Update!

We are officially homeowners! I have to say that this last week was very stressful, if not horrific, at times. It seemed like anything that could go wrong, did. Today I am physically and mentally exhausted from a rough week and my new home is still a disaster of boxes and the fridge it still mostly empty. Thankfully we have some great in-laws who are feeding us tonight and our ward took care of us for a night or two. Here is a breakdown of our week:

Sunday: Lovely, as usual; the calm before the storm.

Monday: Mortgage broker goes AWOL. In our search for info we learn that we don't have mortgage approval

Tuesday: Still no word on whether or not our loan will be approved before we close Wednesday at 11 AM. Go to pick up moving truck and the rental place is closed (during normal business hours). We are rerouted to another place setting us back 1/2 an hour and as we turn into the rental place we get hit by an gentleman who just "didn't see us." Carrie loses it and turns into a weeping mess. Pick up the truck and load it without further incident.

Wednesday: 8 AM inspection of home, the approval is in but the "package" isn't. 11 AM still waiting for the package so that we can close. 12 PM still waiting (truck is due back by 5 PM). 1 PM still waiting with cranky toddler. 2:30 PM We finally close! 3:40 We own our home and start unloading. The rest of the day goes off without a hitch and everything gets unloaded on time.

Thursday: Appliances get delivered but OPPPSS! They don't fit into out laundry room. Erg. Get a stacking kit for our washer/dryer.

Friday: What happened on Friday? Lost in a haze of cardboard and packing paper.

Saturday: Neighbors help us stack washer/dryer (hurray!) and water heater goes out.

At the end of a rather crazy week we don't have a hot water and can't assemble the biggest piece of our furniture, but we have a lot to be grateful for. We are really looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and we can't wait for Andrew to get a couple days of break! I will make sure to post pictures as soon as we get our Internet hooked up.

New House Week 10

It's finished! Not really, but it is almost there! On Saturday when we arrived for our weekly peek a crew was busy finishing the painting and staining and the last of the vinyl siding was going up on the garage. The "nasty green stuff" for the grass was sprayed this week so everything looks pretty sludgy.

These are the correct kitchen counters and I like them much better. Our BLACK appliances are in except for our gas stove which is still missing. I hope that it will be there this week because I won't close on the house without it. Yes, it is that important to me, plus we paid a lot extra just to get it.

Because I couldn't resist, here is a picture of our main floor powder room. In my estimation the only things left to be done are landscaping the front, paving the driveway and putting up the garage door. I am still waiting to hear from the agent about the final walk through which is supposed to be sometime this week.

Ravenna's Halloween 2009

I bring you Ravenna as Minnie Mouse, courteousy of Oma and Opa "The Disney Fanatics" Hettinger!

Not one to stand still for the photo shoot while spooky decorating was going on, this was the best shot I was able to get of her whole costume.

I just thought I would throw this one in for good measure to prove that you are never too old to go trick-or-treating...from the left Chris (19), Melissa (21?), Josh 14.

After filling her pink purse with candy that her mommy wouldn't let her eat, Ravenna was done for the evening. She futilely tried to gum a tootsie roll in its wrapper before her mother snatched it from her slobbery grasp; she found one the next day and ate it anyway, wrapper and all. Take that mom!

New House Week 9 (Late!)

I have absolutely no pictures of the house from last week because I was on vacation! Ravenna and I took a last minute trip to visit my family before winter set in and Ravenna could no longer fly for free. Oh yeah, and we couldn't miss out on my Dad's rocking Halloween extravaganza.

As for the house, Andrew went through and said that they are starting to remedy some of the mistakes and that everything is in: carpet, light fixtures, toilettes, etc. All that remains to be finished are having the counters replaced, correct appliances installed, and a final coat of paint which should happen pretty soon; I hope this week, but I won't get to see until the weekend.

The garage is also being fixed and the siding should go up any day now. For your enjoyment below are more pictures from our trip to California.

Chris, Ravenna and I at the top of Mt. Rubidoux with the city of Riverside in the background. All the years that I had lived in Riverside I had never climbed Mt. Rubidoux so Chris and his girl friend Melissa were kind enough to invite me along. Ravenna was not so happy about it because she wanted to be walking, not in her stroller.

At the pumpkin patch in Oak Glen with Oma and Opa. Ravenna hated the pumpkin at that moment because she fell down trying to pick it up and got giant thorny stickers in her hands. It was so sad!

The chickens were pretty awesome, though.

New House Week 8

On the exterior they have done some finishing touches. The wiring for the exterior light fixtures is in as is the wiring for the outdoor electric outlets. We finally have steps! There is also a small patio off the back slider and the forms for the sidewalk are being put into place. From the outside it doesn't look much different from last week but WOW a lot has happened on the interior!

Check out my cute little kitchen! It is definitely on the small side but it has everything that we will need. For some reason I tend to gauge my expectations on what we had in Wymount so this kitchen is fabulous by comparison. Here we have real oak cabinets, a dishwasher, a much larger refrigerator, an eat-in-kitchen and a nice sized pantry.

The light oak cabinets actually look much better than I had expected them to. I think they make the kitchen look really warm and inviting even in its unfinished state. What do you think of the counter tops? We didn't pick those either BUT would you believe that they are not the ones that were ordered? Unfortunately there were a few minor construction boo-boos that we noticed while touring the house today: the wrong appliances were ordered (white and electric instead of black and gas), the vinyl flooring was also the wrong color AND the garage entry from the backyard was on the wrong side, but hopefully all those things will get fixed.

Here is the bathroom vanity. I am so thrilled with the cabinets! The interior is finally taking shape!

New House Week 7

Isn't this such a difference from last week? Nearly all the siding is up and they hung the shutters as well! I think it looks great!

The slab is finished for the garage and soon they will be putting up the structure.

This is our kitchen. Where the pipes are sticking up in the foreground is where our kitchen island is going to be situated. Our sink and dishwasher will be in the island.

This is one of the bedrooms upstairs. In this picture you can see that everything has been painted and the baseboards and molding have gone in. What you can't see is that they hung all the interior doors.

Technically the home will be done in less than four weeks, but our closing date isn't until the 18th of November. Only 5 weeks until we get to move in!

New House Week 6

I just realized that we left the door open when we left...oops. This week the builders have been busy on the interior filling cracks and holes in the drywall, and that is a long and tedious job. There has been a lot of progress on the exterior with the porches nearly complete on the end units and the siding installed on the back of the house.

This is our view from the interior at the front of the house. We think it is pretty sweet.

The view of our living room from our kitchen. On the floor is all of the trim and molding.

Here is the back of the house with the siding! The builders are still working on the walls of the garage, which you can see in the foreground. I am really getting excited and have already picked out paint colors and curtains!