First I thought I would start off with John's new calling. On December 6th we were asked to meet with the Stake President during Sunday School. The last time this happened, John became Elders Quorum President. But this time it was a little bit different. So the following week, my parents and Johns parents met up after church to witness John ordained as a High Priest (by my father) and set apart as the 2nd Counselor of the Bishopric.
WOW! I'm still getting used to it 4 months later. I think I've got the hang of keeping the kids content during sacrament meeting though. At first I tried snacks but then I discovered the wonderful invention of Silly Putty. Michael never gets tired of it. It's good for church, doctors offices and anywhere else that I need to keep him quiet and fairly still. And most of John's meetings are on Sunday before and after church so he is able to borrow Kenney's car that day so that I can bring the kids and then leave right afterwards for nap time. He misses sleeping in on Sunday mornings but at least he's not gone multiple nights each week. He does try to attend mutual on Tuesday nights though so that he can connect with the youth.
John finally had to say good-bye to being Gospel Doctrine teacher 4 weeks ago but hopes to get that calling again someday. I'm still enjoying being the secretary for Relief Society. Michael enjoys going to Primary and is loving his new substitute teacher (we'll see if he stays). Vivian has finally gotten used to nursery with out Michael and sometimes heads down the hallway by herself after sacrament meeting. (This scared us after stake conference where we searched for 10 minutes for our little girl. Luckily the Stake RS President knew who she belonged to when she found her outside heading for the parking lot.)
The other new and exciting thing that is happening for our family is we are in the process of buying a house. It is just a starter home for us but it has taken me quite awhile to warm up to this whole idea which is probably why I haven't talked much about it yet. We got a killer deal though ($118,000) and our mortgage will be $300 less than what we are currently paying in rent. We hope to use this money to get out of debt quickly.
The house is in a fairly new development in South Stockton. The house was built in 2005 and is 1814 square feet. The lot is .23 acres which is fabulous. Here is a birds eye view of our property.
We are currently in escrow and hope to close before the end of the month. It will be ready to move in as soon as we get the keys which is quite a rarity for the houses that are on the market right now in Stockton. Most of them have been striped of all appliances and some even have missing hardware (door knobs, ceiling fans, light fixtures, piping, cupboards, microwave, dishwasher, oven, air conditioners, etc). Luckily all we will need to get is a fridge since we already have a washer/dryer. (If you know anyone with an extra fridge, let us know)
Even though it has taken me awhile to get used to this whole thing (it's happened so fast) I am excited to own my own house and to be able to set things up how I want them. We are most excited about our back yard. There is so much potential but we will have to save up for awhile before we do anything major. As soon as we get the keys I'm sure I'll post some more pictures of the house but I wanted to let everyone know that we will be moving sometime in the next 1.5-3 weeks. Also I wanted to remind everyone about my secondary blog where I post my more serious thoughts and my projects. Check it out: http://lorinasbitsofknowledge.blogspot.com/ I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the journey of life.
