I'm Scared of the Dark

     So, this is a "need to be documented" moment in my family's life. I'll just start at the beginning and go from there.
     My neighbor down the road sold her house. She had a very similar house to mine. As I was talking to her about it I whispered.."So, do you mind me asking how much it sold for?" When she told me my jaw dropped. Crazy thoughts started swimming in my head. As you may remember, we bought this house on short sale and during the worst market drop in years. Well, lately things have been improving. So, after 2.3 years in the house, our house has gained a bit of equity.
     I went home and told Nate.  I mentioned that maybe we should think about selling the house. His response. "You're crazy!!!!!" Now, I know why he said that. We spent the first 18 months painting every room in the house. Ceilings, walls, trim, floor boards. And we didn't paint it a neutral brown. I ain't like that. Colors. I love them.
 Old Front Room

New Front Room

Old Kitchen

New Kitchen

Old Family Room

New Family Room

Old Bedrooms

New Bedrooms

     Then, for the last 7 months we (and I really mean he) have put our blood, sweat, tears and money into the basement. Yes, it is finally finished. Anyway, it turned out really cute. The three older kids are down there, which I LOVE! At night, when it is time for bed, instead of going up stairs and being super noisy so as to wake up the babies, they all go down stairs.
Old Basement

New Basement

      Ok. So, back to the story. His first response was "You're crazy." But, I don't give up easily.

     Here is where  I get a little too honest. Whenever I am blogging I debate in my mind how much honestly I should put into a post.  More often than not it is edited...you know...to make me look better.  Well this is not edited.  I read one of my friends blogs this morning.  She said she always tell her kids to own their faults.  There your's...so just own them.  It's ok.  Everyone has them.  Thanks to her wise words I decided to just own it.  This reveals one of our worst faults.  I told him "You know all that debt we have had to suffer with from our university days. Maybe this was Heavenly' Father's plan to help us."
     Now, I won't say how much it is. It is enough to embarrass me. I will just defend myself by saying...one year we actually made less than $12,000 as a family of 4. When I think back to all those years and mounting debt I want to go back to myself then and fix things...but honestly, I don't know what I would have done differently. Worked and put the kids into daycare...which wouldn't have been that helpful.  Besides, even knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't have done that.
      So, before you judge me for all that, just know that we were doing the best we could. We were living way below a good wage and trying to get Nate through school. Since then, we added three more kids and plenty of other expenses. So, even though Nate finished school, got a good job, and we no longer use credit cards...we still have to pay them back.  Five years we have been on that road. It's painful. So, when you think we are crazy for selling a house we love and that we just put so much time into, maybe you can imagine the options.  I truly do feel that Heavenly Father made this happen for us. He knew our house would quickly gain equity.  Short of planting a money tree in our back yard...he couldn't have done much better than he did.
     We thought about this option for awhile. We went back and forth. We really didn't want to sell the house. Like I said, we have loved it here. Our kids are happy. We were at the point in our remodel in which we could have put all new flooring in the house or remodeled the kitchen or bathrooms.  In the end, the answer kept coming up the same. Sell the house. Sell the house. Sell the house.
     We put the house on the market 3 weeks ago. I showed it about a dozen times. Torture. I am not a slob, but getting the house showroom clean for people is a pain. Then leaving so they can look at it in peace..well, Mcdonald's made a few extra bucks from me. :) Once school got in I had to show it almost daily. But, let's be honest, three weeks is nothing. We got two offers on the same day and came out with everything we were hoping for, which is saying a lot. Again, Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. We signed a contract to sell last Friday. The family is coming from North Carolina and want to close Sept. 30. Umm...that's three weeks for those of you who can't count. (HAHA)
      So, once people found out we were selling our house their next question was "Where are you going?" My answer..."I have no idea." Nate and I could only focus on one problem at a time. First problem, sell the house. Check. Next problem, find a new house. (Insert blood curdling scream here.) I don't know where we are going. I don't know what we will do in three weeks when we have no home. I have debated living in a hotel. Renting an entire house and paying deposit, first and last months rent, etc...is not very attractive if we only need it for a month or so. But, in my heart I know that miracles will occur. Just as they already have. Blessings will happen because Heavenly Father loves his children. Deserving or not, he has taken care of my family through thick and thin. In good times and bad. He never fails. I'm scared of the dark but I know he is in there with us and he will flip on the light when the time is right.

To Be Continued......

Jordanelle 2013

 Here is how David spent his time.....or asleep....or in Grandma's motor home.

 Here's how the kids spent their time...along with a bunch of other things.

Here's how I wish I could have spent all my time.  Most of it was spent babysitting babies.  :)
In the end, every year is wonderful at Jordanelle with my awesome family.  I rented a cabin this year to sleep in. I know, what a whimp...but I had to take care of the baby...so I will be whimpy. It was funny. I listened to the kids in the cabin next door ooh and ahh at the outdoor movie night we had. Back to the Future in the great out doors. Such fun. Not to mention great food, paddle boarding, swimming, relaxing, and the kids doing all their scooter/bike/crazy stuff. Loved it all. Wish I had taken more pictures. Thanks Mom, Dad, Sandi, Scott, Nikki, Sid, Conner, Rick and Eryn. I am so glad to have such fun and fabulous family.

Basement Bonanza!

SO, here we are, months later. Our basement is almost finished. I mean...we are just so close. We (when I say we I really mean Nathan ;) finished up the sheet rock about a month ago.  After some soul searching we decided to hire someone to come in and do the tape, mud and texture.  Best money we ever spent.  They did such a good job.  The walls came out looking nice smooth, ready to be painted.  So, we (and again, I really mean Nate) tackled the paint job this week.  Ceilings and walls done.  Check.  Lights wired and working.  Check.  Plugs working.  Check.  Seriously, Nate is a miracle worker.  :)  Next on the list....doors , trim, and shelves in the closets.  Then we get the flooring and install the sink and toilet for the 1/2 bath. 

What an experience. Our goal is to have it all done in two more weeks. Then....we will be making a bold move. :)

What is wrong with this picture?

Ok. I admit it. I am getting a little lazy in my discipline. I took a look at Sarah swinging in the baby swing with a bottle and had to laugh. A - I am letting her drink from a bottle. B - I could care less if she wants to fit her two year old body into that baby swing. As long as she isn't crying we are good to go. Too many other things to worry about to care about these little details. Nate did finally put his foot down on the bottle the other night though. Big meanie. Sarah cried and cried. Ah, life has such sorrow. ;)

Summer projects - Fix it and forget it

After staring at these chairs for two years and watching them get uglier and uglier by the day I finally took action.  6 chairs , spray paint, fabric and plastic to cover it and make it easy to clean.  I love them...We are still working on the dining table.  I just bought a table top off ksl for $25 bucks.  The trick is to use the legs from my current table with the new table.  I think it will work.  In the end I will have a cute dining set that matches my cute and colorful house.  Anyway, it was fun to do. :) I guess that is an upside of having crappy furniture.  You certainly can't make it any worse so there is no fear. 

4 Months - We just keep chugging!

At 4 months David is just a sweet heart. Who can resist babies at this stage. They smile at you and you think you just won the lottery. You feel like you must be the best because he doesn't just smile at anyone. Life is going well and we finally feel like a normal family again...it's a new normal, but normal none the less. David can coo up a storm now. He if working on starting to grab at things. He enjoys walks and talks and watching video games. Yes, they start this early. HAHA. HE is still sleeping in my room, but hopefully that will be changing within a few weeks. Our basement is very nearly done. I will have to post pictures. David is the cutest!

Ah yeah!  Such a sweetie.

Getting stronger.  He'll be sitting up on his own in no time. :)

Sarah loves her little brother.  And...David is warming up to her too.

At the beach at Jordanelle.  He looks happy now...but he wasn't really a big fan of the hot sun.  He preferred Grandma's air conditioned motor home..

David loves to chill with his big brother. 

And of course, mom gets the best smiles of all. I deserve it. 

Wet and Wild Weekend

This was the most fun we have had on a weekend in quite a while.  Nate has been working so hard on the basement that we haven't spent much time having fun for a while.  :)  The 4th of July is a special occasion though...so we packed it in.  The 4th in our family has always meant enjoying the Parade at the Freedom Festival in Provo.  This was a big year for Sarah since she was at the age she could actually enjoy it.  And...she enjoyed it with a little fear and trepidation.  She sat on Nate's lap a lot...and then Nate finally tricked her into sitting with the other kids.  The parade was a bit smaller this year and there was no fly over by the jets which was a really bummer. 

 The first part of the parade was nice and cool.  We had shade from a big tree...but then the sun came out and we got hot!  Rachel and I walked over to 7-11 to grab a few slurpees...by the time we got back the parade had ended.  Another bummer.   We were still glad to have slurpees though. 

 I have decided to start getting pictures of myself more often...since it looks like my family is minus a mother most of the time.  So, here we are...mom, me, and David.  Yes..I know, I look just like my mom. 

After the parade we just kicked back and bbqed at our house.  Just our little family. Uncle Ryan came by to hang out too.  The older kids, Uncle Ryan and Nate all went to a movie in the afternoon while I stayed with the babies for nap time.  The movies would have been fun...but, honestly, I had a good time at home.  Those babies slept the whole time and finished a little sewing project I had been working on.  Fireworks were the finale of our night.  "BOOM" was the word Sarah learned.  The Pleasant Grove firework show was fantastic this year. They really won us over.  We usually go there just because it's not quite as crowded...but this year was really good.

.  .  .  .  So, after all that and staying up late we went boating the next day.  It is a blessing to have amazing grandparents for my kids.  Both sets are so wonderful in every way.  Something fun we get to enjoy from my parents is their boat.  No, we never had a boat when I was growing up.  When they got rid of all their kids though..it became possible for them to do fun things like buy a boat.  So, they did and we get plenty of fun from it.  I am so glad my kids can enjoy it...since it is unlikely Nate and I will be financially free enough to buy a boat anytime soon.  HAHA.

 I wasn't sure how David would do on the boat...but he liked it.  He was entertained by the wind and water...and when he wasn't he was rocked asleep. No problem.

 Sarah also loved the boat.  She didn't brave the open water so much...but she did enjoy playing in the water at the edge of the beach. 

 We all swam in the cold water out in the middle.  Really, that was the only time I braved the water.

We had such a fun time.  The end was also an adventure.  My mom had the three oldest kids in the boat heading back to the dock to pull the boat out of the water when a huge storm hit.  They were waiting with a bunch of other boats trying to get off the lake.  With all the wind and rain it was a nerve racking experience...especially for my mom.  She was awesome and got all the kids and the boat safely on the trailer.  On facebook she wrote "Spent a great day at the lake with my sweet grandchildren. At least it was great until about 6pm then all heck broke loose on the water. I was in charge of bringing the boat in with the kids on board in a severe Thunder, Lighting, Rain, and Wind, storm. Thanks to prayers being answered we made it safely back. Thank you Heavenly Father."
She told me that she and Ben said and prayer that helped. Good job Grandma!  

So, that's the end of a great weekend.  Back to the daily grind tomorrow...ok...it's summer.  Most of our family doesn't do the daily grind.  Just poor Nathan.  I guess the rest of us will just sleep in. Hahaha.