We are here!

These were taken at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge exactly one week after we arrived in California. It was such a cool thing to be a part of.  The fireworks were amazing!  That last picture is dark, but if you look close, you can tell the fireworks are right on the bridge.

This was taken in the Odwalla booth they had set up.  Right after this picture, Carter found a zip tie on the ground (never mind it was pitch black...no idea how he does half the stuff he does) and immediately attached it to his wrist!  Luckily the lady in the booth happened to have a mini utility knife so although it was really tight, we were able to get under it enough to cut it off.  Seriously child!  Some days EVERY day I wonder what he is thinking (or not thinking).  I always say he is lucky to be so darn cute!

Another offer...

...and it went to someone else, again.

Wherever we end up better be good!!!  ;)

Seriously, I'm avoiding packing.
Must. Get. Packing!

the Countdown is ON!

We are getting to within a month of our move. We have to be out in 33 days.  We will probably be out a few days before that.  CRAZY!!!
I just read my cute niece Breeann's most recent blog post...she is graduating from BYU this week (YEA!  So, so happy for her). We are so excited to see my mom, my brother, sister-in-law and niece (remember, her brother Hunter is in Africa serving a mission) for a few days while they come to her graduation.

This picture was taken on her birthday last May.

Anyway, I've been thinking/saying for the past several days that I haven't really been sad about the move, we are super excited, ready to be there in a way, not wanting to go so soon in other ways, but knowing that the actual driving out of the neighborhood may be more emotional and tragic than I care to think about.
Actually, I can't really think about it yet.
But after reading Bree's blog tonight, I told her I'm feeling sick to my stomach knowing how far away from her we will be (she is moving to Texas).
And now that it has set in, I think I will feel that way for the next 33 days at least, about us moving so far from everyone we know and love.
But, life is good!  I will start packing sometime in May.   :)

Oh, and if you don't know, we did not get the house we put an offer in.  We are good though, we know we will end up wherever we are supposed to.  For now, it is looking like we will be living in an apartment (I think we will feel like we are on vacation...well, the kids and I anyway...Marty will be at work every day!)

Last minute House Hunting trip

Marty has been working in CA a ton this month, and hasn't had much time to look at houses.  So, I decided to head down and look at a few that we have seen online.  I saw a bunch, and even found a couple that I thought were great!  We were planning on him  being able to come look at them on Saturday, but he was working constantly and we didn't get to.  

I spent a lot of time on Bart over the weekend (Marty reminded me about when we took the kids Carter kept asking "where is he?) 

 Walked around a rather frightening part of the city

 had a fun view from the hotel room

 went to the mall (yes, this beautiful ceiling is at the mall).  Actually, the only things I bought were at Ross, which was the craziest, hugest Ross anywhere I am sure.  Not sure I will ever go back to that store.  Seriously, it was nuts!

 And actually got to go out to dinner!  While at dinner, we got an email about a house in the area we have been looking, so Sunday morning we rented a car, drove across the bridge, saw the house, decided to put an offer on it, and I got to Bart to go back into the city to the airport with literally about 5 seconds to spare.

 I made it home and here is a sneak peak of the house we HOPE we get...apparently we are not the only offer so, we'll see, but I'm crossing my fingers.  If not, we'll keep looking, but just an update for today.

SOLD!

We are set to close on April 19th, and hopefully will be renting back for a month so we will be here until mid-May.  That is the plan for now. 

Apartment Living

Do you think we have it in us?
Looks like this is our best option for now.  We are getting our house up for sale this week-ish, then once it sells, we will move to an apartment or something in CA while we search for our home.  The kids could not be more thrilled to be able to share a room (no really, they are SUPER excited!), and the adults in the house...well, I'm not sure excited is quite accurate to describe how we feel about it.  BUT, we at least know we will enjoy the pool and the workout room, right?  HOPEFULLY!  :)

house hunting trip

We got home from house hunting last night.  We had a good trip...it was good for the kids to see the area, and I think got them more excited for the move.
We did find one house that we are considering putting an offer on, just waiting to hear back from our real estate agent.  It needs some work but the outside and views are AMAZING!

I think our house here should go up in the next few days, and if it sells fast, we may end up just finding a rental in CA while we keep looking and/or work on the house.