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
Thursday, September 27, 2007
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.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Been a while
Well, the blogging has been largely deficient for the last month, but there is no time like the present to jump in there and try to get back on track. I won't try to fill in any of the blanks from the last month, so you'll just have to make due with news from the weekend.
As most of you are probably aware, it's been pretty hot here in SoCal. We spent much of the weekend trying to plot ways to stay cool. That included eating out a couple of times (that is getting to be a much more fun family activity as the kids now enjoy it too). We went to the movies on Sunday afternoon with Youndy and Andrew (to see Ratatoiulle). That was Timmy's first movie. He did okay for the first 40 minutes or so, but then got a bit bored. The movie was very good, but I think the kitchen in a restaurant and the politics there is a few steps past Tim's attention level! Emma liked it though. In and around those things there was church (with Timmy and Emma both being "promoted" to the next class up). Emma was very excited since several of her friends (like Macy and Maddi) are already in the "upstairs" class. The several days before church all she could talk about was "going upstairs". Emma and I also took a shopping trip to Target to get her some shoes and a first day of school out fit. She loves shopping, and especially trying on clothes and I enjoy taking her and helping her find cute things to wear. She gets so excited in the changing room, dancing around in front of the mirror and turning around. I have to calm her down so that I can get a look and determine if the stuff actually fits! We ended up getting some cute shoes and a skirt and t-shirt that she put on the moment we got home and didn't take off for the next two days! We ended up taking another trip to Target (in large part to cool off) to get end of summer swim suits on sale (one for now, one for next year). We did that yesterday afternoon and went over to Pat and Sandee's for dinner immediately after ... which meant that Emma had to go swimming in the jacuzzi at 7 am this morning! Yesterday morning (Labor Day) we went to the beach at 9 am. It was already very full and the whole time we were there (2 1/2 hours or so), there were more and more people just piling in. We all had a really good time. It was pretty cool, and we spent the whole time at the water's edge, first making a series of sand castles, and then a bath tub!
The big break through for Timmy is that he seems set to start pooping in the toilet ... yeah Timmy! That would be great if he were to do so!
Friday evening was when the class assignments were posted for kindergarten. Cyndie went over after the kids went to bed and Emma wasn't on the list! It turns out that she doesn't have all the right shots yet. We thought that was very strange (and kind of negligent) that the school didn't let us know that. Oh well, things turned out okay in the end as Cyndie went over right when they opened today and got things straightened out. Emma knows 5 or 6 of the kids in her class (including Arianna across the street and Mavric from church). Cyndie and the kids scootered over there today to look around. It's about a 20 minute ride.
I'm working from home today, and it is noticibly cooler, although still pretty warm. I think the weather said something about thunderstorms to cool things off later this week. We could use both the rain and the cooler weather.
That's about it on our front. We took a bunch of pix off the camera a few days ago, so I'll try to post some soon.
Neal
As most of you are probably aware, it's been pretty hot here in SoCal. We spent much of the weekend trying to plot ways to stay cool. That included eating out a couple of times (that is getting to be a much more fun family activity as the kids now enjoy it too). We went to the movies on Sunday afternoon with Youndy and Andrew (to see Ratatoiulle). That was Timmy's first movie. He did okay for the first 40 minutes or so, but then got a bit bored. The movie was very good, but I think the kitchen in a restaurant and the politics there is a few steps past Tim's attention level! Emma liked it though. In and around those things there was church (with Timmy and Emma both being "promoted" to the next class up). Emma was very excited since several of her friends (like Macy and Maddi) are already in the "upstairs" class. The several days before church all she could talk about was "going upstairs". Emma and I also took a shopping trip to Target to get her some shoes and a first day of school out fit. She loves shopping, and especially trying on clothes and I enjoy taking her and helping her find cute things to wear. She gets so excited in the changing room, dancing around in front of the mirror and turning around. I have to calm her down so that I can get a look and determine if the stuff actually fits! We ended up getting some cute shoes and a skirt and t-shirt that she put on the moment we got home and didn't take off for the next two days! We ended up taking another trip to Target (in large part to cool off) to get end of summer swim suits on sale (one for now, one for next year). We did that yesterday afternoon and went over to Pat and Sandee's for dinner immediately after ... which meant that Emma had to go swimming in the jacuzzi at 7 am this morning! Yesterday morning (Labor Day) we went to the beach at 9 am. It was already very full and the whole time we were there (2 1/2 hours or so), there were more and more people just piling in. We all had a really good time. It was pretty cool, and we spent the whole time at the water's edge, first making a series of sand castles, and then a bath tub!
The big break through for Timmy is that he seems set to start pooping in the toilet ... yeah Timmy! That would be great if he were to do so!
Friday evening was when the class assignments were posted for kindergarten. Cyndie went over after the kids went to bed and Emma wasn't on the list! It turns out that she doesn't have all the right shots yet. We thought that was very strange (and kind of negligent) that the school didn't let us know that. Oh well, things turned out okay in the end as Cyndie went over right when they opened today and got things straightened out. Emma knows 5 or 6 of the kids in her class (including Arianna across the street and Mavric from church). Cyndie and the kids scootered over there today to look around. It's about a 20 minute ride.
I'm working from home today, and it is noticibly cooler, although still pretty warm. I think the weather said something about thunderstorms to cool things off later this week. We could use both the rain and the cooler weather.
That's about it on our front. We took a bunch of pix off the camera a few days ago, so I'll try to post some soon.
Neal
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