What is this?

Any guesses????




Okay - I'll tell you.

It's the side yard of the house we are going to be renting starting next month! I tried to get a picture of the backyard but I couldn't from the road.... it's lovely. So so roomy with lots of beautiful grass (actual grass, mind you - not the itchy Texas "grass") to run in and trees to have adventures in/around. I am so excited about this place - I can't wait until it's ready for us!

The way this came about was very interesting and we know that Heavenly Father definitely had a hand in it. I love those testimony strengthening experiences!

I don't know that I feel like typing the entire story here so I'll just give in in a nutshell:

We've been looking, and looking, and looking, and... yep - looking for a place to move that will better suit our needs. We did several walk throughs and found one we loved but we were second in line and it got taken. We found another that we loved (not as much but still loved) but the landlord seemed off to us. Quick summary of the landlord - he raised the rent when he found out we had kids (by $25 a month!) then, when he found out our income, decided to let us know that he felt it was too low and we wouldn't have money to "do anything" (duh. we are grad students.). Then, he found out we had 3 kids (not just the 2 girls that came to the walk-through) and he decided to tell us that he didn't like renting to families. We quickly got out of that situation but were pretty bummed that we didn't get the place. That same day, I had craft night at my house and one of my friends asked if we were still looking. Her husband's grandpa's house was up for rent. She described the property and we were already smitten. :) We checked it out the next day and decided it was perfect for us. Cheaper than our current place (if we renew our lease) and it's bigger with a huge amount of land. It's also right next to our new church building that is set to open in June.

We are soooo excited!!

Plan on coming over to let your kids roam free while John grills up some yummy-ness.

Oh - and it has a fireplace. This was a very important thing to check off the list for Jayden when we were looking to buy. :) Now Santa can come in more easily.