We bought a house!!!

We did it! We bought a house! This has been something we've been wanting and working towards for a long time and it's finally done. We signed the books worth of closing papers this afternoon and will get the keys before the weekend!

The house is in Hoquiam, the town that is right next to Aberdeen. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath. It has 1875 finished square feet and about 1200 additional square feet in an unfinished basement. It has a 2 car garage and a nice yard. The whole thing has been gutted and refinished BEAUTIFULLY! It's been an incredible blessing as we we made an offer and had everything close within 10 days! We have until the end of the month to be out of our rental, so we'll spend a good part of the next month moving and getting settled into a new place!

Now for what you've all been waiting for . . . . PICTURES of our new digs:

Front of the house

Side Entrance & Garage



Backyard


Living room
Living room looking into dining room & kitchen
Living room looking into dining room & at side entrance
Back corner is 1/2 bath & across from that is stairs

Side entrance looking into dining room & kitchen
Dining room looking to living room & front door
French doors on left are 3rd bedroom with full bath which will be our den/office/guest room

Door going to unfinished basement & garage (door is just inside kitchen)

Kitchen




Stairs- obviously :)

Landing at top of stairs- from left to right:
kids room, master bedroom & full bathroom

Inside the kids room they have finished out the attic space & made a great playroom

Master bedroom



I would have had more, but my camera batteries died! But at least you get a sneak peek!
Now you all have to come visit beautiful Grays Harbor!! :)

August 2008

I can't believe August is over and it's already September! This summer absolutely flew! A little recap of our last month or so:






Friday, August 1st- Allen had a doctor's appointment. My kid is in the 2nd percentile. We breed miniatures. :) But the doctor said he is healthy & happy. So that's all that matters. Plus he's terribly cute and constantly makes us laugh, so that's a bonus.



Wednesday, August 6th- We thought a lot about McKay as we knew he was leaving for the Ukraine! Corrine loves finding Ukraine on our world map and letting us know that's where McKay lives. Then she finds Washington so we can see how far away it is and lets us know how sad she is that Uncle McKay is so far away. Poor girl. :(



Friday, August 8th- Summer Olympics in Bejing, China started. The opening ceremonies were amazing!! And we enjoyed watching the various events off an on for days. It was great!

Saturday, August 9th- We took advantage of the nice weather and enjoyed a bike ride to the park.



Sunday, August 10th- We finally gave in and decided to give Allen his first haircut. It was mostly to take off some of the side hair that would hang over his ears or stick strait out like little wings. He sat pretty still for most of the process and still looks as adorable as ever afterwards.





Friday, August 15th- The kids & I headed up to Maple Valley in the afternoon where Dad was there all by himself (Mom was in AZ). We enjoyed delicious BBQ and watched some of the Olympics together. And of course the kids played and played and played. A friend of Moms, Maryann & her son were in town for the wedding, so they took advantage of Hotel Allen and stayed the night at the house, so it was fun to get to visit with both of them the next day.

Saturday, August 16th- We attended a baptism with dad in the morning for several kids in his ward (one of which he home teaches the family). Corrine LOVED it- she was so excited to see a baptism happen and kept saying "Mom, that was SO cool!" She even jumped right up to sing songs with the Primary kids while the boys got dressed. She's definitely not shy. :)

That afternoon Chris joined us in Maple Valley and we all enjoyed some time out at the lake. Both Allen & Corrine love the water and played for hours. Corrine even built a "castle" on the shore (a large pile of sand with a stick on top) and Allen stacked rocks. Who needs toys? The kids & I stayed and played at the lake while Dad & Chris left the lake early as they were headed to the Seattle Seahawks game. The Seahawks won and they had a great time!


Sunday, August 17th- We loved having a relaxing morning as Mom & Dad's ward doesn't start until 1pm. We enjoyed church and a nice dinner after and then headed home in the evening. It was so nice to spend some time with Dad and hopefully kept him from being too bored while Mom was gone!

Sunday, August 24th- We had dinner with Mom & Dad Priamos and watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Also amazing. Of course, we didn't watch them all as it went way past the kids bedtime and we all had to go home for some rest!




Saturday, August 30th- Mom & Dad Allen came down to Aberdeen that morning. We spent several hours out at the beach trying and finally succeeding flying some kites! The weather was beautiful and the sand was warm. There is something about the ocean that is so soothing! Lots of people were out enjoying the beach that day as well. Corrine built several castles and ran away from the incoming waves and Allen loved crawling around in all the sand and even decided he needed to taste it! It was a great afternoon!













We got back to the house and enjoyed some delicious BBQ, helped mom with a project on the computer, went and showed Mom & Dad a few of the houses we are considering and played Aquire and Take Two (a new game the Wick Lewis family taught us at the reunion)! Dad beat us in BOTH games! But it was fun night together.

Sunday, August 31st- We got up early for church- it was so nice to have 2 extra pairs of hands in getting the kids ready! We were actually EARLY! Corrine didn't know what to think- she had no idea the library was open BEFORE church! :) We spent our Sunday School hour in Primary as Corrine gave a talk on Baptism and Dad helped fill in for a missing teacher by sitting on the back row with a restless class of boys.

Mom & Dad had to leave right after church as Dad had to teach part of the combined RS/Priesthood Lesson. It also gave Mom all day Monday to work on getting everything ready for Seminary to start on Tuesday!

It was a great way to spend the last few days of summer!