Our New Home

Well, what a way to end the month of April with a bang... with a blizzard!  We were so excited to be rid of our snow, green grass was popping up all around and even the trees are budding.  Thankfully the weather in the near forecast is warm and will melt the snow quickly!

And I'm glad I took pictures yesterday of our new home at the Paulson's!  So we'll invite you to see inside the camper, which I think fits our family perfectly and we are really enjoying it here, and pictures from around the farm.  There is a horse pasture right out our window which makes McKenzie very happy, chickens running all around, lots of cats to play with and cows to see.  The kids are enjoying everything from tractor rides, riding on the quad, playing on the swingset, jumping on the trampoline and running all around with all the Paulson kids.  There's never a dull moment or nothing to do around here.  It's going to be a great summer!

master bedroom. we put our queen mattress in there and it's longer than a camper queen, so we pretty much have to climb over the bed to get in and there's just enough room on the sides to stand.  Hopefully we'll be able to put a bassinet in there.

when you walk into the camper and slightly to your left

where the kids sleep, McKenzie on the bottom, Zeke in the middle and storage and dirty clothes basket on the top bunk.  Back here is where the bathroom is and the kids closet (which you can't see in this picture, you do see the kitchen cupboards though)

the bathroom and closet on the right

kids closet and baskets of toys

living room and dining room and where the kids play

kitchen, opposite the dining and living room

and a view from the back of the camper to the front, looking through the door is the master, on the right just beyond the sink is the door.

from the top of the driveway by the highway looking at the Paulson's house

From the top of the driveway, you can see the camper in this picture

this is the view on the left of the house.  The barn, river right beyond the barn, the swing set and chicken coop.

an idea of how far the camper is from the house and where we park our cars

you can kinda see the river beyond the trampoline

the river looks a little closer than it actually is from the hosue

you can see a car driving on the highway, there's also a volleyball court behind the camper

waiting for a ride on the quad

tractor rides

this is impressive, Zeke has been VERY fearful of animals but being on a farm does wonders and now he's picking up animals. WOW!

the playset, LOVE IT!! endless fun

McKenzie and Zeke riding in the cab of the tractor with Mr. Paulson

Staked & Surveyed

We started today!!!  I can hardly contain my happiness, especially after seeing how far along our neighbor is on their home.  We headed out to the property this morning and met Nathan's bosses.  They helped us decide on the location of the house on the property (which to my great dismay was harder than initially anticipated because our neighbor decided to butt their house up as close to our property line as they could, even though they had over 2 acres, mostly flat, to choose from!!)  and staked it out then surveyed the house so we are ready to dig... as soon as the backhoe is out of the shop!!

measuring out the house

marking out where to dig

surveying

I tried to take a 360 panoramic shot from a point on the bluff of our property so you get some idea of our view...  (and you can see some of the flooding, normally it's just a river down in the valley not a lake)

And we are on day 4 of the chickenpox for Zeke, he's covered, poor guy!  And still no signs of them on McKenzie.  We're really hoping they'll show up soon so we don't drag this out any longer than it needs to.  He seemed to do a little better today, although he looks pretty bad. 

um yep, that would be CHICKENPOX!

 First Day

 First signs of the chickenpox

So... chickenpox showed up on Zeke yesterday and they are full fledged today.  He's got a pretty good case of them.  Kenzie has yet to show signs of them, so she's probably contagious.  I guess that means we'll continue our hibernation mode for well, probably another MONTH!  wow!  Please pray for them, Zeke's really uncomfortable, obviously, as you are with chickenpox.  Great time thought to get it and get it over with, the younger the better.

We're Finally Settled in the Camper!

What a week!!  I'm finally taking the time to sit down and update you on our past week.  Let me just say I am glad it is over and that we're finally getting settled into the camper.

We left off on Thursday, the 14th.  We are so grateful for the help of two friends and co-workers of Nathan who came over in the evening to help us move a lot of our large items out of the house.

 (loading up all the large furniture)

Friday we worked on getting everything packed and ready that was to be moved into the camper.

 (last night in the house)

And Saturday we dropped off our first load at the camper.  It was a busy day as we also had our first HOA meeting to appoint a president and secretary, etc.  We were just excited to meet some of our neighbors that will be living near us.  That afternoon we worked on more packing and Nathan made another run of large furniture items that evening and we spent our first night sleeping in the camper.  (We are so grateful for the generous help of our friends who made that possible)  And just a side note, always remember to tie EVERYTHING down when transporting it.  Our couch was thought to be nice and snug up against the back of the trailer with other items around it to hold it secure enough but as soon as they were driving on the highway Nathan noticed it flying off the back and into traffic.  Praise the Lord he kept everyone safe and no one hit the couch.  We might need a new one when we move into the house but I was hoping for a new one anyway. 

(our new home for the summer: the camper)

 (first night sleeping in the camper, they were really excited, even though you can't tell by the picture)

Sunday we had church with the Paulson's at their home and then we went to the house in the afternoon to pack up all the rest of the food items to bring to the camper and worked on getting things a little organized in the camper.

 (a lot of stuff to fit into a camper)


 Monday evening we put the kids to bed in the camper and headed back the the house to pack up everything else that had yet to be put in a box.  That is a night I would like to forget, it was long!  And by that point you really don't care what random items are laying around the house, (we) were just throwing them into boxes.  I'll really appreciate that when I go to unpack and find those boxes marked "misc."  I think we made it home around 12:30am.  Not too bad.


Tuesday was a day Nathan would like to forget.  It was the last day on the Air Force Base and they finished around 2.  He headed to the house soon after and started round 2 of painting, something we needed to do from the appraiser (of all people) before we could sell the home.  He worked on the painting until it was dark and then headed inside to move everything else out of the house and into storage.  Friends came by to help move the washer and dryer and when it was all said and done it was 3 am when Nathan made it back to the camper.  Only to have to wake up for work at 6:30am.

Wednesday I headed to the house and cleaned.  The appraiser stopped by to check the paint job and rejected it AGAIN!  Thankfully our realtor sent over her handyman to finish off the last bit that he wanted done before it would pass.  That was a huge blessing.  That evening the Paulson's stopped by to load up all our cut wood and Nathan loaded up all of our outdoor items and took them to storage.  We walked away for the last time from our first home.  That night we got a call from our realtor who said that the closing of the house had been moved up a day, even though no one had been informed of that change.

(the Paulson's moving our wood pile)

(last photo of our family in front of our first home)

So Thursday afternoon we headed over to Guaranty and Escrow and sold our first home.  Praise the Lord!

(Note: all of this happened while we were sick with colds, not the best combo but the Lord helped us through)

Friday we celebrated out 5 year anniversary.  We were so glad that everything from the house was finished and we enjoyed a stress free evening together.  Dinner and a movie.  Simple for a 5 year anniversary but I must say I'm getting the most amazing gift from my husband this year... a new house, built by him!!  How incredibly sexy is that!

We enjoyed a relaxing and much needed Saturday together as a family, playing on the farm and enjoying some nicer weather.  Sunday was more of the same and will probably be the last for a while.

We have all adjusted well to the camper, it fits our family perfectly and we love it out here in the country.  The kids are having a blast, waking up each day and going out to play with their friends.  It will be so sad when we have to move away from their front yard!!  We really do love it here.  There are a few changes.  We don't get good cell service at the camper.  I can receive and send texts but if I try a call it cuts out.  But we do have internet in the camper, so for now that is the best way to get a hold of us.  We try and catch up on phone calls when we're in town but it won't be often over the summer. 

I'll work on getting more pictures of the farm and camper soon.  But this was a much needed start to get you all caught up.

Please be praying, we're hoping to start and get things rolling on the house this week!

Better Late Than Never

Wednesday the kids and I got to finally go see where Nathan has been working these past three years out on the Air Force Base.  And we got to see exactly what he did when he went to work each day.  I say better late than never because come this next Tuesday or Wednesday they will finish up the last house and be done with the 5 year contract to build houses for the Air Force.  Not only are things really changing around our home they are also really changing for Nathan at work.  For three years, for the most part, Nathan has been involved on framing houses on base, now that that is coming to an end the crew is being downsized as they will be doing jobs around town.  Those jobs could range from framing to any other part of building a home or remodeling, so Nathan will be learning a lot of new things with work, not to mention building our own home too.  It was really exciting for the kids to see their Daddy hard at work and to get a better understanding when we tell them Daddy's at work.  I am SO proud of Nathan, to see where the Lord has brought him these past three years.  When he started framing he really didn't know much and now he has been the crew chief and leading the crew out there for the past year and a half.  He has learned so much and does such a great job and he really enjoys what he does which is a blessing! 

 

^  A muddy mess in Spring  ^

^  I think McKenzie's ready to drive away  ^