my parents and mother in law were adjusting. My father and him always seemed to get along, but now that they shared more then me, but a family and roof, things got messy. We spent a very long forty five days there after that. Both of them held their toungue more then I assumed their pride and egos would allow.

We chose a rolling land, two and a half large acres that felt huge with only a shed and our house slowly being put together on it. The hill, we envisioned; would stop a lot of rain from descending onto our foundation. It flowed directly away from our new home and into a hole that we lovingly refer to as "the pit", then into a neighbors' horse field. There wasn't much more at that time here. A fire pit that we carefully moved a few hundred feet; and the big, manly shed with built-in full bathroom.

We joyously unpacked and enjoyed our first night by eating pizza on our new floor as a family. Our first house, in our names. The dogs spent the next few days sniffing every blade of grass that their new yard had to offer. I spent the next few days off I had with Erick and Chris showing them their new town, filling out applications, and finishing paperwork on everything. Our dreams were only partially filled. We still wanted to be more self sufficient than most of the people we had ever known. So, we started small. We had a back porch put on with a roof to do the smaller projects that you just can't do inside. We added a propane and charcoal grill for more ways to cook. Scheduled someone to put a stone foundation on the house for the cold winters and extra storage. Chopped trees that blocked our view of game, mostly deer and turkey; and added benefit of having the wood for campfires. A few months later as spring was coming again, we added a thousand square foot raised garden. A chicken coop made from a bought shed with enclosed run was next. All the time my parents and Erick's mother were right there to help in any way they could. Whether that was helping with our math and planning, helping us shop for large amounts of materials, or simply watching the kids for a few hours. No matter what we were doing, we were making memories as an Ohana.