It's just about a done deal


It was only on the market for 2 days, and then I'd had enough.

It was hard having 18 showings, knowing strangers were walking around inside our home,
while we mostly drove around in our car.

On day two, about 1pm, I texted the realtor and said we needed a two hour break.
I said the house would not be available from 1-3. 

She texted back: Thanks for letting me know.

I immediately fell asleep thinking all was well.
So did Dennis.
It's been a tiring past few weeks getting ready for this, and also we are not 35. 

I woke up at 1:59 and decided to just check my phone.
The realtor had a text waiting saying we have showing at 2 and at 2:15.....
and she added that she told them they had to be out by 3:00

What??

Oh no, she got it mixed up. No, we wanted to be left alone until 3, not after.
Uh oh. 

About this time we heard people on our porch.
I opened the door and said, "I'm so sorry but there's been a mistake. We are taking 2 hours off 
from showing the house."

Then I realized how crazy that was. The people were there NOW.
So I then said, "If you can just wait 10 minutes you're welcome to come in."

By now both 2 and 2:15 appointments were outside waiting.

I hurried in the house and quickly put the bed back together, cleaned up the kitchen,
and straightened things up and turned all the lights back on. 

We let them all in and then escaped back into our car.

Interestingly, both the 2 and 2:15 put great offers in later that day.

And through prayer, we knew exactly which offer to accept.

And as a side note, we would sign up with these realtors again.
They helped us so much...especially in staging our home, and were very respectful of our time 
(except for that one honest mistake), 
and sold our home in 2 days!


I want to post these pictures here for our record.


I took most of these last week, just before it went on the market. 
A few of them were taken by the realtor photographer. 




All (most) family pictures are gone, and the realtor even wanted my kitchen counters naked. 
So in some ways it doesn't even feel like our house any more.


Our kitchen never looks like this in real life. 

And Den's office...
he usually has about....oh...100 pieces of paper on the floor that he is working on


I bought those cheap plastic hampers for our laundry room shortly after moving in here 26 years ago, and we've used them daily ever since. 

See that little robot vacuum on the counter?
That's Bubba....he took over some of the floor cleaning, 
after Tyler left home 11 years ago.


I will miss this hidden closet in my laundry room.
It's right behind the door.


This is basically our empty room. We put a few things in here for the pictures. 
I had plans to make this my office, or family history room.

I know, probably more pictures than anyone wanted to see, 
but soon this will be all that I have left of it. 

Just the pictures and the memories.

I like what a friend told me today:
"I think it is always difficult to close one chapter of your life and begin a new chapter."

But it's all good. And we feel really good about the new family soon to move into this house.


We're selling our home

It's time. It's been time for quite some time. But now it's really time.

My motto the past 2 weeks has been, "If you cut your hair short, you can't wear it in a pony tail." 
So in other words, if we want to get rid of the pool in the backyard, we need to move.

Several months ago I asked each of my four sons individually what was the smell of their childhood. 
Three of my four had the answer, "chlorine."

But they have all been gone over a decade now. Dennis continues to clean the pool. 
He continues to treat it and keep it going, for what? No one uses it.

So since the pool can't leave us, we must leave the pool. And our three back yards. 
It's that big out there.

However....how do I walk away from this....my sons' growth chart in our closet since 1990.

I could never paint over it. The new people will have to do that.

a little close up of it...


The realtor said we need to remove all family pictures. We did that.

I'm sure she does not want Tyler's scriptures left on the back of his door either. 
He put these up way back when he was a teenager. He's 30 now.
He put the House Rules on his door too. 

(I blurred out his private goals to himself.)


And then there's this....

After Tyler got a degree from BYU he went back to school at Utah State to get an additional degree 
in math. Dennis would keep track of his schedule. 
On any given day back then he could tell me what class Tyler was in and where it was.
He's had this up in his office for years....




Also this map of Tyler's classes on campus. 

Not sure why he kept extra copies of the campus map.
Just in case someone someday asked for one?


You might say Dennis is an involved Dad. Even to those sons not born to him.

But off the wall they have to go. 
But not yet. Can't do it yet.

First, I have to get rid of this image....

This is how they looked when we moved in 26 years ago!


People move everyday.
I know 3 families who are moving this week and they act like it's no big deal.


To us, it's a big deal. 
Den and I had been praying about this ever since we got married 16 years ago. 
And now it's time.


McKs in NYC

So Saturday when McKenna texted me this picture....
I must have seemed rude when I texted back,
"What are you doing there?"

I couldn't figure out why and how they got there.



Apparently I don't know my geography very well. 


I thought Boston was at least 8 hours from NY.

Turns out it's only 3 hours!


So I got to see things (through them) that I've only seen on TV....



And even better than that....
I got to see more pictures of our sweet McKenna
since she is usually the one on the other side of the camera.

Not sure how Annie ended up in the arms of the pizza guy, 
but there she is.


McKenna's brother Matt met them there.
Yep, I think there's a little family resemblance goin on here.




I can see Scarlett was loving NY, or maybe it was her Uncle Matt.


Thank you McKenna, McKay, Grant, Scarlett, and Annie 
for sharing your NYC day with us!

Thank you also to Uncle Matt, and the pizza guy.

(It was sure fun watching all those pictures come in!)





This was humbling...

Whoa, this sure put things into perspective...

Our Sunday School teacher today at the very end of her lesson, 
popped all these up on the chalkboard.







I'm pretty sure we're spoiled and don't even realize it. I know I am.

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...