Sold!

It happened! Right at 8 weeks, we got an offer. Hooray! 

Fun story... I got a call at 5pm from the showing scheduling service on a Monday evening. We were just finishing eating dinner early because everyone had swim lessons, and Collin had taekwondo, and we had to leave by 5:20pm. The operator informed me that a realtor had just placed a request for a 5:30 showing. 

I said, "Do you mean in 30 minutes?!" 

He said, "Yes, but you can decline it." 

I replied, "Not if I want my house to sell!" 

I quickly got off the phone, and as the kids finished eating, I told them through my panic-induced shortness of breath, "We have a showing, and we have to have the house ready in 20 minutes!" It was 5:02pm. 

And you know what those amazing little monkeys did? They cleared their places, loaded their dishes, and got into their swimsuits/gi. Before I knew it, Collin was wiping bathroom counters and folding nap-time blankets, Brennan was wiping the kitchen table and counters, Ethan was loading the dishwasher, and Kate was putting my shower bottles under the counter in the bathroom. I honestly didn't even tell them what to do.

I've never seen anything like it! I didn't even think they KNEW what to do! But after two months on the market, they just knew what had to happen, and they did it without a single tear, complaint or yell from Mom. 

I sent them to the car and did the final vacuum and mopping and then joined them. I got in the driver's seat and backed out of the garage, and... it was 5:17pm. I pulled over on our street - to put on my shoes! - and gave the most sincere, appreciative compliments to my little team. We had come together and got it done. I was - and still am! - so proud of them. 

The next day we learned that the family who had come that night - the wife is the realtor's daughter - was putting together an offer to buy our house. And we had done it together! It was such a tender mercy that the showing that became "the one" was the showing where we had to work as a team and do the impossible. 

My little guys can move mountains! 

Anyway, a few days later we made an offer on a home in Boerne, TX. It is a bedroom-community on the NW corner of San Ant. The schools are great, and Ryan's commute should be only 30-45 minutes, (rather than one hour drive of most high-rated schools) depending on traffic. We have successfully gotten through the inspections on both ends, so that's a relief. Now we just have to submit documents and sign, sign, sign. 

We will close here on May 24th, take a final farewell tour of southern Colorado, and then drive to Texas. We'll have about a week in a hotel or VRBO there, and then we close on the new house on June 5th. It immediately needs new carpet - before the truck arrives, hopefully - so we'll still have a few more days of unsettledness. It'll be crazy and exhausting, but then it'll be all over. I'm so grateful to see light at the end of the tunnel! 

Eight Weeks

Obviously, I didn't figure I'd be using that title. Other than a "bomb cyclone" blizzard, snow day, bladder infection, four kid colds, three vomiting bugs, two price reductions, one house-hunting trip, one braces removal, six haircuts, quad gum graft and a mother-in-law visit... Nothing has changed. Still on the market. Still no offers. Almost no activity the last week either. Sigh. That's the update... or lack thereof. I'm still standing.

Three Weeks

Today marks three weeks since Ryan left and that the house went on the market. I am doing better than I expected, but there have definitely been some tears and lost-tempers. Showings - which I can't plan ahead for - are frustrating, and Open Houses are generally poorly attended. It is super cold - got down to -11 without windchill last night - and we got about 6 inches of snow Friday through Sunday.  (I had an Open House on Saturday.) The weather isn't really cooperating, to say the least. I hope Spring is around the corner.

I'm tired of cleaning, especially mopping these beautiful floors. I'm tired of running all the car-pools by myself. I'm tired of doing dishes and making beds. I'm tired of staying on top of fingerprints and other messes. I'm tired of giving all the consequences and breaking up all the fights. I'm tired of entertaining the kids in restaurants, movie theaters and libraries - after cleaning the house for hours - only to be told that our house is "too close to the school" or their "second choice."

I have been so blessed to be served by the members of our ward though. A family from the ward came both Saturday and Sunday mornings to clear the snow from our driveway and sidewalks. Our ministering brother came last Friday evening with a massive ladder to change the battery in the chirping smoke detector at the top of our 20-foot vaulted ceiling. When I failed to be able to install the new control panel on our humidifier, another member of the ward came over to confirm that it was factory-defective (which I then returned and installed the replacement in 5 minutes). We have also received four unrequested dinners from three different families, as well as being invited to eat at two different families' homes (and feeding my four children is no small feat). We have crashed in two different homes during showings - each with only a moment's notice. Many more people have offered their homes for our use, and I'm sure I'll still have a chance to take them up on their offers.

Ryan is super happy with his new job and responsibilities. He spends his free time looking at houses with his new best friend, our realtor Jeff. He also goes to the temple (which is in the neighborhood he is renting in) and for bike rides. Of course, he is also working. The weather, unlike here, is almost perfect, and he's loving it. His accommodations are less than ideal (loud tvs until 1am accompanied by obnoxious laughter and multiple cats in the bedroom next door), but he's a trooper. In order to save money, he is renting a room in a home of a member of the Church. They are an older couple whose children are all out of the house. It's a short-term solution, of course, until we can buy a house and the rest of the family can move down.

My plan was to move as soon as we close on this house, even if the kids were still in the middle of the school year. Unfortunately, it's looking more and more like the house won't close until school gets out anyway. So much for being able to get them started before summer break. The best laid plans...

Please pray for us to be able to cope with being apart and for someone to buy our house, so we can be together as a family again.

We really are doing better than I expected, but of course it's still hard. There's our update. Love you all!

It's moving time again!

Ryan accepted a new job in San Antonio, TX on Monday morning. He'll be working for Southwest Research Institute, and he starts on February 18th. The kids and I will stay in CO until the house sells, hopefully before school gets out. We hope to put it on the market by February 13th. 

He is more excited than can be put into words, and I have had moments of excitement, but right now I'm just overwhelmed. So much to think about and to get done. 

                                    

His work will be on the west side of town, but as we've talked with people, it sounds like our family will be happiest on the north side instead, so he'll have a 30-40 minute commute each way. We'll live close to the temple though, so that'll be nice.

He'll also be traveling about one week each month, so that'll be a major adjustment for me and the kids. Living on the north side, we'll be closest to the airport. 

San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the US, so everyone seems to know someone who has or does live there. We are looking forward to all the newness, despite the anxieties. The traffic sounds like it'll take some adjustment for us too. 

                                          

Ryan has spent many business trips at Southwest and in San Antonio, but I've actually never been to TX, except layovers in DFW. He knows his new boss quite well, and our friends who have worked for the company say he's an amazing mentor for new managers. The offer really was too good to pass up. 

Caterpillar has a lot of employees in the San Antonio area, and we have several friends who live nearby that we knew in Peoria. It'll be fun to know a few people even before we can get settled in. 

We will miss Colorado, the mountains, the hiking and the waterfalls. We'll miss our friends and the "easy" drive to Utah to visit family and friends there. While living in this same house, we've been in three very different wards in three very different stakes, and as such, we are leaving behind many, many dear friends. We have loved our time in Colorado, and I dream of returning and living here again in the future. 

But, for now, here's to new adventures! 

Family Pictures 2017

First Day 2017-2018

Collin - Mrs Eucker - 3rd Grade

 Brennan - Mrs Harras - 1st Grade

Best Friends

They all left us together today. Good luck, Team!

Eclipse Totality

So I had thought all the media hype pre-eclipse had been super overdone. But I did get us all free glasses at the library about a month ago. Then when Ryan said none of the other "smart" guys at work were going to come in on Monday, he got a whole outing planned for us to Scottsbluff, NE - inside the band of totality.

Our plan was to get up at 5:30 and leave when the kids woke up naturally at 6:30. As we spoke with friends all weekend, we decided that leaving so late was not going to work, so as we finally went to bed about 11pm Sunday night, we set the alarm for 3am! We woke up the kids at 3:30 (Silly Ryan thought they'd go back to sleep in the car, ha!) and were on the road by 3:45.

About now is when I turned around and realized that in the chaos of waking up the kids and getting loaded, Ryan nor I grabbed Kate any shoes. So we had a little hillbilly all day with us. Oops. Maybe she'll start grabbing her own, like the boys! 

Traffic was heavy but not slow going up, and we got to the National Monument a few minutes after 6am. There was a short wait to get into the lot, but it went really smoothly. The huge disappointment was that they weren't allowing any cars to drive to the top, and they weren't letting anyone park at the bottom and hike to the top.

So... we were stuck at the bottom for the next six hours waiting for "the event." Before we even got out of the car, they had closed the lot to additional cars, and they didn't allow any people to walk/bike in. It was just us and about 80ish other cars.

But the long wait went sooo fast! They had eclipse workbooks for the kids and when they were completed, they showed the ranger and received a wood pin and badge. They had a special performance in the ampitheater about the man the area was named after.

 And we also toured the museum and watched a short movie in there too. We walked down a short trail with information about the Oregon Trail and replicas of wagons and oxen teams too.

I had read online in advance that the solar glasses were not very affective for children, since they are sized for adults. A craft was provided where the glasses are mounted to paper plates. So Ryan worked with each of the kids to make paper plate masks for their glasses and attached string so they stayed on well. They decorated them, and I think it was a great way to pass the time.

I helped them with their workbooks. 

Then at about 10:20, we started to see the first bite out of the top right corner. It was really exciting! Everyone inside this area was really into what was happening. Most were from the Denver area and had also been up since 3am. There was no alcohol allowed, so everyone was acting responsible.

One guy had his telescope set up with a mirror to reflect the image onto a screen. He explained the whole process to all the kids. The rangers also had a mega-telescope arranged, and we could even view the sun spots through it. Another family had brought a colander to view the strange shadows, and they handed out pinhole cards for each of the kids too. A group of grandparents brought aluminum foil and wrapped their hats, just to be silly. Everyone was so friendly and interesting.

And then at 11:48... Total eclipse! It really was amazing. So crazy! It was worth all the media-hype, for real. Everyone cheered, and it got cooler (84 degrees to 67 degrees, according to Ryan's special watch) and the birds stopped chirping. The rangers kept warning us that the rattlesnakes might come out and to watch our kids and the tall grass, but honestly - I forgot! But no one got bit, so I guess it was fine. ;-)

It was only as dark as it'd be at 8pm or so, but the corona was incredible! We saw Sirius and Venus too. With glasses on, it was totally black, which is why it was ok to remove the solar glasses during totality. There was a perfect black - kinda scary! - disc in the center of a brilliant perfect circle of bright, wavy light. It really was pretty creepy. And so totally amazing!

After it ended, we were hoping they'd open the road to the top so we could hike, but they said because of the numbers of people, they planned to keep it closed all day. :-( So we headed home.

Kate was one sleepy little princess by noon as we headed towards home. She fell right asleep, but only slept about 10 minutes. It was probably the longest day of her life. :-)

The first hour of the drive was fine, but when we got to Cheyenne, the traffic got really bad, and it was stop-and-go until northern FoCo. We exited the freeway then and took the country/local roads through towns to get back home.

We got home about 3:30 and even spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool to maximize Ryan's vacation day.

All in all, it was PERFECT! We hardly planned, and we were really anxiously about traffic, parking, food (I packed two meals and extra bottled water, but didn't need it), toilets (I took my camping potty, but didn't need it), gas (we had a full tank to begin at the start). It was super smooth considering the numbers of people flocking to see it.

Total eclipse awesomeness!

Spring Has Sprung!

Kate eating watermelon on the back patio with the perfectly blue sky and sunshine prompted a bit of a photo session this afternoon. 

I think she is just gorgeous! 

And, honestly, THOSE CURLS!?

Devouring piece after piece. Adorable! 

Full of watermelon with a cheese ball smile. Love it!

Pondering the beauty of the world

And enjoying her bubbles! 

Pop, pop, pop! 

My Kakie-potamus

My Eefie

B

who lost this bottom tooth this morning.

And the biggest confident brother

More posing from the spoiled, little princess

Happy Spring! What a beautiful, relaxing afternoon we got to enjoy today.