Well, we started off the new year by MOVING INTO OUR FIRST HOME!
We have been looking at houses basically since we moved here. We knew we would be here longer than we wanted to rent, so we were looking for our price range and in the same part of town. The northwest part of Visalia is a safe and good place to live. There are other good spots, but we knew we wanted to stay up here. The problem is that our ward boundaries only took a tiny part of the northwest corner, so I really really REALLY looked into the houses in that tiny part.
We hooked up with a realtor I know, and after getting pre-approved by her lender we just wanted to go check out some houses. We came to this one house and it had everything we wanted- 4 bedrooms (so the kids don't have to share right away), cul de sac, in a good area, big covered patio. Then she showed us the outside. The backyard is HUGE (for California). I haven't seen a yard that big here. I really didn't want to like this house though, because it was in a different ward! But our realtor said we would need to move fast if we wanted it because it would go fast. So we decided just to make an offer, and they accepted it right away. So we were set to close New Year's Eve! What a great way to end the year!
Right after we got the keys. Look at how Cora and I smile the same, and Brandon and James smile the same.
Their daughter had a purple bedroom, so we knew where Cora would be! I hung these up on the nails they left... I still need to rearrange them.
New Year's Day Brandon had the day off, and Steve and Karen were in town... so I decided to run a 5k. It was my way to get out of the house before the craziness of moving started. And I did it in 42 flat- not too bad for my second 5k after hurting myself!
Before we got the UHaul we just loaded up the cars and brought them back and forth. James was a good helper.
Cora was also a good helper at the furniture store.
This backyard has been amazing. We have big plans for it (in the next few years of course), and just to have a place where the kids can go outside and PLAY without having to pack everything up is huge. It's pretty well shaded, which will be so nice in the summer when it's triple digits. No plans for a pool (people tease me about that ALL THE TIME), but we are going to get a trampoline and some garden boxes!
And in typical boy fashion, James's favorite spot is the dirty mud pit. He learned "dirty" from sitting in it so many times!
Moving into this house would not have been possible without so many people blessing us along the way. I feel like there has been a lot of coaching from the other side of the veil to help everything fall into place. Thanks, all 3 grandpas over there! We hope that someday we can bless people just as much as we have been blessed.
When the house is more set up I will share more pictures!
