We bought a house!!!

Since Aaron was promoted last May and no longer an on call employee, we were searching the market to buy our first home!  It was such a difficult decision because we also felt like we needed to nail down exactly which school we wanted the boys to attend and while we love the elementary school, we just aren't sure right now about middle and high school so it was a difficult decision.  Additionally, the market was pretty hot at the time we were looking so when we finally found THE house, we were sadly informed that it had already accepted an offer (despite just having gone on the market that day).  Sometime late fall, we looked at a home in my bosses neighborhood that we thought was ok.  My boss then asked me if we would possibly be interested in their home.  Their plans were to move in the next 5 years, but with us in the market they considered their options with moving sooner.  I kind of shrugged it off and with a "yes, maybe".  They had us over for dinner during Christmas Break to look at the home.  Although we weren't crazy at the idea of moving to a neighborhood, it was *VERY* difficult to find a 4 bedroom house, let alone a 4 bedroom house on a few acres AND in our price range.  We sat down with them and they gave us their price range, which was thankfully in our budget.  They said they were considering 3 scenarios and 2 of them involved moving but 1 involved them staying.  So we parted ways and told them to keep us posted.  When we got home, Aaron and I didn't talk to much about the house.  The next morning Aaron called me and was like "Are they selling?  Because I'm all in."  Aaron was definitely more interested in country living than I was, so I was so excited that he was open to this home in a neighborhood.  We didn't need to move immediately though, so I didn't pressure my bosses and just kept my eye on the market and waited to hear from them.  Finally, they said they had prayed about it and made a decision and felt it was the right time for them to sell.  At the end of February we sat down and went over the details and checked out the house again.  A few days later, we met with a realtor friend of theirs to negotiate and a day or two after that we had a purchase agreement in place!  We closed on April 15th and were really amazed with how smoothly the entire process went.  We got to work painting and making some minor adjustments like outlet covers and moved in the following weekend.  Our friends Todd and Nicki helped out on Friday and Amber and John helped out on Saturday.  We are so grateful for all their love and support - moving is no easy task!  We had a few hiccups the first few weeks... converting the dryer from propane to natural gas was a pain that left me without a dryer for two weeks.  Our utility room flooded a few times, ruining my new laundry room rug, until we replaced the pump switch.  And on top of all the moving and getting settled we were dealing with the frenzy of the last few weeks of school, baseball starting up, changes at work, and I was sick with an ear and sinus infection!  Then, we find out my dad was feeling dizzy and went to the ER and they determined he needed bypass and valve replacement surgery ASAP!  The weeks were a total blur! But now, late summer, my dad is doing great and we are feeling so thankful for this opportunity and so blessed to be in our own home and settled as a family.  

April 1st... did a drive by... :)

Basement Hallway

Kitchen/dining/living room:

Austin's Room:

Jacob's Room:

Basement living room:

Austin's room:

Office:

Brody's room:

Our room:

Kitchen:

Jacob's room:

Upstairs Bath:

The boys favorite part of the new home, neighborhood kids!  Here is Austin with Jake.  He looks up to him so much and thankfully, Jake is a great kid.  

Jacob has really become interested in birds (orinthology) this past year and has been so excited about all the birds we see, like this pileated woodpecker.

The house!