A New Adventure...

It's been such a long time since I've posted again... so much to catch up on! But, the most pressing matter at hand right now is the move into our big, beautiful, newer home on Fairway. It was interesting how it all happened. We weren't really looking--joking about moving occasionally, mostly to get a rise out of the girls--but thought eventually it would be nice to have a larger home, with more room. I've always wanted to be the "kool-aid mom" as my friend put it. I just wanted to be the kind of mom and have the kind of house I grew up with, that all the kids' friends want to be there. I just like to know where they are, and what they're doing. Anyway, Steve's friend is a realtor and called him to tell him that this house he was selling had been on and off the market for two years now, and that it had just been reduced another $20,000. (First listed two years ago at $319,000 and now down to $189,900!) He said it would be perfect for our family and we just HAD to look at it. So just for fun, we did.

...And we fell in LOVE! I couldn't believe how I could picture our family living there, our stuff in certain spots, and how much fun we'd have with all the extra space and entertaining possibilities. It kind of "felt" like home. So, we went home and looked at the budget, considered all the possibilities, fasted and prayed, and made an offer on the house. We asked for 90 days to allow us to take care of our house, we pay the asking price, and they pay our closing costs. We didn't expect it, but they actually accepted our offer.

Then, we had the problem of the house we'd been living in that had a lot of updating that needed to be done. We were currently on year 2 of a 5-year plan to remodel and fix it up. So far, we had put in new carpet and painted the whole upstairs except the playroom, kitchen and the bathroom. So, we kicked it into full gear, and in a month painted the bathroom and kitchen, tiled the kitchen and entry way, put in laminate flooring, a new sink, and tub surround in the bathroom, ripped out ancient carpet on the stairs and hallway downstairs and had new carpet put in, finished and painted the walls in the hallway downstairs (it was still sheet rock for all these years), and fixed up the bathroom downstairs with new texture, paint, and trim. In the process, we decided that we'd just rent this house for a couple of years, instead of trying to sell it. Much more work and money to sell rather than rent, and if we wait for the market to recover, we may be able to get enough out of it to cover our mortgage.

So, here we are, 66 days into our contract, and we are scheduled to close next Wednesday!! We are so excited about the new house, change of atmosphere, changes in our family, and the adventure of it all. We're sad to leave our ward (and stake) and sad to see our house go to someone else. We've lived here for 14 years, and it's the only house and ward our kids have known. It's comfortable and we love it here. So, as excited as we are for our new adventure, we are having a harder time being released from our stake callings, leaving behind people we might not have occasion to see anymore, and saying goodbye to our wonderful neighbors than we thought we would have. Thankfully, though, the kids will be going to the same schools and being only 8 minutes drive-time from where we are, and with some effort, we'll still keep in touch and get together with our friends. The girls can't wait to have a party and spread out through the house and yard. They'll have a giant back yard with a deck, the sun room, the game room, and the family room, all in my view, but not in my space. It will be absolutely perfect for all the friends.

It's got some amazing extras inside, but looks like a pretty modest home outside. I like that it's not "showy", but it's beautiful and we're grateful that the prior owners had money to add so many fun extras (like the cherry wood cabinets, gas fireplaces, wrap-around deck and intercom system). We'll have a huge garden area, and beautifully landscaped yard (with a waterfall and stream,  raspberries and an apple tree), a 2-car garage, lots of storage space (walk-in pantry and food storage room, plus a potato cellar), a master bathroom and walk-in closet (both I've wanted all of my married life), and 6 bedrooms (or 5 and an office for Steve). Here are some pictures...

Part of the front, with its beautiful new paint job

Part of the back yard

Half of the sun room (door leads to deck)

Formal living room

Kitchen

Joshua & Nathan's room

(On the condition that we get rid of the flowers ASAP)

Steve's office, upstairs

Master bedroom, upstairs

 Master bathroom

Master walk-in closet

Main bathroom, upstairs

Game room, downstairs

Family room, downstairs

Rachel's room, downstairs

Sarah's room, downstairs (she's kind of excited)

Bryson's room, downstairs

Kids' bathroom, downstairs

We're so grateful that except for a little bit of "left behind" stuff to go to the DI, it's ready to move into, as is. We want to do some re-decorating and updating in some of the rooms, but those things will happen in time. We'll also have some very empty rooms for a while as we save up for furniture to fill it. But, we're so excited to move in and fill up all the space. (I'm sure it won't take as long as I think. We've got a LOT of stuff!!)