A Whole Year

I realized today, that we have been in this home for a whole year now.

We moved in on February 9, 2015. It's crazy how time flies.

We have really loved this home. It has been so wonderful to have our own house and yard. We've made quite a few repairs, and had some exciting adventures.

When we first moved into the house, it was in pretty good shape. The yard hadn't been worked on in a while, but we saw a lot of potential. The roof leaked around the chimney, and there were a couple of frightening paint jobs. The water ran at a boiling temperature for five minutes, and then went cold, and chunks of dry wall had been removed and then amateurishly placed back in without being completed.

I was so excited to start working on things.

Fast forward a year.

We fixed the water problem almost immediately. It turned out that the plastic tube that went into the brand new water heater was only about a foot and a half long. The water went cold so quickly because it was only sucking hot water off the top. The plumber inserted a longer tube...and it was fixed!

Our yard after we first finished raking it.

We did a lot of yard work, and planted a pretty successful garden. We grew peas, onions, lettuce, and cherry tomatoes. I planted corn too, but I planted it too late, so it never reached its full potential. We had a really good pie cherry and apple crop. We've cleaned out the two sheds, and filled one with fire wood from trees that we've had to remove and limbs we've had to cut off.

Kevin helped me pick the cherries

We've repainted two rooms, a bathroom and a bedroom. We've filled in most holes with plaster, and cleaned the carpets. We paid someone to fix the leak on the roof, and it seems to be holding pretty well.

Newly painted bathroom

Newly painted bedroom

Kevin has grown three or four inches, and Arkhon has matured into a wonderful dog. They are best friends, and love to play together.

This was taken before we purchased a lawn mower. The grass was beautiful!

Dakota died in our home, and we buried her ashes in the backyard.

Our beautiful old girl

We lost two fish, and decided not to have anymore of those for a while. Our snake has also grown a great deal.

We've hosted some birthday parties and have had three of Grig's siblings live with us. We've had some pretty amazing fun moments with his sister and some pretty scary moments as her health plummeted and she had to fly back to Virginia. We were sad to see her leave, and hope that she has a successful surgery soon.

Argent and Grig's mother making a snowman with Kevin

We've really enjoyed having Kevin's uncles here, and we have learned a lot from both of them. Kevin especially loves playing with them and is always excited to see them. In the morning, if they sleep in late, he goes downstairs and wakes them up by saying, "It's morning time!"

Uncle Allopex

Uncle Havelock

We've had a great snowfall this year, and found out that our front yard has a pretty good sled run. We've made snowmen and a wigwam using branches found in our yard. I'm hoping it snows some more so it will look like an igloo.

We've now had every holiday in this home, and it's been so fun to decorate for those! We had a great turnout for trick-or-treaters, and I really love our neighborhood. We've made friends with most of our neighbors, and simply adore them. (Many of them either have children or dogs, and if Kevin isn't friends with their kids, Arkhon is friends with their dogs.)

You can't really tell from this picture, but these two love each other!

I love this place. In the past year, it has evolved from a house into a home. It is a place where I feel comfortable and safe. We want it to be a home, a temple, and a haven for anyone who enters.

I think we're making pretty good progress toward that goal, and I'm excited to see what the next year brings!