House Hunting in Washington

Trev and I were SO excited to go house hunting in Washington.

We were especially excited to go on the trip without any kiddos. We had grand visions of sitting in the hot tub at the hotel for hours and sleeping in late every morning.

Reality was a little different.

I was up every morning at 5Am (there is a 3 hour time difference from KY to WA) pacing the floor and flipping through all the houses we looked at the day before trying to decide how long I should let Trevor sleep before I woke him with all my thoughts and questions and then drove around and looked at some more neighborhoods before we met with our agent at 9AM.

We had a great realtor who walked us through 40 homes total. She was patient with us as we kept shaking our heads after each home and tried to explain it was a "feeling" we were looking for more than anything else.



After she dropped us off at the office after a long day of looking at homes we climbed into our car and drove back out to look more at neighborhoods/ houses or search for FSBO signs. We went to bed every night mentally and physically EXHAUSTED.



Well, to make a long story a little shorter I FOUND OUR HOUSE... but Trevor thought they were asking too much so we didn't get it. Then Trevor FOUND OUR HOUSE... but I didn't feel good about the neighborhood so we didn't get it.

It was time to head home and we were at a loss at what to do (and feeling kinda sad and maybe a little irritated that neither of us got to buy our "dream homes") so we decided to look at a few of the houses one more time before we flew out.
We walked through the very first house we looked at and ... well anyway... WE FOUND OUR HOUSE. (if only we would have known in the end it would be the 1st house we saw... we could have spent a lot more time in the hot tub!)


It was the ONLY house that Trevor AND I "felt" peace about. I never would have guessed that this would be the house for us. It just doesn't look like us but I am so excited about it and I'm dreaming up all kinds of ideas to make it fit our style a little more.

More than anything I am excited because I feel peace about it and I know that that peace means this house will be a good place for our family and I can't ask for anything more than that!

The city itself is great. Everyone we talked to was friendly, it is very safe (no more gang fights in the ER for Trev), and it really feels like a good place to raise a family.

Oh, and when we went to the grocery store we saw 3 other families with 4+ kids!!! And no one (except me) was staring at them!!! I couldn't believe it... we will blend right in. ;)




Here are the only pictures I could find of the house since we forgot our still camera (duh Kathryn) and they already removed the listing so I can't link to that.


Here is the front of the house. It is on a quiet street on a hill with some other new homes. They will landscape the front yard for us and install the sprinkling system (btw did you know we don't have sprinkling systems in KY? No need with all the humidity and rain). It has kind of a modern look to the outside which is why I say it doesn't "look" like us but I'm thinking of some things we can do to make it ours.

Here is the back. We LOVE the daylight basement with the huge windows and the great view of the city. It has a great big flat backyard which we get to landscape ourselves. Campbell and Davis are going to LOVE all that dirt to play in and I think I will be begging for sod ASAP.
Currently there is no one living behind us which makes the view even better and there is a walking/ bike trail at the bottom of the hill that we can get to from the backyard.

This is a picture of the family room and kitchenette in the basement.

This is the family room upstairs. They have done a lot more to it since this picture was taken like molding, carpet, fireplace mantel etc. but it gives you an idea anyway.

So there you go... our house in Washington. I'll take lots of pictures when we get there and post them so you can see what it looks like finished. I can't wait to get my hands on it!!!

Oh, and we have plenty of room for visitors so PLEASE come and visit us... pretty, pretty, please.

PS we close on our house in KY tomorrow... such mixed emotions

Melissa's visit and our trip to Washington

April was quite the busy month.

We flew Melissa out to Kentucky to watch our kiddos while Trevor and I went house hunting in Washington. We planned on taking Davis with us but Melis was so generous (or just plain crazy) enough to insist we leave Davis too (bless you Melissa).

She kept all 5 (that includes her little Avery) alive and happy while Trev and I searched through 40 HOMES in Richland and Kennewick.

We thought a week without kids would be a great vacation but we were so busy we didn't even make it to the hot tub in the hotel.

I'll share more of our experience in WA in another post.

We missed our kiddos and were happy to come home.

Melissa stayed another week and we got to do some crafting but mostly we chased these two around the house (and neighborhood) and counted the minutes until their nap times so we could pull the crafts out again or take a much needed nap ourselves.

Look at these cuties (oh, and look at my tulips... I love tulips).
Avery was so cute with Davis. She was his little mommy. She would call him "Baby" and pat his head or give him loves... Davis would push her away and look at her like she was crazy.

As always it was so nice to have Melissa and Avery here.

Melissa is due with baby #2 (another little girl) in August. I'm so excited for her and Jeff but 2 babies means a very busy momma so I fear our visits from Melissa every 6 months may be a thing of the past :( but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted.

Thanks for all your help...we love you Melis!

Cumberland Falls

We've wanted to visit Cumberland Falls ever since we moved to Kentucky.

They call it "The Niagara of the South".

We finally made it there last month.

I told Campbell we were going to see a waterfall and he said, "But, I need a submarine!".

Then when we got there and he saw the river he said, "But, now I need a boat!"

We found this fun hollow tree (Megan was worried about spiders inside it).

As soon as we saw this sign warning us of black bears Hallie and Megan were done with our little adventure (bears are so scary!!) and Campbell on the other hand was determined to find a bear.

"But, where's the bears?" he asked over and over and over again.

The Potty Book

I am WAAAYYY behind on blogging. A lot has been going on around here but I had to share this moment I had with Megan tonight...

Megan handed me "The Potty Book for Girls" and said with disgust, "Mom, we should get rid of this book, it is inappropriate!"

How do I know it is Spring??

This is what Spring looks like at our house.

Easter 2010

It has been a nice week as we have talked about the last week of Christ's life.

Today we ate lots of candy and watched General Conference...

it doesn't get much better than that!

(Seriously, General Conference was like the best ever!)

The girls were anxious to try on their new Easter dresses even though they had no where to wear them today so we did a little photo shoot.

Davis discovered peeps this morning... he is a fan.

I don't have many pictures of Campbell this morning because every picture of him (except this one) was blurry. That boy is ALWAYS on the move.
HAPPY EASTER!

A note for Megan

Megan had a few falls and some bloody knees and elbows over the last 2 days.

Yesterday Hallie found a 4-leaf-clover. She was so excited.

Later that night (after another fall and more bloody knees and elbows for Meg) I found this note: "Dear Megan,

I hope that your knee will feel better! I wish that you never got hurt. I love you and I want you to have this rare 4 leaf clover I found. I hope you have some good luck!

Love, Hallie

Campbell quotes

I was cleaning out Campbell's ears the other day and when Cam looked at the dirty q-tip he say, "Oh, it's cheese". lol -YUCK

Yesterday we took the kids for some half-priced drinks at Sonic. When we left I asked, "Does anyone need to say some magic words?" hint, hint
The girls and their friend immediately said, "Thank you!" and from Campbell's seat we heard, "Abracadabra!".

What's up with Meg?

Meg is lovin' riding her bike without the training wheels.

Feelin' the wind in her hair. And playing with her best Bud Sarah.

(love those toothless grins)

"I have faith in America"

Over the last several months I have had some real concerns about some of the choices the leaders of our country are making... really, really, big concerns.

I've worried and stressed but ultimately felt I needed to get rid of the fear because I know that it's not from the Lord and instead focus on having faith.

I heard this quote today and wanted to share it. It gives me hope and reminds me once again that the Lord is in charge and we are never alone or hopeless. He has a plan.


Pres. Harold B. Lee’s writings, “Ye Are the Light of the World.” pg. 350.

“Men may fail this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on the principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the New Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to his temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won’t fail.
I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges. I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through.”

Note: I wrote this post then walked away and realized I failed to mention I am a strong believer in being informed and proactive. Although I have faith that the Lord is in charge I also know it is my responsibility to take a stand, to send out some emails, and make some phone calls to our elected officials, and to let my voice be heard. I cannot sit and do nothing and just hope that something changes and somebody else does what I am afraid or just "don't have time" to do. I believe one of the best ways to show gratitude for this wonderful country is to VOTE and let our government know what we value- our freedom, our family, our religion.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. " - Edmund Burke

Okay, I feel better. ;)

Happy 9th Birthday Hallie

Hallie woke up very tired on her birthday last Saturday.

Apparently she was so excited she couldn't sleep half the night! ;) Her big surprise was a Plasma Car. Unfortunately no one would let her ride it for more then 2 seconds before is was their "turn". I guess we need to invest in a few more of these puppies, they are just too much fun.

I caught Hallie and Meg laying on the backyard swing chatting... love these moments.

Every other year the kids get to do a big "friends party". Hallie decided to have a Pajama Party late-over. This age is so fun. No need to plan a bunch of games because the girls just want to hang out and be silly and just have fun with each other.

Made it really easy for me.

Above: Waiting for all the girls to arrive.

Eating Pizza

Making beaded bracelets

Then we opened presents, ate pie and ice cream, and the girls watched "The Frog and the Princess".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALLIE!!

Battle of the Books

Hallie was in "The Battle of the Books" at her school this year. The kids are given a list of 10 books to read and then there is a competition where they are quizzed on those books. Hallie loves to read and so this challenge fit her perfectly. She was so excited she could hardly sleep the night before.

She came home from school beaming with a 2nd Place ribbon around her neck.

Way to go Hallie!!!