Sold while we were gone

Even though we loved the first home we bought, we had to sell it to move on to our new house.

Our realtor (and my good friend!) is a ninja!  The morning we left we had the "Coming Soon" sign in our yard, and as we were leaving the stagers were arriving to get our home all set up for its photos and showings.

While it was for sale (less than a week) it had over 20 showings, plus an open house.  Since Sonia recommended we do this while we were out of town, we only had to clean the house to sparkling level once and we didn't have to find places to go while potential buyers viewed our home.

We asked for all offers to be held until after the open house.  We did get a bully offer the first day it was listed, but they wanted us to leave 3 weeks early.  Unfortunately, we couldn't leave 3 weeks early (and no one likes a bully, ha!), so we turned their offer down.

The day before we arrived home we received 7 offers!  We were able to accept an offer that was well over asking price.  We feel so blessed that our home sold, and it all went so smoothly!  Thanks Sonia for all of your help!

(I miss those hastas!)

Almost Cousins

After we left Indiana, we stopped in Ohio again to visit Sara.  Our parents grew up together as kids, so we are almost cousins!  Growing up on other sides of the country we only got to see each other a handful of times, but I've always felt like we're family.  We stopped for lunch at Sara's restaurant (it was so good!).  And she amazingly comped our meal (and we're a large family!).  Wow, what a sweetheart!

We visited Sara in July 2019, but I'm playing catch-up on this blog during the quarantine of 2020.  Sara recently sent me this photo of me and Len the summer after we were married.  This was my 3rd batch of happy mail during quarantine :).

Visiting Wyatt

Mom and Granddad took Leonard and me to Cloverdale to see where my brothers and sister grew up as kids.  Of course, we had to stop at the cemetery to visit Wyatt.

This was such a peaceful place.  I really felt like I was visiting sacred ground.

Wyatt's temporary grave marker.

(He now has a gorgeous headstone that I look forward to seeing when I visit him again.)

I also got to visit with Grannybelle.

Grannybelle's mom and Granddad's mom and step-dad are also buried here.

This poem at Wyatt's grave is so true.  Even though I know he is in a better place and I now we will see him again someday, I selfishly want him here now.  I miss him, and I wish he could be here with all of us, but especially Mom and his 3 sons.

"If tears could build a stairway,

and memories a lane,

I'd walk right up to heaven

and bring you home again."

On our way back to Greencastle we got some amazing ice cream, then we visited this apartment building that used to be a hospital.  This is the place where my dad was born.  His family lived in Spencer, but the nearest hospital was in Greencastle.  When I was born, my parents also lived in Spencer, but the nearest hospital then was in Bloomington.  Since we never lived in these towns, as a kid I'd remember my dad was born in Greencastle, because he has green eyes and that I was born in Bloomington because I have blue eyes.  Now that my dad has retired he finally lives in the town he was born in.  Maybe when we retire we'll live in Bloomington!

Where's Billy?

We are HUGE Stranger Things fans.  If you are too, you know it's set in Indiana.  While we were in Indiana we kept finding things that would fit right in with the show.  Enter the community swimming pool.  I kept expecting to see Billy on life-guard duty or Karen Wheeler in a lounge chair ogling him.

The kids had a blast swimming, sliding, and diving.

While the rest of us were in the pool, Macy played with Grandpa.

Can I have a kiss?

Can I have a hug?

But seriously, where's Billy?

Green-eyes in Greencastle

Grandma and Grandpa with Green-eyes bought a new house in Greencastle, Indiana, so we drove down to visit with them and all the fam!

Now you can see how large their front yard is.  And there backyard is even more impressive, as their property is on almost 2 acres.

They have enough room for a Tin Man,

a Bird Hotel,

and Tiger Lilies to live with them too!

We played lots of games.

Macy was so excited to be outside and stretch her legs.

The little kids splashed in the pool lots too.

Ali took a break to give some loves to Grandma and Lucy.

Back in the pool.

I told you they splashed!

Mom and GrandDad.

Len, Jen, Dad, and Mom.

Clint & Lacey's crew.

Adam & Jennelle and half their cute zoo.

Rick & Gay and some of their brew.

Every time I got my camera out, Gabe would flash me his gorgeous smile and say, "Cheese!"  How could I resist him?

Macy slept with Len and I in Jake's room, and Kaleb slept on the sofa in Tyler's room.  Noé and Ali had a sleepover with Belle on the hide-a-bed, while...

...Gavin, Hiram, and Teague had a sleepover with Lucy on the blow-up mattress.

Everyone sleeps well at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

I Believe in Christ!

I am so grateful that I have the privilege to worship God as my conscience dictates. I greatly admire all of my family members and friends that worship God as their conscience dictates, regardless of what faith they practice.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believe we have a prophet of God living on the earth today, Russell M. Nelson. Click HERE for some words he shared recently about Jesus Christ's Second Coming that touched me. I share my testimony here not to offend anyone, or to appear self-righteous, but because I love my God and my fellow man. And as President Nelson says, "It is our charge—it is our privilege—to help prepare the world for that day (the Lord's Second Coming)." I can't invite you to church right now, as all of our buildings are temporarily closed to stop the spread of the corona virus, but I am happy to chat any time if you are interested to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Columbus, Ohio #44

We took a road trip down to Indiana to visit Grandma and Grandpa Green-eyes.  We made a pit-stop in Columbus, Ohio so Leonard and I could serve in our 44th temple together.  We love serving in the temple as often as we can, and we also like to visit as many temples as we can when we travel.  We had a very tender mercy from the Lord while serving together this night.

All of the flower beds at the temples are so beautiful.  I loved this rainbow of flowers!

And the white hydrangea clouds!

We didn't drive all the way to Mexico (the country), but we did get a kick out of these signs and shared on Facebook asking people to guess where we were.  We got some great responses!  We were in a small town in upstate New York- yep, you guessed it- Mexico, New York!

This was close to our stop in Palmyra to buy new temple clothes as we forgot ours at home and the Columbus temple doesn't have clothing rentals.  Now that we have two sets, we should always leave one set in the car!

Two Escaped Feet!

I went to check on a napping Macy and look what I found!

Her feet escaped the crib!

SIDS has me afraid of bumper pads, but they sure make it nice for a baby to sleep without having their little hands or feet get stuck.

She didn't seem to mind though.

Macy at 18 months!

Macy turned 18 months, so of course we had to take her to the photographer to have her pictures taken.

Here is Ali at 18 months old.  Does anything look familiar?

I bought all 3 of these outfits BEFORE I was pregnant with Ali, but I was dreaming of having 3 more little girls join our family.  We were so excited when Ali came to us!  I had to get pictures taken of her in this darling outfit, while we were still dreaming of 2 more little girls joining us.

We were so excited when Macy came to us!  Of course, I had to get pictures taken of her in another one of these darling outfits, while we are still dreaming of another little girl joining us.

I don't know if Macy will become a big sister or not.

But I do know that she is an amazing little sister and we love her so much!!