Double Closing Day

We never dreamed when we offered to buy the "new" house up the street that we'd be able to close on the same day on the sale of our home. We're still in awe of how God worked that out.

So yesterday morning at 9 we met with Mitch and Susan (and their precious kids) and closed on the sale of our house. So now we're renters again for a couple weeks - thanks to their generosity.

At 10 we met with the Colonel and bought his house. Here he is with his daughter. He was headed south right after the closing. It hadn't been an easy week for them with all the family memories tied up in the very lovely home where the Colonel had lived for 32 years.

Then we ran a few errands, including picking up our new entry way bench and mirror at the furniture store in Cleveland that Jaclyn and I visited on Labor Day. It was a fun day and her bedroom suite she found that day too - see pictures of it at http://jaclynford.blogspot.com/

(Living/dining room area with some of the furniture we bought from him there already)

It felt so strange walking into our new house without the Colonel there to greet us at the door in his very pleasant way. It will take time for it to feel like home. Even today when we stopped in after school to see how my start on the cupboard painting looked in brighter light, it felt more like my house.

Randy shampooed the downstairs carpet (sorry but all my downstairs pictures are blurry so you'll see it later after another photo shoot)

. . . and he even shampooed the screened-in porch carpet.
We're having the rest upstairs replaced before we move in.

Looking toward the garage from the screened-in porch, and past our bedroom bay window. They had several bird feeders that we'll enjoy, including humming bird feeders.

The library has humming bird border around it
and a lovely built-in bookcase across the end wall.

Looking from the master bedroom out through the library and the kitchen just beyond the bookcase. I love the big bay window! The walls are a light salmon (not pink) color with rust colored carpet all over the upstairs, except not in the family room or library.

The master en suite, with the shower and toilet to the left behind the curtain area.

One of the 3 full bathrooms we have to share and keep clean.

Notice the doorbell chimes - finally we have a working doorbell - chimes even!

The very spacious family room added on to the back of the house.
The fireplace is gas log! Even I can handle that kind of fire.

We Finally met Ethan!

This evening Dan & Lori came by the SAU ballfields where we were attending CA's softball tournament so we could finally meet baby Ethan. Isn't he precious!

I haven't held such a tiny one in a LONG time. He's 5 weeks old and has already grown 3 inches and gained about 3 lbs. And Lori is riding a bike 10 miles in a triathalon two weeks from today!

As freshman class sponsors, we cheered on the freshmen girls in the first game against the seniors. Our readers played on the girls' teams. At least one of my readers came out smiling, since the sophomores beat the juniors.

The freshmen guys put up a good fight against the senior guys. That enabled me time to catch up on this blog tonight without being up too late.

Our 31st Anniversary Weekend

Aren't these gorgeous roses Randy got me! They're the color my bridesmaids wore in our wedding 31 years ago on Sept. 14.

We went to eat at the Acropolis and we were glad Ryan agreed to join us.

The cinnamon butter was very tasty on their bread.

Sabbath we had Ashlocks join us for dinner. After a nice visit with them, we drove up to Sunset Rock to meet Ryan and his friends who'd hiked up from Cravens House.

It was crystal clear (and also quite breezey) and we could see for MILES!

On the phone again??? What did THAT picture look like I wonder.

Time to Celebrate the Sale of our House!

God sold our house to the family who came to look the first day we had it posted on U-net - yesterday. Mitch is the new chemistry teacher at the college (I goofed and didn't remember to get him in a picture after he and Randy were through inside). They have two children who are so sweet. We met them tonight when they came over with the earnest money, and to take pictures to e-mail their family, and show the kids their new house. It will be sooooo nice having them as neighbors.

They're home schoolers so that explains why their 13 year old son is so nice, Austin. Allison is 3 and very energetic. She ran around and around the yard. They're thrilled to have so much space available to their kids outside and the basement for playing. It will be fun to watch them enjoy "our" house. It felt so right as soon as we met them - we have a lot in common and look forward to their friendship here on the best street in town to live on. That's what real estate is all about we've been told, and it's sooooo true ~ location, Location, LOCATION!!!! We've got a great one.

Half packed up and ready to sell

We've enjoyed our home a lot these 8 years. Here are a few pictures Randy took last night after we had our first "looker" come through. Tomorrow the ad will go up on the bulletin board here at the VM and on SAU's U-net list serve. Pray with us that it will sell soon. If you know anybody who wants to buy it, send them our way.

Our crepe myrtles are gorgeous right now.

The dry summer has been hard on the yard.

Part of our basement rec room

The ping pong/pool table surrounded by boxes!
Most of the basement is packed up - foos ball, air hockey & ping pong tables will go with us.
We have a huge rec room in the new house - all carpeted even.
The basement spare bedroom all packed up and pictures down even.The basement "dark room" packed up too

Ryan's room

Amy's room Our bedroom - I'll miss the Thomas Kincaid border

The kitchen will be the last thing to pack in a few weeks.

The main bathroom, with the lighthouse border and swag that I just bought this summer

The boat is fixed - at last!

In the midst of all the moves, we've had some serious "mal-functions" that have occupied a lot of Randy's time as well. . . replacing the impeller and fuel pump on the boat got us back on the water at last. It had been over a month since we'd been on the boat - before school started. (The fuel pump had to be replaced on our Buick - a job he did just a few days after the boat repair. The fan went out on our heat pump one of those hot days the end of August, so he learned a lot about replacing that and two days later, we were sleeping back upstairs in the air conditioned comfort of our bed, rather than in the basement on the couch and floor.) Add to that list, packing to move and getting our house ready to sell.

Carrie and Jaclyn were along and we enjoyed a quick trip Friday evening.

After such a long HOT August, we couldn't believe how COOL it felt Friday. Three of us were glad to stay dry on the boat and watch. Carrie is warming up on the "dog house" enjoying the engine's warmth in this picture I do believe!

Ryan took two turns even, trying to make up for lost time. How ironic that it was the hottest August on record for Chattanooga and we were only on the boat ONCE. Oh well, it was really too hot to even want to be outside, even on the boat.

So it WASN'T Ryan's last move of the summer. . .

On Labor Day Ryan came back from visiting Carrie up at Highland and found the front door of his apartment all scraped up and the door knob on the ground. He walked in to find a hole in his living room, kitchen and utility room ceilings.
A neighbor came over shortly and explained that there had been a fire in the other half of his duplex on Sabbath morning that started in the utility room. Smoke was pouring out of the eves throughout the duplex.
So the fire department had broken into his half and knocked holes in the ceiling too to put out the fire in the attic.

After talking to the landlord, he started moving things home in his car with the help of some friends, and then hooked up our trailer to the van and started getting everything out. We went over and packed up stuff while they hauled it out. He was able to store it in the garage at our new place for now and will live in the lower level of our new house where he'll have two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and big rec room to roam in! We hope he'll pay us frequent visits upstairs as well :) So it's nice to have him home again in his old bedroom.
He was fortunate not to have too much smoke and water damage to his belongings. He's getting rather skilled at packing up - this was record time, about 8 hours start to finish, packing AND moving out. He wasn't exactly settled in that amount of time at the other end, but there was a bed waiting for him at least! The family who lived in the burned out side will move into his half once the repairs are made, while they gut the other side and start over. We surely do feel for the landlord. Ryan enjoyed the duplex for a whole 3 weeks.