inside of the house almost done.

Today I put the final coat of stain on the cabinet doors. All we have to do now is rehang them. Peter put in a new sink and bathroom countertop and it looks great. After that only two light fixtures to install and some touch up paint and we are done-INSIDE! Since it was cooler today I worked outside. The weeds by the street were two feet high and THICK. The weed wacker can't cut it and neither can our lawnmower. SO i pulled them by hand. My dad showed me where to get some rock and bark, so I am working on covering the front walk with plastic, weed fabric so I can top it off with rock and bark.

I need to post before and after pics, but its too late and I must go to bed.

Goodnight!

You know you bought a fixer upper when

You mop the floor with a putty knife in your hand.
You clean the blinds with a high pressure hose nozzle!
You clean the carpets with a scrub brush.
You spend two afternoons mowing down waist high grass!
You paint over graffiti inside your house!
You have to replace the bathroom vanity counter top because it is covered with cigarette burns!
You need a forensic scientist to analyze the goo you find! (I watch too much NCSI)


BUT I AM SO THANKFUL for the goo, slime, graffiti, soap scum, paint splatter, gum on the tile, and all other things. Because of these unsightly things, we own a nice house that cleaned up very nicely! I can't believe we are home owners IN CALIFORNIA! I think this is a miracle. When we moved to Mongolia in 2005, I thought we could never afford to return to this state. I really thought we would have to move away to a more affordable area. That would be fine, but family is close to here and after world travel and living---there is no place like home. Have I told you our new house is less than two miles from my high school. I have lived in Yucaipa for 19 years of my life and it is comforting to have a homecoming and not have to learn a new city.

The house may sound yucky, but with 12 gallons of paint and a half gallon of nice stain on the cabinets, some light fixtures and major scrubbing it really looks nice and I am thankful.

Weston has names for all our homes. He can't grasp street names or city names so he really likes to have a name for each house. In Mongolia, he calls it, "The Mongolia house." Our rental house this year was called, "The Bunkbed house," and this one is called "The Tree House." I like that name. There are about ten mature trees on this lot, so the name fits. I think that is a good idea to name houses. Last winter I read Anne of Green Gables and I thought it was cute that they named houses. Weston started it on his own. What a smart boy!

Easter

We had a great day with family here in Lake Havasu. We went to church this morning and the Bunnell's church had choir music and a skit, both were moving. Weston spent most of the day digging in the front yard and running around the back yard. Sierra spent the day playing with Weston and sitting on my lap. She seems to have a little fever.

We dyed eggs this morning and had an egg hunt. The children ate TONS of jelly beans too.

It was a fun day.

Tomorrow we'll take the kids to our new house and they'll get to see their new room. It is all set up for them so them, so hopefully they will love it.

scrubbing and cleaning and painting

We bought a house! We have been looking for something since last May and God provided a three bedroom house in our price range that is in decent shape! We are so blessed and know that God did a miracle for us. We decided this buyers market was too good to pass up and hopped into the ride of real estate and home ownership.

Yes, we are still going back to Mongolia! But we are hoping that this will give us a little nest egg of equity when we return to America someday.

The house is in Yucaipa, CA in a good neighborhood. We got the keys last Wednesday and have been scrubbing, cleaning and painting ever since. The house had been vacant for a year and was in need of a good scrubbing when it went to the bank, SO that has been a big job. We have painted the WHOLE house and we are really amazed by paint. It really renews things. I spray painted the medicine cabinet... it looks brand new. I scrubbed the cupboards, sanded them and we put on a new darker stain, poof- they look great. I need to work on the cupboard doors and put on the new hardware and that will give the kitchen a newer face (they are the original 45 year old plyboard cabinets!) I scrubbed the carpets with spot cleaner and rented a Rug Doctor- I was amazed that actually worked!

CAN YOU SAY SWEAT EQUITY? :0)

We are hoping to put the second layer of stain on the cabinets today and paint the doors and then every wall will be completed and surface will be clean and painted! Hopefully we'll start moving today.

The kids are in Havasu with their grandparents, so we are taking advantage of these couple of days to work like dogs to finish the painting and move into our new home.

I'll post before and after pictures soon!