Our home.

You thought I forgot about telling you our house story didn't you? 

While still in Durham, we thought we knew what house we wanted.  

It was in Spanish Fork and looked promising.  Our Realtor had gone to a few places with Scott and Jesse, as well as Jeff's parents, and said that it would probably work.  We had seen pictures and videos, and were both feeling a little overwhelmed at the prospect of  making an offer on a house. 

 But, we made the offer, and then waited to find out what the owners would say.  They didn't want to work with us, and we decided to walk away from that one, and felt so much better. Then the quest continued . . . all while Jeff was in negotiations for his new position, and we were packing up the house and I was spending a lot of time looking at houses online, through videos sent to me by the realtor, and talking with Bestefar to see how he thought the different houses looked.  

Bestefar and Bestemor and Scott and Jesse were invaluable, especially since we were not there in person to really get a feel for the houses.  Some places, Bestefar let me know were just NOT an option, not to even think about making an offer there.  And others he said were decent options.  We found another one we thought might fit our family well, it was in East Provo, and we made an offer the first day it was on the market, only to have the buyer choose a lower cash offer.  This was something that happened more than once.   Back to the drawing board, more searching online, and sending Bestefar and Bestemor with Jose our Realtor to see if houses were the right fit . . . 

I think we were getting down to the week before our treck across the country when we decided to make offers on places that Bestefar thought might all be a good fit.  Kind of our last effort before having to go with a back-up plan:  living with family, or renting something for a while (neither of which we really wanted to do, but could have worked).  

 Our tentative offer was accepted, and we left Durham with what could fit in our car, knowing that we had about a month before our stuff would follow us, in hopes of giving us a large enough cushion of time to finalize everything with our house before we had to worry about where to put things.  We made it to Provo, saw the house inside and out the following day, and thought it would be an excellent fit for our family, with room inside and out, and trees . . . beautiful trees . . . 

And felt good about moving forward with this house, and very grateful to Bestemor and Bestefar for all the leg work they had done on our behalf before we made it here in person.  Without going into too much detail, there were a few frustrating hick-ups with the inspection, and unexpected hoops to jump through to make sure the bank was happy . . . 

The original plan was we would walk through the house, decide it was the one, go to the wedding, come back the following week and sign the closing papers before Jeff had to go back to NC for a couple weeks, allowing the kiddos and I to start working on the house before he got back to join us . . . 

We ended up sending Jeff back to NC, and staying with Bestemor and Bestefar for over two weeks while waiting for everything to finalize. The Tessem boys helped me do lots of the heavy lifting in getting the basement cleaned up, Bestefar and my Bud worked one day to replace all the exterior door hardware and locks, Daniel and Bethany came down with their cute kiddos to help clean, and the kids and I stayed pretty busy cleaning the house, making it our own, and getting them registered for school. 

I know when Jeff joined us again, we all felt relieved, and like we could make it our home.
  

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I had been shopping around for carpet for almost all of the house for about a week, when we decided on a place that could have it installed before our belongings arrived.  Trust me, the carpet needed to be replaced.  I also was able to get the basement living room and bathroom painted, and start up the stairs.

The fresh paint and new carpet made the basement feel almost brand new.  I hadn't intended on painting the wall up the stairs just yet, especially since I didn't have a painters ladder, but I made some tools to help me get up along the ceiling, and had an  extender for the roller which made the job much easier than anticipated, and much more fun.  (Yes, that is duck tape connecting a paint brush to a pole, don't knock it.)

 

Trust me, you should be really impressed with this wall that has a stairwell below it.

 We have spent a lot of time inside and out, cleaning and updating a little at a time as we go.  We have also had neighbors step in to offer tools, or advice, or clean up massive piles of weeds from the garden area while we were away . . .   

 So much fun to come up with an idea like "hey, why don't we use this to make a firepit?" and then just do it!

 Or decide the flower plot in front should be planted with pansies and bulbs, and then make it happen. 

I don't know about you, but I like the new "pulls" that we have replaced better than the old ones. 

 While the process of getting into our house was stressful and emotionally draining, I am very grateful that this is our home.  We have truly been blessed, and it feels like us. 

 Originally, I thought I would have all the painting done at least by Christmas . . . now I'm making my goals more realistic, we will continue to move forward, a little at a time. . .

knowing it will take time and effort, and that's okay.  We have made the drive to Spanish Fork a few times, and I'm glad that Jeff doesn't have that commute every day.  I'm sure he would have adjusted to it, but where we are now allows him to bike or drive depending on what his day requires, and work is only three miles away.  The kids are close to their schools, and making friends in the neighborhood, school, and ward.  

I still feel like we lost three months out of the year this summer with all the craziness, but we are working on finding home.  It just takes time, and all the places we have been along the way to this point are part of us, and always will be.

Oh, October . . .

I love Autumn.  

 The temps get cooler, sleeves get longer, light gets a mystical quality, and color is everywhere. . . 

 Most Saturdays have been spent cleaning up the yard, working on the garden area, getting ready for cooler temperatures that are not far away at all . . . 

Saturdays are very rewarding, and very exhausting, but in a good way. 

 

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Early in October we joined the Tessem clan (all but the Jones' who are in Boston) up at Bear Lake for some great cousin-time and family fun.

 

It was great to spend time with extended family, but I think my favorite memories were when it was just our little family in our room, dancing, or enjoying hot cocoa and herbal tea.  They were so excited about the herbal tea!

 The drive home was spectacular, probably because we left when there was still daylight, much better than driving in the dark like we did on the way up!

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 That brings us to the ward Halloween party.  I don't think they quite knew what to do with us this year, but we had fun, even with the cumbersome-ness of our costumes.  I decided to put some of the massive amounts of cardboard we had this year to use.  Nom Nom. ;)

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We carved pumpkins, and enjoyed seeing them on the front porch.

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 And it wouldn't be October without our boy turning another year older . . . this year he became a genuine teenager! EEEEEeeeek! 

 In the evening we had family who could join us come for Hawaiian Haystacks (like the kind Nanna makes) and cheesecake.  We played games much later than normal bedtime, and enjoyed family from both sides.  As Andrew and Sierra were leaving with their two little boys, they gave him some candy, but included clever sayings that included "peace out" when giving him reces pieces.  Trust me, he thought it was very cool ;)

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Then we thought we'd give having a foreign exchange student a try.  Meet Takumi!  He shared Halloween with us, (yes, Benjamin is a woopie cushion)

Benjamin and Takumi went out with friends and lasted a little while trick-or-treating, but then went and played games for a long time.  So grown up.

 Sassy Vampire.  I made her eyebrows darker, very strange for me, but she sure loved those teeth!

 Olivia  went as a cute little girl with wings and a tutu, and loved walking from house to house right up until she and Goose were done about 15 minutes in and went home with Jeff because Lil wanted me to keep going with her.  I only say that because it's a big deal. 

She even let me know she picked me because she usually picks her dad.  I reluctantly let her wear makeup.  I think it makes her look way too old!

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On Saturday we drove up to Sundance and Aspen Grove to play in the snow a bit, and have at least one snowball fight. 

  

I think he got the hang of it . . . 

And then Sunday was a pre-thanksgiving with the Tessem's because everyone won't be here on the actual day.  I was amazed at how well Takumi fit into our family, and how quickly we became attached.  It was only a week, but we were all sad to see him go.  The kiddos think they want to have an exchange student again, we will have to see.  It definitely makes it doable when it is only a week or so, and there are other people in the area to carpool with .  

Hope you're fall has been lovely!