Christmas

This Christmas was pretty simple for us. We hadn't hyped up Avery about presents or Santa Clause this year, but she enjoyed opening gifts nonetheless. Perhaps next year we'll ham it up a little when she understands it better and we'll probably get to go visit family too.

We already have her handing out the gifts; it's funny to hear her say "heavy" with a distinct expression. (It's thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas that we even had presents under the tree this year! Thank you! The main gift for us was above our heads and below our feet- the house, of course).

Avery opening the one present we got her (wrapped in packaging paper! haha).

A cute hand-done book from Grandma Olsen.

This is a rotary saw from Grandpa Olsen (to Brian, not Avery :)

This has been Avery this week- being a great helper on the house (honestly productive) as she sweeps, picks up, puts away, and hands things to dad. She's pretty adorable- especially when trying to lift things. Of course, it's still a handful keeping an eye on an almost-two-year-old in a construction zone, but she keeps busy as I keep busy after her.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! Today was just cooking and construction. I cooked, Brian constructed. My first turkey turned out better than I expected (I was scared)! It wasn't bad at all. Yay for me! Take a look at Brian below and the huge gaping hole in our floor! I'm so excited for the new stairs to soon be here!!

Let's talk about AVERY! She seems more mature every day. We love the things she does. Like, today she grabbed a tissue (aka TP) and assumed to blow her nose just as we do (see pic below). However, she also understands that TP goes in the toilet, so she succeeded in unrolling a quarter roll of TP into our toilet naturally. It's hard to get mad at her when she doesn't realize what's wrong. Cute bugger. I did tell her that was a no-no, and I think she understands... just like when we read a book and she sees where she previously colored in her book and points and says "no-no."

What else? She is getting better at stirring and pouring when she helps in the kitchen. She can identify so many objects from learning them in her book (I'm fascinated when she can point out a door or star or animal even when it looks different from the one she identifies in her book).

She's so funny when she responds to my offers sometimes:

me: "Juice or water?"

A: "Juice? K!"

me: "Do you want a cookie?"

A? "Cookie? K!"

She gets so enthusiastic about certain things, I love it. Like cookies. Who wouldn't? She says "wow" in a very awe-struck way when looking at the stars in the sky (mimicking us, I'm sure). Avery loves to repeat words we say and is getting better at it all the time. I'm deeply amazed at her understanding and acknowledgment when I say things like, "You can have this, but we have to wait until..." or "You can play with the pen, but you must put the cap on." It's simple stuff, I know, but I'm so proud that she can be obedient.

We're in!

First, some random pictures in reverse chronological order:

The front room (complete with stockings hung by the fire)

A snowy closing day on Thursday

Christmas time baking at our apartment, yum!

Making gingerbread houses! Avery was much more interested in stuffing her face with the plethora of candy.

Well hello friends and family!

We have much to catch up on now that we have INTERNET in our new home! I apologize for neglecting the blog so badly, but we're back in the saddle (meaning with internet after a 3-month "fast") and it feels GOOD!

It also feels good to be in our new home- I can't believe it!!! We're actually here. The move went awesome on Saturday- we probably had at least 15 helpers from the ward and it was speedy! It's a good thing that Brian and I could come clean up the carpets before hand (on one long Thursday night after our closing) because the previous owners left us a lovely mess. They owned 3 dogs and hadn't even vacuumed after getting their stuff out... so after 3 runs in every room with the vacuum and then the carpet cleaner, we got enough dog hair out to be satisfied. I'm sure we'll still be sucking up dog hair for a long while. Ah well; soon we plan to have new flooring anyway.

We're still unpacking, but have all the essentials put away. We even got Christmas put up in the front room! It is so cozy here with the fire place and pellet stove. We're so excited about this house; I was pleasantly surprised when most of the rooms felt bigger than I expected after we moved in. The kitchen is awesome: a ginormous sink, double oven, great filtered water from the fridge, plenty of beautiful hickory cabinets and everything feels new. Ahh!

We have plenty of home updating projects on our list and Brian is getting started right away on our stair case now that he has a lot of time off for Christmas. I'm so excited he'll be here tomorrow and so on! Christmas is so close- crazy. I'm preparing (mentally mostly) to cook my first turkey- it's a whopping 18 pounds, holy cow... or should I say bird. I'm also planning some other yummy dishes and it looks like we'll have a cozy Christmas all to our very selves. It's happy and sad at the same time, but I know we'll make the most of it; it'll be new.

Shooie! Move-in, Christmas, birthday, baby... so much happening. We still haven't picked out a name and we're feeling the heat since it's TWO weeks away! We have some names in mind but aren't set on a particular one. I hope one of them sticks out when the time is right.

Family Picture

This is just a quick picture we took for you to see us. We hope you're all having a fun holiday season so far! We're doing very well and are happy as can be.

We FOUND the ONE!

Amazing news, people! We are currently in the process of purchasing our VERY FIRST HOME! (Pictures at the bottom.) Earlier than expected, we found exactly what we were looking for in a home and at a price we could manage this early in the game. At a killer deal and meeting all of our expectations (and more), we couldn’t possibly pass it up. The current owners bought it less than 2 years ago at a foreclosure price and now they have to leave and are passing on those same savings to us. Talk about blessings.

We are so excited and anxious to start living there and make it our own. Our closing date is December 16 and move in on December 18. We’ve been approved for a conventional 80-10 loan at an excellent interest rate and all the scary stuff is over, like the inspection. The house has no significantly major issues that would deter us from buying. Now we just have to be patient for this whole process to be completed.

So, without further ado, let me tell you about our new place and why we fell in love with it! It has:
-Two stories (one is partially underground)
-4 bedrooms (generally small, but that’s ok)
-3 full baths (that means a master bath! Great!)
-Walk-in master closet
-2000 square feet
-Large family room downstairs (living room and kitchen/dining upstairs)
-2 fireplaces (one wood, one pellet stove)
-Decks in front and back (composite deck in front)
-1 car garage with storage closets and work space
-Large storage shed in backyard
-Wine cellar (ha, probably for food storage)
-Good sized back yard, fenced in, with specified garden area and 2 fruit trees
-Stucco with pitched roof
-Newer double-pane windows
-Decent landscaping in front
-Newer kitchen (no need for updating)
-Great neighborhood
-Great schools

The house was built in 1979 (we didn’t expect to be in a new home), and yes, could use some updating, which is actually what we wanted. We wanted some projects to keep us busy and apply our own touch. The first priority is to get rid of the spiral staircase, which is cramped and dangerous for children, and replace it with a conventional one. Following that are other projects that have no particular order and we will get to them soon as they can be afforded: Buy washer/dryer, New water heater, Fix bowing in the front deck, Update flooring upstairs and down, Paint, Expand downstairs bedroom while decreasing bathroom, Update master bathroom with large shower and double vanity and a toilet that is more than 1 foot off the ground!

We are so thrilled to get started and I only hope I can be patient enough for us to acquire the necessary funds. This will certainly be a merry Christmas for us! …and just in time for the new baby, too!

Front
Front Deck
View from the front
Living Room
Kitchen
Kitchen/Dining
Hallway
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Bedroom
Bathroom
Family Room (much bigger than shown here)
Back Deck (the rest of the yard is not seen here)

A Happy Halloween

This year, Avery was a bear and I was a hunter (thanks to Brian's gear). On Friday (29th) we took Avery down main street for trick-or-treating with the town. It was super packed! (Probably because of the nice weather.) On Saturday (30th), we had our ward trunk-or-treat. Brian created this super cool Adam's Family House (Thing's house) for the trunk and put his hand through the swinging doors to give candy. Avery enjoyed the trunk-or-treat the best because it was less crowded.

Great News!

BRIAN received his Security Clearance YESTERDAY! That took less than two months (record time here)!!!! Now he's ready to work on all the classified stuff he's meant for :) We're so excited!

Also, we got Avery a bunk bed and she's loving it! What a big girl!

Just a cute smile.