house hunting

Thursday we headed to Portland to do our house hunting. We brought our boys with us and they were so excited to fly. The last time they flew was in 2010 when we went to Mom's funeral. Mason was only 7 and Carson was 4 1/2. I had forgotten how long ago it was.

I think we were starting to land here. I sat in the aisle for our flight. I should have traded they both got up way too often.

As we headed to Salem the sunset was beautiful.

Portland

This is over the Willamette river on our way to West Salem Friday morning.
We ended up looking at 14 houses on Friday. The boys enjoyed the first 3 then they lost interest. Another house sparked interest again so we had them for a few more houses. It wasn't as fun as they had hoped.

Saturday we had planned on reviewing 3 of the homes to try and make a decision. We ended up looking at a home that wasn't really in the running and after it was all said and done that's the one we made an offer on. The boys were glad to be done. So were Brian and I.

Emily Avenue... It ended up having the best storage possibilities, a 4 bay garage! Brian is in heaven. It was the best price for the square footage too. There is a community garden spot across the street and a club house two blocks away with a pool. We will need to replace all the carpet and we're considering refinishing the wood floors (there is water damage in the kitchen). We should hear back by Tuesday if they accept our offer or a counter offer. I'm sure they'll counter. We offered quite a bit less then they were asking.

We are excited to have found a house. Now we need to get our house sold.

The bottom picture is the view from our driveway. I'm excited!

a wonderful blessing

Here is the other reason I've been slow about posting. Mason had surgery on Thursday and ended up being admitted for the night. He had to be at the hospital, downtown Chicago, at 6 AM. We left the house at 4:30. I wasn't sure how long it would take us and I didn't want to be late. 

They took him at 7:30 and they would update me about every two hours. He was there for an ablation. One Dr tells me he has ventricular pre-excitation and another Dr called it WPW. Which ever it was at about 4 hours in they still hadn't repaired his heart. At 6 hours they were almost finished and confirmed he would be admitted. They ended up repairing about 5-7 spots. Some were burned and others frozen. In total he was in surgery for 8 hours. Such a long day for all of us. When I talked to Mason's Dr afterwards he was surprised Mason hadn't had any symptoms before. The Dr was surprised at how easy it was to get Mason's heart in an irregular heart rhythm. Because it was so easy the Dr was vigilant at finding all the spots on his heart that needed repaired. I am so grateful!

Here's my view during lunch. The hospital had some pretty yummy food too. 

In recovery... It was hard for him to open his eyes. LOL

Getting him settled in his room. He had to lay flat for 6 hours without moving his legs. It was such torture! After a couple hours he was able to put his back up to about 30 degrees. He was still going crazy about his legs. His whole body was extremely stiff with no movement for his 8 hour surgery. 

Beautiful view!

He was in his room around 5:30. He feel back to sleep until after 7. Once he woke up he checked in with his friends. Brian, Carson and Bishop Lingard came by for a quick visit. 

Most of the evening was tough for Mason. He couldn't bend his legs for 6 hours! I know many of you think no big deal. Trust me it was. He couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom. Yes torture there too.

Here he is living the life of a King. Breakfast in bed while watching TV. Surprisingly it wasn't as enjoyable as he thought it would be. He just wanted to go home. With the few times the family has spent in the hospital, having 3 of our 5 kids, Bailee's surgery, Brian's episode a few weeks ago, Adam being born, Mason was discharged by 10 AM!! It was wonderful! We were in the car headed out of the parking garage by 10:30. It was great! 

Mason was a little sore on Saturday from the incisions. But over all he's doing great! He'll be at school Monday and he's almost caught up on his class work from missing two days of school. 

We are so very grateful for modern medicine and our Heavenly Father for watching over us. Miracles happen every day!

electric fence and more

Obviously I'm trying to catch up with life. 

We have been so very busy around here with getting the home ready to put on the market. Last Saturday, not yesterday, Brian and the boys spent a couple hours burying the the wire for the fence. Tuesday they worked on it another hour. The ground was very wet and the boys were so very muddy. Friday evening we worked on it for another hour, I helped that day. Saturday Brian was able to finish up with silicone over the wire that was going across the driveway. 

It sure has been nice to not worry about Murray running into the street anymore. Stella didn't like it at first but after getting shocked, because she ignored the warning sounds, she has done better with staying in our yard. 

I'm going to miss the view from our home. This was taken Friday evening from the driveway.

We've also decluttered the entire house, painted doors and trim, painted the living room ceiling, delivered a couple loads to goodwill, cleaned carpet, replaced a couple light switches, repaired the door on the deck, and cleaned and cleaned. 

The house went on the market Friday afternoon. We had two showings on Saturday too. I hope that's a good sign. We really would like a contact quickly. We are going to Oregon this coming weekend to find us a new home. We're saying prayers and crossing fingers we find what works for us. 

duck face

About a week ago McKinzie sent us a picture of Dex doing a duck face. Before we knew it everyone jumped in!

Poppi was first! Such a good sport.

Retta lips sure are tiny but still kissable. 

Dad thought Karlee was thinking about a boy...

Adam had no idea why he was asked to do this. He just did what his mom asked.

Mason was the slowest to comply but eventually he did. 

I sure love my family!! 

Dex's first birthday!

I can't believe this boy is one already, (His birthday was on the 8th.) He's getting too big too fast. We so wish we could be closer and see McKinzie's and her kids more often. I don't think Dex knows us. We need to FaceTime more that's for sure. 

McKinzie said he climbed stairs for the first time on his birthday and did very well. Plus he says "Mom" when he's upset. He is Michael's buddy and lights up every time he sees him. Even in pictures! 

We love you Dex!! Happy birthday!! 

spring break

Originally the boys and I had planned on going to Texas for spring break. Well, plans changed. We were all disappointed. Brian came up with the idea to go to Mall of America for the weekend. I quickly reached out to Davis to see if he could take our dogs for the weekend. Once that was confirmed Brian booked us a hotel. We had never been. We were excited!

We left early Saturday morning. We ended up stopping at a gas station in Wisconsin and we found cheese! All kinds of cheese! 

The chocolate cheese fudge sample was surprisingly good. It was creamy and chocolatey and yummy.

We went straight to the mall and found all kinds of rides. It was awesome! 

Sunday morning we played miniature golf. Of course Brian won. There were a few holes we couldn't stop laughing. I think the people behind us were a little irritated since we were slow.

Then we did a mirror maze. In the picture below can you tell which one is the real boys? We played tag for a bit inside. It was crazy trying to find each other. I think I kept going in circles. 

I think this was the boys favorite ride, The Brain Surge. I went on it with Brian on Saturday and he spun it so fast I was sick. Probably the sickest I've felt on a ride. I didn't even attempt it on Sunday with them. I sat on a bench and relaxed. 

We had a fun filled weekend. But we knew once we got home there were tons of things to do to get the house ready to put on the market.

It's now Wednesday and we've cleaned carpet, cleaned out lights, pressure washed the front step (it was mossy looking), removed furniture out of the basement to declutter, put the trailer back in the garage, put a few large items in garage, both boys rooms are decluttered, made a trip to goodwill (it had 5 large trash bags plus ceiling fan and storage drawers), and now we're filling gaps in the wood floor in the kitchen. The list is still longer than what we've finished but it's a dent for sure. I'm really hoping by next week we can have it on the market. I'll keep you posted.