Guess what?!

We got it again!!

Hahaha! Man, life is strange!

Remember THIS? We got this beautiful house, it was in the ward, it was just the right size, it had new carpet and paint, it was exactly what we wanted.

Well, we lost it, remember that?

They realized there was a problem with the foreclosure, so they had to take the house back to figure it out.

Last Tuesday, the listing agent called our realtor and told her the house listed again. It technically went on the market on Wednesday. In my opinion, I should've just gotten it automatically, but we didn't. We had to drive in the scary fresh snow to sign papers in order to put an offer on the house again.

On Saturday, our realtor called and told us we got it again!! How crazy is that?!

The Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. I doubt I'll ever understand His methods. I do think that we were meant to learn something from the entire experience. We were meant to understand just how wonderful this house is. How great it is that the roof is new, the carpet is new, there isn't mold, and the only fixer-upper is really just gutters all the way around.

Oh my goodness, I'm sooo excited!! 2012 is going to be great!!

Closing date is scheduled for February 18th. Hopefully we will make it to then with the house still "belonging" to us. We're definitely praying that we get to really get the house this time!

I'm already decorating the interior. Every day. Almost all day. :)

That's how it's supposed to be. Not sighing sadly whenever someone brought up the house. Not worrying about mold. Not being bothered by a busy street. Not trying to figure out where we'd buy new toilets, how we'd put in tile, how we'd update the kitchen.

I think the other houses we'd put offers on were great. They were houses that could have worked, but I'm glad this one is back.

When we told the Bishop on Sunday, he said, "See? The Lord listens to a Bishop's prayers!"

Christmas!!

My sister asked if I'm avoiding my blog. Nope. Mostly just laziness. I went to put pictures up and it took forever, so I put it off.

So here's a post about my Christmas vacation.

I got a brand new, beautiful camera from my in-laws. It's big, great quality, and has a lot of getting used to... :)

Here's my sweet niece, Lu. She's so beautiful.

J and I went to the temple we were married in with my parents. It was a wonderful experience to go again. I sure did miss that temple.

Pretty much the entire family went to Hot Springs to the Garvan Gardens. It's a botanical garden that they decorate every holiday season with LOTS of Christmas lights. It was beautiful!!!

My cute nephews

This one rotated back. It's supposed to show the lights that meet the water from the weeping willow. It was beautiful.

Lollipops!!

A choo choo train!

On Christmas Eve, the kids made cookies with MMae.

J and I did the Christmas Program with the family. They each had to act out the scene I had read. It was really funny.

They made personal pizzas and then went to rest upstairs.

Once the kids were upstairs, we got to have our crab legs and artichoke dinner.

For dessert, we had Creme Brulee. Soooo tasty!!

On Christmas day, we had a little time to open presents before church.

J got the kinect he had really wanted.

This is my wonderful parents with their Christmas presents. Mom is wearing her new BCD for scuba diving and Dad's wearing the scarf I gave him.

My parents got everyone in the family the ability to go to Disney World next Christmas!! We're all soooo excited!!

Sam is now an Eagle Scout! His court of honor was while we were there. It was a great celebration for a great kid.

Sam with his brothers.

Very proud parents

I'm so proud of him. He's a wonderful kid.

He's a wonderful uncle, too. Those kids sure do love him.

It was a wonderful two weeks. I had so much fun. We had a great time.