Wow! It has been forever since I wrote last. Luckily, I can at least say that I have been busy having fun all summer long. We are home, for now...with only a few camping trips planned over the coming months. But life is calming down and we are happy to be home.
The fun started in July when I took the girls to visit my parents in Estacada. I was able to leave them with Grandma and Papa for a week while I attended the Miss Oregon competition with our local title holder, Miss Malheur County - Brenda. She did very well in the pageant and won not only Most Improved but also Miss Congeniality. It was a lot of fun watching and I'm looking forward to next year's competition and the excitement that comes with that. After the competition was done, my parents brought the girls (including Mercedes, my niece) out to Seaside to see me. We had a wonderful time together and got to do lots of fun things. Elli got to ride bumper cars for the first time and everyone loved feeding the sea lions at the Seaside Aquarium.
We were only back in Estacada for a day when it was time for Mercedes to go home to Tennessee. She had been able to visit my parents for two months and was excited to go home and see her family. I asked to fly her back, since I hadn't seen my sweet new nephew Max yet. It was a long flight, but seeing Aaron's family was so worth it! Thanks Aaron and Becky for the fun times!
A flew back to Portland and spent a few more days there and then headed back home to Vale - with the kids and my mom in tow. The girls were excited to see Ruston, who had to stay home and work to pay for all our fun. We were only home for a few days when we left, with my mom, to go to the Wilkinson Family Reunion in Coalville, UT. I met a lot of family that I had never met before and had a wonderful time. It was a short trip though and we came back after just the weekend.
A few days after that Ruston finally joined us on a vacation to Yellowstone! We'd never been there before and we all loved it. Ruston made it a goal to fill up as many photo memory cards as possible and when we got home he had taken over 1800 photos. We saw buffalo, elk, moose, antelope, even a bear. We gave Elli a camera too and she loved being just like Daddy. She took several hundred photos over the week - many that actually look good too! I'll have to write more about Yellowstone later, but for now I just need to catch up on the summer time-line.
We got back from Yellowstone on Sunday and I left with the girls and Ruston's parents to got to the Munk Reunion in Bear Lake, UT that Thursday morning. Ruston would've liked to have come but it would have been a lot of driving for only a little family time. We stayed in Lava Hot Springs where they have an awesome water park. There wasn't a little baby pool, but the shallow area was still fun for the kids. Actually Elli decided that she was a big girl and since she was tall enough rode down several water slides all by herself. She was scared on the first time down and then she wouldn't stop riding. I lost count after while, but she must have gone down the slides over 30 times. I can't believe how big she is getting and I'm glad that she's so much braver than me. The trip ended with a stop in Salt Lake and a short visit to the Hogle Zoo (where Ruston took me the day he proposed) then a long car ride home.
It's sad that the only time I had a camera this whole summer was in Yellowstone because there were lots of great memories made. We had a wonderful summer and I'll have to make sure that I write down a few more details later, so that I don't forget.
Ruston's office is doing well. He stays busy and loves working in Nyssa. Elli will start preschool in Vale again after Labor Day, she's excited about that. Addison is working on potty training and has both good days and bad. M&M's have been a good motivator! As you can see by the baby tracker I'm due in about two and a half months. I'm feeling good. I've had a few funny moments of people mentioning (less than politely) how much my tummy has grown - Ruston's grandma being the most rude!! But luckily I don't get too offended. I'm actually not that big, but there's no where for the baby to go except out. So, it's funny when people haven't seen me in awhile. There are people who can mention my growing tummy with tact and some that still have a few lessons to learn. Oh by the way, we still don't know what we are having. It's a fun surprise and keeps us guessing everyday.
I'll write more soon. Hopefully you are having great summer too!
Love, Alesha
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
That silly house in Ohio...
Before I begin about Ohio, let me reassure all readers that new pictures will be coming soon. We took some great shots on Elli's last day of school (hooray for summer!) and a recent trip to the zoo. So they are coming eventually!
People have been asking us what the deal is with our house in Ohio, so I thought I would recap all the details. Back in March the house got broken into again (previously broken into in Jan. 09) and the remaining pipes in the basement were stolen. With no pipes there is no water to the rest of the house - so it is unlivable at this point. We had just started proceedings with our mortgage company to work toward a short sale when this happened. After loads of paperwork, the company decided that they would officially let us do a short sale but we had to fix all the damages first. Luckily we do have home owners insurance, but since it is for "unoccupied dwellings" the deductible is super high and they paid us $800 to fix a job that will end up costing several thousand. My thought is fix the house and get it sold just to be done with it. But our fear is that if we replace all the pipes, the people who broke into it before will just come back and do it again. So we've discussed the details with our lawyer who said that we should put in a contract that the work will be completed only with a firm offer on the table to buy the house. In the mean time, we will fix the back door that was busted in and clean up the debris that was left. Luckily no damage was done to the rest of the house, which makes me suspicious about who the vandals were. I believe it was a local person who is looking to buy the home for cheap if they scare us enough to where we want to drop the house fast. Their only flaw was that we couldn't care less about the house now and if we simply walk away and foreclose they get nothing either. But I don't really know who did it, so I guess it doesn't matter.
The mortage company is hoping to get $65k out of the sale, way below our current mortgage, but some money. So I guess if you were looking for a home for cheap, this is the time to buy. If you don't mind living in Cleveland!
This month marks two years that Ruston has been out of dental school. That went fast!! His office is still open three days a week, some days are busy - some aren't. We are sad that we don't live closer to friends in Nyssa, but very happy living in Vale too. We really can't go anywhere with our home still in Ohio, but even if it did sell I think we might stick around for another year or so. Eventually, we'd like to be in Nyssa to be closer to Ruston's office - but while I am pregnant and when the baby is still young I think we'll be able to manage the crowded circumstances. I think next summer will be the breaking point, but maybe not? We've enjoyed ourselves this long, maybe it could work longer. That is if we are still welcome. Who knows?
By the way, for those keeping track - I am 16 weeks pregnant and feeling much better these days. Not really sick (most days) and not quite as tired, but certainly showing! I brought out my maternity clothes from storage and had fun looking at all the cute things I have left-over from Elli and Addison. I'll be due a few days before Elli's birthday so still a while to go, but getting very real and very excited. My ultrasound will be next month, but I'm still not planning to find out what we are having. Sorry Mom!
Have a great week! And if you have a blog listed at the right and haven't updated it in several months - do it! I miss reading new things about friends and family. I'll try to do better too!
People have been asking us what the deal is with our house in Ohio, so I thought I would recap all the details. Back in March the house got broken into again (previously broken into in Jan. 09) and the remaining pipes in the basement were stolen. With no pipes there is no water to the rest of the house - so it is unlivable at this point. We had just started proceedings with our mortgage company to work toward a short sale when this happened. After loads of paperwork, the company decided that they would officially let us do a short sale but we had to fix all the damages first. Luckily we do have home owners insurance, but since it is for "unoccupied dwellings" the deductible is super high and they paid us $800 to fix a job that will end up costing several thousand. My thought is fix the house and get it sold just to be done with it. But our fear is that if we replace all the pipes, the people who broke into it before will just come back and do it again. So we've discussed the details with our lawyer who said that we should put in a contract that the work will be completed only with a firm offer on the table to buy the house. In the mean time, we will fix the back door that was busted in and clean up the debris that was left. Luckily no damage was done to the rest of the house, which makes me suspicious about who the vandals were. I believe it was a local person who is looking to buy the home for cheap if they scare us enough to where we want to drop the house fast. Their only flaw was that we couldn't care less about the house now and if we simply walk away and foreclose they get nothing either. But I don't really know who did it, so I guess it doesn't matter.
The mortage company is hoping to get $65k out of the sale, way below our current mortgage, but some money. So I guess if you were looking for a home for cheap, this is the time to buy. If you don't mind living in Cleveland!
This month marks two years that Ruston has been out of dental school. That went fast!! His office is still open three days a week, some days are busy - some aren't. We are sad that we don't live closer to friends in Nyssa, but very happy living in Vale too. We really can't go anywhere with our home still in Ohio, but even if it did sell I think we might stick around for another year or so. Eventually, we'd like to be in Nyssa to be closer to Ruston's office - but while I am pregnant and when the baby is still young I think we'll be able to manage the crowded circumstances. I think next summer will be the breaking point, but maybe not? We've enjoyed ourselves this long, maybe it could work longer. That is if we are still welcome. Who knows?
By the way, for those keeping track - I am 16 weeks pregnant and feeling much better these days. Not really sick (most days) and not quite as tired, but certainly showing! I brought out my maternity clothes from storage and had fun looking at all the cute things I have left-over from Elli and Addison. I'll be due a few days before Elli's birthday so still a while to go, but getting very real and very excited. My ultrasound will be next month, but I'm still not planning to find out what we are having. Sorry Mom!
Have a great week! And if you have a blog listed at the right and haven't updated it in several months - do it! I miss reading new things about friends and family. I'll try to do better too!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Yes!! It's a baby!!
Hello and thanks to my four faithful blog readers who commented on the previous post. It's nice to know I have a few friends! There are still some members of our family I haven't heard a congratulations from - but then they didn't remember my birthday either. Oh well, I guess that's life.
Anyway, we are proud to announce that after trying for almost a year and a half I am finally pregnant! I'm due November 11th (right before Elli's birthday) which puts me about 10 weeks right now. I'm feeling good, pretty nauseous (is that how it's spelled?) but not much throwing up - not that it makes it any less annoying to be sick. People like to throw around experiences of how many weeks they threw up every single day...it doesn't make me feel any better. Sick is sick!! But knowing how long we have wanted this baby makes every miserable moment worth it and I try not to complain too much.
We told Elli and she was excited. But then we mentioned that Grandma Tracie might be coming to visit too when the baby was born and she literally got up and started dancing and singing. She was so excited I almost wondered whether she even caught the part about the baby. But later she informed me that if it's a boy it will be named Max and if it's a girl it should be Ruby (Ruby & Max cartoons are her favorite right now). I told her Daddy would choose as always, but that she could give him as many ideas as she wanted.
This does bring up some interesting details about where we should be living in 7 months. Somehow three kids in one room seems awful tight. I know, I know, people have done it before and Joseph Smith shared a bedroom with his whole family - but that doesn't mean I want to! I'm still evaluating my feelings to see what will be best for our family - along with feelings I have to counteract all the raging hormones and then add in a pinch of praticality. So, needless to say this might be a hard decision to make.
So what else can I write about? The weather is getting nicer and my flowers are starting to look really nice. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new nephew - check out Aaron and Becky's blog to see if thier little baby Max (his real name - not named after a cartoon bunny!) has arrived. I'll post new pictures soon. I'm too tired for now and I think I want a little icecream...and maybe some pickles! Hooray!! I'm pregnant!!
Anyway, we are proud to announce that after trying for almost a year and a half I am finally pregnant! I'm due November 11th (right before Elli's birthday) which puts me about 10 weeks right now. I'm feeling good, pretty nauseous (is that how it's spelled?) but not much throwing up - not that it makes it any less annoying to be sick. People like to throw around experiences of how many weeks they threw up every single day...it doesn't make me feel any better. Sick is sick!! But knowing how long we have wanted this baby makes every miserable moment worth it and I try not to complain too much.
We told Elli and she was excited. But then we mentioned that Grandma Tracie might be coming to visit too when the baby was born and she literally got up and started dancing and singing. She was so excited I almost wondered whether she even caught the part about the baby. But later she informed me that if it's a boy it will be named Max and if it's a girl it should be Ruby (Ruby & Max cartoons are her favorite right now). I told her Daddy would choose as always, but that she could give him as many ideas as she wanted.
This does bring up some interesting details about where we should be living in 7 months. Somehow three kids in one room seems awful tight. I know, I know, people have done it before and Joseph Smith shared a bedroom with his whole family - but that doesn't mean I want to! I'm still evaluating my feelings to see what will be best for our family - along with feelings I have to counteract all the raging hormones and then add in a pinch of praticality. So, needless to say this might be a hard decision to make.
So what else can I write about? The weather is getting nicer and my flowers are starting to look really nice. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new nephew - check out Aaron and Becky's blog to see if thier little baby Max (his real name - not named after a cartoon bunny!) has arrived. I'll post new pictures soon. I'm too tired for now and I think I want a little icecream...and maybe some pickles! Hooray!! I'm pregnant!!
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