Okay, here's the finished fireplace with our blue Christmas Tree and a yellow tree.

Here are pictures of the fireplace that we had put in the house. It's absolutely wonderful to have a fireplace now! So much more cozy on these cold winter days! Mark and Fritz (Father-in-law) started on Saturday, Nov. 24 and it was completed on Monday, Dec. 3. These are the before, during, and after photos (I'm a fan of before, during, and after photos). I guess I should take another photo of the actual finished fireplace (stuff on the mantel and fire going). Thanks to Mark, Fritz, Kirk (brother-in-law), and Gary (Kirk's dad) for all the hard work!

The start:
Cutting into the wall:
The fireplace was already roughed-in (or whatever you call it) with electricity already running into the area.
The 2 studs were removed:

Fritz puts in the header:
The fireplace is inserted and the mantel is being worked on:
The mantel is installed:
Mark is sanding and staining/varnishing the mantel:
The "man's iron" as Mark calls it (the electric sanding thingy is what I call it):

The staining and sanding is done:
The mesh/wire stuff is going up for the stonework:
The stonework is about to begin:
Gary applies the mortar to the wall:
The first stones go up:

Gary is working his way to the top:
The top half is done:
The stone is done.
The fireplace without anything on the mantel or the fire going....sorry about that. :-)