It looks like this will be the last fire update.
A quick scan of the rimoftheworld.net site confirms what Lee and Kim told us yesterday, that being that residents can now return to the mountain. The mandatory evacuation is now a voluntary one. There are still a few places where residents cannot return, but I'd say 95% of those displaced by the fire can return. That's actually very good because I was under the impression that because of downed power lines and other potential dangers, it was possible that the mandatory evacuation might last significantly longer.
It looks like the fires are basically out. The Grass Valley fire appears to no longer be a threat. The Slide fire is mostly out, with just a few "hot spots".
Monday, October 29, 2007
Job Update (and other stuff) ...
Hey all,
So I'm back from my whirlwind tour of Lake Geneva/Waukesha (the location of the company with which I interviewed). It was a pretty good trip, complete with airplane troubles.
The job interview went well. I received a job offer Sunday night. The company is very good. I was impressed by everything I saw. The only drawback is there would be some (they say 50% in order to prepare you for "worst case") travel required. I'm talking with them today to try to understand more specifically what that level of travel would actually be. They want a reply by Friday, but I'm assuming we'll decide before that.
The rest of the time there (there wasn't much of it), I hung out with the Casparis a bit (including several sessions of "chase me" with Ben and Sarah which left me sweating), had a few meals with Mom and Dad, and drove around Saturday afternoon to see the pretty leaves.
The excitement for the weekend came on Sunday when I was trying to fly out. The first plane was grounded for mechanical problems. They took us off that plane and on a backup plane which was also grounded for mechanical problems. Then they put us on standby for a different O'Hare to OC flight, but I didn't get on that. Then they brought us back to the second plane and loaded us up. Then we had to wait another 15 minutes for more maintenance. Then we finally left and had an uneventful flight. After all that, I was only about 2 1/2 or so hours late, but it was an adventure!
Cyndie had a bit of a rough day Saturday. The kids were not being very helpful, and pretty whiny. The good news is that Timmy made it 3 days without and accident, so he got to go pick out a new toy from the store. He and Papa Lee found a cool thing that has a roll of different "Cars" pictures to color. You roll out the picture, and it kind of holds in place, and then you can tear it off when you are done. He's having a lot of fun with that.
There's not a lot else to report.
Neal
So I'm back from my whirlwind tour of Lake Geneva/Waukesha (the location of the company with which I interviewed). It was a pretty good trip, complete with airplane troubles.
The job interview went well. I received a job offer Sunday night. The company is very good. I was impressed by everything I saw. The only drawback is there would be some (they say 50% in order to prepare you for "worst case") travel required. I'm talking with them today to try to understand more specifically what that level of travel would actually be. They want a reply by Friday, but I'm assuming we'll decide before that.
The rest of the time there (there wasn't much of it), I hung out with the Casparis a bit (including several sessions of "chase me" with Ben and Sarah which left me sweating), had a few meals with Mom and Dad, and drove around Saturday afternoon to see the pretty leaves.
The excitement for the weekend came on Sunday when I was trying to fly out. The first plane was grounded for mechanical problems. They took us off that plane and on a backup plane which was also grounded for mechanical problems. Then they put us on standby for a different O'Hare to OC flight, but I didn't get on that. Then they brought us back to the second plane and loaded us up. Then we had to wait another 15 minutes for more maintenance. Then we finally left and had an uneventful flight. After all that, I was only about 2 1/2 or so hours late, but it was an adventure!
Cyndie had a bit of a rough day Saturday. The kids were not being very helpful, and pretty whiny. The good news is that Timmy made it 3 days without and accident, so he got to go pick out a new toy from the store. He and Papa Lee found a cool thing that has a roll of different "Cars" pictures to color. You roll out the picture, and it kind of holds in place, and then you can tear it off when you are done. He's having a lot of fun with that.
There's not a lot else to report.
Neal
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Fire Update 12:30p (10/25)
From rimoftheworld.net ...
According to scanner reports at 10:50 am, the Slide Fire is making an active run in the Crab Flats area. Structures are threatened at this time.
As of 10:30 am, the Slide Fire remained at 0% containment and had consumed 12,466 acres according to reports. The Grass Valley Fire is 40% contained and has burned about 1,100 acres. Damage assessment teams are starting work in the area to provide details on structures destroyed, with dangerous access due to continued fire activity, according to the US Forest Service. No additional structures were damaged yesterday on the Grass Valley Fire; however, additional homes were lost to the Slide Fire.
The US Forest Service projects that both fires will move to the southwest. Over 6,000 homes remain threatened by the Grass Valley fire and 10,000 by the Slide Fire.
Specifics on structures destroyed will be verified as soon as it is safe to enter the burned areas. Fire perimeter containment efforts are slow due to rough terrain, heavy vegetation and high density residential properties intermixed with bug killed timber.
According to scanner reports at 10:50 am, the Slide Fire is making an active run in the Crab Flats area. Structures are threatened at this time.
As of 10:30 am, the Slide Fire remained at 0% containment and had consumed 12,466 acres according to reports. The Grass Valley Fire is 40% contained and has burned about 1,100 acres. Damage assessment teams are starting work in the area to provide details on structures destroyed, with dangerous access due to continued fire activity, according to the US Forest Service. No additional structures were damaged yesterday on the Grass Valley Fire; however, additional homes were lost to the Slide Fire.
The US Forest Service projects that both fires will move to the southwest. Over 6,000 homes remain threatened by the Grass Valley fire and 10,000 by the Slide Fire.
Specifics on structures destroyed will be verified as soon as it is safe to enter the burned areas. Fire perimeter containment efforts are slow due to rough terrain, heavy vegetation and high density residential properties intermixed with bug killed timber.
Fire Update 8:20a (10/25)
From rimoftheworld.net ...
With most of the active fire in rugged wilderness areas south and east of Running Springs, very little new information was available overnight. Crews worked overnight to continue to douse hot spots and shore up fire lines. Winds subsided and slowed the progress of the fire. The Grass Fire in the Lake Arrowhead area showed very little activity, with some limited burning well within the fire's perimeter. The Slide Fire near Running Springs did have some active burning with 3 to 6 foot flame lengths reported overnight.
As of 11:30 PM, the Grass Fire had consumed 1,100 acres. Over 100 homes were lost, primarily in the Grass Valley area. No homes were lost in Twin Peaks, despite earlier reports. The primary concern for the 1,051 fire personnel is the eastern side of the fire as winds are expected to shift today. The fire growth potential remains high, according to the US Forest Service.
Firefighters worked tirelessly to successfully save two camps from the flames near Green Valley Lake. Both the Calvary Chapel Camp and the Cedar Crest Camp were saved. Fire crews along with 12 engines and two bulldozers kept the flames at bay.
With most of the active fire in rugged wilderness areas south and east of Running Springs, very little new information was available overnight. Crews worked overnight to continue to douse hot spots and shore up fire lines. Winds subsided and slowed the progress of the fire. The Grass Fire in the Lake Arrowhead area showed very little activity, with some limited burning well within the fire's perimeter. The Slide Fire near Running Springs did have some active burning with 3 to 6 foot flame lengths reported overnight.
As of 11:30 PM, the Grass Fire had consumed 1,100 acres. Over 100 homes were lost, primarily in the Grass Valley area. No homes were lost in Twin Peaks, despite earlier reports. The primary concern for the 1,051 fire personnel is the eastern side of the fire as winds are expected to shift today. The fire growth potential remains high, according to the US Forest Service.
Firefighters worked tirelessly to successfully save two camps from the flames near Green Valley Lake. Both the Calvary Chapel Camp and the Cedar Crest Camp were saved. Fire crews along with 12 engines and two bulldozers kept the flames at bay.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Fire Update 2:15p (10/24)
From rimoftheworld.net
Despite poor visibility, firefighters are making good progress on the Slide and Grass Fires today. Poor visiblity has prevented the fixed wing aircraft from making drops, but 14 helicopters are working both the Slide and Grass Fires along with over a thousand fire personnel. The fire has continued to burn toward Big Bear with news helicopters placing it 2 miles to the west of the Big Bear Dam. However, its progress has slowed as it has moved into the burn area for the Butler Fires, and firefighters are optimistic about the eastward progress halting.
Chief Michael Sherman, from the Crest Forest Fire District, stated that the department is "cautiously optimistic" about the progress of the firefighting in the district communities. Crest Forest Fire District serves Crestline, Cedarpines Park, Valley of Enchantment, Rim Forest and Twin Peaks. He stated that the district "has not suffered any structural losses at this time."
Despite poor visibility, firefighters are making good progress on the Slide and Grass Fires today. Poor visiblity has prevented the fixed wing aircraft from making drops, but 14 helicopters are working both the Slide and Grass Fires along with over a thousand fire personnel. The fire has continued to burn toward Big Bear with news helicopters placing it 2 miles to the west of the Big Bear Dam. However, its progress has slowed as it has moved into the burn area for the Butler Fires, and firefighters are optimistic about the eastward progress halting.
Chief Michael Sherman, from the Crest Forest Fire District, stated that the department is "cautiously optimistic" about the progress of the firefighting in the district communities. Crest Forest Fire District serves Crestline, Cedarpines Park, Valley of Enchantment, Rim Forest and Twin Peaks. He stated that the district "has not suffered any structural losses at this time."
Fire Update 10:45 a (10/24)
More good news on the fire front (from rimoftheworld.net) ...
According to John Miller of the US Forest Service, the westward advance of the Slide Fire stalled overnight. Flames got as far west as Heaps Peak between the waste transfer station and the radio towers. The front to the south of Green Valley Lake has moved toward Highway 18 and Snow Valley. It was less than 1/4 mile from the highway.
In the Running Springs area, catastrophic fire activity burned through Fredalba and Smiley Park with widespread losses. The fire burned along the southern edge of Running Springs, eastward, to the Rimwood Ranch area. In Green Valley Lake, only 80 of the nearly 1,200 homes were destroyed, according to news reports.
Damage assessment teams have begun the difficult task of surveying property and infrastructure damage. They began in the Green Valley Lake area and will work their way westward into Arrowbear Lake and the Running Springs area. Maps will be available as soon as the survey is complete. A briefing is being planned at the evacuation center at the Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino this afternoon. We will update the site when a time has been determined.
According to John Miller of the US Forest Service, the westward advance of the Slide Fire stalled overnight. Flames got as far west as Heaps Peak between the waste transfer station and the radio towers. The front to the south of Green Valley Lake has moved toward Highway 18 and Snow Valley. It was less than 1/4 mile from the highway.
In the Running Springs area, catastrophic fire activity burned through Fredalba and Smiley Park with widespread losses. The fire burned along the southern edge of Running Springs, eastward, to the Rimwood Ranch area. In Green Valley Lake, only 80 of the nearly 1,200 homes were destroyed, according to news reports.
Damage assessment teams have begun the difficult task of surveying property and infrastructure damage. They began in the Green Valley Lake area and will work their way westward into Arrowbear Lake and the Running Springs area. Maps will be available as soon as the survey is complete. A briefing is being planned at the evacuation center at the Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino this afternoon. We will update the site when a time has been determined.
Fire Update 9:15a (10/24)
Hey all, this from rimoftheworld.net:
A wind change overnight has slowed the advance of the fire and spread smoke in the Big Bear area for the first time. Fourteen helicopters are staging at Big Bear Airport and have begun heading to assignments within the fires. Additionally, air tankers, including Tanker 910, are expected to provide a continual aerial bombardment of fire retardant at five minute intervals. Sheriff's Officers, when they are not checking on looters, arsonists, and gawkers, are canvassing the area reporting any spot fires that are nearing homes. Today is the day the fires will feel our retaliation.
So it looks like things are going as well as can be expected. I had heard that since the Santa Anas were dying down, and were being replaced by onshore winds that this would affect the fires. It looks like its affected the mountain fires in a positive way, slowing advancement and effectively turning the fires on themselves a bit.
More later as it becomes available.
A wind change overnight has slowed the advance of the fire and spread smoke in the Big Bear area for the first time. Fourteen helicopters are staging at Big Bear Airport and have begun heading to assignments within the fires. Additionally, air tankers, including Tanker 910, are expected to provide a continual aerial bombardment of fire retardant at five minute intervals. Sheriff's Officers, when they are not checking on looters, arsonists, and gawkers, are canvassing the area reporting any spot fires that are nearing homes. Today is the day the fires will feel our retaliation.
So it looks like things are going as well as can be expected. I had heard that since the Santa Anas were dying down, and were being replaced by onshore winds that this would affect the fires. It looks like its affected the mountain fires in a positive way, slowing advancement and effectively turning the fires on themselves a bit.
More later as it becomes available.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Fire Update 2:40p (10/23)
From rimoftheworld.net ...
Firefighters have begun evacuating 27 patients from Mountains Community Hospital in Lake Arrowhead. The fire is reportedly an imminent threat to Pali Mountain Camp. Fire officals are now concerned that the Slide Fire will make a run toward Lake Arrowhead and Cedar Glen this afternoon, according to reports.
I heard on KFI (radio) from their helicopter in Lake Arrowhead that the Slide fire (the Running Springs one) is the real danger right now. The Grass fire (Blue Jay/Twin Peaks) was successfully slowed down because of all the attention that it received from planes and helicopters yesterday (they hit the area it was trying to spread to, effectively slowing it down). I don't believe it is contained, just slowed. The KFI guy also said (contrary to my earlier post) that the slide fire is still around 10 miles from Lake Arrowhead. He additionally said that smoke is becoming a real problem for the aircraft fighting the fires so that they might not be able to continue on. Also, the radio hosts said the winds were slowing down a bit, so that might help some.
More later,
Neal
Firefighters have begun evacuating 27 patients from Mountains Community Hospital in Lake Arrowhead. The fire is reportedly an imminent threat to Pali Mountain Camp. Fire officals are now concerned that the Slide Fire will make a run toward Lake Arrowhead and Cedar Glen this afternoon, according to reports.
I heard on KFI (radio) from their helicopter in Lake Arrowhead that the Slide fire (the Running Springs one) is the real danger right now. The Grass fire (Blue Jay/Twin Peaks) was successfully slowed down because of all the attention that it received from planes and helicopters yesterday (they hit the area it was trying to spread to, effectively slowing it down). I don't believe it is contained, just slowed. The KFI guy also said (contrary to my earlier post) that the slide fire is still around 10 miles from Lake Arrowhead. He additionally said that smoke is becoming a real problem for the aircraft fighting the fires so that they might not be able to continue on. Also, the radio hosts said the winds were slowing down a bit, so that might help some.
More later,
Neal
Fire Update (2:07p 10/23)
Just read this (taken from the "scanner") ...
AA said that the fire from Green Valley Lake is running strong making a big push to Arrowhead and he believes it will make it there today. The fires is about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 miles from Lake Arrowhead; it will bump the old burn, but there is still some fuel in there.
I'm not sure who "AA" is, but I think this is the police/fire/emergency scanner ... it looks like more danger for Lake Arrowhead.
AA said that the fire from Green Valley Lake is running strong making a big push to Arrowhead and he believes it will make it there today. The fires is about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 miles from Lake Arrowhead; it will bump the old burn, but there is still some fuel in there.
I'm not sure who "AA" is, but I think this is the police/fire/emergency scanner ... it looks like more danger for Lake Arrowhead.
Quick fire bit ...
Just got this from Dad (who got it from the director of Alpine) ...
This mornings report is good. It looks like Alpine has been spared. We will keep you posted.
This mornings report is good. It looks like Alpine has been spared. We will keep you posted.
Fire update 1:20p - 10/23
Just read this on the rimoftheworld.net website:
There are new reports of a large spot fire in the North Shore area of Lake Arrowhead. The 50 by 50 foot spot was contained by fire crews. An arson investigator is responding to the scene. A witness saw a red truck in the area near the Baptist Church shortly before the fire started.
Here's a map ... it's kind of hard to read, but if you open up google maps in a window next to it you can see that Alpine CCC is right on the edge of this fire area.
Job update 2 ...
So I'll be in Wisconsin Friday after noon to Sunday morning with a job interview Saturday am.
Tentative itinerary:
Arrive Chi 3pm Friday
Interview in Waukesha 10am Saturday
Depart Chi 8 am Sunday (back to OC by 10:24 am).
It'll be a whirlwind trip!
Tentative itinerary:
Arrive Chi 3pm Friday
Interview in Waukesha 10am Saturday
Depart Chi 8 am Sunday (back to OC by 10:24 am).
It'll be a whirlwind trip!
Job hunt update
Hey all,
I had the phone interview yesterday. It went pretty well. I spoke with two of the three guys I'd be working with on a JC Penny contract for RedPrairie (RP is the company I'm interviewing with). RP does supply chain management software for various customers, and JCP is one of their oldest contracts. I'm not sure when this job would start as I've only talked to the technical guys. It could be in the next month, or possible 2 - 4 months from now. I got some e-mail today regarding possibly going out to WI this weekend for another interview. I'm waiting to hear more on that, and also more regarding start dates, etc. I'll update when I hear more.
Neal
I had the phone interview yesterday. It went pretty well. I spoke with two of the three guys I'd be working with on a JC Penny contract for RedPrairie (RP is the company I'm interviewing with). RP does supply chain management software for various customers, and JCP is one of their oldest contracts. I'm not sure when this job would start as I've only talked to the technical guys. It could be in the next month, or possible 2 - 4 months from now. I got some e-mail today regarding possibly going out to WI this weekend for another interview. I'm waiting to hear more on that, and also more regarding start dates, etc. I'll update when I hear more.
Neal
Fire Update (10a - 10/23)
(from rimoftheworld.net)
Update 9:55 AM
Running Springs - According to news reports most of Green Valley Lake is still standing, but many homed have burned. The fire is actively burning in and around the Running Springs area. Fire has been reported along Secret Drive and Encina Way. Homes have reportedly burned on Wagon Wheel Drive and at 31757 Hilltop Boulevard. 4 or 5 homes have burned on Easy Street. Highway 330 has flames burning on both sides of the roadway to the north and east of Live Oak Drive.
Nothing new regarding the Grass Valley fire ...
Update 9:55 AM
Running Springs - According to news reports most of Green Valley Lake is still standing, but many homed have burned. The fire is actively burning in and around the Running Springs area. Fire has been reported along Secret Drive and Encina Way. Homes have reportedly burned on Wagon Wheel Drive and at 31757 Hilltop Boulevard. 4 or 5 homes have burned on Easy Street. Highway 330 has flames burning on both sides of the roadway to the north and east of Live Oak Drive.
Nothing new regarding the Grass Valley fire ...
Fire Update
From rimoftheworld.net ...
Update 8:20 AM
Running Springs - Structure protection for the Running Springs, Twin Peaks, and Lake Arrowhead areas are the priority, according reports from the US Forest Service. The fire complex has reportedly consumed about 4,000 acres and is 5% contained. Nearly 100 homes burned in the Running Springs area, bringing the total homes lost between 200 and 250 between Green Valley Lake and Twin Peaks – a number that is expected to grow as crews regain access to the Green Valley Lake area. There are reports of additional homes being lost in the Deep Creek and Palo Alto areas of Running Springs. Some air resources have been deployed to fight the fire this morning.
Mandatory evacuations are now in effect for eastern Crestline, Twin Peaks, North Lake Arrowhead, Crest Park, Skyforest, Rimforest, Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, and Green Valley Lake. Voluntary evacuations are in effect for Cedar Glen, South Lake Arrowhead, western Crestline, Valley of Enchantment and Cedarpines Park.
During Monday, fire activity was reported in the Lake Arrowhead area near Fairway and Eldorado, Ranger Road, and Brentwood and Pinehurst. At least 113 homes have been lost in the area.
For those who know the Underwoods, the fire has been right next to their house. Lee and Gene (I think both of them) were there yesterday evening and helped keep the fire away from the house. The fire changed directions around that time and, as I understand it, the house was safe (for the time being).
Update 8:20 AM
Running Springs - Structure protection for the Running Springs, Twin Peaks, and Lake Arrowhead areas are the priority, according reports from the US Forest Service. The fire complex has reportedly consumed about 4,000 acres and is 5% contained. Nearly 100 homes burned in the Running Springs area, bringing the total homes lost between 200 and 250 between Green Valley Lake and Twin Peaks – a number that is expected to grow as crews regain access to the Green Valley Lake area. There are reports of additional homes being lost in the Deep Creek and Palo Alto areas of Running Springs. Some air resources have been deployed to fight the fire this morning.
Mandatory evacuations are now in effect for eastern Crestline, Twin Peaks, North Lake Arrowhead, Crest Park, Skyforest, Rimforest, Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, and Green Valley Lake. Voluntary evacuations are in effect for Cedar Glen, South Lake Arrowhead, western Crestline, Valley of Enchantment and Cedarpines Park.
During Monday, fire activity was reported in the Lake Arrowhead area near Fairway and Eldorado, Ranger Road, and Brentwood and Pinehurst. At least 113 homes have been lost in the area.
For those who know the Underwoods, the fire has been right next to their house. Lee and Gene (I think both of them) were there yesterday evening and helped keep the fire away from the house. The fire changed directions around that time and, as I understand it, the house was safe (for the time being).
Monday, October 22, 2007
Some pix ...
Here's the full costumes for Halloween ... Soft Cape, Hawkeye and Lightning Guy.
Flower Power and Soft Cape.
Yesterday (the first heavy day of Santa Ana winds) lots of Bougainvilla leaves fell, so Emma and Timmy made a pile and played in it!
Flower Power and Soft Cape.
Yesterday (the first heavy day of Santa Ana winds) lots of Bougainvilla leaves fell, so Emma and Timmy made a pile and played in it!
Albert wasn't so excited by the wind ...
This is Emma modelling the fake hair that she got at Caitlyn's 4th birthday party.
This is Emma modelling the fake hair that she got at Caitlyn's 4th birthday party.
Lake Arrowhead Fire
Hey all,
Just thought I'd drop you this link that I've found to be pretty current regarding what's going on in Lake Arrowhead:
http://rimoftheworld.net/
You just need to keep hitting "refresh" because they update the page pretty frequently (every half hour or hour).
It looks to me like the fire is down by the golf course in the Grass Valley area (at the end of the golf course closer over by MPH, the middle school). The site says around 120 houses have been lost and 2000 are threatened. That area has a lot of houses pretty close together. It is really close to Alpine (maybe a half mile or mile). If you go to Alpine's web site it says they have evacuated everyone.
Neal
Just thought I'd drop you this link that I've found to be pretty current regarding what's going on in Lake Arrowhead:
http://rimoftheworld.net/
You just need to keep hitting "refresh" because they update the page pretty frequently (every half hour or hour).
It looks to me like the fire is down by the golf course in the Grass Valley area (at the end of the golf course closer over by MPH, the middle school). The site says around 120 houses have been lost and 2000 are threatened. That area has a lot of houses pretty close together. It is really close to Alpine (maybe a half mile or mile). If you go to Alpine's web site it says they have evacuated everyone.
Neal
Friday, October 19, 2007
Pix for the weekend ...
Here are a few pix for the weekend from various things recently.
Not sure where this one came from, but apparently Tim was bathing in the backyard.
Ben and Sami came over for a picnic one day.
These next two are interim pictures ... they don't show the shirts after we put the logos on them. First is Lightning Guy ...
Next up is Soft Cape
Today was the parent picnic at Emma's school so we went over for that ...
Timmy was pretty pooped afterwards.
We're very proud of Emma ... she was the student of the week for her classroom. She received a bunch of books and a free dinner at Mimi's.
Not sure where this one came from, but apparently Tim was bathing in the backyard.
Ben and Sami came over for a picnic one day.
These next two are interim pictures ... they don't show the shirts after we put the logos on them. First is Lightning Guy ...
Next up is Soft Cape
Today was the parent picnic at Emma's school so we went over for that ...
Timmy was pretty pooped afterwards.
We're very proud of Emma ... she was the student of the week for her classroom. She received a bunch of books and a free dinner at Mimi's.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
"Light" followup ...
Just got a phone call from RedPrairie (the phone interview guys) ... the interview will be next Monday at 7:30 am, not tomorrow. I guess the guy that was going to do the interview as a deadline or something ... what's the matter with these people? Am I not the most important thing?!
Anyway, that should be interesting.
Neal
Anyway, that should be interesting.
Neal
A light at the end of the tunnel?
Good morning all.
Just thought I'd share two elements of good news.
First, when we were all eating breakfast this morning, Timmy disappeared upstairs and then came down saying he went to the bathroom all by himself. This is great news considering he's actually been doing fairly well this week going to the bathroom in the big boy potty. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel!! This follows up Timmy starting to take a bit more interest in dressing himself too.
The other note of interest is that I have a phone interview with a software place tomorrow morning. You can be praying for me at 7:30 am Pacific time.
Emma's frient Macy (and her older brother Micah) stayed with us last night. It was a little bit of a late night as Emma was totally psyched to have Macy here and kept both of them up until about 9p. Timmy was also excited ... he wanted to sleep in a sleeping bag too, so he ended up staying up late as well. Should make for a longish day today. Macy and Micah may also be here today after school (they both go to Moiola, Emma's school). They're staying with us because last minute Mavric (their brother who is Emma's age) was able to have the final ear surgery after previously having been told it wouldn't happen until next year at the earliest. So I guess you can pray for Mav's surgery too (I believe a couple of hours starting at 9am).
So that's the fun happenings here. Tonight is family date night and the requests for activities were painting (from Timmy) and Ruby's (from Emma), so we'll probably try to fit in both!
Neal
Just thought I'd share two elements of good news.
First, when we were all eating breakfast this morning, Timmy disappeared upstairs and then came down saying he went to the bathroom all by himself. This is great news considering he's actually been doing fairly well this week going to the bathroom in the big boy potty. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel!! This follows up Timmy starting to take a bit more interest in dressing himself too.
The other note of interest is that I have a phone interview with a software place tomorrow morning. You can be praying for me at 7:30 am Pacific time.
Emma's frient Macy (and her older brother Micah) stayed with us last night. It was a little bit of a late night as Emma was totally psyched to have Macy here and kept both of them up until about 9p. Timmy was also excited ... he wanted to sleep in a sleeping bag too, so he ended up staying up late as well. Should make for a longish day today. Macy and Micah may also be here today after school (they both go to Moiola, Emma's school). They're staying with us because last minute Mavric (their brother who is Emma's age) was able to have the final ear surgery after previously having been told it wouldn't happen until next year at the earliest. So I guess you can pray for Mav's surgery too (I believe a couple of hours starting at 9am).
So that's the fun happenings here. Tonight is family date night and the requests for activities were painting (from Timmy) and Ruby's (from Emma), so we'll probably try to fit in both!
Neal
Monday, October 15, 2007
Weekend Report ...
Hey all,
I don't think there's anything hugely exciting to report from the weekend, but here's a short run down.
Friday I worked from home, so it was fun to be able to walk Emma to school and then go and pick her up. That day, the guy who is taking the virtual tour pictures of the house was supposed to come, but he ended up not making it. I guess that was good as it encouraged us to get the house spic and span (although I have to say we're doing a pretty darn good job of keeping it clean anyway). In the evening was Bible study at our house.
Saturday was pretty rainy, so I thought maybe we should do a craft and suggested we all make super hero costumes. Before breakfast, we made some masks for Emma and Timmy. After breakfast Emma, Timmy, and I went to get some raw materials ... plain t-shirts at the t-shirt warehouse, fabric and velcro at Jo-Anne Fabric, and then a quick stop at Target for Emma to spend some money (she had saved her $1 for ice cream Friday at school and added that to some money she has been saving). She bought herself a doll (with a 50% supplement from the parentals). She was very proud of herself. So we got back from errands and I sewed the velcro to the shoulders of all the t-shirts and then gathered the cape material and sewed the velcro on there, and viola ... superhero capes. After lunch and quiet time, we all came up with names ... Emma was "Soft Cape" (because her pink cape is crushed velvet), Timmy is Lightning Guy (because his cape has got a whole bunch of Lightning McQueens, from the movie Cars, on it), Cyndie is Flower Power (due to her flowery cape) and I'm Hawkeye (my name from when I worked at Indian Village at Alpine). We then came up with logos and decorated our shirts. We haven't gotten them back on post-decoration yet, but I'll try to come up with some photos this week. All in all, it was pretty fun on a rainy day!
Sunday was church, then we went over to Jim and Laurie's for lunch and to hang out while the open house went on at our house. We had a nice time with them. All the kids get along pretty well which is nice (and something that used to be a significant problem). We walked over to the Foster's Freeze for ice cream and came home for dinner, a bath, and bedtime (and no day would be complete without a rousing game of "Emma and Timmy's Game").
Not anything horribly new on the kid front. Timmy is continuing to struggle with potty training. That's going to be a challenge! Emma is doing well in school and enjoying drawing a lot. She really enjoys books and being read to. I think that if she can be patient enough, she will really like reading books on her own.
That's it from us,
Neal
I don't think there's anything hugely exciting to report from the weekend, but here's a short run down.
Friday I worked from home, so it was fun to be able to walk Emma to school and then go and pick her up. That day, the guy who is taking the virtual tour pictures of the house was supposed to come, but he ended up not making it. I guess that was good as it encouraged us to get the house spic and span (although I have to say we're doing a pretty darn good job of keeping it clean anyway). In the evening was Bible study at our house.
Saturday was pretty rainy, so I thought maybe we should do a craft and suggested we all make super hero costumes. Before breakfast, we made some masks for Emma and Timmy. After breakfast Emma, Timmy, and I went to get some raw materials ... plain t-shirts at the t-shirt warehouse, fabric and velcro at Jo-Anne Fabric, and then a quick stop at Target for Emma to spend some money (she had saved her $1 for ice cream Friday at school and added that to some money she has been saving). She bought herself a doll (with a 50% supplement from the parentals). She was very proud of herself. So we got back from errands and I sewed the velcro to the shoulders of all the t-shirts and then gathered the cape material and sewed the velcro on there, and viola ... superhero capes. After lunch and quiet time, we all came up with names ... Emma was "Soft Cape" (because her pink cape is crushed velvet), Timmy is Lightning Guy (because his cape has got a whole bunch of Lightning McQueens, from the movie Cars, on it), Cyndie is Flower Power (due to her flowery cape) and I'm Hawkeye (my name from when I worked at Indian Village at Alpine). We then came up with logos and decorated our shirts. We haven't gotten them back on post-decoration yet, but I'll try to come up with some photos this week. All in all, it was pretty fun on a rainy day!
Sunday was church, then we went over to Jim and Laurie's for lunch and to hang out while the open house went on at our house. We had a nice time with them. All the kids get along pretty well which is nice (and something that used to be a significant problem). We walked over to the Foster's Freeze for ice cream and came home for dinner, a bath, and bedtime (and no day would be complete without a rousing game of "Emma and Timmy's Game").
Not anything horribly new on the kid front. Timmy is continuing to struggle with potty training. That's going to be a challenge! Emma is doing well in school and enjoying drawing a lot. She really enjoys books and being read to. I think that if she can be patient enough, she will really like reading books on her own.
That's it from us,
Neal
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Wedding Report plus "Emma and Timmy's Game"
Hey all, here's the pix from the wedding. We had a very good time, saw some people we hadn't seen for a while, etc., etc. The pictures really tell a better story, so here it is ...
The wedding was in Simi Valley, outdoors with a reception afterwards inside. Ron Merrell married them ...
The "Lopez" table ... Robin, Stephanie (Dave's daughter), Judy, Effrain, Dave, Mark, Carlie, Dan (not sure where Audry was) ...
The wedding was in Simi Valley, outdoors with a reception afterwards inside. Ron Merrell married them ...
The "Lopez" table ... Robin, Stephanie (Dave's daughter), Judy, Effrain, Dave, Mark, Carlie, Dan (not sure where Audry was) ...
Tim and Judy ... Tim didn't look like he'd aged a bit since I last saw him. He told me he just gave up Roller Hockey (it had been his goal to play until he was 60). They both seemed very happy and doing well. I also talked with Alyssa a little bit. She seemed to be doing well to. Bruce (her husband) is now the senior pastor at Simi Cov. They said hello to everyone.
Harriots ... they said a special "hello" to you Laura.
Judy and Cynthia Merrell. Cynthia is now living in Carlsbad, so we're going to try to get her to come up for dinner some evening. I should also note that these two were dancing queens, on the dance floor all night! Cynthia called Cyndie and I old fogies because we didn't dance more!
Cutting the cake ...
Us with Ron and Anna ... we had time for some good conversation. We're hoping to spend some time with them when we drive out to WI.
That's Ron and Anna's youngest (born Sept 14th) ... Brodie. They also have a 2 year old Braddock.
We stayed up in Simi Saturday night, so it was nice to be able to sleep in and relax a bit. Emma and Timmy stayed with a young couple from church that just got married this summer. They had a great time.
I made a game recently (Emma & Timmy's Game) with some help from Emma. The kids really like to play it. You roll a die and go around the board. You can land on yellow spaces to draw a card, and some spaces tell you to do things. There are things like "everyone go sit in the suburban" and "eat a piece of candy" and "drink some water". Timmy's favorite is probably "dance a jig" and Emma, being the health conscious girl she is, probably likes the water one best! Anyway, it's been a fun thing to do together as a family.
I even made a box for it! We're going to get the board laminated so we don't destroy it.
So that's about it for now. Nothing really new on the house front to report.
Neal
Monday, October 1, 2007
Updates from the West Coast
It's Monday again, so I'll drop the line on what's going on with the SoCal/Wildwood DeVries.
As you are all aware, the buyers with whom we were under contract on our house pulled out of the deal on Thursday. We (and our realtor, Gwen, as well) were very surprised it happened. The reason they gave was that they didn't think the house was big enough in the end. This was just a day after they had gone and had the house inspected (there were no real issues from the inspection). We met them at the inspection and they seemed very nice and excited about the house. I'm not sure they fully understand the market around here, because I don't think there's anything much bigger around here in the same price range, but whatever. Anyway, we were in morning for a day, but have come to grips with it and are moving on! At least God is in control, even if he doesn't check with us first!
Friday we had a realtor open house in the morning. Emma had school, and I took some time off and took Timmy to Mile Square Park while Cyndie ran some errands. Saturday we went to church to help with some landscaping work. Then afterwards we went to a pool party for a kid we know from the park. Sunday was church, then another open house. We received a call from our realtor at 11:30 (for a noon open house), "I just smashed my finger with a hammer while I was putting out signs for the open house. I'm going to go get stitches, but I'll be back for the open house as soon as I can". Anyway, she ended up having a pretty successful open house with what she thought were a few good leads. We spent the afternoon over at the Zones and had a good time hanging out with them. We all walked over to Emma and Maddi's school to play late in the afternoon, and then to Stonefire Grill for dinner after that. We got home just at bedtime. The whole family was in bed pretty early.
Lately both of the kids have been getting up during the night and Timmy has been getting up early in the morning. Last night Timmy didn't go to bed until around 10 (he was up and down a bunch). Anyway, I think it's probably a combination of the tension of the coming (and going and coming) move, some allergies/cold type symptoms, and (in Timmy's case) the compounding of the first two elements such that he's again sleeping in the afternoon (making him not sleepy at night). Anyway, they both seem to be doing a bit better now, and Cyndie is going to try to make sure Tim doesn't nap today, so hopefully tonight will go a bit better.
Emma seems to be doing better as school (after a rough week or two where she didn't want to go), so that's a good thing.
That's about it on this end.
Neal
As you are all aware, the buyers with whom we were under contract on our house pulled out of the deal on Thursday. We (and our realtor, Gwen, as well) were very surprised it happened. The reason they gave was that they didn't think the house was big enough in the end. This was just a day after they had gone and had the house inspected (there were no real issues from the inspection). We met them at the inspection and they seemed very nice and excited about the house. I'm not sure they fully understand the market around here, because I don't think there's anything much bigger around here in the same price range, but whatever. Anyway, we were in morning for a day, but have come to grips with it and are moving on! At least God is in control, even if he doesn't check with us first!
Friday we had a realtor open house in the morning. Emma had school, and I took some time off and took Timmy to Mile Square Park while Cyndie ran some errands. Saturday we went to church to help with some landscaping work. Then afterwards we went to a pool party for a kid we know from the park. Sunday was church, then another open house. We received a call from our realtor at 11:30 (for a noon open house), "I just smashed my finger with a hammer while I was putting out signs for the open house. I'm going to go get stitches, but I'll be back for the open house as soon as I can". Anyway, she ended up having a pretty successful open house with what she thought were a few good leads. We spent the afternoon over at the Zones and had a good time hanging out with them. We all walked over to Emma and Maddi's school to play late in the afternoon, and then to Stonefire Grill for dinner after that. We got home just at bedtime. The whole family was in bed pretty early.
Lately both of the kids have been getting up during the night and Timmy has been getting up early in the morning. Last night Timmy didn't go to bed until around 10 (he was up and down a bunch). Anyway, I think it's probably a combination of the tension of the coming (and going and coming) move, some allergies/cold type symptoms, and (in Timmy's case) the compounding of the first two elements such that he's again sleeping in the afternoon (making him not sleepy at night). Anyway, they both seem to be doing a bit better now, and Cyndie is going to try to make sure Tim doesn't nap today, so hopefully tonight will go a bit better.
Emma seems to be doing better as school (after a rough week or two where she didn't want to go), so that's a good thing.
That's about it on this end.
Neal
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Latest on the Move
Not a huge amount to report, but here's the latest ...
Yesterday morning was the inspection for Deodar. It went pretty well. There were no significant issues that came up. At this point, we're just waiting to hear from the buyers regarding their "demands" for what they want us to fix, then we'll negotiate on that. We were expecting to stay at the house the whole time, so we had to scramble a little when our realtor suggested that we make ourselves scarce so that the buyers could be there without anyone looking over their shoulders. We did meet the couple. They're younger, probably a few years older than us, with a 15 month old and another due in February. They seemed very nice. The wife was very friendly and outgoing and the husband a bit more reserved. Anyway, after meeting them and their agent, I definitely got the feeling that the agent is the one who has been agitating things a bit (and creating all these annoying counter offers with minute details being nit-picked!). Anyway, as I said, the inspection went well. We should hear back from them today or tomorrow regarding what they'd like us to fix.
The inspection on Wildwood is Friday. Dad will go to that, along with our realtor out there. We've also got our lender in place for that loan, so we're moving right along.
We created a big 4 foot by 2.5 foot calendar of the next several months so that we could get all the things that will be happening in place and start trying to figure out things like when we'll actually be leaving here, when Emma's last day of school will be and her first day on the other end, etc., etc. As of now, the important dates are the removal of all the contingencies on Deodar (next Thursday), the closing of Deodar (Oct 24), and the closing of Wildwood (Nov 9). We'll have three days to move out of Deodar after the closing (out by 8p Oct 27), so will probably leave the next morning, travel across the country seeing people, and arrive in the Lake Geneva area a few days before the closing. We're working on details with moving the stuff (probably UPack).
Anyway, there are lots of happenings going on!
Neal
Yesterday morning was the inspection for Deodar. It went pretty well. There were no significant issues that came up. At this point, we're just waiting to hear from the buyers regarding their "demands" for what they want us to fix, then we'll negotiate on that. We were expecting to stay at the house the whole time, so we had to scramble a little when our realtor suggested that we make ourselves scarce so that the buyers could be there without anyone looking over their shoulders. We did meet the couple. They're younger, probably a few years older than us, with a 15 month old and another due in February. They seemed very nice. The wife was very friendly and outgoing and the husband a bit more reserved. Anyway, after meeting them and their agent, I definitely got the feeling that the agent is the one who has been agitating things a bit (and creating all these annoying counter offers with minute details being nit-picked!). Anyway, as I said, the inspection went well. We should hear back from them today or tomorrow regarding what they'd like us to fix.
The inspection on Wildwood is Friday. Dad will go to that, along with our realtor out there. We've also got our lender in place for that loan, so we're moving right along.
We created a big 4 foot by 2.5 foot calendar of the next several months so that we could get all the things that will be happening in place and start trying to figure out things like when we'll actually be leaving here, when Emma's last day of school will be and her first day on the other end, etc., etc. As of now, the important dates are the removal of all the contingencies on Deodar (next Thursday), the closing of Deodar (Oct 24), and the closing of Wildwood (Nov 9). We'll have three days to move out of Deodar after the closing (out by 8p Oct 27), so will probably leave the next morning, travel across the country seeing people, and arrive in the Lake Geneva area a few days before the closing. We're working on details with moving the stuff (probably UPack).
Anyway, there are lots of happenings going on!
Neal
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
What a ride!
Well, I will say one thing ... when you are following God's path for your life, you are in for quite a ride!
I won't go into all the details of the last six months, or even the last month, but needless to say, God has been active in our lives. As you all know, we have sensed God's leading us to Lake Geneva for several months now. At each step of the way, as we have acted and taken a step of faith, He has been faithful to open doors and provide for us. It's really very exciting to see Him working so obviously in our lives at a number of different levels. Things which used to be mundane and which were not a priority, such as reading the Bible, have become exciting things! Very cool!
So enough rambling, on to the details of the last several days with the house(s). Let's just start by saying that a week ago Wednesday was not a good day. Cyndie and I were both feeling a bit down in the dumps for a number of reasons and really felt under attack from Satan. Two specific issues we were dealing with that day were a plumbing problem which meant that we didn't have any water in the house and our WI realtor calling to tell us that the house we liked in Lake Geneva had had an offer from a different buyer put in. Over the previous month or so, we had been struggling with the concept of God's will, and wanting to be sure that we were not just taking steps that we thought were right, but that those steps were part of God's plan. I think during that time, we had also gotten away from taking steps of faith in God, and making Him our number one priority. Anyway, that morning, I read Philippians 4 (verses 1, 4, 6, 7 here, the bold is mine):
1 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord.
...
4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
...
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
I showed the verse to Cyndie when I got home that day (early so that we could have time to talk about the WI house issue) and we were both very struck by how appropriately it fit our lives. "Stay true to the Lord", as I said before, we hadn't been making God the number one priority in our lives, and so this was a very direct exhortation to us to get our behinds in gear! "Be full of joy in the Lord"; we didn't need to be in the dumps. God is the reason for our joy, not our current circumstances. Again, a direct exhortation to us. "Don't worry ... pray ... tell God what you need ... thank him for all he has done". Wow, great guidance. We had been praying a lot, but again, we needed the kick in the rear. He has done so much for us over our lives, and specifically in the near past, we needed to acknowledge that. "Then you will experience God's peace ... (and it) will guard your hearts and minds". Totally what we needed when we were feeling so attacked. The comforting reminder that God will protect us from those attacks!
So anyway, we ended up praying, and then making an offer on the Wildwood house. Due to the competing offer, we decided to make a non-contingent offer. The next day (Thursday ... we had given them until Sunday to respond) the offer was accepted! Suddenly we had a house under contract, and one we still owned! We were not horribly concerned about this since we still have a bit of cash on hand from selling the Iowa house, but it did get us moving on getting our house out here on the market.
So Friday, we met with the realtor, Gwen, to list the house. We were pretty disappointed in the comps she showed us. We were hoping to list for $850k, but everything comparable that had sold in the last 6 months in south Fountain Valley was in the $700s. We had a few upgrades, but she told us that, due to the buyer's market, those upgrades really weren't counting for much these days. So we ended up listing for a range price (to get visits from folks shopping at both above and below the $800k line) of $799k - $829k. We were a little disappointed in the price, but were really leaving it up to God. Basically we told him, "If you want us there, you'll get us a good price, and provide for us what we need." We were really praying that he would bring the right family to buy the place that would just have to have it and would make a good offer, one that would show us and anyone we told that God's hand is on this move, and that He is much bigger that real estate markets and the economy.
That night we received a phone call to set up our first visit the next day. The next day we dutifully turned on all the lights, turned on the jacuzzi, left the fans running on low and did all the "show your house things" you are supposed to do and left the house at 11 the next day so the potential buyers could come for a visit. We heard later that day from Gwen that the folks were interested and were going to make an offer, but she had the impression something would be "wrong" with the offer so we didn't get our hopes up too much.
Sunday we did church and had one other visit in the afternoon. We hadn't heard anything from Gwen, so we just figured the offer didn't come through. We were a little disappointed that we'd only had two showings thus far (on a weekend nonetheless). Gwen had anticipated more like 3 or 4 showings a day for the first week or so.
Anyway, when we were at the park finishing up our late picnic before we were going to go to KidWorld, Gwen called and told us she had an offer in hand. So we met quickly before KidWorld to look at the offer. It was very good! No contingencies, above asking price ($845k), etc. We were excited! We ended up countering Sunday night to clear up some details about who was paying for what, they countered yesterday afternoon, we countered yesterday evening, and by 11pm last night, we had a verbal agreement! This morning the office signatures were in place. Tomorrow is the inspection. Things are moving very quickly. The next big milestone is 10 days from contract, all contingencies must be removed (they need their loan in place, the inspection has to be done, etc.). Once that passes, we get to keep their $20k earnest money if they back out without a really good reason.
So, now we've gone from hoping we wouldn't have to carry the Wildwood house too long while not living there, to actually requesting to close earlier! God is good! He has totally provided. There is a couple our age buying the house (Vasillios and Jennifer Mavros). They have a 15 month old and another on the way. They are moving down from San Jose to be nearer to her family in Huntington Beach. So we've really been praying that the house will be a huge blessing for them, like it has been for us.
The other really cool thing that God has done is at church. As we've let people know we're moving, we've experienced kind of what we expected ... "We're happy for you and excited for you, but bummed you are leaving, you will be missed." We figured that would be the general response. So we have been praying that God would bring two new families in to the church to replace us and to serve as an encouragement to the church body. Well, over the last month, two new young families have been attending, and appear to be becoming "regulars". So we thank God for Steve and Cindy (amazing!), and Al and Alicia.
So that's the story, and its much longer than I anticipated it would be. There is still a long road to walk in the next month or so, and our realtor has warned us several times that in today's market, housed fall out of escrow all the time. However, we're confident in God. His hand is on this. And either way, we know we're following Him which is all that really matters in the end.
More later as things develop!
Neal
I won't go into all the details of the last six months, or even the last month, but needless to say, God has been active in our lives. As you all know, we have sensed God's leading us to Lake Geneva for several months now. At each step of the way, as we have acted and taken a step of faith, He has been faithful to open doors and provide for us. It's really very exciting to see Him working so obviously in our lives at a number of different levels. Things which used to be mundane and which were not a priority, such as reading the Bible, have become exciting things! Very cool!
So enough rambling, on to the details of the last several days with the house(s). Let's just start by saying that a week ago Wednesday was not a good day. Cyndie and I were both feeling a bit down in the dumps for a number of reasons and really felt under attack from Satan. Two specific issues we were dealing with that day were a plumbing problem which meant that we didn't have any water in the house and our WI realtor calling to tell us that the house we liked in Lake Geneva had had an offer from a different buyer put in. Over the previous month or so, we had been struggling with the concept of God's will, and wanting to be sure that we were not just taking steps that we thought were right, but that those steps were part of God's plan. I think during that time, we had also gotten away from taking steps of faith in God, and making Him our number one priority. Anyway, that morning, I read Philippians 4 (verses 1, 4, 6, 7 here, the bold is mine):
1 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord.
...
4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
...
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
I showed the verse to Cyndie when I got home that day (early so that we could have time to talk about the WI house issue) and we were both very struck by how appropriately it fit our lives. "Stay true to the Lord", as I said before, we hadn't been making God the number one priority in our lives, and so this was a very direct exhortation to us to get our behinds in gear! "Be full of joy in the Lord"; we didn't need to be in the dumps. God is the reason for our joy, not our current circumstances. Again, a direct exhortation to us. "Don't worry ... pray ... tell God what you need ... thank him for all he has done". Wow, great guidance. We had been praying a lot, but again, we needed the kick in the rear. He has done so much for us over our lives, and specifically in the near past, we needed to acknowledge that. "Then you will experience God's peace ... (and it) will guard your hearts and minds". Totally what we needed when we were feeling so attacked. The comforting reminder that God will protect us from those attacks!
So anyway, we ended up praying, and then making an offer on the Wildwood house. Due to the competing offer, we decided to make a non-contingent offer. The next day (Thursday ... we had given them until Sunday to respond) the offer was accepted! Suddenly we had a house under contract, and one we still owned! We were not horribly concerned about this since we still have a bit of cash on hand from selling the Iowa house, but it did get us moving on getting our house out here on the market.
So Friday, we met with the realtor, Gwen, to list the house. We were pretty disappointed in the comps she showed us. We were hoping to list for $850k, but everything comparable that had sold in the last 6 months in south Fountain Valley was in the $700s. We had a few upgrades, but she told us that, due to the buyer's market, those upgrades really weren't counting for much these days. So we ended up listing for a range price (to get visits from folks shopping at both above and below the $800k line) of $799k - $829k. We were a little disappointed in the price, but were really leaving it up to God. Basically we told him, "If you want us there, you'll get us a good price, and provide for us what we need." We were really praying that he would bring the right family to buy the place that would just have to have it and would make a good offer, one that would show us and anyone we told that God's hand is on this move, and that He is much bigger that real estate markets and the economy.
That night we received a phone call to set up our first visit the next day. The next day we dutifully turned on all the lights, turned on the jacuzzi, left the fans running on low and did all the "show your house things" you are supposed to do and left the house at 11 the next day so the potential buyers could come for a visit. We heard later that day from Gwen that the folks were interested and were going to make an offer, but she had the impression something would be "wrong" with the offer so we didn't get our hopes up too much.
Sunday we did church and had one other visit in the afternoon. We hadn't heard anything from Gwen, so we just figured the offer didn't come through. We were a little disappointed that we'd only had two showings thus far (on a weekend nonetheless). Gwen had anticipated more like 3 or 4 showings a day for the first week or so.
Anyway, when we were at the park finishing up our late picnic before we were going to go to KidWorld, Gwen called and told us she had an offer in hand. So we met quickly before KidWorld to look at the offer. It was very good! No contingencies, above asking price ($845k), etc. We were excited! We ended up countering Sunday night to clear up some details about who was paying for what, they countered yesterday afternoon, we countered yesterday evening, and by 11pm last night, we had a verbal agreement! This morning the office signatures were in place. Tomorrow is the inspection. Things are moving very quickly. The next big milestone is 10 days from contract, all contingencies must be removed (they need their loan in place, the inspection has to be done, etc.). Once that passes, we get to keep their $20k earnest money if they back out without a really good reason.
So, now we've gone from hoping we wouldn't have to carry the Wildwood house too long while not living there, to actually requesting to close earlier! God is good! He has totally provided. There is a couple our age buying the house (Vasillios and Jennifer Mavros). They have a 15 month old and another on the way. They are moving down from San Jose to be nearer to her family in Huntington Beach. So we've really been praying that the house will be a huge blessing for them, like it has been for us.
The other really cool thing that God has done is at church. As we've let people know we're moving, we've experienced kind of what we expected ... "We're happy for you and excited for you, but bummed you are leaving, you will be missed." We figured that would be the general response. So we have been praying that God would bring two new families in to the church to replace us and to serve as an encouragement to the church body. Well, over the last month, two new young families have been attending, and appear to be becoming "regulars". So we thank God for Steve and Cindy (amazing!), and Al and Alicia.
So that's the story, and its much longer than I anticipated it would be. There is still a long road to walk in the next month or so, and our realtor has warned us several times that in today's market, housed fall out of escrow all the time. However, we're confident in God. His hand is on this. And either way, we know we're following Him which is all that really matters in the end.
More later as things develop!
Neal
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Quick Recap
Hey all,
Here's a quick recap of the last several days ...
Over the weekend, we didn't do a whole lot out of the ordinary. Worked some in the bathrooms (more on that in a second) and hung out as a family. Sunday was the first KidWorld of the new school year (KidWorld is "Where kids bring their parents to learn"). It's the "mid week" (on a Sunday late afternoon) thing for kids. Anyway, Emma really likes it and Timmy is starting to more now that he understands a little better what is going on. Emma brought her friend Arianna who lived across the street (who is also in her kindergarten class). Cyndie took the kids while I stayed home and worked on the bathrooms (so that I could have all the cutting done before the kids went to bed). The end results of the weekend's (including last night) construction is that all the bathrooms (2 upstairs, master downstairs) are all done and usable, with the exception of the smaller upstairs bathroom still needing the toilet to be put back in. We're saving that one for Dad ... it's a long story, but that toilet is his pet project. We ended up basically totally redoing all the bathrooms ... down stairs we took everything out (sinks, tile, toilet) added a second sink, put in new tile, repainted a pale blue (much better than the old dark green), put in a new toilet, painted the old gold hardware (light fixture, shower door frames) silver. Then end result is very nice, much lighter, airier, and bigger feeling. The only thing we didn't get rid of is the shower itself. Upstairs, we painted both of the bathrooms a light yellow, put new vinyl flooring in (which looks great ... like real wood), painted the existing vanities, replaced to old, generic unframed mirrors with more custom looking framed mirrors, and added high baseboards. Overall the effect is very nice.
Today is Timmy's birthday (and Cathy's too ... happy birthday in Paris!). We gave him one present (a Peter Pan action figure set). He had to follow a treasure map to find it (while wearing a Daniel Boone type coonskin hat). Anyway, both the kids enjoyed that. Then for breakfast he requested bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, and cinamon rolls. We'll have the "official" party up the hill this weekend with the extended family.
So that's about it on our end!
Here's a quick recap of the last several days ...
Over the weekend, we didn't do a whole lot out of the ordinary. Worked some in the bathrooms (more on that in a second) and hung out as a family. Sunday was the first KidWorld of the new school year (KidWorld is "Where kids bring their parents to learn"). It's the "mid week" (on a Sunday late afternoon) thing for kids. Anyway, Emma really likes it and Timmy is starting to more now that he understands a little better what is going on. Emma brought her friend Arianna who lived across the street (who is also in her kindergarten class). Cyndie took the kids while I stayed home and worked on the bathrooms (so that I could have all the cutting done before the kids went to bed). The end results of the weekend's (including last night) construction is that all the bathrooms (2 upstairs, master downstairs) are all done and usable, with the exception of the smaller upstairs bathroom still needing the toilet to be put back in. We're saving that one for Dad ... it's a long story, but that toilet is his pet project. We ended up basically totally redoing all the bathrooms ... down stairs we took everything out (sinks, tile, toilet) added a second sink, put in new tile, repainted a pale blue (much better than the old dark green), put in a new toilet, painted the old gold hardware (light fixture, shower door frames) silver. Then end result is very nice, much lighter, airier, and bigger feeling. The only thing we didn't get rid of is the shower itself. Upstairs, we painted both of the bathrooms a light yellow, put new vinyl flooring in (which looks great ... like real wood), painted the existing vanities, replaced to old, generic unframed mirrors with more custom looking framed mirrors, and added high baseboards. Overall the effect is very nice.
Today is Timmy's birthday (and Cathy's too ... happy birthday in Paris!). We gave him one present (a Peter Pan action figure set). He had to follow a treasure map to find it (while wearing a Daniel Boone type coonskin hat). Anyway, both the kids enjoyed that. Then for breakfast he requested bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, and cinamon rolls. We'll have the "official" party up the hill this weekend with the extended family.
So that's about it on our end!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Emma in the paper, part duex
For those who can't really see, Emma is getting her face painted in the picture. And I just checked, and for some reason, you can't click on that picture to see it larger. Oh well!
Emma in the paper ...
Emma was in the little Fountain Valley paper today with a picture that was taken during the Family Fun Fest a week or so ago ... here's the pic (don't forget you can click on it for a bigger version) ...
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Pix as promised ...
Surprising Grandma D at her house ... they didn't know we were coming!
Emma and her cousins Sarah and Kristi at the Crystal Lake beach.
It rained a lot, so the kids had fun playing outside in the rain and of course puddles!
This is the sand pile/pit near Dave and Amy's house ... great in the rain!
The kids read a lot with Grandma D. Their favorite book was "Gold Bug" (where you have to find the little golden bug).
Relaxing at the park
Emma and her cousins Sarah and Kristi at the Crystal Lake beach.
It rained a lot, so the kids had fun playing outside in the rain and of course puddles!
This is the sand pile/pit near Dave and Amy's house ... great in the rain!
The kids read a lot with Grandma D. Their favorite book was "Gold Bug" (where you have to find the little golden bug).
Between rain storms we went to a orchard/farm to feed the animals and pick apples and raspberries.
There were lots of fun play things for kids ...
It was very hot that day, so the kids made use of some of the garden wagons to get a ride.
The hillside next to Grandma and Grandpa D's house had lots of fun rivers to play in when it was rainy. We spent a lot of time helping the rivers to be deeper!
One day we had a parade, complete with hats and musical instruments.
On the way back on the plane (a direct flight!!!).
We got off the plane, dropped our stuff off at home, and went directly to the Family Fun Fest at church.
When it's been hot, we've spent quite a bit of time at the beach cooling off. The kids love the sand and the water.
Emma all excited by Auntie Laura's surprise in the mail.
Walked down to get Slurpies!
Emma, Andrew, and Timmy after going to see Ratatouille ... Timmy's first movie.
At the beach on Labor day ... with our castle ...
... and bath tub.
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