Some Time Coming

This whole process has been kind of surreal.

When Blake and I bought our house in Vegas it was cut and dry. Granted the market later bit the dust and left us with a home that was worth nothing and a blemish on our credit....but buying our home was easy.

For the last four years we have rented a house. We have loved it. The house...that is. Renting has its perks and some things you wish you could change. But when it boiled right down to it...we were glad that we were renting.

Our friends would quite frequently tell us when houses would become available in the neighborhood. We never looked. There was no reason. We just weren't ready. 

It sounds silly saying it but in a way I felt like we had failed with our first house and I just wanted to make sure that when it came down to it again that we did it right. Not right...Smart.

We got word that a guy in our ward was going to sell his house. He had bought the house when it was brand new and had moved in. He raised his family there. His wife passed away about 6 or so years ago and the year after she died he married another gal in our ward. So he moved into her house down the street, leaving all of the things in his house. The house sat vacant for 5 years. Then he decided to rent it. The renters trashed it. So...after some pressure from his wife, I think,...he decided to sell it.

Originally I just wanted to see what it looked like. Then the more I thought about it the better and more "right" it felt. We knew it was old. We knew it needed a lot of work. We knew it was in an area that is expensive. We knew that houses go fast here...but we were hopeful.

A lot of things transpired over a couple of weeks. We kept going back and forth with the owner. Trying to get him to name a selling price. Then Blake talked to him and they agreed that when he decided on a price that he would talk to Blake before listing it on the market. 

I have never felt more stress. I thought about it day in and day out. It consumed all of my thoughts. I knew it was silly to feel like that, but I just couldn't help it.

Then one morning I got a call from the seller saying that he had decided what he would sell it for. I gave him Blake's number and told him to call and talk to him. Blake set up an appointment to go and meet with him...that night.

We got an approval letter from our lender and paperwork to make an offer on the house, we were hoping to do the whole transaction with out any Realtors.  We knew that if it went on the market it would sell for more then our price range or we would be outbid. The day crawled along.

We went over that night with the intention of filling out the contract and buying the house. Then he told us. "Oh,...the house got listed this morning. The Realtor was a real go-getter. We have already shown it to two people and there is one more coming tonight and again tomorrow morning."

I was crushed. I willed myself to not cry.

Then as though it was some mighty miracle, after talking to him for only a few minutes, he said he would take it off the market and sell it to us with out a Realtor.

I am going to chalk it up to divine intervention. There is no other scenario that makes sense.

Funny thing is, the next morning the owner got an offer through his Realtor for the full asking price, which was about 20 thousand more than what we were under contract to buy it for.

We told our landlords that we were buying a house and they decided to put our house, that we are renting, on the market to sell. In two days they got 6 offers on the house. Amazing.

Want to see the loveliness that is our new digs, come the first part of July?

Now mind you this house was built in the 60's and nothing has been changed in that time.

  

This picture is walking up to the front door. On the left side there is a big concrete patio slab that is above the garage. It is a little weird but we are hoping to make it look not so awkward.

When you first walk into the house there is a small landing and then a split level entry. Not my most favorite but I can live with it.

When you walk up the stairs to the right is the living room. 

We may leave the curtains. 

This is still the living room but taken from the corner where Blake was standing in the last picture. It shows the dining room. 

Still in the living room, but showing the halls, stairs, and awesome chandelier.

If you walk down the hallway

there are two bedrooms on the left side.

On the right there is a kitchen with carpet, 

bathroom with carpet, 

and the master bedroom 

complete with master bathroom. 

If you walk down the stairs

On the right is the family room complete with popcorn glitter ceilings.

This is taken from the corner of the family room facing the other direction.

Through the door on the right is the laundry room

complete with a storage space. 

The door on the left takes you to what we like to refer to as the "guest suite."

There is a bathroom on the right with creepy blinds and wallpaper.

A little further on the right is a bedroom. 

Wood paneling is in, YO!

Then on the right is another family room.

The back of the house has staircases coming from both the kitchen and the laundry room.

There is a stone wall in the backyard that the owner built himself. He quarried the rock out of the Provo river.

There are also two apple trees and one apricot tree.

The nice thing is that we are not delusional about the amount of work that this house needs. But, we are excited to get in it and start making it ours....one do-it-yourself project at a time.          

Life Imitating...Er...Life?

I figured it would be fun. I thought that Canon would love it.

That's what I get for thinking I know my kids.

Our ward does a "Fun in the Sun" activity once a week. The first week, we went to the fire department.

Gavin and Laney were enthralled.

They listened to a guy explain what everything did.

They even watched him put on his gear.

Canon? Not a big fan.

Gavin went so far as to try some on 

and test out how the hoses work.

Canon? He didn't think it was all that exciting....

but I am just guessing on this.

The kids waited with baited breath...

I think the guy was showing them their axes. They must have been very big...or scary.

Gavin was the star pupil so the fireman let Gavin climb into the fire engine...

and turn on the siren.

Laney drove a little, 

but mostly she was still concerned about the axes.

Know who wasn't concerned about the sharp weapons? This kid.

They dressed up in little fire uniforms.

Know who didn't care about the uniforms? Penny. 

She cried by my side just about the whole time. I thought she was being ornery.

But I think she had a premonition. 

(OK..I really really don't think that...I really think she was just being a little stinker.)

Not even a week later Penny was running around the upstairs and she runs straight into the corner of the wall. 

She falls on her bum and starts to cry. Now, mind you, Penny has this thing where if she gets hurt sometimes she will pass out. It sucks, but we are...for the most part...used to it. Well, I could tell that she was going to pass out so I blew in her face, which forces her to take a breath and most of the time it works. It didn't work. Which is no big deal. Normally when she passes out it is only for a minute. Well the minute passed and she didn't wake up..then another minute...then I called Blake in a panic who was right around the corner. It took him a minute to get home and she still was out. Her face was kind of pale and around her mouth is blueish. Blake pulled into the driveway and I told him we needed to call 911. He calls 911, and is talking to the person on the other end all the while Penny is still out. We hear the sirens coming down the road. At this point she has been passed out about 8 minutes or so. We know they are coming for us. Then right as they pull up to our house...Penny opens her eyes. They take a look at her and check her vitals as we stand in our front yard. They tell us that her vitals are normal and to watch her for an hour to make sure she doesn't projectile vomit or can't walk. We watch her....and she is just fine. 

Only the bruise on her forehead shows that she is a little worse for wear.

Not me though....I had a full fledged crying attack.

Then I realized that we have experienced a mile stone.

911 call? check.

My Least Favorite Things

That sounds very Un-Maria Von Trapp of me.

I know that it is something everyone goes through. 

I know that it happened to me..and I was probably excited about it.

I try to act like it is fun...

I don't fool my kids one iota. 

They know it grosses me out and they think it is funny. 

"Look at my loose tooth mom!"

Cue gagging.
Not only are they loosing teeth, but they seem to be doing it in mass numbers. If I didn't know better I would think they were knocking them out for funsies.

Knocking teeth out wouldn't be the only thing considered fun at our house. 
Sometimes lathering yourself in soap is pretty cool too.

That is until it gets in your eyes....

and mom starts taking a picture of you....

Then she has to hose you down...

At that point when the burn of the soap remains...
Mom calls that poetic justice.