We've Moved

It all started back in January.  We found the perfect house for us and this spot not far from our current home was where it would be.  Here the kids are the day we told them the good news, standing on the lot where our new home would soon be built.  Our closing date was anywhere from June 5th to August 31st, but if everything went according to schedule, July 22nd was the date we were told to plan for.

They broke ground right away and there was a crew working on our house non-stop,  even on the weekends.  We made it a Sunday tradition to take a walk after church to check on the progress.  Of course we drove by it daily, we lived so close, but on Sundays we would go as a family and spend time walking around inside.  It was really fun.

If our house had finished according to schedule, we would be moving in this weekend.  Usually it seems like if builders are off schedule, they are late.  But, in our case they were ahead of schedule and we got to move in sooner.  Moving is a ton of work and it will be awhile before we feel completely settled, but I guess if you look at it this way, we are way ahead of where we thought we would be this summer.

We love how open the floor plan is.

We love that we have a great view of Mt. Rainier.

Right now we have turned our focus to putting in the back yard.  Jared has plans for a retaining wall around the side of our yard that slopes down to the neighbors yard, soil and grass of course, and maybe a cement pad around the side yard for a basketball hoop and fire pit.  It may take a year to get it all done, but someday it will be great.

All of the kids have been helping off and on.  Grandpa and Grandma came this past weekend to help us get started.

Jared says Grandpa is a work horse.  

I'm not surprised, all of my life I've see what a hard worker he is, we were lucky to have him offer to come out and help us.

Most everything is unpacked, but I haven't hung anything on the walls except for a few curtains which were essential since we don't have blinds. My bathroom windows have giant post-it notes for curtains still...

...and our home phone line is still not set up properly.  We have boxes covering half of the master bedroom floor and we can only park one car in the garage.  I've got pictures to hang and a piano to shop for and we are still waiting for a dining room table (that we bought back in May) to be delivered.  BUT... we are IN our house and WE LOVE IT!  All of the rooms are set up and unpacked, we have great neighbors that we've enjoyed getting to know, and we are off to a great Summer!

Life is good!

Birthday Fun

Happy 13th Birthday Linsey!  

We had a great time celebrating in Canada.

Once we got home, Linsey had a couple friends over for breakfast.

Crepes... Yum!

They headed to the mall for some shopping and a scavenger hunt.

"Try on a sleeping bag at Sports Authority."

"Take a picture of everyone wearing fancy high heels."

"Get a perfume sample and take a picture like it's the best smell you've ever smelt."

"Take a picture wearing a matching outfit with a manequin."

"wearing sunglasses with a serious pose."

I love all their funny faces.

"Buy a bouncy ball at Old Navy and take a picture of it like it's your pet."

"Take a picture with something animal print."

"Get straws from the food court and use them to make long vampire teeth."

They had a great time and we had fun laughing at all their silly pictures.

These girls have been friends since they were toddlers... LOVE them so much!

We went to the movies, Despicable Me 2.

It was the perfect day with the sweetest group of girls ever.  

Happy Birthday Linsey!  

Bring those teenage years on!!

Hayden Lake

My brother Chris just moved to a great new place right on Hayden Lake.  

We like to call this our new vacation home!  Lucky us!

It's got a great place to ride bikes out back.

A fire pit for roasting marshmallows or other fun treats.

A private beach that is perfect for playing sharks and minnows.  (I love that Jared entertained all these kids for over an hour... he's such a fun dad/uncle.)

And if you are too lazy to walk all the way to the beach, you could take the Go-Kart of golf cart - Why not.  It's more fun!

Of course Emma was thrilled with the dogs to play with all weekend, the chicken coup was entertaining too.

And all that grass to play in and woods to explore.

As if this all isn't enough, there is a tree house up in the trees that you can hop on a zip line from and sail across the backyard.  

We all tried it several times.  
The boys slept out in the tree house two nights and loved every minute of it.

 Jared and Braden went out and caught fish together, right off the dock.  They had a surprise visitor.

Jared and Chris went out another morning and caught 4 species of fish on an inflatable canoe in the bay.  From what I hear it was pretty amazing!

We had a great time swimming in the lake, boating, and relaxing in the outdoor hot tub.  

All of that was great, but the real reason for our visit was for this little guy.

On Saturday Gavin was baptized!
He was the only one in his ward to be baptized so he got to plan his own program.  He asked Linsey to speak about baptism and she did a great job, it was extra special.

 On the way out, we had to stop at Cafe Rio - it was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

I sure love my brother.

Thanks Chris for being so cool and for hooking us up with a great new place to vacation!