What's new?

There's so much to tell, and I don't even know where to begin. I hope I find time this weekend to write down some of my thoughts. It might just have to be a list, or overview or something like that.

I am almost 2 weeks behind, so I'd better get started. After Valentine's Day I basically spent a lot of time packing. I got boxes from the grocery store and the liquor store. Every time I thought I had packed a lot I saw how much more there was to pack. Amy went to 3 different houses that week. First she went to play with Hadlie they live on a dairy farm - so she loved seeing the cows. Wednesday she went to play with Aleya. They have horses and chickens - very exciting. Thursday she played with Morgan. It was easy to drop her off when I took the boys to school, and come get her when she threw a fit close to lunch time. By Friday she was tired of going to people's houses, so it was probably a good thing she couldn't go back to Aleya's (her mom got sick). The boys were out of school Friday as well, so they ended up watching a lot of movies while I packed. I also did some of the cleaning like behind the fridge and under the oven. I'm going to have to put those items on a scheduled cleaning now. I typically only get to that when we are moving - which has been about every 2 years or less. Maybe I'll make a goal to do that once a year.

I really can't remember what else we did that week. I did get some time to myself with our monthly Relief Society Meeting. I was surprised the Amy chose to stay in the nursery - I guess she preferred that over sitting with me in the RS room. Aaron was able to take the kids home after he was done with scouts.

Moving day was Saturday. We had hoped to get an early start, however Aaron had a Home Teaching breakfast/workshop, so it had to wait until that was over. So he picked up the truck around 10:15 and we started loading it up around 10:30. We had several people come to help and we were very grateful. We ended up with a smaller truck that we had expected, so we had to take a few trips. After dropping the kids off at Crystal's I helped load up the van with a few things. I was the first one to the house, and it was kind of surreal to see it empty - or mostly empty. They had left a few things that they took either that morning or the following Tuesday when they moved into our old apartment. Did I mention that? We switched places. They are renting our old place until the school year is done.

After unloading the van I ordered some pizza, and picked it up about 10 minutes before the crew came back for the second load. After a lunch break we loaded the truck and van again. I had one person come to help clean before we left so I had her start vacuuming. I joined her when the van was empty. I thought after 2 weeks of packing I'd be more prepared, but our bedroom was the worst. There were a ton of things just laying around. I ended up just dumping things into several boxes that I never even taped up. My only consolation is that usually I have Aaron to help me. Essentially he was there to help me on Tuesday - his day off, and I did the rest by myself.

Soon after I got back I had another person come to help me clean. She had a vested interest since she owns the place :) It was nice to have her insight as to how she wants things clean. With only the three of us it took about 4 hours to finish. Aaron picked up the kids after the last load. Just in time too, because Amy was having a fit after Crystal changed her saggy diaper. Then everyone came to see the empty house, and finish the last of the cleaning. Aaron returned the truck while I picked up dinner.

At 6:00 we finally entered our home with some yummy Mexican food. Aaron decided to be chivalrous and carry me over the threshold ;) I guess it's been a while since he's done that - it's only fitting as we walk into our first house.

After dinner we put together the beds, and found tooth brushes and pajamas and that's about it. We were very tired and went to bed early.

Sunday we woke up to boxes everywhere and I think we had cereal because we couldn't even get to the food or appliances. I already mentioned how beautiful the view was in the morning. Watching the sunrise over the mountains was gorgeous! Getting ready for church was a trick. Especially since I had forgotten to print off my lesson for Young Women's. It was mostly ready, but we couldn't find the printer paper and I ended up printing it on binder paper - oh well. The kids were also having a really hard time, and were complaining that they didn't want to go to church and that it was "boring". Timothy was crying so much that I thought I was going to have to sit with him in the hallway until he calmed down. It takes 3 times as long to get to church - which isn't as bad as it sounds since before it took 2 minutes and now it takes 6. But it was enough time for everyone to calm down.

Church was great, and afterward Aaron and I spent a fair amount of time trying to unpack the kitchen. When we were trying to figure out where to put things we realized it was a really good problem that we had so much space that we didn't know what to do with it all. We have a lot of empty top shelves because there's nothing that needs to go that high. We continued to unpack until about 5:00 when we went over the Crystal and Daren's for dinner. It was nice not to have to throw together a junky meal with a half unpacked kitchen. We also got to spend some time with good friends. They told us all about the Beefalo they were raising. I'm not sure I'm ready to take on something like that this year. But we had some great conversation while the kids played. Then all too soon we had to head home and get the kids to bed.

Well now I'm only about a week behind. Pictures next time - no promises though.

Moved in

Needless to say, we have been busy. We moved into our house on Saturday, and after getting Mexican takeout - compliments of our Realtor - we finally came home at 6:00. It was a crazy busy day, I'll revisit it later. But I wanted to let you know that we are thoroughly enjoying being homeowners.

A few things I've learned already:

• Corelle bowls and tile floors don't mix. Amy knocked over a bowl that was left on the table after breakfast yesterday.
• Aaron knows how to fix just about everything. Including the fence that blew over last weekend in a huge windstorm. He bought new poles and set them in concrete today.
• I absolutely LOVE the views.

There's so much more to tell, but it's almost dinner time. Dinner was provided by one of my wonderful visiting teachers - I got to give her and her daughter our first tour!!!

Taking a Break from Packing

Here's some of the fun things we've been doing for Valentine's Day.

I didn't get pictures of the pink heart pancakes I made last week. We've also had heart shaped biscuits and heart shaped waffles - OK so our waffles are always heart shaped. I also cut the boys' sandwiches with heart cookie cutters this morning.

After church yesterday I made these heart cupcakes by request from Timothy. They are for his class party today.

Amy loved licking the frosting beater

Timothy got the other one.

I also made heart shaped pizzas for dinner last night. I got the idea for it from one of my friends after she posted the ones she made last night.

I got Aaron a huge jar of Jelly Bellys, and he got me a house ;) When I talked to him at lunch he said he got some seafood for dinner - so now I just have to find something to compliment that. Yum! So far it's been a great day. Now I'd better get back to packing.

Happy Valentine's day.

Been a Little Busy

In case you were wondering, We are still alive, just very busy. I have been packing a lot, although I'm running out of boxes. I also have been trying to change phone/ internet companies, change addresses with utility companies, etc. all the things that we have to do before moving. I am constantly reminded that there are a lot more expenses involved when buying a house. It's not just going from paying rent to having a mortgage. The power bill will be more with more square footage. We can't keep the same phone and internet company because we're moving outside their coverage area. We're losing our TV service, because I'm not willing to pay $40 a month for a bunch of channels I don't watch. We did think of all of these expenses before we made the decision to buy, so it's not a surprise, but it's hard to see how much we've been saving over the past 6 months, and see that reduced dramatically. We'll still be saving, just not as much.

I feel bad that Amy has been watching too much TV while I try to get packing done. However she has been napping better this week. So far she's napped 5 out of the last 7 days! And bed time has been great too. She's even sleeping better at night. I'll take it for now, because I know it won't last. This move is going to mess everything up. It's a good thing I haven't started potty training yet. Maybe in a few months when everything settles down.

Over the last week we've done a few fun things. Friday Aaron came home with roses after he heard that the house was finally ours. It's a good thing too because a few days later the store doubled the price for Valentine's Day. Aaron and I have an agreement, that he will never buy me flowers for Valentine's Day - they are way overpriced, and I'd rather have them throughout the year. Besides, this year I get a house, I don't think we'll ever top that!

Saturday we did our normal house cleaning, and then Aaron went into work to do a few things. A new physician and part of his family were house hunting. The kids were getting bored, and we told them we could watch the kids for them. So they came over for 5 hours!!! The kids had a lot of fun watching movies, drawing, playing outside and having snacks. Aaron and David left around 3:45 to go to a basketball game. It was the last one of the regular season. The JV game was first, then the girl's game then the varsity game. Timothy Amy and I joined them at the beginning of the girl's game. It was great to be able to see two of my girls from church play. Unfortunately the girl's didn't win - but it was really close. The Varsity game was really fun to watch. It was close for a while, even until half time, then our team just took over, and won by about 15 points. It was a late night, but lots of fun. Now the teams are into Conference tournament play.

Sunday was a pretty good day, I can't think of anything out of the ordinary. Actually the rest of this week was a bit of a blur to me. I did take a trip up to the city to get a few things for moving and a few groceries.

Another random thought - Amy has been occupied by playing in the kitchen sink. The last couple of nights while I'm fixing dinner and she's exhausted her screen time I'll put her on a kitchen chair and give her some things to dump water with, and she'll be entertained for a good 30 minutes.
I can't believe this is the first picture I've taken all month. I have a few videos I'll have to upload them sometime. Not tonight though. More packing is on the to do list tomorrow. And we'll be visiting our house for the first time since it officially became ours. We're taking the kids for the first time too. They haven't seen it yet.

The House Part 3

I forgot about the coat closet in the entryway

there's also a broom closet next to it, that I didn't get a picture of.

Now for the bedrooms.
The master bedroom is a good size. You can see the balcony on the other side of the sliding glass doors.

It has a small walk-in closet

and it's own bathroom.

The second bedroom upstairs is currently used as a craft room, I think this will be Amy's room.

I love the closets.

The 3rd bedroom is also upstairs. This is will the boys' room

Hopefully this closet will have enough room for all the boys' stuff.

There is also a bathroom upstairs, with a skylight,

a large linen closet, complete with a laundry chute.

On the bottom level (below the living room and kitchen) are two more bedrooms

One has this little window that looks out into the hall. This will most likely be an office of sorts.

I think we'll have to paint it first.


The last bedroom will most likely be a guest room, until we have more kids to fill it up with.

It too will be painted

The House Part 2

Now for the inside. First the living spaces.

When you walk in the front door you see this beautiful chandelier.
The tile floor is beautiful!

From here you can see the split level - you can go up or down from here.
We will go straight into the kitchen - one of my favorite places :)

A view from the dining area. You can see the stove, sink and LOTS of counter space!!!!
I think we'll eventually replace the counter tops, but it's not a priority.

The fridge stays - the kids like that it has a water and ice dispenser. There is also a wall oven/ microwave combo. I love that I will have a second oven. It is the only appliance older than 4 years. I think it was put in when it was built so it's about 25 years old. Those things are expensive to replace so it might be a few years away for us.

It has a great desk in the kitchen - maybe we'll put our computer here. I also love the glass cabinets on the top.

I like that there is no formal dining room, it's just an extension of the kitchen. And I love all the windows!

There is this nifty little door by the kitchen sink - my MIL has one like this - a great use of space for sponges etc.

I love the pull out drawers for all sorts of things

And the lazy susans in the corner cabinets.

Then we go into the living room. I love the big windows, and the view is beautiful.

Here is the piano we may buy from them if they still want to sell it.

Then we leave to go downstairs to the den/ media room/ family room/ whatever you want to call it.

To get there we go down the stairs in the entryway

It's a small room, just big enough for a TV, a couch, and the exercise bike.
The previous owners prepared the room for a flat screen TV to be mounted on the wall, and surround sound. We won't be using that feature for a while.

The laundry room is on that level as well. With lots of shelves for baskets, or linens.

There is a bathroom at the back of the laundry room, with a shower - a little odd since there aren't any bedrooms on that level, but oh well.

There's even an ironing board behind that door on the right, and on the other side of that wall is the access to the garage.

Then we go down to the bottom level (under the kitchen and living room), and we find one of my favorite rooms

Storage! Perfect for food storage. As a matter of fact when Aaron went through the house for the initial inspection last year the previous owner commented, "The guy who built this was a Mormon so there's this room for food storage". :)

They are even leaving this chest freezer!

The House Part 1

Last year I had a post all ready to go about the house. I hadn't wanted to post it until we closed. When that didn't happen last April or May it just sat, until I finally deleted it. Well now I wish I had just let it sit. So here's my second attempt to show you the house that we closed on (on Friday) finally!!!

First the exterior. This was actually taken last year when Aaron went through the house during the inspection.

It's from the corner of the lot.
This is the one I took a few weeks ago right before the appraisal. Can you tell they have replaced the roof?
Aaron and I love this entrance to the property.

This is the front - the landscaping is beautiful!

This is a view of the back of the house

a closer view of the deck, oh, and the pool! - one of my least favorite things about the house.

It has a cover, but no deck - I guess we'll have to build one at some point. At least it's fenced in.

There is a little balcony outside the master bedroom.

The view of the yard and the valley from the back of the house. (Not a great picture with the sun in the way)

The two car garage

(the stairs lead up to the pool and back yard)
to the side of the house there is another building - a storage shed and...

a workshop. Plenty of room for Aaron's tools, and plenty of room for more.

More to come...