The house and Austria!

We want to finally get an update out on what we've been up to- it's been quite a lot!!! We haven't written because it's been so busy.  We are now in Austria, visiting friends and getting ready for a family wedding and for summer camps.

We were busy enough in Canada with me working full-time and with home schooling, maple syrup-making etc., but then at the end of April we started clearing the ground for our house!!!!  We spent the winter drawing up the plans and dreaming of how our house would be.  It was and is still exciting to know that we will have our own place.  I'll include a few photos here but we will expand on the house-building theme when we return to Canada.  We have done a bit of planting- some berry bushes and some apple trees. I have a lot more planned, but building was so time-intensive that we didn't manage anything else.  These photos will show you the work that was done between the 3rd of May and around the 10th of June. When we go back then we will get the windows and doors and many more things!

The footings

Apple blossoms! 

The floor is in!

Kids working together!

Grandma's inspection.

Our head planner and builder.

It is a family project!

Boys on the roof!

Inside with the trusses on. 

Lilac blossoms from our land.

Ready for the roof.

Laying the first sheet of roofing.

The view of our driveway.

We'll report more when we get working again!

So, Dominik and four of the kids flew to Austria 5 days ahead of Jeremiah and myself.  I finished up my last day, well, half-day, of work and then went straight to the airport.  I arrived in time to be one of the surprise guests guests for a good friends' farewell party here at Schloss Klaus.  It was wonderful to come here, and also to see friends that we were away from for a year and a half.  The last few days have been full of visits and memories.  The oldest four children have each visited their old school classes, catching up with teachers and students alike.

The altar in the Schlierbach church.

Rebecca and school friends.

Frescos in the church.

We also visited friends who live up in a stone cottage in Obergrünburg.  They have a great view of the Alpen foothills.

We were at my in-laws but since the weekend we have been staying in a room high up in the Burg (fortress) part of Schloss Klaus.

We used to live here (der Mauth)- in the top at the back.

The view from the garden of the Mauth.

Schloss Klaus as seen from the Mauth. 

 I will have to count the stairs from the parking lot to our room, but we're really quite high up.  The view is amazing!

View from our room out the back.

The view from our rooom to the front.

Our room in Schloss Klaus- 'The Ark'.

If anyone wants to see more of the area, look up Klaus an der Pyhrnbahn, Austria on googlemaps.  You can also check out www.schlossklaus.at