This is going to be a very interesting blog post! I have officially become horrible at blogging. I used to have a goal of writing a post once a month. For the past year, I think I have averaged once every five months. It's so bad. Anyways! When I wrote last time, it was Memorial Day and we were just starting the summer break. Our house was getting close to being done and we were getting ready to road trip to Wisconsin for a couple weeks. Our goal was to get the cabinets installed before we left for Wisconsin so that the countertop people could come in and measure everything and start making the counters. That was the big stress, and luckily it all fell into place and got done. Things were delayed by about a week, but it wasn't awful. But! More to come about the house... 

Josh becomes Chief of Police

After lots of drama and not really knowing what was going to happen in the month of May, it was decided by the mayor and city council that Josh should become the new Chief of Police! It was really unexpected actually. For the past few years, Josh (and most people) just assumed that Gary would become the next chief when Chief Turman retired because Gary was the assistant chief. Then we went to that convention in McCall with Gary and Chief Turman and their wives and all of the $hit hit the fan while we were there. The city council kept going back and forth about if they were going to appoint Gary or not. In the end, they decided they were not (for some really stupid reasons). So then for a brief second it looked like they might open it up to any applicants from outside agencies. Then they decided against that and the current chief threw Josh's name in the hat. Everyone on city council voted and it was unanimous that Josh should be the new chief.        

Wisconsin Trip 2022 - First time without Gramps

Right after Josh got sworn in as chief, we went to Wisconsin from July 2 - to July 12 and we had a great time! It was our first time being there as a family with my grandpa Bestor gone, so that part was a little sad. We went to Lakeside Park and rode all the rides like we used to do with him, we went to Culvers, we went to the Fondy inflatable aqua park, and we went to Wisconsin Dells for a night. We stayed at the Kalahari and did the indoor and outdoor stuff and it was really fun. It was a really good opportunity to take a break from all the stresses of building the house and even though, at the time, I was like, "Should we really be going to Wisconsin right now?" Now I look back I'm really glad we did because it was kind of the only fun thing we did as a family the whole summer! We were just so concerned about getting our house done! Also, my Grandma Dahlke had taken this big fall in the Dollar Store parking lot in May and broken her femur and so she was staying in the assisted living home while she healed, so it was good for us to be able to go and visit her while she was kind of couped up for those couple months. She was able to go home in August... but now it's October and she just fell again... soooo....but I'm getting ahead of myself. So, it was a good Wisconsin trip! Moving on...

We got back from Wisconsin and it was mid-July. The painters were just finishing up and we were waiting on counters. From July 13-July 30th everything was just like, boom boom boom.... fast! We got the painting done, we got counters, they installed the rest of the cabinet doors, we got carpet, we got all the lights in... it was just like, it was instantly moving along and got done so fast at the end! I remember one of the last things was that me and Gabe went over there and were putting pieces of siding on the back side of the house to get it finished up. It was a fun time working on things with Gabe every day in the summer. I feel like I will always look back on those days and remember them because they were just so fun working on these little last projects together while Josh was at work and it was just me and Gabe hanging barn doors, putting up siding, hanging up towel rods, etc. 

Anyways, so pretty soon it was the beginning of August and we got our occupancy permit on August 5th! The day had come when we could officially move in! You would have thought I would've just been ecstatic! But the crazy thing was, I didn't feel that way. From the day we got the occupancy permit and people started coming over to help us move, I just got this sick feeling that something wasn't right. Part of that was because we had done our final bank draw and it was HUGE because it was the cabinets and the counters and the electrician bill and more. So I started to look at the bottom line and just freak out because I knew that we were going to owe waaaay more than I had originally wanted to when we first started building. I had always told myself from the beginning when we started building, "We will probably come out of this owing about $300 thousand," and even that was like, sooo much! But sadly, it ended up being even more than that! When all was said and done and we were about to close out our loan, we were going to owe about $415k! So I was having a hard time processing that, even after putting down about $180k, PLUS paying for the $65k lot, we were STILL going to owe over $400k! I was just NOT expecting that. So anyways, I was freaking out inside. Josh didn't seem to be freaking out as much, and he kept saying it was fine. My mom told me it would be fine, my friends told me it would be fine, but I just could not get used to it. 

So we moved in. We put all our clothes into the closets, all the food in the pantry, all the toys and books on in the bonus room, etc. And for me, it just STILL didn't feel right. Then we even got all of our storage unit stuff and got that all moved into our garage. We put all my food storage cans on the pantry shelves. We got a trampoline set up in the backyard. We basically moved ALL in, hoping that it would start feeling right. But for me, it just never did. I was so stressed out the whole time we lived there. On top of that, school started on August 23rd and I had that stress going on as well. I laid in bed every night and had trouble sleeping. I even started taking melatonin to try and sleep through the night. I lost about ten pounds because I just couldn't even eat! (The weight loss part was actually okay.... lol) So we started to talk about "what if" we would list the house. We kind of went back and forth for about a week. I started calling the Kartchner Homes sales lady and talking to her about what lots or homes were available. It was crazy. But I basically felt better every time I talked to her or took a step to list the house. So ultimately, we decided to just list the house and see.

We listed the house right before Labor Day. A friend of ours named Jared Horsely, who is a realtor, came over with his photographer lady and they took nice pictures of the house. Then he officially posted it on the MLS system on August 31 at about midnight. The next day, I think he showed it four times, and by 6:00 that night, we had an accepted offer for more than what our asking price had even been. Everything went so fast from there! We had to get another storage unit because our old one was already taken by someone else. Then we started moving stuff BACK into a different storage unit and packing AGAIN. Over the next two weeks, we found a rental in Summerfield, which was super lucky and I think meant to be, we got packed up, and we finished up some tiny last things that needed to be done on the house before we sold it. We got the permanent Christmas lights installed, I painted the front door, and we got the whole house ready to move. Another thing that was going on was we had these little tiny bugs in the bathroom! We kept spraying and spraying and I think they were finally starting to go away, but that was soooo annoying. I was not sad to leave the bugs! I was a little sad to leave my beautiful kitchen. That was probably my favorite part of the house. I think Caleb's favorite part was the bonus room upstairs with his video games and the fooseball table. Gabe was pretty quiet about the whole thing, but I'm sure he felt a little frustrated that he had worked so hard on building the house and now we were selling it. Of course, he told me, "If you feel like we need to sell the house, it's okay." But the fact that he put so much work into it is really the only thing that makes me even a little sad about selling it. Other than that, I've really always felt completely good about it. Avery had some moments where she was really sad, but she's always emotional and she even cried when we moved out of the Meadows townhouse, so I feel like she would cry no matter what we did. 

So anyways, on September 15th, we were officially all moved out and we closed on the sale of the house we had spent the past year building! Everyone we told was pretty shocked at first. But I just felt like it was all right. I don't regret it at all to this day. So, now we are living in this townhouse in Summerfield and we are waiting for Kartchner to build us a new house across from the clubhouse! When we realized our house was officially sold, we decided to move forward on buying a lot by the clubhouse and we picked out the new floorplan called the "Savannah." My friend, Lauren, had actually just bought one of these houses down the street from where our lot is, and I had walked through it right before we had moved into our big house, and I had said to her, "Dang! This is nice! If I would've known Kartchner could build houses now that looked like this, I would've just built a new one here in Summerfield!" So it's funny that I really did go through with selling the house we built and am now going to be building this house just like Lauren's. It's really a nice floorplan. It has an office on the main floor right by the front door, then a big, open kitchen and living room space. Upstairs, there are four bedrooms plus there was this "loft" space, but we decided to frame it in as a bonus room or fifth bedroom. I feel like it makes more sense for that space to have a door on it if Caleb's in there playing video games with friends. They broke ground on it October 11th and they have been working on the underground plumbing, electrical, and concrete footings. By November 11th, they are supposed to start framing it. It should be done by March! 

So, we are in this lease at this townhouse until March 9th. I'm hoping it all works out so that we can move right in that first week of March. There's still a small part of me that wonders if something better will come along, like if a house would come for sale that we absolutely love and is an even better price! If that would happen, there's a small chance we would do that instead, but I feel like this house we are building will be great too. I'm just trying to keep an open mind that there may be some good options and we just have to see what happens. I already feel happier and more at home just living in this townhouse in Summerfield than I did living in our big house that we built! So if that's not weird, I don't know what is! I feel like the process of building was such a trying, yet fun and exciting time and I really enjoyed going through all of that with Gabe especially, but once it was time to move in, I was like, "Um... I don't actually want to LIVE out here!" It was weird. I missed having Caleb be able to just go out the door and be with his friends! I missed swimming at the clubhouse with Avery! I missed just being in a neighborhood around people! So, I'm happy we made the decision we did. 

Caleb's Freshmen Football Season

Other things that have been going on - Caleb's freshmen football season was a HUGE success! They went undefeated the whole season and their last game against Rigby was one for the record books. We were down 6-7 for almost the entire game, then in the last 2 SECONDS, we kicked a field goal and WON! The crowd went wild and our students all ran onto the field. Caleb's coach ran out and was jumping up and down. It was awesome! So we had a lot of fun going to all his games in the month of September and first half of October. The weather was really nice this year too! Every football game was like, the epitome of perfect fall weather! It was so nice. Lots of good memories of sitting at his games this fall. Caleb is also happy to be back in Summerfield with his friends and it's a rare moment when he's even at home and not running around with them. He's also enjoying being on the student council at the junior high. 

Grandma Sue came to visit us

She was planning to come during spud harvest to see the our new house that we had just built, but then we had to call her and tell her we sold it and weren't living there anymore like three weeks after she had booked her flight. That was a little awkward... lol But she still came and we had a lot of fun anyways! We went to the treehouse nursery pumpkin patch, the BYUI apple orchards, Fat Cats bowling, played pickleball, went swimming, and more. It was really fun to have her here even if we were in our little townhouse!

Avery Starts Middle School

Avery is in fifth grade now at the middle school. That has been a bit of a roller coaster. I wish she could stay at Burton forever! The first few weeks were rough as she adjusted to switching classes and going to her "pull-out" classes for reading and math. I think she's doing ok now, but there were some tears during the first couple of weeks. She was also able to participate in the little mini cheer clinic in September, so she danced at halftime of a football game at Bobcat Stadium and it was really cute! We also celebrated her 10th birthday when we were in Wisconsin and when we got back, right before we moved into the house. She went to the Rise of Gru movie with two friends, Briella and Tayvree.

Gabe's Junior Year, Dances, New Car

Gabe spent most of the summer working on the house (that we sold.) He also spent a week at OFY with Amos. It's this church camp in Newdale where teens come from all over the U.S. and they do white water rafting and ropes courses and other fun stuff. He had a really good time. Then the summer ended and he started his junior year and moved into this townhouse shortly after. The first month we lived in this townhouse he didn't have a car because we sold the white pickup and were hunting for the best new car for him. We finally got a blue Toyota Camry Hybrid and it seems to be really good so far! He's involved in the mayor's youth council (mostly so it looks good on a college resume) and he is starting to get adjusted to the new ward we are in. It's really small, so there are only 3 priests, but he seems to get along with them well. One of them is a past student of mine that's named Robby and he's a good kid. Gabe went to Homecoming with a girl named Taycie and then just last night went to a Halloween dance with a girl named McKenzie. He's still really good friends with Porter and Amos. They were in his groups for both Homecoming and the Halloween dance. Gabe was debating if he should do the Madison United soccer league this spring. He didn't do the fall soccer, which I think he was glad about because the coach was pretty intense. He went to tryouts for the spring soccer just yesterday, but he didn't feel that great about it, so we will see. I think his soccer days might be done. He's debating if he should get a part-time job, but I told him to just focus on getting good grades and going to young men's and the mayor's youth board meetings. 

I've been busy teaching at the junior high and every day I ask myself if I should do it next year. I kind of debate if working full-time is the best thing for our family. I wish I could be home when Avery gets home from school and help her more with schoolwork. I wish there was a way to work part-time as a teacher. Josh is busy with his chief duties (did I even mention he's the police chief now?) but the good news is, his pay will continue to increase more over the years now.

So, I think that's about it! It's Sunday at 12:44 and Josh and I just got called to teach Sunday school, so we are going to be teaching our first lesson today. It's the class that Caleb's in, and a lot of the students I have taught before in real school! It shouldn't be too bad! We also both spoke in church last Sunday, so they've already totally put us to work!

Also, we just got family pictures taken a few weeks ago so I will post a few of those! Gabe and Caleb are both officially taller than me and basically as tall as Josh (Gabe thinks he is an inch taller.)

Halloween is tomorrow, so there will be lots of fun at school and trick-or-treating in the evening!

That's all for now! 

Well, my last post was in January and now it's Memorial Day weekend. This is literally the first free moment I have had in the past few months where I haven't had to be thinking about lesson planning or anything with the house! That doesn't mean the house is done, by any means, but it just means I feel a bit more relaxed now that school is out for the summer!

So, where do I even start? The winter months were cold and long. To be honest, I can probably count on two hands (so, less than 10) the number of truly NICE days we have had since last fall. If the temperature does happen to hit above 65, the wind has been so bad this spring that it doesn't even feel warm most days! Josh and Gabe have started to do the siding on the house and it's been so hard! One day, Gabe went to bend down and pick up a piece of siding and the wind just blew it into his face and cut his lip! He had blood and dirt all over! So yeah, it's been challenging. Luckily, I am to the point where my work is on the inside! We are starting to paint! Josh's sister, Shannon, and I spent a lot of time on Saturday putting the first coat of primer on all the drywall. 

But let me quickly recap the last few months! We went swimming at the Summerfield pool on a lot of weekends with the Milners. Even though neither of us live there anymore, we typically borrow a key to the clubhouse from the Moores. Our time would be balanced between doing things at the house, school, work for Josh, and then swimming in the evenings when we had a chance.

I also went to the Gravity Factory with Avery one Saturday when Josh and the boys were busy with something at the house. I have a couple pictures of that. In February, we went to the ice castle with Avery and the Milners. Gabe and Caleb were often either at school or with friends. Gabe went to his very first school dance, which was the prom, with a girl named Shaylynn. It was mostly a date with a big group of his friends, so I don't think he and Shaylynn are anything too serious. Also, for Gabe's 16th birthday, he and I went to Utah and went indoor skydiving! We also went shopping for a lot of house stuff. He LOVED helping me pick out tile! haha Caleb did spring wrestling, which was pretty casual, and Gabe helped out Josh at the house a lot. 

Once the house was all framed, one of the big things that Josh and Gabe helped with was electrical. We had Jeff Wayment, our former neighbor in Summerfield, come and help, but he mostly just told Josh and Gabe what to do and then came back and checked. We also had a guy who was a friend of a friend do the plumbing, and I honestly kind of regret that. He took SOOOO LONG and I felt like we were constantly running around to get him more supplies. I don't even know that we saved that much money! It was super frustrating. We paid a company to do the HVAC and that went pretty fast and smooth, however, they did lose our fireplace. It seems like there's honestly a hiccup at EVERY step. Like, if something even goes completely problem-free, I'm liked SHOCKED. That actually hasn't really happened. Our roofers were fast, but they still haven't come back to finish the steel sections over the bump-outs and it's been 3 months! Our windows were mostly okay, but they sent the wrong patio door and we still haven't gotten the correct one. Our interior doors just arrived and they have silver hinges instead of the black that I wanted. We realized we forgot to wire for a light outside the front door. I hired a tile guy and he's ready to lay tile tomorrow we realized our plumber didn't put in a hole for the bathtub drain. So yeah. Things are going well obviously!

I'll just say it's a good thing that school is out right now because the end of the year couldn't come fast enough. I will probably be out there almost every day doing stuff for the next few weeks. We are hoping to go to Wisconsin for a visit at the end of June, but there are a LOT of things we need to cross off our list first! Paint, trim, finish siding, etc. 

Here are a collection of pictures for the last five months!

(Caleb wrestling, Easter egg hunt at our new homes with Milners, celebrating Gabe's 16th birthday at Da Pineapple Grill, me and Gabe's trip to Utah for his birthday and indoor skydiving and shopping, Josh and my trip to McCall for a police convention, more house building stuff, Avery and I at the zoo and Gravity Factory, Gabe's prom with Shaylynn, and more!)