Can we move in yet?

We have been on pins and needles, wondering if buying this house was actually going to happen or not. I am posting these pictures because I think it's finally safe to say that it is. Almost. The appraisal was today and that is the final hurdle to get over. We think it will appraise well, but in this economy you just never know! We should know after the weekend how the appraisal went.

I love the style of the house. It has an Arts & Crafts kind of feel to it with its fixtures and arches. There is a long list of things that we want to do to it over the next 5 years. The basement is walkout with 2 large, awesome windows. So our big project will be to finish that. We will put a family room, another bathroom and 2 more bedrooms downstairs. Hopefully that will begin next spring with tax return money. I want to lay some tile, paint some bedrooms and add a few finishing touches. We will also build a deck someday. And, oh, am I excited to landscape! The last house we owned in MO we only lived in for 2 years, which was just long enough to decide what I wanted to do with the yard... and then we moved. I am so excited and grateful that we are going to be in one place for 5 whole years. I have a good friend who majored in landscape design that said she could help me decide what to plant where. It'll be wonderful!

Let me just say that location was really what sold this house to us. It is in a subdivision that is built around a small lake in 2 main phases. This house, our house, is the only house in the entiresecond phase. So pretty much, we have, ah, maybe 50 acres (?) all to ourselves. Granted, people could build all around us, but the chances of that happening within the next 5 years are pretty darn slim. We have a 1/2 acre lot too. And the land behind our lot isn't subdivided. We will very much enjoy the privacy. Very much.

Another great perk is that we have access to that little lake we can see from our front door. We will be looking for some canoes and kayaks on craigslist shortly!

We will close by June 18th, but hopefully a week or 10 days sooner. We feel so blessed to be able to buy this house and that everything has fell into place so far. We can feel the Lord's influence in our lives and we are very grateful that He has blessed us so abundantly.

For more pictures you can click here.

Today

Instead of catching up on posts from 2 months ago, I thought sharing a few pictures from this day would be a treat for you and I.

I love my girls!

Auntie Lauren and Ava J.

An effort to curl

A Flashback

See! I used to be tan AND thin AND blonde. :)

These were such happy times! These pics were taken right before Adam and I got engaged, in 9/03. Aren't they sweet?

On BYU campus.

In front of the Manti Temple doors, the place we agreed we wanted to get married.

Magic Mountain

Adam's brother, Justin, has a friend who works for Six Flags, California... so, to say the least, we got the hook up. Equipped with VIP passes that allowed us adults to go to the front of the line of any roller coaster we wanted, we all had A LOT of fun. I hadn't been on a roller coaster for 7 years! Let me tell you... I LOVE roller coasters! It was just the fun and adventure that I needed!

From left to right: Lexi, Kira, Camille, Astrid, Kate, Julie, Drew and Adalin.

From left to right: Adam, Adalin, Drew, Emily, Todd, Julie, Kira

Camille and Kira in Tweety's bird cage

Adalin and Kate were little ride buddies! It was cute. They even went on Percie the train roller coaster 3 or 4 times. It was a thrill for them. You can see Adam barely fit in some of the kid rides. Also, I should point out that Kira finally got over her fear of rides and actually enjoyed them this time! A step in the right direction.

A Daily Thing

Adalin and Kira were always sacking out in the middle of the day. Playing with cousins all day in the sun really got the better of them. I just had to take (and post) this picture to illustrate just how tired they were!

Carpenteria! Beach camping, swimming and chowing.

When we were in Southern California we had a chance to go beach camping for a night with Adam's brother, sister in law and their awesome kids. We had so much fun! Soaking up the sun was a beautiful thing after having nothing but snow the first half of our trip!

This is one happy girl right here!

Kira and our niece, Camille.

Kira could play in the sand all day and night if we let her!

Adam, Camille and Drew stacked flat rocks for a few hours. Justin (Adam's brother) chimed in and told the kids he would give them $1 if they stacked 10 rocks and $2 for 20. As you can see, they stacked quite a few!

Bath in the sink

While we were in UT for a couple days last month, Adam's mom, Jeanine, gave little Ava Jeanine a bath in her kitchen sink. I love these pictures.

This is what traveling does to kids

While driving back from Adam's brother's house in Heber City, UT in April, I looked out my window to see this gorgeous view of the backside of Mt. Timpanogos:

I turned around to tell the girls to soak in every beautiful detail and found them in a state quite unable to soak anything in, but sleep.