Around Our House

I know I've been majorly slacking on the blog. I'll get caught up today and explain why we've been so busy.

Noah got Honor Roll and almost had straight A's. He also got Perfect Attendance and Student of the Quarter!  He's been working so hard and is doing so well in school.

Ben got Principal's List, which is all A's. 

Ben also got inducted to National Junior Honor Society last night. He had no clue what it was, so I told him it's a group for smart kids to be leaders in their school and community. He was game.

Emily got her first C. I think high school was a come to Jesus for her. She really skated by for the past 9 years with every little effort. Then, she got to high school. Color guard added 20-40 hours to her weekly activities and I think she was underestimated how hard the classes would be. She's back on track, but she had a hard time making up for the not so great first quarter. So, she ended up with mostly B's and a C. It is what it is. She's putting in the work now, and hopefully will have no C's this next semester. Not that a C is bad, we just know she can do better, and she expects more of herself. She really beat herself up about it. It's not a bad grade. Some people are thrilled with C's. But she's capable of better. But, there's more to life than just getting A's. She's learning hard work, dedication, team work and so much more in guard.

In other news, I wanted so badly for her to meet great friends in high school and be a part of group and find her people, and she's done just that in guard. She has so many great friends. This is her friend Delilah and she comes to our house a couple times a week and I take them to practice. I love to see my girl happy and enjoying her high school years. In the end, a C won't matter. These friendships and memories will. They had to wear black lipstick. That's not Emily's typical color of choice. Actually, she doesn't wear make up except a little mascara.

And guess what? We bought another home! It's not for us though. We've been working on getting Gwynne and Enrique out here for years. They finally decided it was time. We thought they'd buy a house. But, Gwynne said they really just want to rent one or an apartment. Rent here is crazy expensive. An apartment is $1500, a house is about $1800 or more for a small one! Then, we thought, why should they pay off someone else's real estate investment. We can buy a second home. Basically, we don't charge them anything more than what covers the mortgage payment, they get rent for cheaper, we have an investment property and everyone wins. 

So, I have been on a mission the last month to find them something that will work. We finally went with a new build home about 8 minutes from us. It'll be perfect for them, and they have about 6 months to get their affairs in order and get out here. It's super exciting. I'm so glad that they will be close by and we can see them often and help when they need it. It's a cute 3 bedroom, 2 bath house.

Here are a few pics of the model.

We picked out the lot and they already started building. These were taken a week apart.

The power lines will come down. They put them up just for another builder that is going in behind us, but we should still have a pretty view of the mountain.

And you can see Glassford Hill too from the backyard.

We took the kids by to see the model and they were so excited. They were ready to move in. We don't know what the future holds, and we hope Gwynne and Enrique have many happy years in this house. And after who knows? We may move in there and downsize. One of the kids could move in there with a roommate. We could rent it to someone else. We have options. I'm just glad Gwynne and Enrqiue will have a stable place to live without the threat of a landlord deciding to sell and forcing them to move, etc. It really is great for everyone.

Oh and we went on our favorite hike last weekend. The weather here is beautiful and we took advantage of it to soak up some sunshine. I'm glad the kids enjoy our outdoor family time.

This is our favorite hiking spot and we were half way through and I stopped for a second and looked over and saw this door and hole in another hill. I don't know how we've never seen it or what it's for, but it was pretty cool. I think we are normally going downhill and our eyes are down.

Between buying a house and dealing with financing, the kids school and after school activities and planning a trip to Maui and our summer vacation, I've been beyond busy. I don't know where all my time goes, but it's always gone in a flash.