New Picts

Well, I promised pictures of our home, so I'm following through on that promise. They aren't the best and the house isn't perfect, but I hope no one minds. This is the formal front room, we haven't got it quite put together yet and seems to be a catch all while we are unpacking.

This is our great room with the kitchen you've seen previously.

The other view of our family room with our much loved fireplace.

Our master bedroom. Neils calls the red accent wall his "Ute" wall. But I think that will only be during their football season.

We also have our own private master bath which Neils loves. He's described in detail his favorite part of the home, his jetted bath tub with a view. I didn't get a picture of the view, but it is definitely there.

Next is Karen's room. The picture didn't turn out right cause the accent wall is actually purple not blue. I also couldn't get the wall stickers very well, we did princesses and word that say "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess..." We put it around the beautiful arched window in her room and doesn't show up too well in pics but is darling.

This is Michael's room, he loves blue and cars and so we did them both. He loves it. It also shows his big boy bed.

Settling

Over the weekend we were able to unpack all the boxes upstairs which had the things we "need" to have a pretty normal day to day life. It feels so nice and we are finally starting to really settle into our home. The kids are enjoying their new rooms and we're getting ready to personalize them with removable wall stickers like princesses, cars and glow-in-the-dark stars for the ceilings. They are really excited to help me with this.

Michael is now in his big boy toddler bed. We waited for this until we were in our home and he's been really excited to be a big boy. It's taken a little while, but he is getting used to going to bed and staying there even though he has the freedom to get out of bed now whenever he want. We're also trying to wean him from his sippy cup which has proved to be a daunting task. He still gets one to go to bed with, but letting that go will come later. He's also getting ready to potty train and loves to be a big boy in this way too. I have a feeling he's going to be easier to potty train then Karen was. She took 2 years to potty train.

Karen is also adjusting pretty well. She's really excited that we've found a preschool for her to go to. We found out about an opening in this preschool by a neighbor in our ward and we were able to get in. I wasn't sure that we were going to be able to get Karen into a preschool because it's in the middle of the year, but we were very lucky to find a school with an opening. She'll be starting next week and she's really excited, although both kids are really excited just to have toys in their rooms.

We've had a couple of our family stop by to see our home and we've even had the elder's quorum stop by to greet us. It's fun to have people stop by and we'd love to see all of our friends and family come by when they have time. You are all wecome whenever you'd like. We will have a house warming party that will be like an open house in a couple of weeks, but feel free to come by sooner if you'd like.

It's a Kitchen!

We moved in on Wednesday and have been swamped in boxes since. Looking for anything has been quite a hide and seek game in boxes to find things we need to use. It's nice to be able to get things unpacked and put away. We've focused on the kitchen because it's the main hub of the home and we need to eat. So finally after 3 days in the house we have uncovered the kitchen! We've unpacked nearly everything in that room and found places for them all. Except I needed to wash all the dishes before they got put away, so our kitchen looks like this right now because they all didn't fit in the dishwasher. Can't believe we've got so many dishes. I also finally got the floor cleaned really well too. It makes it feel so good to get the main part of the home in order and usable.

It's Ours! It's Ours!

We're so excited to finally have the house be ours! We went today and started cleaning and painting. We had some help from our ward (when we thought we'd be moving today) so we had them help us bring some stuff down to the basement and bring the fridge in the kitchen. It was nice to see things starting to take shape. The painters have been wonderful and got so much finished today we were amazed! They should be finished by Monday evening and we'll have carpet done on Tuesday and finally be able to move into our new house on Wednesday! We're so excited, especially to finally see it all coming together after having a few delays. When we get settled we are going to have a big party so we can share our joy with everyone!

Delayed Again!

We hope this is the last delay. We had problems with the first set of papers we signed on Monday and had to sign another set of papers again today. (For full details see Neils' blog at http://www.neilsstarkrants.blogspot.com/) Stupid problems, but hopefully we will only be delayed one more day and we should get the keys tomorrow. Then we finally get to start on cleaning, painting, carpeting and getting ready to move in by Wednesday next week. Because it's a weekday and most people work, we decided to just hire some movers so we can get in before dark that day. We hope and pray that this will be our last delay because we have to be out of our apartment by next Wednesday too. Pray for us. Thanks for everyone's continued interest and support.

Moving.....slowly

We signed the papers today! YEAH! Exciting right? Well, there turns out to be a slight hitch. We won't be able to get the keys until eveything is recorded at the county commissioner's office and with the company that owns the house being in a different state it's going to take a few days before we actually get the keys. Thursday to be exact. That definitely doesn't give us time to get the house painted and recarpeted before Saturday, so we won't be moving this weekend after all. Darn it all! Oh well. We just have to readjust our time table and work with what we have. The best part is that we are going to have a wonderful home! We will not be daunted by a few days delay. Onward and upward.

New Year, New Ward

Since it's a new year and we'll be moving in just a couple weeks, we decided to check out what our new ward will be like. So we checked on www.mormon.org to find out where our new ward would be and what time. We called on Sunday just to make sure and then went out to Riverton/Herriman to attend our new ward. We got there a bit late since the website said our ward would be at 1:00 pm and then when we called it turned out to be at 9:00 am, but everything went well. Karen is a CTR5 now and Michael is still in nursery. They both did surprisingly well. Michael loved that he had a ton of new toys to enjoy and he went without a complaint and when we came to get him he didn't want to leave. Karen enjoyed her class too and thought it was great that she didn't have to sit on the very front row of primary anymore. Neils and I both agreed that it was very different from what we are used to and it will take a bit to get comfortable there, but the people were friendly and welcoming.

We're getting more excited to close on our home and get moved in. Just one week til we close. Then a week of painting and carpet and then we'll get to move in on the 17th. As long as everything goes like we hope it will. Wish us luck.

Moving Forward

We are so excited! We have had our bid on the home officially accepted! Now comes all the fun things we have to do before closing like the inspection, the loan, title company, insurance, etc. etc. It's all moving forward and we have to close by Jan 15th or sooner! We're working toward sooner. I still can't believe it's real, the nearly perfect home for a price we can afford! What a wonderful Christmas present and an awesome blessing from the Lord. If anyone knows of an interior house painter that's good and reasonably priced, please let us know.

THE House

It's amazing! An offer we placed on a home has been accepted! We are so excited!!!!! It's not completely official until we sign some paperwork on Monday, but it is the perfect home for us and has nearly everything we have wanted. It will be quite an adjustment for us, we'll be moving from West Valley all the way to Riverton, but we believe that God led us to this home and made everything fall into place for us so that we could be there. There must be a reason. We're very excited and hope that everything will continue to fall into place for this home. Thanks everyone for your help and support during this time of change in our lives. Hopefully in about a month we'll be needing more help moving into our new home. Here's the MLS# if you want to check it out. MLS#840428

Christmas is Coming

Well, we have decorated for Christmas. Well, sort of. We brought our Christmas tree with us, but forgot to bring any other decorations, so the kids and I have started making our own homemade ornaments for the tree. Here a few examples.

It's been fun to do a few holiday preparations, it helps us to get in the spirit of the season.

On other subjects, our home searching has been quite frustrating. It's been three weeks since we bid on a home and we haven't been accepted or rejected or anything, so this week we went looking for other homes. I've seen probably 20-30 homes and we've only found a few that might even be possible, and we are still searching. We'd love to find something sooner than later since our rent is more than our mortgage was, but we may have to wait. Pray for us.

All Moved In

Well, thanks to family, friends and ward members, we were able to move out of our house and into our apartment in about 3 hours this morning. Whew! We are so grateful to all that helped and especially grateful to Neils parents for taking the kids so that they wouldn't be underfoot and we could fully concentrate on the move.

Everything is scattered right now. I'm trying to find a place for everything and apartments are definitely smaller than houses and even though I tried to prepare for that, I guess I didn't do it correctly especially in the kitchen cause I have way more stuff than can fit in those cupboards. Oh well, learning to live with less can be good for us and will work for the time we'll be in the apartment.

Packing, packing, packing

Whistle while you work....... Well I can't whistle, but we've been working a lot lately getting ready to move. It's amazing how many "things" we've collected over the 6 years we've lived here. It's been nice to go through some of the stuff and take a bunch to the DI and throw some of the junk away. It's been a crazy week for us with boxes everywhere but getting the POD has made it a bit easier. We hope to have everything packed up by tomorrow so that when our helpers come on Saturday it shouldn't be too hard or take to long to load everything up.

We closed on our house today and signed all the papers, so our house is no longer ours. On the other hand, right now we are completely debt free. That's a nice thought.

Wouldn't you know it though, the kids have both been sick this week with a little fever that lasts 2 days. Karen had it first on Monday and Tuesday and now Michael has it. I guess it's his turn. Just a little more to take care of during this busy week. At least after Saturday, the moving thing will be over with for a couple of months.

Finding out

Well we found out today that they removed the home we bid on from the auction block, but we also found out that it's going to take about 2-3 weeks before we are approved by the bank board and at least 6 weeks before we can close on it. Fun stuff hu?

So we will be spending the holidays in an apartment this year. We finally found one, thanks to my sister Rosalie, that will lease to us for just 2 months and month to month if we need it longer. It's really close to where our first apartment was so it brings back a lot of memories.

It really is a lot less stressful to know where we will be living, even if we don't know for sure about our house at least we have a place to go after we close on this house. By the way, we'd love to have everyone who is available come help us on Saturday morning at 9:00 am to help us move. We appreciate all those who have told us that they will help, we look forward to seeing you soon.

Another Offer

Well, we found another home, just around the corner from the last home we put an offer on. This one is a short sale that was just about to go into foreclosure, but we put in our offer just in time. It hasn't been officially accepted, but they said if we offered a certain amount that they would accept it. So we offered that amount. We should hear the official word on Monday, but things seem to be falling into place. They even said that they could close in 3 weeks which means we will be in our new house before Christmas. Yeah!

Quick Update

Ah, the highs and lows of house hunting and the bidding game. Tonight was a low. We found out that they wouldn't accept our offer and countered with the full asking price which we just can't afford. We were disappointed, but we are sure there is something out there for us and we have faith that the Lord will show the way.

So back to the drawing board. Except this time we'll be looking for a place that we can rent for a month or two while we look for a home.

Great Possibilities

Life has changed so much in just one week. Last Sunday we were telling everyone at church that we were going to take our house off the market and stay here for another few years. We were even planning on finishing the basement and fixing the yard. Now, just one week later, we have sold our home and are planning to move in just two weeks. Crazy!

We've even found a house that we love in a neighborhood that we love and we put an offer on it yesterday. If our offer is accepted, the people living there have even said that they can be out of their house the same weekend we are moving out of our house. It's incredible. There would only be a couple of days or at most a week between moving out of our house and into that home....if it all works out that is. Now we wait to see if our offer is accepted. We should find out tomorrow. The house isn't too far away from our current home either, just down about 5400 S and 5600 West.

Life sure is lively right now and full of possibilities. If this doesn't work, I'm sure we'll find something else. I can tell that the Lord is watching out for us and leading our lives.

House Hunting

I've been house hunting like crazy! In 2 days I've seen about 18 homes and driven by several more. There is a lot of very sad homes out there and a few very nice homes out there. I've narrowed the field and I'm taking Neils and the kids with me to revisit a few to see if they could fit our needs.

However, we really don't want to rush into anything, especially since we want a home we can live in for a long, long time, so we are also looking for temporary housing until we can find that perfect home. There are a few homes in our current neighborhood that we will be checking on tomorrow to see if we can rent those for a month or two or however long it takes to find our home. So it looks like we will be moving twice. Oh well, better this way then to have 2 mortgages, right?

Thanks to all for your support and help. We may take more of you up on your offers to watch the kids and help us move. Thanks.

I Can't Believe It

Well, we had decided to take our house off the market, but hadn't quite told our realtor yet when out of the blue, yesterday we got an offer on our house. We countered yesterday and today they accepted! Total shock, but good. I'm so excited! We didn't think that it would happen, so I haven't been looking at houses lately and now begins the scramble to find the house we want. Our buyers want to be in our house the weekend before Thanksgiving which doesn't give us much time and might mean that we will need to find temporary housing before finding the home we want to buy, but it's a step in the right direction and I am thrilled! Neils hates moving and isn't quite as thrilled, but he'll come around when we find the home we want.

We are sad to leave the wonderful neighborhood, ward, and especially the great friends we've made in this area, but we won't be moving too far away, so we will definitely keep the friends we've made here. Change is good. Wish us luck. Keep us in your prayers. We'll keep you updated on the latest goings on.

Today

It's a new week with our new carpet! Our carpet was finished by Thursday night and it is beautiful and soft and makes walking around the house with shoes off a great pleasure. Crazy 3 days of moving furniture and having my house a mess, but I can now say that it was totally worth it. I love it and it makes the prospect of staying here (if we have to) more enjoyable.

Although, today we had a prospective buyer come see our house and it's the first since our new carpet was put in. It's kind of exciting. Though I'm trying not to get my hopes up, after all they didn't stay very long. Oh well.

Here are a few pictures of our newly carpeted home.

New Carpet Finally

Well, after about a week of searching, comparing and getting opinions, we finally made the decision. We are going to get this carpet installed, hopefully by the end of the week. Thanks for everyone's opinions and help, it was great!