Thursday, October 27, 2016

Another First Day of School 2016-2017

Life is so busy but I have to keep updating this little blog. One day I'll be so happy I did.
After an incredibly challenging summer, that forever changed our family, the kids went back to school and life moved forward. Stryder was pretty excited to see his friends again but soon the reality of jr. high crept back in and it wasn't long before he didn't like school again haha. Shelby and Soren started 6th and 4th grade at a new elementary school because of our move. They were both pretty nervous but their new school picks a theme every year and by some tender mercy, the theme this year is Disney. Each grade has a name, like 4th grade is Frontierland and 6th is Tomorrowland. There are Disney movie quotes and posters everywhere and Mickey Mouse all over the place. Then to top it all off, on the first day of school there was a big white Cinderella pumpkin carriage parked in front of the school and all the teachers dressed up as Disney characters. The principal was Walt Disney. I mean come on! Needless to say, the kids where a lot less nervous and have really loved Mountain Trails.

My handsome 8th grader.


My cool 4th grader.


 My pretty 6th grader.

Shelby and Soren have a special relationship and really watch out for each other at school. They wait for each other before coming out to meet me after school and Shelby isn't embarrassed to say hi to her younger brother at lunch. Stryder has made lots of friends and gotten to know several kids in our neighborhood better. So far this school year has been a great one.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

We Bought a House

As if our life hasn't been totally wonderful already with our healthy preemie baby, we went and built a house too. It's about 3 mins away from where we were living and just down the street from Ben's sister. This is our first house that is totally ours. We've rented and/or lived with someone for our whole marriage. And after 13 moves, I moved for the last time (or for at least a really, really long time). It's been such a blessing and we are truly so grateful for this home.

They started digging out the basement on April 7th.

We had concrete poured on April 14th.

Framing went up starting on April 26th.

More walls by April 27th.


Starting to take shape as of April 28th.

Roof went on in the rain by April 29th.

This was also taken on April 29th and yes I drove by every day and sometimes more than once a day.

Windows and doors started going in by May 6th.

Siding started going on by June 6th. We were in the hospital getting pictures sent to us by family driving by.

I think when the stone went up, it was Ben's favorite part. He was so excited to see the cobble stones and there are only 1-2 other houses in the neighborhood that did the cobble, so it makes our house stand out.



We started moving things in the night of July 15th and then officially lived there as of the 16th. It is just the most beautiful home and I know I was divinely inspired to look at this particular model and ask the right questions. We couldn't be happier with our little spot of home.

You can kind of see my awesome door color and mailbox vinyl that match. Oh life is good at 1715!