Well hello there stranger

So yes, we are still alive and kick'n. When we moved we decided that the only Internet we would have for awhile would be on our phones. And of course my phone wouldn't let me get on and check all the fun things I like to do online. So right now we're kind of back, we'll see how easy or hard it is to do this from an iPad. So if I can I'll try and add a couple of pictures and hopefully be back up and blogging.

The house

Ok, so finally I'm getting pictures up of the evolution of the house and I already have more pictures to post that I haven't got off my camera yet. But for now these will have to do.

Here is the lot we picked out. If you squint you can see the boys at the back property line.

Here's the view of the mountains.

Yea! They started digging the foundation.
More foundation digging.

Now they're pouring the cement for the foundation.

Here it is completed and back filled.

Here they are digging for the land drain and removing some extra dirt.

We have walls! This was a very exciting day.

This is a view from the back.

And the roof begins.

Completed roof.

This one guy shingled our whole roof by himself in one day.

And the back.

All done.

So now they are done with the brick and will be starting the stucco soon. All the sidewalks and the driveway have been poured. And the inside is all painted, the shelving is up and the flooring starts in a couple of days. Wahoo!

Alex graduates from Preschool

Here are a few pics from Alex's Preschool graduation. He LOVED preschool and adored his teacher Miss Jennifer.

They were all so cute!

They sang a song about dinosaurs and Alex held up the picture for the brontosaurus.

Miss Jennifer put together a scrap/remembrance book for each kid with pictures from throughout the year. It turned out really nice.

Here's all the kids with their books.

Grandma brought balloons for the graduate.

Here's all of us supporting our little guy.

Alex turns 5!

These are a bit late too - but oh well. Alex wanted a tractor cake and here's what it came out as.

Here's his early birthday party/joint welcome home Dani party.
He loves him some Thomas!

Grandma Doris and Grandpa John took us out to eat at Texas Roadhouse a few days later.

Sitting on the saddle

Now enjoying the ice cream.

Here he is with his Preschool 5 year old crown.

Dani's Home (6 weeks ago :)

Ok, so these are all in reverse order because it won't let me rearrange them. My sister Danielle got home from an 18 month LDS mission to Charlotte NC. So even though these are late - here's some pics from us picking her up at the airport. We are so happy to have her home!

update on our homelessness

Ok, so we have sold the house, moved in with Ben's parents for a whopping 3 days, moved again - into our basement apartment (that has no sun light - Mindy I have NO idea how you did it for 3 years) and finally decided what we are going to do with ourselves. Yay!

After going out with our realtor once - looking at 3 houses (two of those being short sales)- we decided it wasn't for us. We had looked into building and even had a few places picked out. So we started to talk to builders and see what we could work out. We had a few requirements

1. It had to be in a good school district

2. It had to be close to Ben's work - so he could still come home for lunch

3. It needed to be in a good neighborhood

4. It needed to have a big back yard for my crazy boys to run around in

5. And we needed it to be within our budget

So, honestly we didn't think all of those needs were going to be met. We talked with 2 builders who were building in communities that we both really liked. But one came out to being just a better all around deal.

So after signing all the paperwork we got

1. A fabulous elementary school a mile away

2. An extra 3 minute commute for Ben

3.A wonderful neighborhood that is still growing

4. .36 acre lot

5.And a snug but workable budget.

We feel so blessed to have been able to provide this opportunity for our family. We really hope the next few months go by without too many hiccups but we know what matters is our family's well being and not where we live.

We're moving!!!

So about 6 weeks ago Ben and I had a crazy idea - let's make our lives way more insane then they already are - let's sell the house!!! So we got our realtor over here and checked everything out and a week later we had it up. A week and a half later we had an offer (way low) we countered and they decided to let it fall through. Another week and half went by and we got another offer (on my birthday! and it was cash (we like cash) but they wanted to close in two weeks (we also like time to get things packed.)) Even though things would be super rushed we decided this was the offer that really couldn't get any better. So we accepted and now are 3 days away from closing. So far everything has gone pretty smoothly. Our inspection came back with only a few problems that we are able to get fixed. And we have most of our stuff packed - we just need to move the big stuff into storage.
We're not sure what we're going to do from here. We've talked about building but where ever we go we have to be in by the summer because Alex starts Kindergarten this year and we want time for him to make friends. We feel that this was a good decision for our family, no matter how far away my sanity has run. But where ever we do land it will be where we need to be and we just keep telling that to ourselves over and over and over :)

What can I do?

What do I do with a boy who takes a cat, locks the cat and himself in a bathroom and then combs toothpaste into the cat's hair with his toothbrush? But who the day before was so stinkin' cute, wanted people to play "Hide and Peek" with him.

My non-dancers

So I've tried for years to get Ben to go dancing with me. Every time he seems to find a way out of it. So when we found out the city has a family Valentines dance I told him we were going to it and he would have to have fun. Well the first two years he secretly planned things so they "happened" to be on the same day as the dance, but this year I made sure he wasn't going to get out of it. I even started telling the boys that we were going out dancing. Alex must have gotten Ben's non-dancing genes cause for 3 days all I heard was, "Mom, I can't dance with you. I'll just sit on the chairs with Aunt Lindsey."
So we got there and I couldn't believe how many people were there. More than I thought would show up to a city sponsored event. They had a live band (which rocked!) and cookies (the boys LOVED!) and fun streamers and balloons everywhere. So I finally got Ben onto the dance floor and realized why he had been putting this off for so long lol. I think we'll be signing up for some dance classes soon. But we had a great time. I even got Alex out there and we boogied! On our way home Alex said, "Mom, that wasn't so bad."

Sledding and Steph

We thought there was no better way to start out the new year than to go sledding. So we packed everyone up and went to a local golf course where the hills are steep and you can really get some air.

Here's Mike Lindsay and Alex climbing back up the hill.

Ben and a very bundled up Spencer.
Alex is getting a ride back up the hill from Uncle Mike.

Here's Steph after she biffed it.

Alex and I getting ready to go down.

Later at the house Steph and Izzy are sporting flowers.

WE thought we'd have a girls lunch out while Steph was still here.

Spencer was loving the bread!!

Mom and Sarah

Alex said he was cold so he put his jacket back on and was trying to cuddle up with Aunt Lindsay.

Now he wants Grandma too.

The night before Steph was leaving we had a pizza party and found some fun music to listen to. Ha ha ha. Only the Condie's can REALLY enjoy Elvis music.

We had lots of fun with the puppies and too soon it was time to say goodbye.

Bye bye aunt Stephie!!! Love you!!!!!!!!!