Guess what!

Darren and I are now the proud owners of this home......yellow grass and all. The greatest part is, we don't even have to move because we already live there! Yep, we purchased the house we've been renting for 3 years. It was meant to be, really. We'd been toying with the idea of buying a house and casually looking around the area. We knew we wanted to stay in West Seattle and stay in the ward we love. Then in May, our landlady called to tell us she was getting married, moving out of state, and putting the house up for sale in June. Now we really started looking hard, got ourselves an agent and saw a lot of houses. I thought I'd fall in love with one for sure. But instead, we just kept comparing them to where we were and realizing we wanted our house! And we got it!

I am so happy to think that we don't have to move for quite a long time, and that we can really start to make this home the way we like it now. We already love it, despite its quirks, its age and its junkiness, now we can slowly make it ours. Where to start? The bathroom is getting ripped out ASAP! Actually, the tub, toilet and sink are staying, but it's gonna be fun to change the shower, the floor and the paint. I can't wait to show you the before and after pics.

Here is my little Batman showing off our silly sold sign. Since the house was never listed with a sign out front, this was our agent's idea when I told her I was sad I wouldn't have a picture of a sign for my blog! (It's stapled to the tree out front.)

Playing Catch Up

We've been busy! Here's a few of the adventures we've been on lately:

The Pirates landing on Alki Beach for Sea Fair in Seattle. We've been meaning to do this for a long time now. A bunch of guys dressed as pirates jump off this boat and run around on the beach. Actually, we didn't get to find out what they do once they get to the beach. Their boat was way late and then couldn't get close enough to the shore and we were taking off as they were wading to shore. But hey, now we've done it!And check out how cool some of the other boats out there in the Sound were!A day out with Thomas the Train! Check him out! Of course, they were charging for pictures with Thomas, so we took one outside the fence as we were leaving. Lame.We went with my friend Anna and her two cute boys. It was a fun little train ride and the boys loved it.

Then Darren and Joseph took off on a Father and Son campout and had a blast with all these cute boys from our ward. And I had a fun little chick flick night with Justin and a few girlfriends.
Fun stuff! Summer is officially half way over and we're making the most of it!

Independence Day

We had a very fun and relaxing holiday with a ward breakfast, a family BBQ and our own little firework show in our backyard. If you know my Joseph, you know he is very sensitive to loud sounds and he spent the last Fourth of July with his hands over his ears. This year he was so excited about doing fireworks and he told me over and over again that he wasn't afraid of fireworks anymore. We picked out the obligatory pop-its and sparklers and also a couple of non-screaming fountains and one where a parachuting army guy is launched into the sky. The pop-its were a HUGE hit with both the boys, and then we started on the fountains. Justin was in a trance as he watched the fountains. They both just loved it and I was so happy to see that it seemed Joseph was going to be OK. Then the army guy firework made a huge booming sound that made everybody jump and Joseph lost it:He was consoled after a good hard cry but was now determined NOT to do any sparklers. So being the mean mom I am, I coerced him into standing next to me while I held the sparklers. But you can see how much fun he's having.So what is Justin doing during this time? Totally showing up Joseph with the sparklers and having the time of his life! Darren couldn't get them lit fast enough for him.My little pyromaniac! As soon as it burned out, he'd say, "One more, ok, Daddy?"And then, SUCCESS! Joseph decided he would hold a sparkler after all and loved it, for about 20 seconds. He handed it off to me pretty quick. But check out the happy face! And how far he's holding it from his body.I am so very grateful for this beautiful country where I can do fireworks in my backyard if I want. I am proud to be an American!