February

Trips and Activities

watched Amaya for a couple of days while Cherissa was away

choir and orchestra concerts for Katie

no trip to Salt Lake because we needed to recover from being sick. The rest was much-needed. We did take the kids out to eat and went to the Rec Center.

Joseph: robotics competition

a short visit from Nash. He diagnosed the washer but couldn't fix it.

met Katie Colton in Roosevelt for dinner

Joseph's 1st date! He went to Preference with a girl named Rose.

Birthdays and Holidays

Lewis turned 9! The boys and I made a whole bunch of 3D-printed stuff for him (history themed).

Weather

mild, which was awesome. We hardly had a winter at all.

Sickness

all month, pretty much. I don't know what I had, but I was incredibly tired for a long time. So were James and some of the kids.

Repairs

new microwave

new washing machine (for the first time ever! Our other one was from the mid-2000's and got fixed about every 2 years for the past 14. The most recent repair was impossibly hard, so we threw in the towel and got a new one with a service plan from Lowe's. The new one is so much quieter and smells a lot better!)

Projects

I worked a lot on 3-D printing. I never intended to take it on as a hobby, but I didn't know how easy it was until I tried. It's filled a gap in my life (the creative side) that I've been missing since we haven't moved, but my sewing stuff is all packed away. I've learned to troubleshoot quite a few things, and I'm sure I'll learn more.

Looked at 3 houses, did 9 showings, got 1 offer (contingent on selling another property). It's cash, though! The lady who I thought had a miracle loan solution couldn't help us after all.

Right now, we have no current home we're trying to get. Either no one wants a contingent (understandable), or another person swoops in and gets the house first. This still feels like an impossible situation that will never change. An offer is nice and very promising during a time we'd almost given up hope, but we still have to wait, which is no one's favorite.

January

Trips and Activities

book swap party at Jess's house, potato and poetry theme

spent a day making candy with Cherissa. We did pralines, toffee, and peanut brittle.

stayed busy with my calling in the Young Women presidency

science fair for Katie. She didn't win any awards, but she had fun.

Birthdays and Holidays

James turned 38! I made a bunch of pretzel dogs to freeze and take to school when needed.

Weather

very warm and dry

Sickness

a cold, but nothing serious

Repairs

new brakes for the Yukon, and more repairs incoming for all of our cars

Projects

I got into 3D printing because there were a bunch of small spools of filament that we needed to use up. I successfully did that and made some cute organizers for the bathroom closet. I also figured out the ideal temperature settings for the all the filaments we currently have.

As for our house, we had 3 showings and we looked at 3 houses. None are the right one. We also had a very mixed bag of news. Our realtor called and told us he thought we'd need to list as cash only (no VA loans). We felt okay about doing that but justifiably upset. A couple days later while helping set up for an art show at the elementary school, I was talking to a couple of friends about my problems with selling my house and a woman there approached me and told me she writes loans for my exact situation. Needless to say, I was shocked, but I got her my old loan papers, and she's working on coming up with a loan that will work for this house. She seems to know what she's doing (unlike the last lender in October, who dropped the ball). I haven't heard back from her yet, but I'm hoping for some good news. It seems so unlikely that we'll ever get to move, but we realized in this process that miracles happened for us to buy this house in the first place. Miracles haven't ceased since 2013, either. I know that. I hope I can hang on for a little while longer till everything works out.

December

Trips and Activities

helped Katie with her science fair project (making boba through reverse spherification)

baking with Cherissa. I taught her how to make every kind of yeast bread I know, and we also did yogurt.

had the Boyles over for a Southern style turkey dinner, which tastes better than the original combo

Joseph had a robotics competition at the high school. His robot is much better than last year's.

Katie had an orchestra concert during school, and James was able to go since it was during his prep.

missionary music devotional. Music is what kept me happy and sane during the Christmas season.

the Nutcracker with the girls

Annie. James, Katie, and I went, and it was so cute.

Rexburg:  We enjoyed family dinners, board games, dipping chocolates, Zootopia 2, and plenty of time lounging around.

Birthdays and Holidays

Christmas! We kept it simple at our house and left for Rexburg the day after.

Jacob's birthday

New Year's at Sam and Jesse's house. We had lots of yummy appetizers and burned a muneca. I definitely included our house not selling in that. It was kind of cathartic to watch it burn.

Weather

unusually warm, and we didn't get a white Christmas. I didn't mind at all!

Sickness

none that I remember

Repairs

the washing machine, which broke just in time for Nash to fix it while he was visiting during Christmas. He ended up needing another part, which we already had sitting in our shed from 4 years ago when he left us an extra. This is the 4th time (at least) that this kind of thing has happened, and it's especially miraculous since I don't get visits from my family very often.

Projects

2 showings! We didn't expect any for the month of December.

storage for cookie sheets, cutting boards

new faucets for bathroom sinks after I tried cleaning the handles and realized the valves were leaking. That was a rough day.

Overall, it wasn't a bad month, but I struggled to really feel the Christmas magic with the sale of our house (or lack of) looming over my head.

November

Trips and Activities

Katie's first choir concert for Veterans Day

murder mystery game with friends. We didn't solve it!

trip to Rexburg to see Big Joseph in The Prince of Egypt. It was also the last time we saw Grandpa Head alive. We sang his favorite song, "Gethsemane"

looked at 5 houses, liked 2, but couldn't make offers since no one wants a contingency without us being under contract already. I get it! We got kicked off the contract for the original one, but it's back on the market now, so it's still a possibility if anyone ever buys this one.

babysat my friend's toddler for a few hours. He was an angel!

RS book activity. Going to church stuff is hard because people always ask about the house, and I have no news.

open house on a Friday morning. no takers.

trip to Rexburg for Thanksgiving break, plus a few extra days

book group with Melodie

Wicked with Anna and Melodie. The 2nd half was sad, and the music wasn't as good.

sealings at the temple

dinner with the Lees

Grandpa Head's funeral. It's the longest I've ever been to, over 2 hours. It was good to see lots of family, though.

Northern lights, the first time I've seen them with my own eyes!

Birthdays and Holidays

Thanksgiving! I helped a lot with the cooking.

Weather

surprisingly pleasant, no snow in Vernal yet but some in the mountains

Sickness

stomach bug in Rexburg followed by a cold. It went through everyone really fast but somehow avoided me (except for some fatigue). It somehow didn't ruin Thanksgiving or the funeral either.

Repairs

none

Projects

finished Christmas shopping! I have one gift left to make for my in-laws.

new light fixture in the big bathroom. I'm really proud of how it turned out, and I touched up the paint in there as well. This house is good enough to sell. It's just a matter of someone getting the right funding.

I still have no idea how this will work out. I feel confident that we've done enough "fixing up" and just have to wait now. If we get to April without selling, I might consider painting interior doors and my lower kitchen cabinets. That won't cost a lot or take a lot of time, but we'll have warmer weather and proper ventilation by then.

October

Trips and Activities

James and Lewis, deer hunting x2. No luck this year. They had a few fun days together anyway.

James and Joseph, Esports competition in Price

Katie's first orchestra concert

hike to the dinosaur tracks at Red Fleet

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (James, me, Joseph, Anna)

Birthdays and Holidays

Katie's 12th birthday! Anna was visiting and we had a supposed showing, so we went to the park to open presents. We had key lime pie and cookies and cream ice cream as well.

Halloween. Our main thing was attending the ward Trunk or Treat.

Weather

really nice with a few cold days. No snow yet! The leaves were beautiful right up until Halloween when we got our first hard freeze. Now, everything is brown.

Sickness

I got my bloodwork done again, and my labs look great! Yay!

I think James and I had the flu (influenza) after Halloween because we were both extremely tired for a few days (and achy and queasy). I don't know for sure.

Repairs

replaced a light fixture out front that was ugly and didn't work for 10 years. It was much easier than I expected. I wish I'd done it sooner!

Projects

I painted both of the kids' rooms since they were the last unpainted areas of the house (within the last year). It took up 3 days of time, 1 for prep, 1 for actual painting, and another to put everything back together.

I had to time to do that because...

...we didn't get to move.

Honestly, it's been rough lately. Everything went well up till the day before closing (October 14th). I got a phone call saying there was a delay with the house we were buying because the sellers hadn't turned in some receipts in time. It was Fall Break and I thought, 1 day, no big deal. Then, our realtor who's working on selling our house showed up at our door. I figured that wasn't a good sign since he lives in the Salt Lake area now. He told us that there was a problem with the financing and that this house is trickier to finance than he'd realized originally. The loan our buyer wanted wasn't going to work, and they'd have to try something else. Less than a week later, we learned that our buyer was forced to back out (not his fault, but still).

At that point, I had packed up most of the kitchen and been trying to cook all week with limited ingredients and tools. The living room was full of boxes from the kids packing up their rooms. I moved boxes to closets and unpacked the entire kitchen.

I felt like I had just barely gotten back to regular life after painting the last 2 rooms, when my parents had a health issue and had to cancel their visit to Utah for the 3rd time this year.

We've had 1 showing in the past 2 weeks (the time back on the market).

God's timing always works out, but I sure don't understand it right now. I also hate the home selling/buying process much more than I ever could have anticipated. The home we're trying to buy is still available, so we'll keep on waiting and doing small projects around here till we get to move (hopefully).

September

Trips and Activities

Ward Harvest Dinner: probably our last activity with Maeser 4th!

a hike to Moonshine Arch

Homecoming (James and the girls)

Dinosaur Museum

fossil hunting

2 Valiant activities (for which I'm a leader). They went well and didn't require much planning since we combined with the boys.

talks for James, Katie, and me

Downton Abbey movie with James

shrimp boil with the Warburtons

Birthdays and Holidays

none, surprisingly

Weather

super nice, occasionally rainy

Sickness

minor

Repairs

inspection on this house, after which the buyers backed out

inspection on our new house, which went well. I made a big list of things to tackle right away/later in the new place. We also requested a few repairs from our sellers.

replaced the roof because it was the right thing to do

was brave and used some extra shingles to fix the shed roof

another inspection on this house (after getting a new buyer), which went well

fixed a couple small things to get ready for the appraisal

Projects

organized the shed, 72 hour kit

a couple more showings, bringing the total to 19

painted the front and side doors and frames

a Saturday open house, so we had to be gone from 9-3

another offer! It came 9 days after the first. 

Things are progressing, and it looks like we'll move during Fall Break (mid-October). The appraisal happens today, and as long as that turns out good, we just have to wait for all the paperwork to be done.

August

Trips and Activities

lunch with the Primary presidency one last time. It was bittersweet, but good.

Head reunion in Albion: I didn't really want to go, but I ended up having a wonderful time. There were 100 people there this year, which was a lot, but it was worth the trip!

Rexburg: Bear World, Museum of Idaho, kayaking in Victor, Big Jud's with the Lees, KPop Demon Hunters, Freakier Friday

Joseph and Kenny camping trip to Massey Meadows with the Young Men

back to school! Joseph: 10th, Kenny: 8th, Katie: 6th, Lewis: 3rd, Samantha: 2nd

Dino "Soar" Days

Birthdays and Holidays

Ana and Benji's bday party

Samantha's 7th birthday. She had all the strawberry things, as usual: strawberry shortcake and homemade strawberry ice cream. We also found a lot of strawberry-themed things for her at 5 Below.

Weather

hot

Sickness

a cold on the 2nd day of school (most of the kids). They are all better now, but James is feeling a bit under the weather.

Repairs

stupid car, needed a new thermostat in Albion since it kept overheating on every single hill. Now, the AC isn't working. I hope it just needs a recharge.

Projects

started looking at a few homes and unexpectedly found one we loved! started the financing process

painted the living room and kitchen, which was really hard but worth the effort

depersonalized and packed up 1/3 of our stuff

survived 15 showings as of 9/2. That was not my favorite thing to do. I've spent SO much time cleaning, then cleaning again, all while 7 people live here to get things "picture perfect". It worked, though, because someone bought our house after 5 days! If everything goes perfectly, we should be moving in October. It's been such a whirlwind, but I'm grateful for all the tender mercies we've seen along the way.