The next Chapter in our Lives

Yep, it's that time of year again.
Spring.
And spring for the Holden family means moving time!
I really can't believe it, but we've moved every spring for the last 5 years. Isn't that what everyone does during the months of April, May or June? I honestly don't know anything different. The longest we've stayed in one place the last 5 years is 13 months. Are we crazy? Sometimes I think so.

But this time around we are hoping that we don't get the itch to move and we can stay settled in one spot for a few years. So we dug in our heels and bought a house. YIKES! Yep! We did it! I still can't believe this place is actually ours. It's kind of a weird feeling not to be renters anymore, but oh what a wonderful feeling it is.

It was a crazy process trying to find a place. What made it most difficult was that Stephen and I had a hard time going house hunting together. So either he'd go out with our realtor and come back with a few prospects or I'd go out and do the same. It made for a long process. Then after we had a house under contract, it almost fell through about 2 weeks before closing and about 3 weeks before we were going to be kicked out of our apartment. So for about three days we thought we were going to be homeless and live out of friends houses or our car. But after a lot of prayer/fasting and going to the temple, things slowly worked out. It was a pretty stressful few weeks to add on top of packing, moving and taking care of our small family. I sure am thankful for some wonderful friends who helped watch kids. 

The move was a crazy weekend, but I look back now and I wonder how we did it all. We've been so spoiled always having the company move us...this time it was all us!!

Unloading the boxes from the truck

Andrew was pretty excited when we showed him the new house. He sat right there on the porch and didn't want to move. 

And now the unpacking ...well that's a different story. That has been a very very slow process. Especially now that the girls are mobile, we don't get much done these days. And trying to baby proof a home and unpack are not a good combination.

Andrew loved pushing boxes all around once they were empty. The only problem was he would pick up random things around the house to fill the empty boxes with and then it was more work trying to put everything away...twice! 

Trying to find a little space for the girls to play among all the boxes.

It feels so wonderful to have some space. We survived in our small apartment for a year, but we were bursting at the seams. I almost don't know what to do with all the space in our new place. We have some great neighbors and have felt the generosity and warm southern hospitality. Our new ward has also welcomed us with open arms and we feel very lucky that a few other members live right down the street.