Life @ our new home :)

The move was successful on Saturday, November 7th & we are happily enjoying our brand new home :) Being here makes me feel so grateful for the blessings in my life, foremost being the chance and financial ability for us to have this new home and the wonderful husband I have to share it with. It's absolutely perfect and I couldn't be less pleased with how it's all turned out... all the waiting, putting up with the "joys" of living in an apartment complex, paperwork, closing, etc. Not to mention the $8,000 tax credit for being first time home buyers, $6,000 off for closing our community this year (that's been extended till April), and a $4,000 grant that also came out this year. All that made it possible for us to close smoothly, w/ just over $1,000 to spare! We also don't have to pay our first mortgage till January which makes Christmas smooth this year :) We are so blessed with so much wonderful family and friends that helped make the move as smooth as possible. Thanks everyone!

First thing in the morning of moving day, we packed up fragile things into mine & Elliott's cars. Elliott's sister Nichole, Brent, & their 5 kids showed up @ noon w/ their big suburban & were moving things so fast, I wondered if we'd be done by the time anybody else showed up! My grandparents on my Dad's side showed up shortly after them w/ their big truck which also added to the speed of things getting moved out. Those trucks were loaded & ready to go when my parents showed up in my dad's big truck and trailer on the back. While the first 4 loads (2 trucks, 2 cars) were being unloaded at the new house, my parents, Nichole, & her girls helped load up my Dad's truck/trailer. Nichole's family had to leave after just a couple hours :( but more help was on it's way. Elliott's co-worker Nate & his wife showed up to help w/ load 5 & then we all headed back to the apartment to get the remaining furniture & odds n' ends. Soon after, Elliott's brother Joel, his parents as well as my brother Scott and his girlfriend Darby showed up to help. Then we discovered a problem-- the washer was leaking & we had no dolly to get the washer/dryer down the front stairs to load into a truck. Basically, that turned the whole project into a 3 man job which was difficult, but we made it work. Not to mention, this whole time we're moving to a 2-level house, and 80% of what we own goes UPSTAIRS at our new house, including the washer& dryer.

It's hard to believe we had so much stuff! Once we got everything over there, we ordered 4 pizzas and drinks for everyone that was left--Elliott's parents, Joel, my parents, Scott, Darby, and us. Then, the men got to work hooking up the washer/dryer & putting blinds up while the women put the kitchen things away and I put some of the bathroom items away as well as the linen closet things. So nice to have help putting things away-- thanks everyone!!! Elliott & I purchased blinds as well as a sliding door set (different) at Home Depo just two days before moving. Elliott's mom Myrl helped me shorten the kitchen blinds so I'll know how to shorten the others. I'll post pics when I can of the new house. Till then, thanks again to everyone who helped us move! :)

We're moving! :)

We are moving on Friday!!! :) The Fieldstone home we purchased in Spanish Fork back in July is finally built. As of today, we met with the contractor at our home for the Homebuyers Orientation to go over more paperwork, explain all the hookups, how things work, and he also gave us blue tape to mark up every single ding in the wall/paint touchups that we could see. We're closing on Thursday at 11, and Friday at 3:30 is our absolute final meeting with the contractor to make sure all those touchups on the walls are fixed and then we get the keys between 4 & 5 that night. So, whoever wants to help us move we'll be doing some on Friday night & then again on Saturday for furniture, bigger items and such. We are very excited! :) :) :)

In the meantime... our apt is piles and piles of boxes and stuff.

Halloween Night

This year, none of our friends posted parties on facebook so we didn't bother dressing up. Well, I was a black& red fairy w/ wings for about an hour as we picked out movies at Blockbuster and trick-or-treated to my parents house, then it got too cold wearing a dress and the four of us went to Colten's parents house where they have the most awesome spook alley AT THEIR HOUSE! And the best part is it's FREE. Right in their backyard, hosted by their family and a few friends... plus lots of $$ spent on fog, props, decorations, fake blood, etc. I was impressed. They had us go through in groups of two, and of course Elliott makes me go in front. It was actually more entertaining that way cause I actually got scared more. Not long after we went through, Katie, Scott, & Darby showed up and went through. Then we enjoyed chatting inside & a nice drink of hot apple cider... yum :) To end a great evening, we stayed up till 3 watching a couple scary movies. What better way to end the evening than with my wonderful hubby :)

Pumpkin Carving!

My family got together to carve pumpkins the Wednesday before Halloween and had a blast creating scary faces, characters, and a spooky cat while flicking pumpkin seeds at each other, hehe. :) Afterward, we lined them all up, put candles in them, turned out the lights, and enjoyed the Jazz game that night.... although they lost, it's all about spending time with family right? Elliott's pumpkin is a Cyclops, mine is a scary face w/ a bum carved out on it's back side, Scott did the house & fire, Darby a character from a movie (can you guess who?), Colten's has the scary gaping mouth, and my Mom did a cat. Katie helped Colten while my Dad and Danny watched the Jazz game.

Beginning carving...

Colten & me

The star-top seemed popular so I went with that one.

Elliott's pumpkin and mine

Elliott, mine, Darby, Scott, Colten, and Mom's pumpkins

Darby, Scott, and Colten's pumpkins close up

Goofing around during the Jazz game

Colten, Elliott, me

Scotty's humorous picture... :)

New York Trip!

(For those that don't know my family as well...) In Octoberish of 2008, my sister Jenny, brother-in-law Michael, & their 2-yr old boy Gabe made the big move from Buena Vista, VA (they lived there for 5 or 6 yrs) to Albany, NY. On the 19th of December, Grant Lloyd Eldredge was born. We don't see them much :( so it's always a fun adventure flying out to see them. My Mom especially love it cause she gets to see her gran babies and flies out every chance she can get (which is about every 4 months). I saw Grant the first time at my sister Katie's wedding earlier this year, and now he is already almost a year old! He is the cutest baby you'll ever see, and Gabe (now 3) is a handful, but also a very fun boy to play with. New York is so beautiful and green, and the fall leaves added such color to the scenery. People's yards look like forests!

So...my parents flew out October 6th, and my sister Katie & I flew out the 11th, and we all came home on the 15th. Jenny's birthday was on the 13th so we all enjoyed a nice night out at the Cheesecake Factory for the first time, and although we paid a very pricy chunk of money, it was well worth it to spend time with family. We each got different flavors of heavenly cheesecake slices to go, and had them later as we enjoyed watching a movie. Mine was White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle.... yum! :) Anyway, here are some pics that Jenny took (my camera died and hers is much better anyway).

Gabe going for a ride...

Grant w/ my dad "Grandpa"

Grant w/ my Mom "Grandma"

A "Grant Sandwich"

Family picture

Create by Deiter F. Uchtdorf

I came across this clip by Dieter F. Uchtdorf speaking about our desires to create something new that wasn't there before. Create whatever it is you want to create. I like the very last part of it the best when he says that the more you include the Savior in your life, the better your ability to create.

New House

We signed papers on July 3rd for Fieldstone Homes to build a home for us in Spanish Fork, and after getting all the paperwork, grants, etc. we headed off to the HomeFitting Center by IKEA to pick out all the flooring, cabinets, lighting, paint colors, appliances, etc. to be in our home. It'll be a brand new, 3-bedroom, 2 bath, 2- car garage, 2 level house with walk-in closets in all the rooms (the master bedroom's closet is especially big), more storage, and about a 5 ft. deep crawl space below our house for storage. The foundation guys were behind schedule, but ever since they came, our house has gone up so quickly we're amazed... & excited for our very first home!!! :) Our closing date is scheduled for November 5, and we'll receive the keys on the 6th. :) Here are some progress pictures.

The plot we picked out

Hole in the ground

Beginning of the Footings

Part II to Footings

Filling in the holes

Finally the driveway, front/back porches, & garage are filled in.

First floor framing (ignore Mr. Gradall)

Second floor framing (ignore Mr. Gradall)

The final stage of framing... the roofs & front porch!

More to come!!!....