I have had many people ask "Are you excited for your new house?" Craig has spent many hours thinking of the updates he wants to do & details about the house. As for me? I've had my head focused on one thing: BABY! http://nossonenedoce.blogspot.com/ It's not that I'm not excited, but the house is stressful & emotional with ups & downs. I responded to everyone, once the inspection is done, then I'll be excited!
The day came and I was excited to go walk around, measure and remember all the details that I had forgotten about. The inspection day got pushed back a bit because of the inspector but it was worth the 10 day wait. I knew going into it that he would find things. Being through our Washington house and seeing all the things they noted-makes you feel like there is NO perfect house. Although, some things are really petty. We had a 9-11:30 appointment and got there about 9:30. I was shocked to see the home owner still there! It was awkward to say the least. I felt restricted to not wonder through and check things out for myself. She was nice but still weird. I did find out from her that in our backyard we have in a row: rainer cherries, apple tree, peach tree, plums & apricots. I'm thinking I need to learn to can & should invest in a dehydrator. I was telling her how I wanted to plant asparagus and she actually already has and told me where they usually come up. Also she had her trampoline that they had just barely bought on Amazon for $269 only 6 months ago that they offered to sell for $120. It's only a 12 inch, but I think the cheaper price is worth vs getting a 14 inch. The girls won't really care. They are so excited about getting a trampoline! While our agent, home owner & I chatted, Craig kept busy counting doors; (all the door hangles-hinges & door jam are GOLD...yuck! So we are changing all that to bronze) measuring the carpet portion of the house; (we are re carpeting first thing) getting master bathroom size for tile (they carpeted the master bathroom!); and pretty much just checking things out. The girls were very good and played mostly in the "blue room" The inspector finished and found items.
Granted it is a 1999 house there were normal things that are just wear & tear that we have to consider with not buying a brand new house. Then there were things that we felt were necessary for the home owners to do. Then there were petty things like some insulation in the crawl space fell down. Overall, the inspector did say-this is a very nicely built home. We were very impressed with our inspector and appreciated the time & effort he spent to see everything!
We made a list for the home owner and waited back for the reply. I still, at this point, was very excited. Despite the things that needed to be done. I felt it was a good, sturdy house for the next 30 years.
We were about up on the time to hear back and Craig got home (it was Friday) and he was ticked. Not only did the home owners haggle us for paying $3500 in closing, but now they didn't want to do things on our list that we felt were VERY important. One of them: The house was originally built with a 4 car garage. At some point, the 4th car was converted into a room. There is no closet so technically can't count as a bedroom-but we'll make it the kids play room & media room. It's right off the family room. Well above the "blue room" there was no insulation and part of the family room! We were all shocked that they didn't find that in their inspection when they bought the house a few years earlier. We felt...how do you buy a house that isn't even insulated! So we wrote that on the list and they didn't want to do it. Craig did a quick search and to spray insultation would be about $500 at most. The other thing was another fix of about $1,000 that they didn't say they would fix. That would come out of our own money to fix those things but they already haggled us. Like I said earlier. So we felt that we would stick our ground and counter back again and say NO, those HAVE TO BE DONE! Doing so meant that we could lose the house. They can say no and then we would get our earnest money back. The only thing we would be out was the $325 for the inspection. It was the most stressful night-Saturday morning. I had to go out-of-love with that house and keep my head open maybe to house #1 again or another house. I then noted things that were cons about the house to make me not so excited although deep down I would've been crushed. I also had to think-if it doesn't work then obviously we aren't supposed to be there. I pulled up house #1 again and we decided if they would come back saying no, then our next step would be another offer on house #1 although we did more research adn found that they are listing it about $15k too high (just looking at comparibles in the neighborhood) I was pretty stressed too because Craig was getting ready to leave for 14 days on a work trip back East. That meant if it didn't work, everything will be done via phone & by myself. Ugh, just my head was everywhere and again reminded how much I hate buying houses!!!
WELL----The next morning our agent called with confirmation from their agent that they signed our letter and we are good! They were going to fix our list. I just felt so calm & grateful & also just at peace that for some reason we are to be in this house. The way it was all working out and the timing. Everything in our life is about timing I swear! Even from the very minute Craig and I started dating.
So, next step....Appraisal!
Parker
Friday, February 20, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Meridan, Idaho PART 2
Monday morning came quick and what a day to spend the day off. I felt bad for our kids who were sick of house shopping and all that it entails. As I was getting ready Craig and I were talking about the house. I told him my only fear was the kitchen, dining & family room not feeling big. Other than that, I knew I would like it.
We arrived at the house and it looked even better in the morning. The neighborhood was exactly what I wanted and so exciting that we can have a chance at this house. It'd only been on the market for 3 days! We pull up and the first thing our agent says is House #1 says they'll do our offer at $5k lower if we'll pay half our closing. Hmmmm. Something to think about but for $5k more-this new house, #2, was looking so much better. (I don't know if I mentioned that her niece is the one selling their house #1) I was a little irritated that first they wanted to counter but then they hear we're going to see another house and they try a last try.
So we go through the house and it just felt so right. My expectations were even better and there was so much that I loved about the house. I usually don't like hard wood floors but theirs were beautiful! They aren't the cheap laminate type but real hard wood. Also this house is custom built and you could just feel that it was built solid. Unlike House #1, which was built by a builder we've heard bad things about. We went in the backyard and it was what probably won me over. It didn't have a slope like house #1 and just felt so big. Did I mention it already had a shed, 5 fruit trees, a dog run, fully tree lined for privacy...it was perfect! My only reservation was that the bedrooms felt a little smaller than I would love, but they'll be just fine. I like the girls to share a room until Jaycee is ready & mature for her own room. But we did measurements and both their beds will fit. I was very impressed with all the light, the staircase, the front door, the 3 car garage was a roomy garage so fitting our trailer will be no problem. We sat at the table and I just knew this was meant to be. And made me so happy that Craig was so excited about this house. Way more than House #1. We left and headed to McDonalds for the girls to play and write up an offer. We offered full asking price with them paying closing, leaving their shed & fridge. With writing up the offer, it meant the 1st offer was now done and void. Which was fine because we felt so good about this!
The next day they had until 5pm to counter or let us know. We heard back at 4pm!!! Way to wait until the last minute. I hadn't really thought about it because I just felt so good about it. They countered offered! We were so suprised because we gave them full asking price! They wanted all conditions-even were okay with our closing date pushed back until mid March-but they wanted to only pay $3500 in closing not the whole amount. We were a little irritated because we were giving them full price, but also didn't know if it was worth losing for $3500. So....we ended up signing the offer! We were in contract and soooo excited.
Next step....inspection day!
We arrived at the house and it looked even better in the morning. The neighborhood was exactly what I wanted and so exciting that we can have a chance at this house. It'd only been on the market for 3 days! We pull up and the first thing our agent says is House #1 says they'll do our offer at $5k lower if we'll pay half our closing. Hmmmm. Something to think about but for $5k more-this new house, #2, was looking so much better. (I don't know if I mentioned that her niece is the one selling their house #1) I was a little irritated that first they wanted to counter but then they hear we're going to see another house and they try a last try.
So we go through the house and it just felt so right. My expectations were even better and there was so much that I loved about the house. I usually don't like hard wood floors but theirs were beautiful! They aren't the cheap laminate type but real hard wood. Also this house is custom built and you could just feel that it was built solid. Unlike House #1, which was built by a builder we've heard bad things about. We went in the backyard and it was what probably won me over. It didn't have a slope like house #1 and just felt so big. Did I mention it already had a shed, 5 fruit trees, a dog run, fully tree lined for privacy...it was perfect! My only reservation was that the bedrooms felt a little smaller than I would love, but they'll be just fine. I like the girls to share a room until Jaycee is ready & mature for her own room. But we did measurements and both their beds will fit. I was very impressed with all the light, the staircase, the front door, the 3 car garage was a roomy garage so fitting our trailer will be no problem. We sat at the table and I just knew this was meant to be. And made me so happy that Craig was so excited about this house. Way more than House #1. We left and headed to McDonalds for the girls to play and write up an offer. We offered full asking price with them paying closing, leaving their shed & fridge. With writing up the offer, it meant the 1st offer was now done and void. Which was fine because we felt so good about this!
The next day they had until 5pm to counter or let us know. We heard back at 4pm!!! Way to wait until the last minute. I hadn't really thought about it because I just felt so good about it. They countered offered! We were so suprised because we gave them full asking price! They wanted all conditions-even were okay with our closing date pushed back until mid March-but they wanted to only pay $3500 in closing not the whole amount. We were a little irritated because we were giving them full price, but also didn't know if it was worth losing for $3500. So....we ended up signing the offer! We were in contract and soooo excited.
Next step....inspection day!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
House Shopping AGAIN---PART 1
After this house shopping ordeal-this is the last time I want to buy a house! 3rd times the charm I suppose!
When we found out we were moving (October), we did lots of studying, researching, shopping...HOMES.HOMES.HOMES! You come to find pretty quickly what you like and what you want. Here was our want list
WANT: 4+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, 3 car garage, at least .18 acre lot, in a good area with decent schools, a 30 minute commute for Craig or less (in PDX he was doing AT LEAST 45 minutes EACH WAY!), a family room with a separate room for the kid's "playroom" or a separate room for them to have to watch & play---not a front room when you walk in-some houses had lofts, room in the yard to plant fruit trees & a garden, I wanted a 90's house because I like the neighborhoods because all the houses look different and unique and most time came with a bigger lot, I wasn't a huge fan of 2003+ houses cuz the neighborhoods are squished in & all houses look same, Craig liked older homes with fire burning stoves but I hate them because in my eyes that would equal lots of $$ to update, I wanted at least 2300+ square feet-Craig likes nothing too big because then the family feels very separate, our price range could've gone higher than our Washington house because we were making more money living in Boise with lower insurance, taxes & a slight pay raise but since paying $165 less for our rental vs. WA house-we found we didn't want to stretch ourselves thin so we wanted to be under the monthly payment of WA house, and mostly just getting a good feeling
So we found a few and had to wait until at least January to do anything. We are in our rental for 6 months and can be done end of April. I found out near my birthday that the loan officer in Utah that did our re-finance on our Ogden house was fully licensed in Idaho. Craig gave him a call right away and got the loan approval process started. About the 3rd week into January, Craig called a house we had been watching to do a walk through.
I thought it was a little too soon although I was really excited. Also I was nervous because of all the houses this was the only one that stayed on our radar list. I knew I would fall in love with it and Craig is good at just leaving. So...that's what happened! Walked through, loved it, met all my expectations, totally could see our family in this house, did have some cons but over looked them. (in the backyard is a 2 way street that is semi-busy; located right next to a city water station; in a neighborhood with similiar looking homes but overlooked because at least it came on a .20 lot; was built by a builder that we had heard bad things about; the 4th bedroom was located downstairs off the family room away from the other bedrooms) The next day the agent had told us that she was doing 3 walk throughs that weekend and I got nervous. I was frustrated that Craig wouldn't offer on it, especially cuz the agent told us they could do a longer closing date AND would probably go lower. It was a really bad night for us! I fell in love and wanted it. Craig wanted to keep shopping, but mostly wanted to see more houses in person.
Saturday we called the listing agent and asked her to show us some other homes. We were very impressed with her. We spent Saturday morning seeing a house I fell in love with that was right by our rental (90's home, 2400 sq feet, beautiful inside!, nice .18 lot....but the taxes & price were very high) After going through that house it failed my mind and was actually disappointed in it. The upstairs was the only thing going for it. I found another house that I had been watching and we went to that one right after. It was a great showing and I loved a lot of things about it! It was 2300 sq feet and felt perfect for our family. BUT when we walked in the backyard-I was disappointed. It was small! The size of our WA backyard it felt. We compared everything to the #1 house. We decided to go back to her office and write an offer. I was soooo excited! It felt good and right! There were some things that it didn't have but you realize-you'll never find the perfect house with every single thing. We waited all night Sat and most of Sunday and started feeling doubtful that they must've not liked our offer. We only came in $5k lower than their asking price, them paying closing & leaving their fridge. As we were waiting, Craig got an email notification for a house that came on the market the day before. He was SOOO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! More than house #1. But I didn't feel like he was completely on board with house #1. I didn't want to see his excitement for fear that we made a mistake. He showed me the house, the information about it and quickly I could see why he was so excited! It had 2350 sq feet; 4 bedroom; 2 1/2 bath; 1999 house, .23 acres with fruit trees & garden area, in a great neighborhood-suprisingly only a few blocks away from house #1, on a culdesac, a large 3 car garage, had a separate "playroom" Just looking at the pics...it was a WOW house. Now came the stress. What do we do?!!! Just then we got a counter offer! They said no to the $5k lower unless we pay our whole closing costs (about $8k) or we pay their full asking price and they'll pay only $3500 in closing costs...oh and the fridge would be $800! I was ticked. I felt like they were being greedy and didn't even want to work with us. I wasn't giving up but felt like I couldn't go further on house #1 until I at least saw the new house. We'll call that house #2. So we told our agent we were thinking about their counter but we found a house we wanted to see the next morning. Timing...RIGHT!!! If they didn't counter, we wouldn't have a choice. Craig was off work the next day so he was able to get in to see house #2 right away! Just timing is amazing!!! We decided to go for a drive to see it, although it was 8pm at night and I instantly got a huge smile! It was everything that I wanted-that I had been looking for-that wasn't available for the past 4 months I had been looking. I loved the neighborhood, the area, the house was so cute outside, the culdesac. It was perfect! We were scheduled to walk through the next morning!
When we found out we were moving (October), we did lots of studying, researching, shopping...HOMES.HOMES.HOMES! You come to find pretty quickly what you like and what you want. Here was our want list
WANT: 4+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, 3 car garage, at least .18 acre lot, in a good area with decent schools, a 30 minute commute for Craig or less (in PDX he was doing AT LEAST 45 minutes EACH WAY!), a family room with a separate room for the kid's "playroom" or a separate room for them to have to watch & play---not a front room when you walk in-some houses had lofts, room in the yard to plant fruit trees & a garden, I wanted a 90's house because I like the neighborhoods because all the houses look different and unique and most time came with a bigger lot, I wasn't a huge fan of 2003+ houses cuz the neighborhoods are squished in & all houses look same, Craig liked older homes with fire burning stoves but I hate them because in my eyes that would equal lots of $$ to update, I wanted at least 2300+ square feet-Craig likes nothing too big because then the family feels very separate, our price range could've gone higher than our Washington house because we were making more money living in Boise with lower insurance, taxes & a slight pay raise but since paying $165 less for our rental vs. WA house-we found we didn't want to stretch ourselves thin so we wanted to be under the monthly payment of WA house, and mostly just getting a good feeling
So we found a few and had to wait until at least January to do anything. We are in our rental for 6 months and can be done end of April. I found out near my birthday that the loan officer in Utah that did our re-finance on our Ogden house was fully licensed in Idaho. Craig gave him a call right away and got the loan approval process started. About the 3rd week into January, Craig called a house we had been watching to do a walk through.
Saturday we called the listing agent and asked her to show us some other homes. We were very impressed with her. We spent Saturday morning seeing a house I fell in love with that was right by our rental (90's home, 2400 sq feet, beautiful inside!, nice .18 lot....but the taxes & price were very high) After going through that house it failed my mind and was actually disappointed in it. The upstairs was the only thing going for it. I found another house that I had been watching and we went to that one right after. It was a great showing and I loved a lot of things about it! It was 2300 sq feet and felt perfect for our family. BUT when we walked in the backyard-I was disappointed. It was small! The size of our WA backyard it felt. We compared everything to the #1 house. We decided to go back to her office and write an offer. I was soooo excited! It felt good and right! There were some things that it didn't have but you realize-you'll never find the perfect house with every single thing. We waited all night Sat and most of Sunday and started feeling doubtful that they must've not liked our offer. We only came in $5k lower than their asking price, them paying closing & leaving their fridge. As we were waiting, Craig got an email notification for a house that came on the market the day before. He was SOOO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! More than house #1. But I didn't feel like he was completely on board with house #1. I didn't want to see his excitement for fear that we made a mistake. He showed me the house, the information about it and quickly I could see why he was so excited! It had 2350 sq feet; 4 bedroom; 2 1/2 bath; 1999 house, .23 acres with fruit trees & garden area, in a great neighborhood-suprisingly only a few blocks away from house #1, on a culdesac, a large 3 car garage, had a separate "playroom" Just looking at the pics...it was a WOW house. Now came the stress. What do we do?!!! Just then we got a counter offer! They said no to the $5k lower unless we pay our whole closing costs (about $8k) or we pay their full asking price and they'll pay only $3500 in closing costs...oh and the fridge would be $800! I was ticked. I felt like they were being greedy and didn't even want to work with us. I wasn't giving up but felt like I couldn't go further on house #1 until I at least saw the new house. We'll call that house #2. So we told our agent we were thinking about their counter but we found a house we wanted to see the next morning. Timing...RIGHT!!! If they didn't counter, we wouldn't have a choice. Craig was off work the next day so he was able to get in to see house #2 right away! Just timing is amazing!!! We decided to go for a drive to see it, although it was 8pm at night and I instantly got a huge smile! It was everything that I wanted-that I had been looking for-that wasn't available for the past 4 months I had been looking. I loved the neighborhood, the area, the house was so cute outside, the culdesac. It was perfect! We were scheduled to walk through the next morning!
Pics from internet listing & google
Christmas & News Years 2014
Grandma Anderton passed away right before Christmas and had her funeral the Saturday before. I drove down with the girls and spent the weekend with family and soaking in every minute. It was a very spiritual day and full of love. My heart just aches for my mom & grandpa and pray that they are comforted. Dathan flew in for the funeral and I hadn't seen him since we moved 2 1/2 years ago so I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. So whatever he wanted to do, I did. Even shopping at Winco so he could get bridge mix. Hadi grew a quick bond with him and calls him Uncle Buddy. I sure miss my brother and his family! I hope one day soon that they'll move back west.
We did get to sneak in some fun of game nights, Dad's concert, lights in SLC with Aimee & some shopping for the week. It was a relaxing & fun few days.
Craig came down Christmas Eve as planned and we spent the night with his family. I had woken up with the start of a bad cold and by about 8pm I was miserable! I just about cried sitting in his mom's chair because I just wanted to go back to Aimes & sleep. Hadi and Jaycee also had fevers & colds going through lots of motrin & cold medicine. It was rough! I felt bad to end the night so soon with his family but glad that Craig was so caring. ***AND*** I warned him when he kissed me that night before we knew how sick I actually was! That night we went back to Aimes and layed around, wrapped gifts and watched shows. I FELT BABY KICK THIS NIGHT! It was so special to me and especially since I felt horrible.
Christmas morning was fun with the girls and once again---sickness! We opened gifts, ate breakfast and headed to mom's. Aimee & I were so sick, Jaycee took meds quick after we got there and slept nearly the whole night, Hadi was doped up on meds. Needless to say, the whole trip I just remember lots of meds & sleeping & feeling Ick! Craig then woke up with it a few days later. On Friday, I remember all of us sleeping in until noon!!! We did get time with family and tried our best despite sickness. I loved being with Aimee & her family but I also was glad to get home in my own house and rest. The sickness lasted 3 whole weeks!!! From feeling so weak, lots of coughing nights, meds, mucus, lots of sleeping....it was miserable!!! I'm glad the girls didn't get the extent that Craig and I did. I'm convinced it was some form of Flu or Bronchitis or a mix. I have never felt so horrible in my life!!! Dang Utah!!!!
New Years we tried our best to have fun despite feeling sick. We went to Zurchers to get some party items and mostly had a movie night until midnight. It was funny to watch The Potato Drop. haha---no joke! Right after Craig and I were so ready to sleep.
All I know is, I'm thankful for a decent immune system to fight off whatever it was, meds to ease the pain, and my body for helping baby stay strong. I hope the girls at least had a fun few weeks.
We did get to sneak in some fun of game nights, Dad's concert, lights in SLC with Aimee & some shopping for the week. It was a relaxing & fun few days.
Jaycee all ready to go to her Polar Express party at school. She was looking forward to this party since we moved to Boise. I was glad we could leave right after
It was a beautful, peaceful day up by the mountains
Dad cracks me up. He had to stop to pick up a bungee cord
Jason was feeling a little left out from the group picture
This picture cracked me up and had to send to Craig. She was using double utensils like her daddy
Christmas morning was fun with the girls and once again---sickness! We opened gifts, ate breakfast and headed to mom's. Aimee & I were so sick, Jaycee took meds quick after we got there and slept nearly the whole night, Hadi was doped up on meds. Needless to say, the whole trip I just remember lots of meds & sleeping & feeling Ick! Craig then woke up with it a few days later. On Friday, I remember all of us sleeping in until noon!!! We did get time with family and tried our best despite sickness. I loved being with Aimee & her family but I also was glad to get home in my own house and rest. The sickness lasted 3 whole weeks!!! From feeling so weak, lots of coughing nights, meds, mucus, lots of sleeping....it was miserable!!! I'm glad the girls didn't get the extent that Craig and I did. I'm convinced it was some form of Flu or Bronchitis or a mix. I have never felt so horrible in my life!!! Dang Utah!!!!
All I know is, I'm thankful for a decent immune system to fight off whatever it was, meds to ease the pain, and my body for helping baby stay strong. I hope the girls at least had a fun few weeks.
Life Lately!
I have majorly slacked off in my blogging and have so much to update.
Life in Boise has been...interesting. I've had days of boredom with no friends. Days of stress with SO much to deal with ON TOP of being pregnant. Stir craziness but I think that's more being winter time. Days of fun exploring of Boise & Meridian area. Trips to Utah and how AMAZING it is that it's only a quick, 4 hour drive. Mostly, I feel so blessed that we are where we are. I feel the Lord has blessed our family in so many ways and truly am humble for his graciousness.
Since moving we had our bout of sickness. Mostly Jaycee & Hadi back and forth from colds, fevers, ear infections, puking. It's been really taxing. I don't know if it's new germs or maybe just winter germs.
Hadi had her 3rd birthday. It was such a fun weekend with gma & gpa Parker & Aunt Dana and her family coming up to celebrate. A week before I had asked Hadi what kind of cake and she decided on a barbie cake. She LOVES to watch Barbie on Netflix so it seemed like the obvious. For dinner we made an assortment of Hadi's favorite foods. We had corn dogs, little smokies for the adults, some chips & lots of vegetables. She loves carrots, tomatoes, peppers & cucumbers. After dinner we opened presents and then did cake. It was so fun to celebrate with family and to see the spotlight on the little miss. She got some fun toys and is so good to play with all her toys. Saturday, we spent the day with family. Craig made breakfast for everyone and then we went to Pojo's. It's kinda like Chuck-e-Cheese with lots of games, play area, but also has a Merry Go Round & Bumper cars. Jaycee wouldn't leave Parker and Kaila's side the whole weekend. She really flocks to her cousins. After playing we all went to Golden Corral for dinner, back to our house to play games and chat, then to Wal-Mart to get things for lunch the next day. I loved being with Dana and her family. They are so much fun and hope we can make more time to spend time together. Sunday we all went to church, which was really spiritually fullfilling. Then we came back to eat lunch and visit before they headed back home.
After our family left, Craig and I had an interview at church and got called to be team teachers in Primary. We were sooo excited! After Ogden (Craig in bishopric & I was primary secretary) then to the Branch in Maine (we had multiple callings and even more than one at a time) then to WA (I was 1st counselor in YW and Craig Sunday School Pres) pretty much we were relieved to have a calling less demanding. And I'm pretty partial to primary. I love Primary!
Another weekend Aaron and his family came up to visit. His work has a Boise office so they came up for a work party. It was a fun couple days of the kids playing, visiting and talking. I just feel so blessed to have amazing family on both sides! When it was time for them to leave, Jaycee once again cried that her cousins were leaving. She's been through a lot with the move and leaving all her friends in Washington. She really has such a soft heart. Hadi loved playing with the boys and Breklyn. And...the girls wouldn't leave Bryson's side. Poor kid. All-in-all was a great visit and excited for them to come again.
Craig had a few work trips in December and the perdium is nice for extra money. He seems to really be liking his job. He seems WAY less stressed and the extra time with him is really making an impact on us all. He usually goes in at 7 and gets off at 3:30. He's making friends and it's fun to hear some of the things he is working on. He is traveling nearly the whole month of February but he's gotta do trainings and trying to cram a lot in before the end of April and May.
We both feel so blessed and content in our hearts that this is the place for our family. We know the Lord directed this move and especially hearing all that applied for the job. Just is amazing Craig got it with no federal background. I don't think it's convenience we got this job closer to Utah and better for our family. Also shows to me that money doesn't buy happiness! How blessed we are!
Life in Boise has been...interesting. I've had days of boredom with no friends. Days of stress with SO much to deal with ON TOP of being pregnant. Stir craziness but I think that's more being winter time. Days of fun exploring of Boise & Meridian area. Trips to Utah and how AMAZING it is that it's only a quick, 4 hour drive. Mostly, I feel so blessed that we are where we are. I feel the Lord has blessed our family in so many ways and truly am humble for his graciousness.
Since moving we had our bout of sickness. Mostly Jaycee & Hadi back and forth from colds, fevers, ear infections, puking. It's been really taxing. I don't know if it's new germs or maybe just winter germs.
Hadi had her 3rd birthday. It was such a fun weekend with gma & gpa Parker & Aunt Dana and her family coming up to celebrate. A week before I had asked Hadi what kind of cake and she decided on a barbie cake. She LOVES to watch Barbie on Netflix so it seemed like the obvious. For dinner we made an assortment of Hadi's favorite foods. We had corn dogs, little smokies for the adults, some chips & lots of vegetables. She loves carrots, tomatoes, peppers & cucumbers. After dinner we opened presents and then did cake. It was so fun to celebrate with family and to see the spotlight on the little miss. She got some fun toys and is so good to play with all her toys. Saturday, we spent the day with family. Craig made breakfast for everyone and then we went to Pojo's. It's kinda like Chuck-e-Cheese with lots of games, play area, but also has a Merry Go Round & Bumper cars. Jaycee wouldn't leave Parker and Kaila's side the whole weekend. She really flocks to her cousins. After playing we all went to Golden Corral for dinner, back to our house to play games and chat, then to Wal-Mart to get things for lunch the next day. I loved being with Dana and her family. They are so much fun and hope we can make more time to spend time together. Sunday we all went to church, which was really spiritually fullfilling. Then we came back to eat lunch and visit before they headed back home.
After our family left, Craig and I had an interview at church and got called to be team teachers in Primary. We were sooo excited! After Ogden (Craig in bishopric & I was primary secretary) then to the Branch in Maine (we had multiple callings and even more than one at a time) then to WA (I was 1st counselor in YW and Craig Sunday School Pres) pretty much we were relieved to have a calling less demanding. And I'm pretty partial to primary. I love Primary!
Another weekend Aaron and his family came up to visit. His work has a Boise office so they came up for a work party. It was a fun couple days of the kids playing, visiting and talking. I just feel so blessed to have amazing family on both sides! When it was time for them to leave, Jaycee once again cried that her cousins were leaving. She's been through a lot with the move and leaving all her friends in Washington. She really has such a soft heart. Hadi loved playing with the boys and Breklyn. And...the girls wouldn't leave Bryson's side. Poor kid. All-in-all was a great visit and excited for them to come again.
Craig had a few work trips in December and the perdium is nice for extra money. He seems to really be liking his job. He seems WAY less stressed and the extra time with him is really making an impact on us all. He usually goes in at 7 and gets off at 3:30. He's making friends and it's fun to hear some of the things he is working on. He is traveling nearly the whole month of February but he's gotta do trainings and trying to cram a lot in before the end of April and May.
We both feel so blessed and content in our hearts that this is the place for our family. We know the Lord directed this move and especially hearing all that applied for the job. Just is amazing Craig got it with no federal background. I don't think it's convenience we got this job closer to Utah and better for our family. Also shows to me that money doesn't buy happiness! How blessed we are!
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