Whew. . .

I won't be posting pictures for a while because the internet is not as accessible and very slow. I have a couple cute pictures of the kids first day of school but you will just have to imagine what they look like. And imagine what our new house looks like. And imagine the amazing view outside the back of our house. Sadly my writing skills cannot transmit the thousand words it would take to describe the scene.
We made it over to Elk Ridge thanks to some very generous bodies who risked pulled muscles and back pain for days afterwards, following a rigorous work-out lifting refrigerators and washing machines. Truly we are grateful.
We are all settled in and are getting into a routine. Tessa is in Kindergarten now so it's just the baby boys and Ronnie for a few hours in the morning. Quite odd I have to say. I think I will be quite sorry when I send the last ones off to school.
We are excited to meet new people but hope to stay in touch with all our friends of gold.
Michaela, Trey, Bryce and Isaac are all playing soccer. Mic and Trey are on the same team. I have watched all of them play this year. They have greatly improved and Isaac is actually out on the field kicking the ball. It will be great fun to watch them all.
Well, that's all from over here. Until next time.

Off to a new adventure

The Ranch is moving to Elkridge.

Stop! I said Stop! No gasps or shaking heads from you, I say. Do not feel sorry or pity. This is what is next for our family. Paul and I both believe it is the best thing to do for our family.
Pro's: Michaela and Trey will still be at the same JR High
We will fit in this new house much better
We will not be on a busy road (big concern with the twinners walking now)
The kids will go to a high school that is new when the time comes
The kids will be able to ride bikes around the neighborhood
Automatic dishwasher
Various other pro's
Con's: We will miss our friends at church
Horses won't be in backyard
Bigger house to clean

Pro's by far outweigh the con's.
We have started to move our trash heaps over to the new house. Hopefully this process will go smoothly. I hope the kids are resilient enough to transition to a new school and house at the same time. I'll get some pictures in the upcoming week to post. . .

Yippee

(before)

After three weeks, the cabinets are done. I figured they took 23+ hours and cost about 175 dollares. That must mean I paid myself 100 dollares an hour because the bid we got was to refinish the cabinets for 2200 dollares. How is that Bec, for saving a few?

Now lest you think we are crazy fools because now our kitchen looks too blanco, the next step is to paint the kitchen a color called Arabian sands which is Behr paint and hopefully put in a new counter top which would be dark, as in probably black. The kicker would be stainless steel appliances but it aint happening on our watch.

Fire!

Springlake is not an unknown town anymore. I think most of UT now knows of its existence after Friday's fire.
Friday afternoon, I went outside to sit on the bench and read while the babies scampered around me. I heard sirens and saw fire vehicles turn into Springlake. It was then I noticed the billowing smoke rising into the air south-east of our house. (view from driveway)

At first I thought it was a house on fire, then I figured it was more as a helicopter arrived and water tanker trucks started coming too. About twenty or more emergency vehicles later, I figured it must be something big. I watched for the next couple hours, hoping no one was hurt, as the fire raced up the mountainside. Paul came home and took the kids to watch the helicopters dip into Springlake to take water buckets to dump on the flames. An air tanker dropped several loads of fire-retardant on the northern burning slopes. We watched for a while until the sherrif came and told all spectators to leave the area around the lake.
We left the kids to go to Home Depot. As we left, the fire seemed to take off from the evening breeze. It dropped low into the foothills by houses and we worried about the people that lived there. It was dark when we came home from HD and the flames were frightningly spectacular. It was very beautiful in a monstrous way. The firefighters are still fighting this fire today with it 50% contained. I believe it is up the canyon right now. I am grateful no one was hurt and no homes were lost. It is scary that it happened so close to our home.