The moment you've all been waiting for!!!

Okay, so you might not all have been holding your breath for the past week and a half while I was off line and shopping for a house, but we did in fact buy a house in MI. I'm really excited about it. It all came off quite smoothly thanks to many prayers and much help (namely, Yaya for keeping Katie and Taylor while Craig and I went house hunting). We bought the house we intended to buy (the one we found online that we liked the most). It's in a great neighborhood and school. We even visited the ward and it seems alright(nothing can live up to our current ward). We drove up to Ohio on Thursday November 19th. Friday Craig and I (and Sophie) drove up to MI and met with the realitor. We shopped houses on Friday and Saturday. Sunday we visited our potential ward, Monday after checking into financial details we made an offer and despite being lower than the other offer on the table we were accepted because we are allowing the seller 2 weeks after Christmas to find a new home. Time, I've got, money, not so much! Works for me! I'll be painting for the next forseeable future, but we have a partailly finished daylight basement with a guest bedroom and full bath and a playset (in the yard) and basketball hoop (out front) and a flat yard and flat driveway and a fabulous neighborhood and biking/walking paths all over! I'm really excited about it all. It doesn't have a soaking tub but it's a newer house and the kitchen will be gorgeous. We got into the house for a great deal (for the neighborhood/school). Anyhow, while were hanging out in Ashland (we left MI on Sunday afternoon and drove back down to OH for the holiday week) we went to the outlet mall (where Taylor, Craig and Sophie rode the train), Mommo and I saw "New Moon" at the Ashland theater, we visited with family and had the most fun on Thanksgiving. Phil and Jack let us shoot their guns. It was great, eat more food than should be consumed in a week then go shoot up the yard! AWESOME! Shooting Phil's AK47 was a BLAST (literally, I loved watching stuff blowup!). Thanksgiving with the Starkeys is really a great time. It was so fabulous that Leisy, Kent, Laney, Taylor and the babies could join us too! Thanks to Yaya and all the Starkeys for allowing us to crash another holiday!! Saturday we drove back down to South Carolina(wow that is a long drive, pretty but long!). We are happy to be home now. I'm so grateful that even though Craig will be gone (up in MI starting his new job) that the house isn't on the market anymore so we can actually LIVE in it! Keeping the house an hour from perfect at all times with 3 kids is NUTS! Most of our holiday decorations are in the pod (we cleared out our storage when we listed the house), but I'm excited to make ornaments with the kids and cookies and a gingerbread house. I'm praying that nobody throws up and everybody sleeps through the night each night. So with that, Let the Holiday BEGIN! (oh, I'm also including a picture of Katie and Papa on the deck. Katie wanted to taste snow. Taylor told her it tastes like sugar. That is how far removed our kids are from winter. Also the Mountain Man that sings and plays his guitar and yells "GOD BLESS YOU!" outside the Ashland OH Walmart. Leisy, you should come down sometime to see him! He'll pose for pix too!Oh, also a pic of Eddy the Dog watching Katie play outside. I wanted to get a video of Sophie and Eddy, she'd lay down against him on the floor. They have a beautiful relationship, probably due to her dropping most of her food on the floor!