Goal level unlocked

Well, we've finally done it. We are buying a home! Specifically a townhome in Bluffdale right off the freeway in a cute little new neighborhood there. I wrote last week about the model we had picked and were so excited about. Well, the weekend after we put our name on the list for the Buckingham plan, knowing it had a waiting list and we wouldn't get to sign until March, my head sort of exploded. I was trying to figure out where everything would fit and it started to feel like there wasn't enough room. I really loved the floor plan and the price, but it suddenly started to feel too small. It hit me that Monday that I'd forgotten about our treadmill and there was literally nowhere in the house to put it. That was the nail in the coffin on the Buckingham plan. We just needed a bit more space for our crew and possessions.

Thankfully, on our first tour we had walked through the Enclave townhomes and we liked them generally but set them aside because they were more pricey and we loved the Buckingham. So I started looking back at those floor plans, chatted extensively with Bill and some other family members, ended up touring Enclave again, and we decided to change floor plans. We picked the Stanford, which is 500 sq. ft. larger than the Buckingham, has four bedrooms, an unfinished basement, a small back patio, and feels ever so nice. It is also $30,000 more to start, but over the weekend the plans all went up $7,000 so the Buckingham started to feel not as cheap anyway. 

I met with the sales person on Wednesday and got on the list for the Stanford. Then Christmas came and we enjoyed that and Monday she got back in touch with me. Turns out the Stanford was available now to sign, so I wouldn't have to go through any more price increases and we could move in a couple months earlier as opposed to starting build in March. Huzzah! The kids will be able to start at their new school at the beginning of next school year and we may have moved in already or will be soon thereafter.

It's working out so incredibly well. Yesterday we met with our realtor and the salesperson and picked our structural upgrades and put down our earnest money. We signed all the paperwork last night and today I uploaded all the paperwork for our loan application. It's all falling into place so easily. It feels so wonderful to finally be moving forward on this. 2020 was a year of huge upheaval for my family and I really wasn't sure how we were going to land. It has ended up working out ever so well. Long-term I don't know if we'll stay in Utah, but for now we plan to be here and being able to buy a home is a fulfillment of a long-term goal that still felt very far away in Washington. I never would have expected to be at this point six months ago when we were still happily plugging away at our life in Washington. The process was rough, but there have been so many blessings. 

This is the link to the floorpan.

https://www.woodsidehomes.com/utah/floorplan-enclave-at-day-ranch-stanford-dre--1166-7537

And this floorpan is very similar except the upstairs fourth bedroom is a loft in this one. But it has a virtual tour if you're into that sort of thing. Which I totally am, so that's why I'm sharing, hahaha. 

https://www.woodsidehomes.com/utah/Floorplan-Enclave-at-Day-Ranch-Harvard-DRE-1166-7538

House and car and hiking

 It's been a busy weekend. My SIL tipped me off to a new builder in Bluffdale that I hadn't heard about previously. I checked out their website. It looked promising. I drove over there on Friday. I liked the feel of the area. I setup some appointments and Bill and I and our realtor toured the models on Saturday and that solidified our decision. We put our names down on the wait list to build! We're third on the list, so ours won't start being built until March and they estimate eight months to build. So we'll be here at Bill's parents' house for longer than we thought, but we're just super excited to have found a place. This is the one we picked.

https://www.woodsidehomes.com/utah/floorplan-regency-at-day-ranch-buckingham-drr-1165-7437

I snapped this picture from the model home as we left on Saturday. Such a beautiful view! 

We also decided practically on a whim to solve our one-car dilemma we've had since we sold our old one in Seattle and never bought a new one, but then moved here and had home buying priorities and paying off debt wishes. So we wanted to buy a car but were torn how much to spend and what to get. Bill's sister and BIL bought a new to them car and my FIL took it down to them this weekend. They planned to get rid of their old car, and we decided it would work great for us as a stop gap while we have other things we're focused on, so we're buying it and expect it'll work for us for a few more years hopefully until we're more interested in doing a good car search. Woot! A house and a car in one weekend! And both at prices that work really well for us. Feels really good! 

We took the kids hiking up to a little mountain near our house in Herriman. It was beautiful! Snowy enough to be fun, not enough to make it miserable. We did a little over three miles with the kids. It was an exercise heavy day for me. I ran three miles in the morning, then went to my hour-long FiA exercise group, then did this three-mile hike. Then started the process to buy a townhome, lol. It was a GREAT day. 

A few pictures from the hike.

House Hunting

 I didn't do much this week except look for houses. It's kind of time consuming, haha! I've looked at a ton of houses. None of them made me want to jump on them and put on offer on one. But it's okay. We have some time, so we don't need to stress about getting just any house. Hopefully one will come along soon that we really do want though.

I did make these tastes this weekend. Cranberry tarts. 

And last night I got started on my friend's quilt after it sat in my project pile for at least a couple months. This is a big quilt and it's going to be really pretty. Curves are complicated, so that's why I waited so long, but I found some good techniques and it's coming along nicely.

December

 I love this time of year. I love shopping for gifts and listening to Christmas music and making treats. I love the focus on Christ. I love family time. Even in Covid era, it's still turning out to be a wonderful month. 

We went ice skating this week with friends at our local splash pad turned ice ribbon. It was delightful. 

Bill got his professional work photos back. This is one of them. I love them! 

I also spent the week getting pre-approved for home loans and driving around areas of interest. It was a good start to our finding a home process. This month is shaping up to be a great one. 

Bring on the Christmas season

Thanksgiving was also wonderful. Just the eight of us that live here. Which is still a lot, mind you, but normal for us.  

Toasts at the beginning of the meal. 

We decorated our Christmas tree this weekend. Well, Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas tree. We're using their stuff and not getting ours out this year. It'll be a fun year. Lots of good times this weekend setting it all up. 

 And these are some cookies my realtor sent us. He is wonderful. 

I finished my what for now will be my last paint by number! I don't have anymore on my list to do for now. This is for Bill's office at work. 

Chloe looking mighty cute in a hand me down from her cousin sweater.

More hand me downs. So fun to live near cousins!

Gratitude

 Ever since Pres. Nelson's call for a week of gratitude posts on social media, Facebook has been a delightful place. It's so uplifting to read everyone's posts. Makes me want to read more, which is funny, because I generally try to minimize my time there, but it's very nice to read positive posts. 

This week my kids are doing distance learning for the first time since school started. Yesterday went well and I hope today will too. Then we have Thanksgiving Break and then all next week will be distance as well. Hopefully after that the numbers will be acceptable so we can go back to in person school. The school has it so well organized though. It's really a lot easier than when we were all scrambling last spring. 

I didn't take many pictures this week. A few shots of school assignments is about it. We were under a stay at home order in Utah for two weeks, so not a lot went on around here. I have gotten quite far along in this painting. I actually have more finished than in this shot.

And this is Chloe's latest craft from preschool that she brought home yesterday. So cute. 

A few pictures from this week

In-N-Out with Grandma and Grandpa. Super fun. 

Kid dog pile. 

We found a very old souvenir from Bill's aunt who brought it home from her mission in Japan years and years ago. 

This is one of two shelves that were pretty beat up after the move down here. I sanded and repainted them this week. 

This end table also took some damage and I sanded and touched up the parts that got dinged. Looks great again. 

Playing Monopoly. Only a few tears were had. Haha!

Aaron playing Samurai. 

The finished bookshelves. 

We scored a free, brand new bunkbed from a neighbor at church. Feeling blessed!