We Moved!

Catching Up: October 2009

I have no pictures of the new house, so I've been putting off this post - that and the fact that it was an extremely emotionally exhausting 4 months, and I'm not ready to re-live it.

Here's the short version:

In June, Ian felt strongly that we should move and find an area better suited for our kids. We thought we'd move to Daybreak (a great community nearby that has a gazillion kids).

We looked at EVERY house (OK, maybe not every one, but it felt like it!) from South Jordan, to Draper, to Lehi, and back to Daybreak. We put in offers on 13 different houses. Nobody wanted our money! Wasn't this supposed to be a Buyer's market? We were so confused - we really felt like we were supposed to make this change, but felt no clear direction on where we were supposed to go. We had faith, however, that this was Heavenly Father's will, and we trusted that He would help us to know when it was right. We asked that when it was the right one, that everything would fall into place for us to buy it.We would do everything we could to find homes and areas that we think could be right, and we trusted that He would make it work.

We sold our home very quickly (2 months) and the Buyers allowed us to rent for 1 month after we closed. We had to be out by the end of October. As of Ashlyn's birthday, we had nowhere to go, and had 3 weeks before moving day. Nobody wanted to rent to us short-term and we were starting to panic.

We saw this house and ignored it for a week. It was in Riverton - we weren't interested in living in Riverton. It wasn't Daybreak, it wasn't near family in Draper, and it wasn't in a community with smokin' deals like Lehi. Finally, out of other options, we decided to drive by and see it. We walked in and were blown away. It was everything we would pick out if we could build our own home. It was the best features of all the houses we loved all rolled into one.

We submitted a low ball offer, and negotiated with the Seller just above that and got about $40K off his asking price. We felt it was a really good deal - but what about the neighborhood? Were there any kids? Were the people nice? Did they like to party like we do? We had no idea, but we felt like this was 'the one.'

It was vacant, which meant we could move right in, it was still close to our friends we were leaving, and it turns out that there are loads of kids, the neighbors are awesome, and we feel blessed beyond what we could've ever imagined.

It was a journey of faith, and we are so grateful that we were led here. I am particularly grateful for Ian, his inspiration, and willingness to take a risk and follow his promptings.

(Honest, that WAS the short version!)

Post Edit:

My Baby: Our Formal Dining Room Table.

I still can't look at it without feeling sick to my stomach!

Did I forget to mention what a nightmare Moving Day was?

(Thank Goodness our lifesavers, Russell and Carrie, took care of our children. I couldn't even imagine if they had been underfoot during this whole ordeal. Thanks again guys!)

Our two moving days included: the smelliest men I have ever encountered - and I rode on public transportation in Portugal, so that's really saying something!, damaged furniture and floors and firing those smelly men, a trip to the Emergency Room for me (I sliced my thumb open - gross and scary!); new movers (which were awesome), and we were finally in.

We then collapsed on our mattress (which smelled like smoke and were wet with some yellow liquid - the source of which we were too exhausted to debate - thanks stupid, smelly movers.) and remembered Noelle's birthday was the next day and we had to provide her with a party and some presents - neither of which had been planned or bought.

Which leads us to our next post...