SOLD!

As of today, we are no longer homeowners!  Yippee!  We closed today on selling our first home in Salem, Oregon, which has been a rental property since we moved out of it in January, 2012.  The short story is we are thrilled to have it sold!  If you want the long story, keep reading:).

It was okay being Landlords, and we were very blessed to have wonderful tenants, but I never did quite like the prospect of owning an "Investment Property".  I guess it's just not my thing.  We have been talking about selling it for awhile, hoping the market would come back up, and not wanting to displace our current tenants.
This past January, we made the decision we would sell it.  I contacted a Realtor and talked with her about putting it on the market ASAP.  The next morning at 7:00 a.m. my cell phone rang; it was our tenant. (Note: it's never a good thing if your tenants call you at 7:00 in the morning!)  There was water dripping from the ceiling in the kitchen.  Panic!  They shut off the water and I called a plumber.  He came and cut a HUGE hole in the ceiling, only to find out it was not a plumbing leak.  So we figured it was a roof leak.  The roofing company came and did repairs on the roof, and the next morning, still dripping!  What?!  Finally, someone we had look at it realized it was the seal around one of our window trims.  The caulking had deteriorated and simply needed re-done.  Voila!  No more leak.  But there was still a huge hole, so we had to call an Independent Contractor.  And, voila again!  Several hundred dollars later and problem solved.

That took more than three weeks to go through that process.  Then we had an Acquaintance express interest in purchasing the home as a rental property.  Yay!  We wouldn't need to put it on the market and our renter's could stay put.  Perfect!  Until he did an inspection on the property and didn't like a couple of things and "it just didn't feel right."  Two weeks later again, and we were back to square one.  But, by this time, our tenants knew we were trying to sell.  So we decided, what could it hurt?  We asked them if they were interested in purchasing it.  Never in a million years did I think they actually would be.  But THEY WERE!  (Loud, joyful screams!)

BUT, they weren't quite ready to buy yet.  It all came very fast for them, but after working through things, and us being very patient, we finally closed today!  And we were able to do it without a Realtor.  (We passed the savings on to them, but I was still so glad it didn't have to go on the market.)  It is so exciting!

Here is a picture of our first home, the home we lived in for 7 1/2 years when three of our children were born.  It was a great first home for us and we have many wonderful memories here.

We are so glad another wonderful family who already knows and loves the home was able to purchase it and will be able to continue enjoying it.  We are so grateful how everything works out in the end!

(And, our other big news...we are under contract to buy another home, so if all goes well, we will close on that on May 19th.  So I guess the not being a homeowner won't last very long after all:).)

March Birthdays!

I am way behind!  Here are a few highlights from March:

Kyle and his family went to Shreveport to visit his Grandpa Allen Pearson.  His mom, both sisters (Maile and Christine) and brother, Logan, all met in Dallas, then drove to Shreveport.  They stayed with his Uncle Mark and Aunt LuAnn, and were able to spend quality time with his Grandpa and a few cousins.  They also explored Shreveport a bit, and went to the spot/museum where JFK was shot.  It was a great family weekend for Kyle.  We were very glad when he got home!

March 16 was Skyler's 5th birthday!  He got his choice of breakfast in bed and he chose three bowls of Cinnamon Toast Cruch, milk, and dried blueberries!  Talk about gourmet:)!  Since his birthday was on Sunday, we went to see "Epic" the day before at the theater.  He chose another gourmet meal for dinner: hot dogs!  Then we opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

The following Sunday--March 23--was Spencer's birthday.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese's as a family the day before, then for his breakfast in bed he chose homemade cinnamon rolls, milk, and fruit.  After church, we had Loco Mocos for dinner (of course!) and opened presents.  Then we went to visit Anneca's grave, then came home and had cake and ice cream.

Happy birthday to our two wonderful boys!

January Fun

We celebrated my [hu, hum] birthday on January 14th.  We went to the Rusty Moose Restaurant again for dinner, then had a delish ice cream cake and opened presents at home afterward.  Kyle is an amazing ice cream cake chef.

We have enjoyed several big snowfalls in the last two months.  (Today--March 3--school is cancelled due to about eight inches yesterday.)  The kids have had a great time playing in it, building a snowman, sledding, etc.  We love having "free reign" of the golf course behind our house.  There are some decent sledding hills and there is no worry about cars, etc.  I love that I feel comfortable enough letting them play out there without me being out there with them.  I just keep an eye on them from inside the warm house:).

Here are some cute shots of our little Andon Joseph.  He is loving puzzles lately: he did the puzzle shown 10 or more times a day for about three weeks.  Now he is fixated on a large floor puzzle of the United States.  Since he can't really do the whole thing by himself, once we help him put it together the first time, he takes it apart one piece at a time, and puts it back together a few feet away from where it was before.  It is awesome!

He is not a fan of getting his hair cut, though.  My boys' hair grows much too quickly.  This haircut was the middle of January, and I just gave them much needed cuts again this weekend!  (Less than two months later.)

Basketball

Spencer and Kylene are both just finishing up their first seasons of basketball.  It has been a great experience; both have really enjoyed it.  Here are their team pictures we got back yesterday.  More action shots I have taken over the season to come as soon as I can fix my memory card!

Spencer played in the 5/6 age bracket with Kinder and First Graders.  He was one of the older ones on his team.  His coaches were Coach Melissa and Coach Heather.

Kylene played in the 9/10 age bracket with third and fourth graders.  Her coach was Coach Richards.  She was one of the younger ones on her team, and the only one that had never played basketball before.  She had a very steep learning curve at the beginning and picked up on everything very quickly.  The first couple of practices were a little overwhelming, but she understands so much more now and loves going, especially to practices.  (The games can get a little intense.)  I'm so proud of her for hanging in there and coming so far!

Stand For the Family

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is one of the scariest UN Resolutions there is.   Here is a great article on what it is doing to undermine the power and influence of families.

http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/14003


One of my biggest complaints about the public school system and the government is the assumption they 

make that THEY (not the parents or the family) know what is best for our children.  Inch by inch, they are
doing their best to take away any and all rights we have.  I pray that the United States will never stoop so low
as to support this pernicious UN Resolution.  

Please always remember that if you are a parent, YOU know what is best for your child.  You are his/her
greatest advocate and you must stand up for him/her.  I have learned through experience that a mother's 
intuition is both powerful and real.  Never doubt yourself when it comes time for you to fight for what your
child needs.  And never let a school, government, doctor, or anyone else tell you that you don't know what
you're talking about.  I am not much of a fighter by nature, but this type of thing makes me want to put on
my boxing gloves.  Seriously.

Here's another article that summarizes the UN CRC.  Scary stuff, indeed.