The Tower ...and more

All week progress has been made on the cell tower that is being built next to our house. First the "guts" went in. There was alot of digging with cables, wires, etc. being installed in "communications central" located in the area just behind where the tower will be placed.

When all of that was in place, a slab of cement was poured and a wall was built to inclose that area.
On Friday morning, a large crain and a flat-bed truck arrived in the parking lot. Jim was able to watch as the "trunk" part of the cell tower was hoisted off the truck and set into place.
Then, piece by piece, the receptors were fastened onto the tower.

It was a tideous process that took almost all day...

This dedicated worker was working way up high for hours! Fortunately, it was an overcast day so at least he didn't have to suffer up there in the heat.

Bright and early Saturday morning, the work crew was back and started hooking up the cables and wires from "grand central" to the tower up above. We certainly saw team work in action as one end pulled the cables and the other end pushed. All morning long we heard, "Take it on three; ONE, TWO, THREEEEE! ONE, TWO, THREEEEE!" By the end of the day, most of the wiring was completed. As you can see below, the tower is right next to our house (in the back ground). It certainly is much bigger than we ever imagined!

While all of this activity was going on in the front yard, in our backyard, another project was taking place. For the past several days, Jim has been working on a "flood control project." On Saturday afternoon, when Jamie and Krista came to visit, Jim solicited Jamie's help in putting up rain gutters on the backside of the garage. This was a necessary home improvement that we wanted to have done before the rainy season starts in earnest. With every big rain last year, water flooded the whole east end of the inside (and outside) of the garage. Earlier in the day, Jim had also hauled in filler dirt and small rocks for that side of the garage. Hopefully all this work will solve the water problem!But the best part of the whole weekend of course, was seeing our kids again! And it was very exciting to see how much Baby E has grown! All of us are excited to meet this little one!