The Adventures of Grace, Ella and Sutton: December 2010

I apologize (to both my readers and my kids) for my sporadic blogging, but we've had some major changes that have caused a disruption in our usual routine. It's something I haven't blogged about before because as a general rule, I don't blog about future plans. So, I've been keeping a blogging "secret" for over a year. Don't worry--everyone is fine.

Last fall, we decided to sell our house. Little did we know that it would take over a year to find a buyer and close the deal. From November 11, 2009 to October 26, 2010, our home was on the market. We had more showings than I can count, and we had to keep our house in "show" condition during that time. Although Travis and I are both very neat and organized, keeping a house super clean with two full-time jobs and three full-time kids was very, very challenging and very, very exhausting. It was a very long year.

All along, we knew that God had a plan for us. In the beginning, we thought we knew what the plan was. It went something like this...Our house is amazing, and it will sell very quickly. We will find a new home that we love, and we will move and get settled in within six months. Ha, ha. As the months wore on, we realized that God had a different plan, and we prayed that His plan would be revealed and that we would have patience to wait for it.

While our house was on the market, we looked at countless homes and never found anything that we thought was just right for our family. Then, in October, the perfect buyer came along and we got a contract on our house. Our prayer was answered! That same week, we looked at a wonderful new house and made our first offer. It was promptly rejected, and we didn't even have a chance to make a counteroffer. Travis was very disappointed, but I felt confident that it was just a sign that something better would pop up. A few days later, that's exactly what happened.

On the morning of November 2, the day after Grace's birthday, I noticed a new listing online. There was no picture, but the description sounded great and from the address, I knew it was close our our best friends' house. I immediately called our realtor and said I wanted to see it that afternoon. I also called Travis and told him that I was going to see it and that I had a good feeling about it. So, later that afternoon, I met our realtor at the house that had been on the market for less than 24 hours. As soon as I walked in, I knew it was "the one." We made an offer that evening, without Travis even seeing the house!

The next day, as Travis was walking through the house for the first time, the sellers accepted our offer. Just as I knew he would, Travis loved it as much as I did, and we were thrilled to get the contract! Several other potential buyers made offers that very first day, but we got it! The new house is absolutely perfect for our family. It is our forever home, and we don't plan to move any time in the foreseeable future. It is beautiful and has plenty of room for everyone, and I can't wait to make it ours. The best part? It's location. Not only is it just three blocks away from our new elementary school, a wonderful neighborhood shopping area and an amazing swimming pool, but it is just four houses down from our best friends.

The only catch in all of this is that our buyers wanted to move in before Christmas, and our sellers wanted to stay through New Years. That meant that between moves, we had to find somewhere to live. After exploring multiple options, we accepted the most gracious offer we've ever received. Our best friends offered to let us move in with them during the 5 week transition period! So, we closed on the sale of our house on December 1, moved in with friends (and moved our stuff to storage) on December 2, and closed on our new house on December 10. We get to move in on January 8. What a busy time!

For the past three weeks, we've been living in a house with a total of four adults, six children, two dogs and two cats just four houses down from our new house. On top of that, Travis has been busy building a new dental office, which is set to open on January 4. And, it's Christmastime! Needless to say, we have been overwhelmed with life lately, and I haven't had as much time or energy to blog as I would like. All I know is this--we have been greatly blessed, and we are thankful for everything that has happened in the past year.

There--I feel so much better now that the secret is out!

Ella had her first dance recital at Studio B's Christmas show. Because her class is comprised of 2-3 year olds, they held the show at the studio rather than on the big stage. Ella was a snowflake and did a great job dancing to "Here Comes Suzy Snowflake." She sang loudly and seemed to enjoy it. It was so fun to see her very first performance! Unfortunately, my camera was not cooperating, so all my pictures came out too dark and these are the only ones I could salvage...

Grace also loved participating in Studio B's first ever Christmas Show at WW High School. Is she not the absolute cutest elf you've ever seen? We both loved, loved, loved this costume, and I enjoyed helping all the girls get ready backstage.