Magically both boys are down for a nap together, so I'll get these pictures up of our new house as well as some others I think are great. This picture is of the front room which you come into directly after coming thru the front door. We've recently started having family prayers/scriptures in here every night. I love this room because it's big enough for our couches. Yea!
This is our family room. This is where we spend most of our time. In fact, if you could see in front of the couch you would see a lot of toys and ripped up magazines. Luke, for some reason, loves to rip up magazines. It keeps him entertained, so I let him do it a lot. We are very, very thankful that Brandon's parents were willing to give up their old couch and chair to us (they are in the process of getting a new set). It makes this room so cozy and nice. We still need to figure out what is going on with the fireplace (the pilot won't light), but we'll get around to that one of these days.
This is the dining room/kitchen area. It would have been nice to have a little bit bigger space for the kitchen table, but the huge kitchen make up for a small dining area.
MY KITCHEN! I'm in love with this place. I love the fact that I can be unloading the dishwasher and Brandon can be reaching into the fridge at the same time. That, my friends, is total luxury to me. I also love that the kitchen window looks directly out to the backyard, so I can keep an eye on the boys once they are old enough to go outside without me.
The office. This is Brandon's domain and he's set it up the way he loves it. I'm just grateful that we were able to fit everything in this room that we wanted in it. It's also super awesome that this room has a walk-in closet that is still pretty empty. I guess that means we have room for more random stuff.
This is Luke's room. I love that the rocking chair fits in here with plenty of room to spare. It's also nice to have him in a room of his own. Both Luke and Peter like the fact that they don't have to share.
Our bedroom. Holy cow - I could live in this place 24/7. I love all the windows and I try to uncover them every single day. It makes me happy to see the sunshine. We also have a great view of the mountains out the window on the left. I'm thankful for our new bed frame. We got it the week before we moved in. It's especially nice that Peter can climb up onto it by himself.
This is half of our bathroom. Love the fact that I have my own sink. My side of the sink is always overflowing with contact and hair stuff and Brandon's is always dirty with whisker hair. (Did you know he grew a beard?)
The bathtub is my pride and joy. Unfortunately, I've only found enough uninterrupted time to bathe in it twice, but it is heavenly. A word of warning though - go easy on the bubble bath when using the jets in this tub. It can get really crazy.
This is totally out of order, but this is the other side of our room. Since we have a closet in the bathroom for our clothes this closet is used as a 'storage room'. Brandon's Japanese flag is proudly hanging there. I would really like to display it a couple of times during the year. If only I could find the time to sit down and research which days that would be most appropriate.
This is Peter's room. He inherited our chest of drawers. It's weird because his room feels so empty right now. I'm sure that will change as he gets older. Brandon told me last night that Peter is probably big enough for us to put a flat sheet and a normal size blanket on his bed. I think I might even give Peter a pillow on which to sleep. I'm thankful for the Loy family who gave us this bed for Peter. As it was, his box springs and mattress cost us $300. At that price they better last him the rest of his life.
This is part of the moving-out crew loading up our moving truck. Honestly, we had so many amazing friends and family to help us. I've never seen anything like it. It was like a giant wave coming in and swooping everything up and taking it out into the ocean. We had our three-bedroom apartment all loaded up in just over an hour.
Okay - so we have way too much stuff. We filled a 26 foot moving truck, plus Brandon's Dad's truck and trailer, plus four cars. I don't know how we accumulated that much stuff in just over five years of marriage.
More of the awesome crew helping to load up. My Dad is the one with the dolley. He was such a hard worker that he was all ready to haul out the fridge. Thank goodness someone stopped him before he did because the fridge stayed with the apartment. Brother Wimberly (with the sweaty shirt) was assigned to be our Home Teacher the week before we moved. He was so wonderful to come and help us, even though he really didn't have to.
The empty apartment with the moving-out crew. We fed everyone doughnuts and water, so this is some of the crew taking a little break.
Moving-in crew! I can't say enough awesome things about my family. In this picture is my cousin, BIL, Uncle, and cousin's wife. We seriously were overwhelmed with everyone that came to help.
When the moving truck arrived at the house the key to the new house hadn't arrived. So everyone unloaded the moving truck while they were waiting. I bet my neighbors were laughing in their houses because our entire front yard was full of stuff.
More of the moving crew. That's a cousin, cousin's wife, and another cousin. Seriously, my cousins are the best.
Unloading the moving truck. That thing was stuffed to its gills.
More of the moving crew plus the awesome view from our front yard. That is the same view (only a little bit better) that we have from our bedroom window.
The moving crew set up a system where they would pass the boxes from one to person to the other until the box was in the right room. What's cool is that the train started in the front yard, to the front door, thru the front room, and up the stairs. It was a remarkable sight to see.
Random picture of Luke. While we were moving out of the apartment he was getting watched by my Visiting Teacher - Claudia. She was so sweet and she gave Luke this little purple monkey as a moving away gift. He loves that thing.
Brandon's cousin and his wife Vashti. They left their three-month old baby with Vashti's parents so they could come and help. Totally love these two.
Cousin, cousin, cousin's wife, and a friend of a cousin. Seriously, I was amazed that one of my cousin's friend would want to come help. Thank you Sam for bringing him. He really was such a big help.
My sister Amy and her hubby Morgan. They were the first to arrive and the last to leave. What would I do without Amy. She seriously is a life saver for me.
Aunt Laurie, Brandon's Mom, and Luke. Luke loved all the attention he was getting from everyone (except his own mother).
Another view of Luke's room. This time I am standing behind the rocking chair.
The laundry room. One of these days we're going to get cupboards to put above the washer/dryer. But until that time, I have a spare bookcase that holds all my cleaning supplies. A child lock on the door keeps the boys out of this room.
Finally, here is a recent picture of Peter. He loves these glasses so much. They are the kind that you use to watch 3D movies at the theater. He calls them his sunglasses and he is inseparable from them. What a kid.
Having a house to come home to is even more wonderful than I imagined it to be. I wish everyone could be as happy in their first home as I am in mine. I'm thankful that Brandon and I took so long to find the perfect house. It makes me happy to know that we'll probably be here for the rest of our lives. I've even daydreamed about what this house will be like when the kids are teenagers. We have met many wonderful people in our new neighborhood. There are even several kids on our street that are the same age as Luke and Peter. How awesome is that. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father directed us to look at homes in Springville because I never would have looked there of my own accord.
