Happy Leap Year! Well today we had an "extra" day for the year. It hard to believe February is over now. With March we'll be having Daylight Savings in 2 weeks, plus Easter at the end of the month. They both seem too early to be here, but what can you do? We've had a lot going on this month, so I need to jot down what we've been up to the past couple weeks.
On Monday, February 15th, we went under contract w/ another house in Sandy. This house actually was listed late Saturday night. I saw it pop up on the MLS and showed it to Steve. We both liked it, so we asked our realtor Amy if we could go see it. Ironically she was in St. George for the weekend, so she said she would have her coworker show us the house. As Amy started looking at the house, she suggested we maybe even put in an offer that night, since it was going to be showing on Sunday also before we were going to see in Monday. We decided to take her advice, and put in an offer that night w/out even seeing it.
Monday morning we learned that there were 3-4 more offers on the house, so we were in a bidding war. We ended up having to come down on how much they would cover for closing costs, but we got it!!! Amy really pushed hard to help them see that we were the most solid offer they had out there and they wouldn't have to worry about our financing going through. Her efforts paid off. We didn't end up being able to actually see the house until that afternoon w/ her coworker. So we were seeing it for the first time while under contract. The house is basically located on the last street in Sandy off 13th East. The next street is technically Draper. It was a little further south than we had intended to go, but the neighborhood is great and the location is fantastic. There is lots of shopping around as well. Here is the location on the
map. It needs some fixing up, ie new carpet and paint, but the space is great as well as the area. It's also located on a culd-a-sac, which is a great plus!
On Wednesday, February 17th, we moved the last of our things out of our condo. Steve grabbed the ATV trailer at his parent's house and met Rob and Phill there. Stacie was kind enough to watch Nyles so I could help get boxes and stuff to the right place. Ironically it was the same day Carrie had surgery on her nose and throat, so Joann was up w/ her, and Dave had meetings he had to be at. I went straight over to the condo after work, and started packing up the last few things. Steve went and grabbed some pizzas for everyone for dinner, then the guys headed to the condo. Steve's friend Dave Menssen also met us at the condo to help. They loaded up the few things we're keeping w/ us while staying w/ Dave/Joann in the front of the trailer, then put everything else behind it to go to Rob's house. They then went to Rob's house and unloaded, then over to Dave/Joann's place. While they were unloading the boxes and stuff, I finished loading up the pantry and cleaned everything.
Conor and Nyles taking a bath together, while we were all loading/unloading boxes.
As they finished unloading at Dave/Joann's place, I ran up there to be w/ Nyles, so Stacie and Phill could head home. I then got Nyles ready for bed, while Steve took Dave back to the condo to get his truck, then loaded up the Edge w/ one more load of stuff. After he got back to Dave/Joann's, we unloaded the boxes, then tried to get to bed before midnight. It was a long night, but we got a lot done. Thanks again everyone for your help loading/unloading, and Stacie for you help w/ Nyles. Very much appreciated!!!!
After dropping off Nyles to preschool the next morning, Steve went back one more time to vacuum and make sure we got everything out. He also fixed a couple holes in the wall where we had a shelf mounted in the living room, then repainted over it. He then got our cleaning supplies out, left the keys, and left for the last time. The condo sure looked empty w/out all our stuff in it.
The day before we had carpet installed downstairs in the room Nyles was going to sleep in. The water heater drain had overflowed and leaked into that room, so the carpet needed replaced.
Nyles excited about his new carpet in his new room, at Dave/Joann's house.
Nyles fell asleep in the car on our way home.
That Saturday, we unpacked in the morning, and Steve, Dave and Nyles took down the Christmas lights. Then that afternoon, we went over to look at the house we're under contract with. Dave came w/ us, then Rob, and Stacie/Phill met us there. We then showed them around the place, while the kids played. They had fun running around and playing in the back yard. Yeah a back yard finally!
Nyles helping Grandpa Dave take down the Christmas lights around the bush.
That Sunday, we went over to what will be our new ward to check it out per say. It started at 9am as well, so we went to their sacrament instead of ours. It was really nice w/ a good mix of ages, both young and old. After it was over a few couples stopped and asked us if we were visiting. We let them know that we are in the process of buying a house in the ward. They then told us about the ward. Sounds like there is a good group of 3 year olds (Nyles age). They all said there are lot of kids around the neighborhood as well. One couple mentioned that they would be our back yard neighbors, we share our back fences. They were all really nice. It was encouraging for sure! We're planning to keep going to the branch these next couple weeks until we're moved in though, since both Steve and I still have callings that we're doing. I will be teaching Sharing Time in a couple weeks, and Steve is still doing his Clerk responsibilities.
The following Monday, Stacie stopped by w/ the kids for a little bit.
Nyles and Conor watching the Land Before Time Movie.
Here are some more pics from the past week.
Nyles playing on the boat while "blindfolded."
Nyles showing Steve how to put the puzzle together.
He would give him pieces of the puzzle while laying on his back.
Playing at the park. Nyles chasing Steve w/ a stick.
Playing hide and go seek. Nyles coming to find me.
Nyles has been having fun playing in the big snow piles in front of Dave/Joann's place. He thinks its a lot of fun to dig tunnels in it. Since Dave/Joann live on a culd-a-sac, the snow gets piled up in front of their place most of the time. The sun has been shinning so it's been great to get outside, and slowly it's been melting as well.
Nyles playing w/ the snow piles.
This past Saturday, Steve went w/ Dave and Rob to go ice fishing at Jordonelle, so Nyles and I went over to visit Pauline and her family. Pauline had tickets to the Home Show in Orem, so Chris watched Nyles and Ezra while we went down to it, and Charlotte went over to play w/ a neighbor. We walked around and talked w/ a few people, then came back and had lunch. It was then time for a nap for the kids, so I headed back. We're excited we'll be only 20 minutes away from then once we move, basically directly East. We're also going to be like 5 minutes away from Melanie and Brandon's house in Draper. On the way to Pauline's house, we stopped by the Safety Expo for a few minutes. They said they had bike helmets they were giving away, but apparently they were out by the time we got there. We then just walked around and got a few free things. They had the fireman and policeman w/ their vehicles there, so Nyles wanted to go see them. It was a fun morning. Thanks Pauline for the invite and thanks Chris for watching Nyles so we could go.
Nyles driving the fire truck at the Safety Expo.
Rob and Dave ice fishing at Jordonelle. They had a good time and caught plenty of fish.
Since moving in, we've been looking around at carpet and paint places, along with hardwood floors. We know we need to replace those few things before we even move in, so it could be a few weeks before we actually "move in". We had our inspection the week before, and just got our appraisal back. Everything looked great. We should be closing this week, but depending on the day we actually sign papers, we might not get keys until early next week. Guess we'll see.
Well we hope everyone is doing well. We're planning to go up to Idaho for Easter at the end of the month, so it'll be nice to see many of you then. Have a great week!
