Well, I wanted to quickly post about a major change in our lives. We are moving today and tomorrow! Many of you know this already, but we've talked for a long time about buying more property "out in the country." We found a piece for the right price and acted on it (more on that later). Then we put our house up for sale, showed it to one person, and had it under contract within a week! So now we find ourselves moving into a rental with no plans of building until spring. We are actually going to move into my grandma's old house which is sitting empty in our same town. The kids will finish the school year and then it's on to a new town. I'm glad we aren't saying goodbye to Providence quite yet...baby steps. Ever since I started packing up Christmas I've just been packing up the house. Ugh. It has been a huge project to pack up everything and we're still in the midst of it but our first helpers are coming tonight so it's go time.
A few weeks ago I looked through a bunch of old pictures and pulled some featuring this house. We have lived in this house longer than any other place in our marriage—nearly six years. We have so many great friends and neighbors that we will miss although luckily we aren't moving far. This house represents lots of blood, sweat, and tears on our part, and it hold so many amazing memories. These pictures loaded in no particular order, but here are just a few.
Leah's first night at home with her brothers.
The yard is my baby (my other baby). I have spent countless hours out there mowing, planting, weeding...it was just getting so beautiful and I will miss it. I actually hadn't quite finished all the projects I had in mind, but I guess it's on to the next big project. I hope the new owners enjoy it as much as we did.
This is "the hole" in the winter when it becomes a sledding spot.
Lots of first day of school photos taken on that front porch.
We spent six Christmases here including the last, best one with our entire family together.
There was that one year Jer put up Christmas lights in negative temperatures. We'll be taking those to the next house.
It's farewell to the play set. My dad, Jer, and I spent a fun filled afternoon putting together those 7,000 pieces or so. The kids have spent countless hours out there.
This picture is probably mostly about the bad hair but look at that cute, chubby Seth on the playset back in the day.
This one almost brings a tear. This was our very first morning waking up in this house. I can't believe we are about to have our last. Seth was only a few days old in this photo. That was another crazy time!
Back when the yard was weeds!
Look at how he has grown! We moved here a few weeks before Luke's third birthday.
There has been a lot of monkeying around and wrestling that has taken place in this family room. I'm pretty sure Seth spit up on every square inch of that carpet in his reflux days (don't share that with the new owners)!
This is "the hole" back in the day. Jer built that railroad retaining wall himself in million degree heat the first summer we lived here, and it was a massive undertaking. It took us the next five years to get it landscaped!
Another one that almost brings a tear...our first morning home from the hospital with baby Ian.
Jer tilling the garden. I have big plans for a garden at the new homestead.
So many fun special occasions: birthday parties, blessing parties, baptism dinners...this was Seth back when he turned two.
The hole back in its infancy when it was just weeds. My boys have spent so much time out there running around and jumping off the edge with their friends.
The boys have grown up a lot. These pictures were back on Ian's blessing day.
The green nursery has been home to Seth, Ian, and now Leah. Lots of late nights spent rocking my babies in that chair in that room.
This house is the only one Ian has ever known. I'll have to find a new first day of school picture spot.
Good times in the yard in front of the shed that Jer built.
There she is. This house has been a labor of love. We recently spent almost a year clearing out the basement to storage, finishing the basement, moving everything back into the basement...and now we're selling it. We have put our heart and soul into this place and spent most of our "baby days" here, and I will miss it. I can't even begin to post pics of our friends and neighbors, or I will get the water works going. I'm glad we're not really saying goodbye to them. It will be different though. My boys are riding the bus for the last time, and it is going to be quite an adjustment this winter in the rental without all of their neighborhood friends. They say home is where the heart is, so I'm glad I'm taking my heart with me. With your family, any place can be home right? Now before I get any sappier I have a lot to do. Hopefully next time I post I'll have a few pics of the move and our new property. A new chapter begins! If only there was a packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning fairy—I could use one of those about now!
