On Saturday, Jay and I went out to his brother Tim's new house. 

Tim and Mary Lou have been married for about a thousand years and the whole time they lived in a rambler on a beautiful piece of property out in Independence.  They raised four sons  out there, the third of whom, John, has just graduated from college and they had an open house for him.

CONGRATULATIONS, JOHN!!  WE'RE PROUD OF YOU!

Anyway, Tim and Mary Lou also had a nifty lake cabin about sixty miles west of town.    They were kind enough to invite the rest of us out several times a year for sun, fun, fishing and water sports.  The cabin was a cabin.  Three cramped little bedrooms, a tiny living room/kitchenette.  And a big deck facing the beach.  In other words; perfect.

Now, the house they lived in was just like everyone else's first house; a simple, cute rambler.  I think they may have added the family room, but I'm not sure.  It was always there as far as I remember.  Most of the renovations Tim made on the property were in the nature of his huge garage (Joe Soucheray would choke with envy) and the duck pond he put in at the bottom of the hill. While everyone else in the world poured all their money into building mcmansions over their starter homes, Tim and Mary Lou went to the lake and had fun.  It was obvious that they weren't interested in playing "my house is bigger than your house".

But when Tim and Mary Lou play, they play for keeps. 

The moment their youngest son graduated from high school, they sold the house.  They sold the cabin.  They had bought a piece of property a quarter of the way around the same lake and they built a new house there.  A log house.

A gorgeous, enormous, absolutely breathtaking, all wood and soaring windows facing the lake dream house.

The property is beautiful.  Not just trees, but woods.  A trail through the woods, past the bonfire pit leads you from the house to the beach and dock.  The house is built on a hill so the lower level is a walkout and all windows just like the first floor.  There's a lovely large deck off the kitchen and a huge curving stone patio out the back.  They've engineered it so that the runoff from the house and hill will all be channeled into a stoney creek they built that snakes through the woods to the lake. 

They moved in a few weeks back, while Jay and I were in Florida, so this was our first time out to see the new place.  I had no words to tell them how much I loved it.

The new house has a loft, with a large guest room outfitted with double beds.  In the basement is another large guest room with several beds.  The boys are all more than welcome to stay when they are home from school or come to visit with their families.  Every aspect of the house was perfectly planned and beautifully executed.

But if I know this family, they may come to regret those large guest rooms.

I vote we have Christmas eve at Tim and Mary Lou's.