THE PACKER 6

Friday, August 28, 2009

Moving On...

Well, we sold our rental house (our old house). Our renters were moving out and we had to decide whether to get new renters or put it up for sale. Our agent said it was a good time to sell since people wanted to get in before school started and we could close in 30 days. When we moved from our old home, we debated whether to sell or rent. We had a couple offers to buy, but they fell through and we decided it might be the perfect time to have a rental property. So, we took the leap. But, after two years of being a landlord, we are over it. We had good tenants. But, we were always worried when that phone rang and it was our tenant. Then, the worry about getting a bad tenant, the economic climate and the decreasing rental prices solidified our decision to sell. My life is too busy and stressful to be a landlord!

We listed our house and prayed hard. We got a call the next day that someone was coming to look at the house and they were a great prospect and were making a decision that day. I got down on my knees and pleaded with Heavenly Father to let this go our way. We were very blessed to receive a full price offer that evening. Thirty days later the house closed. It was a very smooth process.

We always wanted rental property. Now we can say we have done it and I will chalk it up to a "live and learn" experience. It was time to take the money and run for my own peace of mind and reduction of stress. Jason and I have both felt a weight lift off our shoulders and feel at peace with the decision.

I will always have fond memories of that house. It was our first home and I loved everything about it. We did most of the interior work ourselves and our décor theme was “fun”. I loved waking up to the bright colors every morning, it really rejuvenated me. I hope the new owners will enjoy that house as much as we did.












Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Sunday, August 16, 2009

12 Years!!!!

I can't believe I have been married twelve years! I don't look a day older than my wedding day - right???? :)

We celebrated our anniversary on a weekend get away to Grass Valley while the kiddos had a vacation of their own at my parents house. We had an amazing weekend - a great hike to Loch Leven Lakes, sleeping in, great food (LOVED Kane's in Grass Valley and Posh Nosh in Nevada City) and the movies (someone should have warned us The Time Traveler's Wife would be a HUGE tear jerker. It took all the self control I had not to sob like a baby).

I love hiking, especially with Jason. It's a chance to escape everything and clear my head - no TV, cell phone or other people. Just Jason and I enjoying nature with some great conversation.

This hike was not easy, but it was do-able - 5 miles mostly uphill on the way there. Needless to say, I enjoyed hiking back much better :)

We enjoyed lunch and a refreshing swim in the lake

Look at the Sierra Nevada views - beautiful

I love you Jas. Thanks for so many wonderful years together. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us.

P.S. - When we picked up the kids tonight, Taya was not too pleased to come home. She told Grandma all weekend that she liked living at Grandma's house and then told her teacher at church today that she moved and she lives with Grandma now. Wow, I better not leave too long or I will never convince her to come back home!
Posted by at 8 comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Grandparents Trip to Six Flags

What great grandparents to take all three kids to Six Flags for the day. It was pretty busy and everyone was exhausted when they came home, but the kids had a blast with grandma and grandpa. Jason and I loved having a whole day to visit with Ben and Christie while they were in town from Portland.

Posted by at No comments:

Weekend with the Blakes

We had an awesome weekend with the Blakes, my best friend Christie and her husband Ben. They came to visit all the way from Portland.

We enjoyed a day at the lake and we even got Ben up on the wakeboard - Yahoo!

Jen Skiing

Ben wakeboarding - we knew he could do it!
Jen and Christie enjoying some sun.

Out to dinner celebrating my birthday and Christie's pregnancy. I can't wait to meet baby Boston :)

And some game playing - Settlers of Catan. OK, I was a sore looser once, but I was really tired and I made up for it with my "happy face" the second round :)

It was really great to visit and so nice of my parents to take my kids to Six Flags on Saturday so we could spend some time with our friends. Christie hasn't seen my kids in years, so it was really fun for her to see my kids. I love that even though Christie and I don't see each other often, our bond and love for each other remains strong.

Posted by at 4 comments:
Labels: ,

Swim Lessons

Dawson did a great job at his swim lessons this year. He really improved on his freestyle and breathing. He was especially good at backstroke and was the only one in his class that didn't sink!
Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: ,

Slip Slidin' Away

Our summer is slip slidin' away and so are the kids on their new slip n' slide. Taya got this great slide from Grandma and Grandpa on her birthday. Holden was a HUGE fan. Too cute!

Slip n' slides always bring back great summer memories of slip n sliding at my Grandma Dorsey's house in Idaho. Great summer memories!

Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: ,

Friday, August 07, 2009

My Birthday

My birthday ends our four in a row birthday celebration. Four out of five of our birthdays are within a two week span! I celebrated at my parents house with my favorite meal and yellow cake with chocolate frosting - YUM!

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Taya's Birthday Weekend

My little Taya girl turned 4 on July 31. What a big girl! She laughs that Jason calls her "baby girl". We celebrated Taya's birthday for 2 full days - lucky girl!

Taya had a birthday waffle for breakfast complete with a candle and happy birthday song.


Grandma and Aunt Jesi took the kids to Big Spoon Yogurt. Yummy!

Next up...the family BBQ and pool party!

Followed by presents!

She LOVES her pink laptop from Grandma Bunny. Hopefully she won't become a workaholic :)

Now this is HUGE. You may be thinking, she got a bike, no big deal. This was actually a huge deal! Every time we encouraged her to ride Dawson's old bike she screamed and cried when she just sat on it. She refused to try riding it - too scary! So, my sister convinced me that all she needed was a girl bike and she would do it. She was right! I took her to the store and she refused to buy a bike until I told her it could be pink with glitter and tassels. All of the sudden, she was in... Hilarious! Now she is happily riding her new girly bike.

Make a Wish!

Now time for the Pool Party

And guess what...Taya learned to swim!!!!! I had a talk with her a week or two ago about how she needs to be more brave and try swimming without her floaties and putting her face in the water. Then, we have been working with her ever since getting her to swim across the hot tub with her face in the water without floaties. I went to show my parents how good she was doing and when she swam to me - I realized she was really swimming! I backed up and let her go. She swam all around that pool the rest of the night. I am so proud of her!

And Dawson learned how to dive - look at that form!

Now onto Saturday and our much anticipated trip to Chuck E Cheese.

How cute is this baby???? So cute! He loved the baby rides, especially the carousel.

Here are 10 things we love about Taya:
  1. She LOVES her baby brother and is so cute to him - hugs, kisses and gritting her teeth. Adorable.
  2. Taya loves to cuddle and be affectionate - she will grab your face with both hands and give you a kiss!
  3. She is becoming more brave...hence the swimming and bicycle riding.
  4. She loves to learn. She knows all her letters, letter sounds and can write her letters. She loves to do her preschool workbooks every day.
  5. Taya was soooo shy when she started preschool, but she really came out of her shell at the end of the year and she is learning to be more sociable.
  6. She speaks really well and has a large vocabulary.
  7. She is very mothering - she likes to help Holden and cook.
  8. She is a daddy's girl. She loves her mom, but she LOVES her daddy. If she hasn't seen him much for a couple days, she will start crying saying she misses her daddy. Too cute.
  9. She likes to be creative. Her favorite things to do are crafts, painting, coloring, play dooh, writing, etc.
  10. She is usually a good sport and can take a lot of rough housing that Dawson dishes out.

Happy Birthday Taya. We Love You!


Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)