Hopefully these pictures are worth thousands of words.
Ok, we have moved up from the walkout basement so this has opened up more like the family room that it will become some day.
These are the half logs, which are getting hollowed out to cover the heat vents on either side of the fireplace. Finished half logs logs are shown below.
The fireplace is on the main floor on the south side of the building. Here it is in 2012 before the laminate floor went in.