BOYS

I L-O-V-E these little guys!

HOUSE PICS

I am really excited about our house! It's kind of a funny story how we found it...right after Chris accepted his job, I got online to look at houses. I saw this one but didn't say anything to him because he wasn't sure if we should buy right away or rent something for a while. A few days went by and one day when he was looking at houses, he called me into the bedroom to ask me what I thought of this same house! He flew down a few days later and spent two days with a realtor looking a several houses. This house was the first and the favorite! It had only been on the market four days and we just knew it was supposed to be ours! He put in an offer that was accepted right away and then came home with these photos, just as I had requested! Good work, babe! These pics start in the basement and work their way up....

walkout basement

basement patio and yard

basement bath...say good-bye to the purple...

playroom in basement

little room with walk-in closet but no windows...
could I put a double bed in here or is that creepy?

staircase up to main floor

Main floor family room

Main floor guest bath...good bye blue...

windows in family room look out over yard

kitchen....goodbye yellow....

Eating area and doors out to deck

butlers's pantry/laundry between kitchen and dining room

dining room (soon to be living room) and the front door

Office, just to the right of the front door

staircase upstairs, just as you enter front door

our master bed, bath, closet and laundry rooms

someday nursery

Liv's room...good bye pink

kids bath....they like the green...negotiations needed....

Boys room. Bunk beds on order.

The blue shutters (and yellow door) that will magically
become black within 24 hours of us moving in!

I am excited to get all of our stuff in there and see how it looks! Of course, I already have a list a mile long of things I want to change and do to the place! It all takes time and money though...it will be great just to be in our own home again! 

MISS ANN

Tonight I said good-by to one of my sweet Rapid City friends, Miss Ann Mines. I will miss her so! My kids will miss her, too, she is so good to them. Below, Ben leaves a few memories of himself on the hood of her car....

"Knock Knock! Hello?"

 Miss Ann is Ben's "Gum Goddess." He loves gum and she is good about having a continuous supply for him, often in a variety of flavors. Here she is teaching him how to blow a bubble...

Naked child showin off his new skillz...

HOUSE

Wow, have the last two days been INSANE!!!! We accepted the job offer on Thursday afternoon, I put in my resignation at the hospital Friday morning and Chris left at noon on Friday for Kansas City. He has been there all weekend, checking the city out, finding a nice suburb for us and looking at houses. Before he left, we both had seen a house online that we really liked. He went to see it yesterday, put an offer in last night and it was accepted this morning! Hurray....in just a few short weeks we will be moving into our new place. It has a nice neighborhood with lots of kids and trees and is close to everything. I am so excited. Almost numb, really- it doesn't seem like things have gone this smoothly in a very long time! What an absolute blessing this is. The kids were so excited when I showed them the pictures of the house. They feel good about all of this, too. In fact, the first thing Nick said to me when he woke up this morning was, "Is today the day we can share our testimonies at church?" I told him it was and he said, "Well good, I have mine ready." He's never born his testimony before in sacrament before so I wasn't sure if he'd really do it. (Just in case, I reminded him that testimony meeting is a time to share feelings we have for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, not for making big announcements or sharing family secrets!) The minute we got to church and sat down, he started asking, "When do I go up? Can I go now? How about now?" He waited impatiently and was the second person up there when the time finally came. He marched right up to the microphone and in his sweet little voice said the following: "I want to bare my testimony that my dad got a job in Kansas City. We prayed for him to get a job. Heavenly Father helped us so we could stay at our Grandma's house for a couple of days. We have a new house and it's close to school and to my church so I can walk. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I was so proud of him, that took a lot of courage. It's wonderful to know that, even through such a dark, depressing time, our family has emerged unscathed, happy and more able to recognize the blessings that have come not only at the end of this trial but also during it!