A Beautiful Fall Drive

We decided to escape from the clutter of boxes and empty walls and go for a drive along the Alpine Loop yesterday. We've been wanting to do this for years, but Sundays used to be such busy days. They are finally relaxing again (except when the house is full of boxes) and yesterday was the perfect day. It was actually raining on the mountain and with the windows down the air was crisp and smelled liked falling leaves and grass.

I guess the only down side might have been all the people who had the same idea we did. But no one seemed too impatient when we wanted to pull over and take pictures.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

We decided to celebrate Cameron's birthday last Thursday even though it's not until tomorrow. I thought it might be more fun to let her have a late night with her friends since there was no school on Friday. All her friends came in their p.j.'s ready for games, lots of treats (since Cameron is the treat Queen), and the perfect movie "Another Cinderella Story."

First we played a few games in the living room while we waited for all the girls to come. It was hard since there were multiple soccer games that night. Then we headed into the kitchen for brownies.

Ryan is in school on Thursday nights so I relied on Dallin quite a bit. He was a great help. I don't think he minded too much though, hanging out with all the cute girls.

Does this look fun or what? After bringing down all the treats I hid out upstairs and kept my ear on things. All I could hear was, "Ooooo you can totally tell he's into her." "Oh my gosh, is he going to kiss her?" "I think he's going to kiss her?" Scream! etc, etc, etc. It was adorable.

It seems like Cameron and her friends had a good time, despite all the boxes and lack of blankets (I packed them all).

That Was Easy

Monday night after looking at three not so tempting rentals Ryan and I toured a few homes for sale with our realtor. I was determined not to be impressed because I had my heart set on building a home in the neighborhood just North of ours. Our realtor suggested a home that wasn't on our list, because it wasn't in our price range, and we reluctantly went to look at it.

If I could make a list of everything I've ever wanted in a home, down to the nitpicky details, this home had it. It's completely finished, yard in, with a huge kitchen, etc. Basically, it's like pressing the Easy button. It's like taking everything we'd ever hope to eventually have in a home, right now. And the best part is, it will cost less than it would to build it all. It's kind of a no brainer.

Another great part about all this is that it is still within the school boundaries so the kids don't have to change schools.

Now all we have to do is wait for the loans to close. The people buying our home are hoping to close on Tuesday, and our lender thinks we can be ready to close by Wed. or Thurs. That was fast! Ryan says we might be able to move into our new home this weekend. It seems to good to be true and I keep waiting for the roof to collapse on top of me because it just doesn't seem like things should be this easy.

The only hard part, besides packing (which isn't as bad as I thought it would be), is saying goodbye to a neighborhood we've lived in for just over 8 years. I have so many truly great friends here and it blows my mind to think that I might not see them as often anymore. But I'm still close and it's just going to take more of an effort on my part. And of course, there's always the Neighborhood Retreat!

So, we're off and running, pursuing a dream we hope to come true.

Sidenote

For the sake of being perfectly honest and timely (as I like to be with my blog),here's the latest news, our house is currently under contract. Which means, if the people buying our house can get their loan by September 28th, some kind of FHA deadline, then we will have about 7 days to move out. The initial proposal was to have us out by Oct. 1 but I don't really think they can get their loan that fast, can they? Anyway, I have a lot to figure out, like where are we going? And then there's all the packing. People keep telling me to wait till the loan closes, but I think they're crazy. I'm going to start putting away things we don't need. I'm not sure what that is yet, but that's my plan.

So, if I promised someone I would be somewhere at a certain time in the next two weeks, I'm sorry, I probably won't be there. Unless this whole thing falls through, then I will still be here, with a house full of boxes.

Profound Thoughts From a Three-year Old

Yesterday Eden was playing with a neighbor and, as happens sometimes, they got in a fight. Ryan ran downstairs to mediate and resolve the problem. He decided that Eden needed to apologize but when he asked her to say "sorry" she said, "no". So he asked her "why not" and she said she just didn't want to. When he asked her why she didn't want to she said, "because sometimes sorry is a big word."

It made me think of all the times it's been hard for me to say I'm sorry, even when I know I'm wrong but wanted to be right. It's one thing to know you've done something that's hurt someone else but it's another thing to admit it to them. One thing I am always amazed at is how quickly my children apologize when they've done something wrong, even if, as Eden put it, it's hard. I also get to see the results of quick and sincere remorse in that, their relationships with each other and their friends gets stronger. It's been a motivator for me (because saying sorry hasn't been a strong attribute of mine) but I find the same results when I'm quick to apologize, even when it hurts (just my pride). I've seen my own relationship with my husband and my children grow stronger as I admit to hurts that I've caused them and apologize sincerely and try to do better. Isn't that what repentance is all about? I can see the beauty of humbling myself and feeling the love of forgiveness as my home becomes a happier, more peaceful place to live.

Just Because I Find It Fascinating

So my sister Bre walks out the door this morning in her sweats, having just rolled out of bed, to go pick up her husband and low and behold her normally quiet street is covered (literally, you should see the pictures) with trucks, cars, satellite trucks, etc. You would think the President was driving through her quiet neighborhood with all the vehicles parked on her street (visit her blog for pictures). But no, even better, her neighbor is getting an ambush makeover by Oprah. Only Oprah could command a fleet of vehicles greater than the President. Fascinating I say. Oh, and poor Bre for having walked into the middle of it all in her PJ's.

A Bear Project (that wasn't a bear, for me)

Dallin really wanted to build a windmill for one of his scouting projects. I took one look at the plans and new immediately that this was a job for Grandpa Gilroy Super Woodworker. I would have loved to have flown Dallin down for a weekend of building with his Grandpa but flights were a little ridiculous. As it turned out Grandpa was coming up here for Nikki's wedding. So I sent him Dallin's plans and off he went. He brought up the airplane in pieces that needed simple assembling; hammering, glueing, piecing it all together (still completely out of my league).

The finished project was this really cool bi-plane. The propeller spins as the wind blows (which around here is all day long). Dallin is so proud of what he and Grandpa made and I'm so grateful for all the thought and hardwork my dad put into it.

What does this...?

Plus these...?

Equal?

Uh, Austin?

San Francisco!

Round-trip airfare to San Francisco: $0; Complimentary bedside chocolates: $0; 4.0 Earthquake: definitely a freebie. Weekend away with my husband: Priceless.

So what did we do? As much as you can in San Francisco in two days. It was awesome. We walked, rode the cable car, the bus, the train, a taxi, and then we walked and walked and walked. From Chinatown, to Fisherman's Wharf, to the Golden Gate Bridge, around Union Square, Ghiradelli Square, and lots of other squares. 'Till our feet were numb and Ryan's head was red.

We enjoyed some exotic foods including fresh crab, French dining, Chinese (of course), and one little detour from the diet: Ghiradelli ice cream.

Then at night we enjoyed movies in our room, and an earthquake. How's that for California tourism!

In Case I Missed Anything

I now have the privledge to run errands with only one child. Which is a delight for me but Austin isn't exactly thrilled with the idea. As soon as I turned the corner after dropping Eden off at preschool he said, "Get Eden now?"

"No," I said, "we're going to go to the store."

"Ooohhh," he moaned.

We got on the freeway and he proceeded to tell me everything he saw. "Mama car." "Mama truck." "Mama big truck." "Mama I see horsie." "Mom, mom, mom, mom,..."

"What Austin?"

"Mama, I see horsie."

"Yep I see it."

"Mama, I see tree."

"Uh huh."

"Mama I see Daddy in truck."

"Uh huh." (When is preschool over?) Just kidding. It's cute to hear him talk so much. And I'm glad running errands can be an adventure for him. I've always loved this time I have with one child as the others are off at school. It gives me a chance to see their own unique personalities and hear their voice which is often drowned out by the older ones.