Update

It has been a very long time... Please forgive the following format, but I want to get to it so that I can eventually get back to normal blogging. So in no particular order, since I last wrote at the beginning of December, we have:

Bought a new house. After much to do over a certain power of attorney document, we successfully closed on our house in Illinois. We are now the proud owners of two mortgages. Just for a little while though. Our Petoskey house has been on the market with some activity. If we don't sell within a couple of months, Cori's company will buy it. In the meantime, we get the special treat of paying the two mortgages, as well as two sets of winter month utilities. I can't complain. We are very fortunate to have the buy out on the horizon.


Spent a lovely Christmas with my family. My sisters, parents, and grandmother all came out to spend the holiday with us. The only one missing was my brother. And we missed him. We stayed at a vacation home on Walloon Lake. It snowed every single day which made for an extremely white Christmas morning. It was special spending the week together. I'll post pictures and more details soon.

Faced another miscarriage. The pregnancy was a welcomed surprise. That I miscarried should not have been a surprise as this is not our first, or our second miscarriage. But I had been remarkably sick for some time before the news came, and I was further along than I had been with the others. So it came as a bit of a shock. I waited nearly two weeks before having the D&C. That was a harder decision to make than I thought it would be. We went in the Monday before Christmas. Grace and Grant had lots of family around, and Cori was able to spend the day with me. I'm finally feeling the dissipation of morning sickness and more like myself everyday. The one great blessing to come from this was that during a time when there was a crazy amount of things to be done, I was forced to slow down and prioritize. I got to enjoy my kids in a way that would not have happened otherwise.

Packed up, moved across Lake Michigan, and unpacked (well, we're getting there). The Monday before Christmas our house was boxed up. Everything got loaded onto the truck the next day. We kissed our family good bye on Saturday. We said good bye to our Church family on Sunday and then made our way to our new hometown. The next day we met the movers and began getting settled in. Sara graciously offered to spend her whole break from law school with us so she could help. It has been amazing. With her and Cori around, I am light years ahead of where I usually am at this stage of the game. We actually have the main floor completely unpacked, and there are only four boxes left upstairs. Of course there is a mountain of storage to organize in the basement...

Our access to the internet is a bit limited for the next week or so, but I will post more as I can. We are loving our new home, and feel we have been very, very blessed. I'm always amazed at how things work out. It is a good thing I'm not in charge!

Blessings

My mom who watched the kids, by herself, the whole week while we were away in IL. It was SO NICE for us and the kids that they didn't have to be packed along on the house hunt. Mom kept everyone happy, was cheerful during the crazy snow storms that hit, and brought crafts and movies and fun toys.

A successful trip where in we found a house, made an offer, survived the counter offers, and are in the process of closing. If all goes as planned, we should be able to move in the week after Christmas. Cori started his new job as well with positive review.

Our Church family who took care of my mom while we were away. Every time it snowed, someone showed up to clear the driveway. My mom got other calls and invitations throughout the week. It was very appreciated.

The First Presidency Christmas broadcast It is one of my favorite things of the Christmas season. The messages are heartwarming. I can't get enough of the music. Seeing shots of Temple Square this time of year makes me home sick for UT. The kids have been sick, and so we didn't take them to watch it at church. But fortunately, we get BYUtv at home.

(Image found on Flickr)

An update from afar

Greetings from Illinois. In case you were starting to wonder, I thought I would post a little bit. Cori and I are busy home-shopping and working (well, Cori is working anyway) while the kids are enjoying a week of Grammie Camp. I picked Mom up at the airport the evening our Thanksgiving guests departed, and then Cori and I left for IL in such haste that I forgot to pack my undies. True story.

We had a really, REALLY great Thanksgiving holiday. Our guests were Matt, Stacie and Jacob D* of the Detroit area. Cori and Matt got to know each other working in a group at the beginning of their MBA program. Stacie and I were both working, finishing our degrees and childless and therefore a bit antisocial where the spouse association was concerned. (BYU's MBA program really has a first class organization/support group for wives. Husbands of the program's female students are invited too, but really, it is just the ladies that show up.) But we enjoyed hanging out at football games, and I always liked being around her. Anyway, since we've been in Michigan we have been in better contact with this super couple. Not only did they graciously make the drive to spend the holiday up North with us, but Stacie made rolls, homemade stuffing, and 3 pies (all of which were completely delectable)! We had an impressive feast.




Gracie and Jacob played really well together- certainly as well as can be expected from any 3 and 2 year old. Really, these guys were the perfect guests. So easy going and lots of fun. We ended up having additional guests for dinner 2 of the nights they were with us, and they were so great about it. We played games, took the kids to the movies, made a ginger bread house, and ate pie at every chance. We've got pictures of the final g-house product, but I didn't get them off the camera before we left. Here are a few shots of the initial construction work:


It is really too bad that we are moving away. We would definitely have to do this more often. Thanks again Stacie, Matt and Jacob!

Our house hunting trip has been fruitful. We will know a lot more about our present and future housing as next week unfurls. It is going to be a busy month. I'll post more soon. (Hopefully!)