Our New Home...

 On December 10th, Matt and I closed on our new home! 

 It was such a huge relief - you have no idea!  The idea that we had our own home, that we could actually afford, located in an area we actually LOVED - was a dream come true - not to mention the simple fact that we LOVE our house!

Closing was of course long but went great and afterwards we headed home, hooked up the trailer with our first load of crap and headed over to our new home to start moving in!  We were lucky enough to borrow the cabinet trailer from my work to help with moving, which allowed us to pack up our first load that weekend before.  We still had four more loads after that, but at least we got off to a good start... 

 

The home was move-in-ready except for the bedrooms - so Matt and I spent all day and night Tuesday and all day Wednesday stripping wall paper and painting, so hopefully we could spend our first night at the house Thursday with the kids!  We were highly motivated and with the help of our family and our awesome friends - we actually got to stay Wednesday night in our freshly painted rooms and made up beds!  It was an awesome feeling to wake up Thursday morning and it just be our family of four in our new home - plus the kids slept great that first night!

We spent the rest of the week unpacking boxes and by that weekend it was pretty much put together - minus pictures on the walls!

Ashtyn and Eli definitely found ways to have fun, while we were in the midst of unpacking - I found them playing in the dirty laundry one time...

 Ashtyn was very persistent on getting the Christmas tree up and even though that was the last thing I wanted to deal with, I knew how important it was for her to get the tree up, so it felt like Christmas - never mind the stacks of boxes to unpack!

So I took a break, made some coffee and we decorated the Christmas Tree on Thursday!

I was actually happy Ashtyn was so persistent on getting it done - it made me take a much needed break and just enjoy being a family in our new home, while doing a tradition I normally LOVE!

 Eli tried helping, but after throwing several ornaments on the floor, he was removed from the tree decorating area...

 Ashtyn spent all day hanging ornaments and did such a good job decorating the tree and yes I will admit afterwards it felt like Christmas in our new home!

Its funny how among the millions of boxes to unpack, stacks of picture frames, trash bags, and just pure chaos, it felt like home - do you know how long I have been waiting for that?

We had our first Saturday Pancake Breakfast...

 And spent the rest of the weekend settling into our new home we LOVE so much...

Besides for finally having our own home again we were so excited to entertain our friends again! 

We owed alot of them drinks and food for always hosting us these past couple years, so we wasted no time in having people over...Shannon and Kole brought pizza and champagne on Thursday night, The Roddas came over for Mexican food on Saturday night,  The Ohlheiser's brought dinner over the following Friday night and Pam, Steve and Mari came over with margs and pizza the next night! 

I don't know what we would do without all the love and support from our family and friends, but it was awesome to have such great people to share this exciting time with!

It's funny, and something Matt and I comment on all the time - but I don't think I would have ever been so grateful and appreciative for my own home or for the ability to simply entertain friends if we had not sold our house and moved into my in-laws basement two years ago.  I am not going to lie - it was a rough two years, but very humbling. 

I will forever be grateful for our home - it's nothing special or grand, but its ours and I can't wait to spend the next 50 years raising my kids there with Matt, making memories with friends and family, installing a new kitchen and of course adding our personal touch to every space! 

I LOVE our new home!  Let the projects begin...