Moved! We have Moved!

The story of how we ended up in our new 'Forever Home' is so circuitous and fortuitous, it never would be put in a plot line of a book because the author would think, "Nah, no one would ever believe that!"

After a week of living at the lake house, and commuting back and forth to work, our friend and realtor, Heather, put out an all-points-bulletin to find us a suitable, fully furnished house to rent while our home was being repaired. At this point, we still believed our house would never be remodeled in a timely manner because of a fraudulent asbestos test that was holding everything up. Heather got two realtor friends that didn't have rentals that would work for us but did have houses that we may wish to look at - neither of which was on the market.

The First Mastermind Meeting, 2 days after we moved in! No chairs.

Off we traipsed to the two homes. One was the 'Treehouse Home' that Chris and I had long dreamed to own. Before kids, before marriage, we used to drive this neighborhood, looking and shopping in our heads and talking about the future. The 'Treehouse Home' wasn't on the market but it soon would be and for a fair price. It felt like a sign; after all, this was the house we had always longed for, eeven before we became a family unit. It's on the 'front row' of the neighborhood with unobstructed water views, a giant lot and yes, a treehouse. It's also a bit of a fixer-upper so we brought our contractor to look at the home with us. The view was awesome but the remodel needed was extensive and a bit overwhelming.

Off we caravan-ed to the next house. I had already been in this house one time before when it was on the market the previous year and had told Chris that I liked our (old) house better for the age our kids were. He had said that he actually thought the layout of the new house was better for older kids. It was surprising and surreal to be in the house I had mentally rejected a year before and see our now-older children happily running around, playing and frolicking in the generously sized lawn and play set at the house. That felt good. And, another thing that felt good? This home didn't require a remodel! Plus, it was only a block away from our old house.

Jamisen & manny Jason painted the AC box to make a play house!

The choice was clear to us - buy the home that we could move into right away. We put in an aggressive offer (20 day close, no contingencies) and then desperately tried to get a hold of our mortgage broker on the weekend. Little did we know she was in Mexico on vacation! We had a nervous few days while we waited to hear if we could get a loan and get the loan within 20 days.

After a little back and forth with the former owners, our Forever Home was ours with a 22 day close. We closed on this home exactly 2 years, to the date, that we closed on our last home - and, on our wedding anniversary to boot. The timing synchronicity was/is amazing.

There was a whole convoluted series of falsified asbestos tests that led us to the decision to buy a new house and we couldn't be more delighted with our new home. It was originally built in the 40's and then fully remodeled in 2007. The year it was remodeled, the former owner's children were 2 and 3 - the same ages of Lily and Jamisen (2 and 4). The house was designed for family, community and memories.

Every single detail in it is thoughtful and useful for our family of four. The house also absorbs extra people extremely well and we have loved entertaining here already. In fact, we threw a housewarming party the evening we moved in and in the last month that we've been in the home, have hosted at least 8 play dates and multiple dinner parties.

First trip to Costco with the kids

The kids have dealt with the transition amazingly. To move multiple times, be pulled out of school, to not have any of your toys and not have any of your clothes (!) ... all of that is a lot to take, especially if you're under 3 feet tall. Our family has grown stronger as a unit and our kids, more resilient - and who would have thought that we would have gotten a brand new house out of the deal!? Our former house will be ready to go on the market in the next 10 days and we're hoping to move it quickly to a new family that loves it like we did. I planted the garden for them so they will enjoy strawberries, raspberries, corn, beets, tomatoes, kale, and squash when they move in.

Grandma and Grandpa Renoud sent their love from Arizona by giving the kids a new toy shopping spree. Look at the smile on our little fireman's face!! He picked out a new school bus and two juggling pins (undoubtedly because his manny Jason is a circus performer).  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! =)

This is the yard at the new home. There is a huge lawn for the kids to play, run, jump and slide on. We cannot believe our good fortune that we get to live here.

On more sad news, our old home has been mostly gutted downstairs and all the belongings downstairs thrown out - along with all the mattresses and bedding upstairs (all because of the fraudulent asbestos findings). We've thrown away two 40' dumpsters in possessions, including chairs, couches, and the beloved bouncy house.

All the soft toys were disposed of - and, for that matter, ALL the toys downstairs were goners including the awesome motorized train set that was a hand-me-down from our little friend Kyle who passed away. We are trying to find the silver lining in losing all the toys but it's hard since many of them would have been passed down to cousin Alise or donated to the Goodwill instead of going into the landfill. But with the fake asbestos tests dictating disposal, we couldn't even donate them.

The downstairs was fully gutted and will be getting new paint, new shreetrock, a new boiler, and new radiators. The new owners will have super efficient heating! =) And, a brand new rebuilt wine cellar too ... It will be nice when it's fully finished and sold. Soon ... it will be soon.

The journey to get into our Forever House was convoluted and winding but we are so happy here and thankful for all that we have gone through as a family. We have made so many memories. Life is precious and we know that even more acutely than ever now.