I'm on my WAY!

Hi everyone I just thought I would let you all know that I just picked up my Daddy from work and we are packing up and our way! I am so excited that I didn't sleep it all last night! I heard that we were having family pictures on Saturday so I decided to scratch my face! Love you...

Now Taking Reservations! Continued Quick information on how the construction Industry works

The cost of the homes for those that are questioning (Trent) are as follows:

Cottages (1255 SF to 1800 SF) from $295,000 to $375,000
Country Homes (1900 SF to 2700 SF) from $370,000 to $425,000
Courtyard Homes (2000 SF to 2500 SF) from $370,000 to $425,000
Grand Courtyard Homes (2900 SF to 3600 SF) from $460,000 to $700,000
Village Courtyard Homes (1300 SF to 3000 SF) from $300,000 to $460,000
Manor Home (2600 SF to 2900 SF) from $475,000 to $525,000

Now Trent and those of you that are concerned these prices are what I have estimated using a appraisal value of the lot, cost of construction and a reasonable contractors profit margin. Now these figures are also consistent to other homes in southern Utah and their current selling prices. Now the cost of construction can vary dramatically over the course of a month that is why it is hard to give an exact price for a customer without a commitment to a specific scope of work. Now a contractor can give a unit price per square foot that he has based over the course of many building projects... However unit price bids are convenient for customers up front but do not result in any savings for the customer unless the cost of construction has swung dramatically in the customer/owner's favor. Another approach is cost plus a profit margin... I like that system the best but sometimes unless contracted legally a customer/ owner most of the time is stuck with mistakes that if changed still result in a cost plus relationship. For example I don't like where you placed the outlet...You have already been charged for that work plus a profit and now when you change you will pay for that work plus another 7 to 10% whatever the pre-negotiated margin is.

I said if someone where to commission these same architects we are using it would cost $150,000 to $300,000. We were able to deliver that architecture to the customer for roughly $5,000 which is the typical floor plan charge for any home. We did that by economy of scale... The price per plan was lowered when we commissioned more work (90 house plans)... Also that architectural overall cost is then distributed throughout the project. Resulting in a typical $5,000 floor plan charge that is consistent even with typical Idaho Falls house plans that are below average and most of the time purchased from an unknown source on the internet. If anyone else has any other question I would love to answer them. It is really fun for me to share with everyone what I do everyday.

Ready or not here I come Grandmas and Grandpas

To all of my grandmas and grandpas. I am on my way home this weekend. I can't wait to see you and show you how I can move! Just so you know I am way excited to go to my your houses this coming weekend. I want you know that you are really going to have to spoil me because it will be my first visit to your house that I will remember. I can't wait to be in your arms. I love you all so much
Love Crew

Caution Crew is on the Move

We had just gotten done having lunch with Devin at his office and I was putting Crew back into his car seat when he belted out a loud cry. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing because when I had looked down, the corner of the belt had caught and pinched his chubby inner thigh when I buckeled it resulting in an immediate bruise. Im learning very fast that since he's becoming more active and crawling all over the place I can't be too careful or take my eyes off him. For instance the day before he was on the bed taking a nap. I thought it was the perfect time to do the laundry but when I heard him weaping I just knew, and yep, when I got to the door he was no longer on the bed. It was his first big fall. Thank goodness he's so forgiving and after only a couple of seconds of comforting he's back to his happy self.

Another Day at the Office

Today is just another day at the office. Lots to do... Never enough time. Last night we went swimming again. I don't know what has gotten into us. We go swimming all the time. I swear 90 percent of the time I have water in my ears. Last night was a lot of fun. We were talking about how we need to get an underwater camera to show everyone on our blog how much fun we have at the near by swimming pools. Also we wanted to show how cute Crew's little legs, feet and toes are under the water. Anyways Rachel and I are counting down the days for our return to Idaho! Watch out family here we come! I don't think you can handle Crew. I feel bad for that little guy he is going to have people up in his face all day long.

I added a Blast from the Past segment on the side bar of the blog. Sometimes I think that no one knows that they can go back and look at old pictures and posts from previous months. To do that just use the Blog archive but I am going to highlight my favorite pictures from the blog in the segment Blast from the Past. With all of my side features I am starting to feel like Steven Colbert! For those of you that are friends of the show would understand what I am talking about.

Suprise!

It was 11:00 Friday night and there was a knock at the front door. Dev and I both looked at each other a little freaked out. We weren't expecting anyone. Sure enough it was Eliza. What a great, well needed surprise. So we had quite the exciting weekend. We went swimming Saturday morning. Then stopped by Dev's office to show her all the great things he had done. We then proceeded to get online and find the directions to Hilldale and Colorado City, AZ. For those of you who are unfamiliar. They are Polygamist's towns not far from St. George. We had been told from numerous people to go drive through these towns if we had the opportunity. Dev kept saying that everything looked just like the townships in South Africa. No yards had been put in. There were no gutters or side walks. Most of the houses were unfinished. We felt like we had stepped back in time. It was a very educational eye opening experience for all of us.

Big Eyes

As you read from Rachel's comments the weekend was action packed. My favorite part of the weekend was having Eliza come babysit so Rachel and I could go out for dinner. After dinner we had another date activity at the pool. We went swimming with our new diving masks! We raced across the pool we dove for rings and other items. It was a lot of fun. Tonight the pool is calling our names again.

Crawling

Over the past two days Crew has started to crawl. I don't know if it is crawling or what but he sure gets around the house. He uses his push up technique to make lateral movement possible. It almost looks like he is a worm. He lefts his upper body in the air pushes forward and then falls down and does it all over again. Its quite the sight. The office move went great and now I am ready to sleep in all weekend.

Moving Days

For the next couple of days I am going to be supervising the move for our office. This is a nightmare. I had a really nice schedule and covered all of the different variables that we could encounter with this project. However Rollie shot all of my planning and schedule to crap when he decided that we had to be completely moved by Thursday morning. Reason being we have the founder of Kinkos coming to see our project so he can decide whether to invest in our company or not. Exciting stuff so now I have to do the impossible with Rachel and Crew by my side all night and all day until Thursday morning.
Her are some pictures of Crew. Which I know that is all you guys care about.

Remember when...

Yesterday we took Crew to see the Doctor at a Insta Care clinic here in St. George. Everything was great thankfully. They put him on the scale to see how much he weighed. To my surprise he didn't need to lay down on the scale anymore. He sat down and looked around as the nurse recored 20 lbs and 9 onces! I remember when he was born. They laid him down on the scale and his wrinkled fingers gripped the side of the tray as his lower lip quivered from his first cry. Seems like yesterday when he weighed 8 lbs 1 once.

How you can tell it is my 1st Father's Day

I thought I would take a minute and share some experiences that I had this week that show that I am a rookie Dad. Monday I went on my evening run and I decided to take Crew along for the ride. On the first down hill of my route I decided to run instead of jog. Just as I was running as fast as my legs could handle the front tire on Crew's running stroller jumped right off the frame! There I was in the middle of street trying to balance Crew in the stroller with one hand and with other I was fixing the quick release for the tire. Next time Crew comes along for the evening run I will double check the quick releases on all of the tires. On Friday Rachel stepped away from the home with her brother and left me to put Crew to bed. Easy task but if your a Rookie Dad it can be a differnt story. Crew cried and cried. He kicked his legs, slapped my face, and twisted out of my arms. This went on for more than an hour. I tried everything even turning to the heavens. Then in mid scream Crew shut his tired eyes and went to bed. Once again rookie Dad. Despite my newness at being a Dad the first sylabels Crew put together was "DADA!" I looking forward to many more years of being a Father. I mean today Crew and I watched Rocky 1 we stilll have 5 more to go!

Congrats Andrew!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to talk to Andrew! For those of you that don't know Andrew he is my big little brother. He informed us where he will be living for the next two years of his life. Rachel, Crew and I are so excited for him, and at the same time we are sad because we will miss him so much during that time! Andrew will be leaving for the Missionary Training Center in September and he will be serving in the Costa Rica for two years speaking Spanish. Andrew is an awesome guy for those of you that don't know him. He is extremely funny, intelligent, handsome, athletic, and essentially very similar to all of his older brothers. However he probably is the best of the bunch. I know that Julia, Trent, Adam and I think the world of Andrew. (Julia, Trent, Adam, are my brothers and sister).

Andrew we love you, we are going to miss you badly but you are on the Lord's errand and we couldn't be happier!
Love Devin, Rachel and Crew.

I changed the Boise State Football recent articles to Costa Rica! I did this so Glenda could start getting worried if she isn't already.

For those that think I am all Fat

This is for all of you that just think I am soft and chunky. Everyday I do 50 regular push ups and 50 one arm push ups. If you don't believe me come visit me and I will show you! Love Crew.

Monday Morning

I just got off the phone with a guy who works for Anixter and he said he was just trying to get motivated to work. I thought that was pretty funny considering I am one of the only employees at my office right now. I thought I would give a verbal update on Rachel, Crew and I. Last night we sent out Father's day cards! Also we watched the NBA Finals...Once again it looks like my favorite team the San Antonio Spurs are going to win a NBA Championship. I am still recovering from my sun burn I suffered from our swimming outing. Crew is really trying to crawl all over the house. He doesn't move more than a couple of inches but he does these push up maneuvers which are pretty funny. I will post those pictures later today. Rachel and I really enjoy writing and updating this blog. It is kind of turning into a website but it helps us feel connected even though we are down in Dixie! I added some links to this web page for those of you who like home design. You will find links to three different architectural firms who are responsible for setting home design trends for California and other states for the past 20 years. We have used them to develop the first 90 floor plans for Elim Valley. Another link you must see is to "DPZ." This company is world famous for land planning and urban development. They designed our master plan at Elim Valley along with many other projects that are world famous. Once you go to their website go to the image gallery and look at the following neighborhoods to see how we should build our neighborhoods out west. Alys Beach, Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Kentlands. These neighborhoods are incredible. I understand that the home architecture wouldn't translate into Idaho and Utah very well. However we have developed a architectural code that does translate to Utah and Idaho that is similar to the Kentlands project. Our archtiectural theme is Norhtern European with a pioneer flavor. I thought I would share this with you so you could get a better idea what I do for work. I am building neighborhoods similar to what you see on DPZ.com! Check back later for pictures of Crew doing his daily push up routine.

Fun in the Sun

Today the outside temperature was over 90 degrees and there was no wind. The best activity for a day like today is swimming! I am afraid that Crew's body is starting to evolve since he spends so much time in the swimming pool. His chubby little hands are becoming even more chubby. Now those cute hands are turning into world class paddles and splashing devices. We purchased a few goodies to enjoy while we floated the day away. Rachel and I enjoyed a game of Marco Polo and Crew loved his Superman Kick board. Once we arrived home we realized that Daddy and Mommy got too much sun!

Work Update

Today is Friday and the work schedule and tasks to finish by the weekend continue to escalate. Later this afternoon we are show casing our first marketing video to the Hurricane City council. The video is awesome! We have some of the most amazing helicopter film footage ever taken before. The helicopter pilot that we used is the choice pilot for all Hollywood videos. Recently his stunts were used in the Italian Job. If you recall the scenes where they were flying through the streets of LA. It was crazy. We have footage flying into the Grand Canyon, between rock cliffs at Zions, and Kolob canyon and literally feet from the water at Lake Powell. This video is IMAX material. Anyways I have to run. Enjoy this photo of Crew

Sunday Clothes

Last picture from the weekend. This is Crew right after church.

California

Just wanted to say hi to everyone. Dev has the internet access so he gets to post most of our stuff. I was just in the office so I thought I'd say hi and post some of our latest favorite pics. We ran another 10K this weekend in Idyllwild, California. It's about an hour outside of Palm Springs, up in the mountains. There were plaza fountains that as you can see devin sat crew right in the middle of. Crew loved all the action and didn't mind the cold water a bit.

Blog Face Lift

For all of my faithful blog readers yesterday I spent just a few minutes giving Belnap Barnyard a Face lift! The heading picture was taken in Africa. For my Afrikaner readers the photo wasn't taken in South Africa but Kenya! Later today I am going to make another post with Rachel later today at lunch. Also their are some other features that I have added to the Blog. First of all I added a couple more links to my favorite websites. The Elim Valley link is my company website, for those of you who are interested where and what I do at work. Mitt Romney for President is the last addition I made to the website. I wanted to let all of you know who is the most qualified Presidential Candidate. The United States has bigger fish to fry than abortion, and other pressing social issues in my opinion. The war in Iraq, government debt, health care, immigration, and a handful of other serious problems are facing the United States and the only person who can solve real problems and is proven to do so in their private career is Mitt Romney. Any professional politician is good for nothing we need a entrepreneur and problem solver for president not someone who just fill a vacancy. Now the Mitt Romney for President is suppose to display current articles about Mitt Romney. So far it is only showing Tabloid articles so I might have to make some changes later.