Since November 4th, our little family has experienced all of the following major changes, challenges and fun: we were forced to move out of our rental house because the landlords unexpectantly needed to move in, we packed, cleaned and removed ourselves and all of our stuff within three days, we were homeless for a week, we lived out of a U haul, we bought a house, we waited and waited to close on the house, we closed on the house, we moved all of our stuff into the garage of the house, we extensively cleaned and repaired the house, we bought a used refrigerator, washer, dryer and couches, we moved all of our stuff into the inside of the house, we unpacked, we cleaned up all the leaves in the yard of the new house, and finally we got our lives semi back in order. All of this occurred while Mark continued to complete some major and important projects at work, and I did my best to help Brian adjust to the craziness.
All in all we are extremely grateful for the help of family members and especially the muscle Mark's family and our brother-in-law Dave provided in helping us move all our boxes and furniture into a U haul, then to Mark's parents garage, then to our garage, and then into the house. It was certainly no ordinary move from one house directly to the other. We also want to thank my mom and Mark's mom for watching Brian while I cleaned every inch of both the house we moved out of and the house we moved into. And thanks mom for cleaning the unbelievably nasty stove in the new kitchen. I love it now that it is so clean and shiny just waiting to be used.
Our new house was a foreclosure, which hopefully can help explain the incredible amount of work that it needed and still needs before it is really livable. No one has been living in the home for over six months and the people who lived here before, have got to be the most uncleanly people I've ever heard of. That said, once it was cleaned from top to bottom and with a lot of elbow grease, it has turned out to be the perfect place for us. It sits in a quiet neighborhood in Holladay with nice big trees and REALLY nice neighbors. Lucky for us winter is on its way so we can wait until spring to worry about the dead grass and overgrown bushes and vines, and we can focus on fixing the inside of the house and turning the basement into an apartment by the end of January in order to rent it to Mark's brother and his wife.
There is still a lot of work to come, but we are just so happy to have FINALLY, after months of searching and touring house after house after house, found the house for us in just the nick of time. Prayers really are answered. Thanks again to all of you who have helped and offered to help, we could not have done it without you! There will definitley be pictures of the new place to come when things calm down just a little bit more. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Brian is curious about everything, especially electronics and computers. (Guess where he gets that one from?)
Hence a keyboard of his very own situated just where he wants it.
Yes, he still sucks his thumb.
And he misses our daily walks in the beautiful fall weather.
But he still loves crawling around playing and pulling himself up on anything he can.
Brian is extremely proud of himself for learning how to pull himself up to a standing position.
He's been so good and he really surprised me with the ease at which he adjusted to being homeless, and moving, and construction in his own bedroom etc. Here he's helping me unpack.
I love the kitchen in our new house. It is everything I need and want.
Brian likes the kitchen too.
I like the big windows to let in the natural light.
The living room. See if you can find Brian in this picture.
This is the other half of the living room and the dining room, which has temporarily become the work bench during all the repairs and construction. Oh, and see if you can find Brian again. Only this time it's the other end of him.
I love the Ranch in all it's seasons and I especially love the short time when the seasons are changing. Last weekend we had summer, fall and winter all in one day. It was absolutely beautiful.
The Ranch is the perfect place in Fall, Winter, Spring and of course Summer. The following pictures were taken by my Dad and sister in July. Can a place be more gorgeous?
Yes, my mommy is bragging that I can sit up already.
The grass and trees and leaves are oh so interesting.
I love life!
We went to the State Fair with my Mom, Allison and Jordan. Brian really enjoyed just watching all the people and animals and of course riding around in his favorite place to be, the backpack. I loved seeing the animals, watching a horse show, and eating fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! All the kids in the pig barn thought Brian was covering his nose because of the pig smell, when he was really just sucking his thumb. It sure gave everyone a laugh though.
The next week we went to the Tracy Aviary with his Aunt Vivian and cousin Xander. Once again Brian just loved riding around seeing new things. Thanks Vivian and Xander!
Most of Brian's adventures take place at home where he is always learning new things and having fun. This morning he was enjoying his activity center while I ate a little breakfast. Nice bed head Brian.
The following video is Brian just hanging out on his changing table and then another clip of him with his dad. He's really starting to talk a lot.
Over Labor Day weekend, we spent some time at the Ranch sitting in the hot tub and roasting marshmallows. Then on Sunday we ate at the Hsiao house and on the rainy Labor Day we went bowling.
Brian was even able to get a few zzzzz's in at the bowling ally.
. . .splitting the wood, could actually begin.
He split for hours until after lunch when Dave joined in. Then the fun really began. They had a competition to see how many hits it took to split the log that the other person picked out for them to chop.
Even the kids got involved and stacked all the wood. Well, Evan stacked most of it and Clara, Vivien, and Jordie did what they could to help.
