Brotherly love

So you know that Elise is a dancer. It is in her blood. One of my biggest worries moving away from Miss Amber was finding another ballet studio like hers. I think I found it.

However, that is completely beside the point I'm writing about...

I decided to teach piano lessons again to pay for Elise's dance classes. Elise will babysit the boys while I teach, thus "earning" her dance lessons. The kids know that we aren't making an incredible amount of money while in school, so Elise decided to sell her My Little Pony castle and ponies to buy new dance shoes. My boys have the biggest hearts, and Mason decided he would make robots and sell them in the front yard to help pay for Elise's lessons. Sammy wants to sell his blankies to chip in as well. They are willing to sell their favorite toys so that Elise can dance.

I love that my kids are willing to sacrifice for each other.

Happily ever after

A rainy August day, the Portland temple. Oregon State, KinderCare, Computer Science.  A pregnancy, a miscarriage, a drawing of strength from each other. One year.

Another pregnancy, a beautiful baby girl. Love we never knew existed.  A graduation, a job. Two years.

Commuting from Wilsonville. “Get there together.” A little boy waiting. Three years.  

Another pregnancy, another graduation, a chubby baby boy. More love. A house in Portland, late nights, lots of laughter. Four years, five years.  

Another pregnancy, another healthy baby boy. More love. Six years.

Friends, parties, kids getting older. Homeschooling. Seven years.

Back to school, Provo, BYU, MBA. Stronger and stronger. Eight years.

Trust, primary discussions. Homework. Another pregnancy, a new place to live, another baby boy. More love. Nine years.

Another graduation, more school, new house, Minnesota, PhD. Four amazing kids, deep love. Ten years.

Happily ever after

Some things I've learned

We've been in our house here in Minnesota just over a week, and I have already learned some things...

Mosquitoes here don't know that they are only supposed to come out in the evenings. They think if you are outside--no matter the time of day or night--you are fair game.

Golf courses are used year-round. In the summer as golf courses. In the winter for cross-country skiing.

Bugs happen. Inside or out, they are always there. From little, hard black beetles to gigantic long-legged centipedes, they are always watching. (Okay, gigantic might be exaggerating things just a wee bit. But still...!)

I only thought I knew what thunderstorms were before. Now I really know.

"Minne" means "water". Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Minnehaha...don't know what the rest of the words mean, but I do catch the water theme.

Everything is green all summer long because it RAINS. A lot.

What new wonders will I discover this week?

Orem, UT to: Rawlins, WY

Today was a good day. Not too many "How much longer until we get there?" questions. A stop at Fort Bridger and one at Martin's Cove made the day complete. I wish we would have had longer at both historic stops! I wish I had all the money in the world to feed my book-buying history-loving addiction.

It is amazing to think of what the early pioneers went through to build up our country. At Martin's Cove they had a little path that you could pull a handcart on, with sculptures that went along with quotes from handcart pioneer's journals. One of the excerpts was written by an 8-year-old boy. His 33-year-old father gave his rationed food to his family, and as a consequence, was weakened and one night, died. That same night the little boy's baby brother died from the cold. That could have been my family. Talk about bringing some of their sacrifice home!

I put Lincoln in my wrap and helped Stephen push one of the handcarts--it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and our cart was empty!

Part one of catch-up: the loan

As most of you know, we planned on buying a house when we moved to Minnesota. We'll be there about 5 years, so it makes sense. We took a trip there in May, found a fantastic house, made an offer, had it accepted, and were approved for a conventional loan at the beginning of June.

Fast forward to last Monday (the 26th)...all the paperwork was going through underwriting, ready to close on August 2nd (yes, that is tomorrow). Then the underwriter (really, who thought of that name???) informed us that the income: debt ratio laws had changed since we were approved in June. WHAT? That means that we are not approved for a conventional loan. We could be approved for an FHA loan, but we needed 30 days of income before we could close...meaning that we could close in October. We could also qualify for an FHA loan if we had a co-signer.

Enter my parents. My mom was flying to SLC on Tuesday (the 27th) to help with the last bit of packing and cleaning. She and Dad (who was working in Texas) agreed to be our co-signers (since they make money and all that...). We talked with her before she left home, so she was able to bring all the important documents with her. Last week was full of emails and overnighted documents to sign.

Long story short, we aren't closing tomorrow, but on Friday. And Mom flies home Saturday morning. And Stephen starts some prep classes on Monday. Can I get a woot, woot? What about a flight to MN to help me unpack? Anyone? Anyone? Beuler?

We're at Stephen's brother's house now, with a 26-foot U-Haul truck parked on the road. All our earthly possessions are in the truck. Kind of crazy to think about it that way. We have a fun trip planned for the next week--because if things aren't going to work out the way I want them to, I still might as well have a great time!