Our new home (under construction)

We are living in Neve Daniel, a yishuv of 250 families located a mere 10 minute drive of Jerusalem. The yishuv is 23 years old and the original neighbourhood is on the east side of the mountain on which the yishuv is situated. We are currently renting a home in the original neighbourhood which faces Efrat which is right across the highway from us. This highway is the main route from Jerusalem to Hevron.
We are also building a home in the new neighbourhood (the west side) which faces west towards Beitar and Tzur Haddasah. We are also lucky that we have a view in a southern direction as well. The picture in this post is the view towards the west from our living room. The pictures gives some sense of the beauty of the area we are living in but it does not capture how beautiful it really is. When you add to this the fact that when you look out the windows you are literally seeing the land that our Patriarchs and Matriarchs walked on- it truly becomes overwhelming sometimes. In fact, I have been running with two other men from the Yishuv each erev Shabbat on the Derech Avot (Path of the Patriarchs)which was the route taken by pilgrims to Jerusalem and later used by the Romans. On this route their our mikvaot (ritual baths) as well as mile markers placed by the Romans. The history and beauty of the area are among the reasons we chose to live in Neve Daniel and we look forward to showing our family and friends the surroundings when they visit. Our home is supposed to be completed next summer and, believe it or not, it seems it may actually be completed on time. (Don't worry, we have contingency plans if it isn't ready by then)