Happy 12th Birthday, Baxter

A oldie but goody from 2007.....

Thank you Washington

Thanks to the relocation company, I don't have to pack a lot of boxes. It's a blessing to be sure, but it's really hard to remember you're moving when everything is the same - your house, school schedules, piano, playtimes, cubs, church, and birthday parties. I tried to find something that would bring closure to our time in Washington.

Then, I remembered how hard it was to look at pictures from Idaho when we moved here. Lest that happen again, I decided to make a slideshow of our family's time here. (I have some time on my hands in the evenings after the kids go to bed nowadays).

So, I give you this little slideshow - 

it's not in order or all-inclusive, but it captures some of our fondest memories:

The foggy weather

Seattle Space Needle

Sailing the Puget Sound

The Tulip Festival

The Museum of Glass

Edmonds

Moving In

First Day of School

Annual Fire Station Open House

Neighborhood Pumpkin Carvings

Seattle Underground Tour

The Gum Wall

Halloween Costumes

Trip to Victoria, BC

Ward Campout at Casade Park

Hot Air Balloon Adventure

Hanging out at Home

Birthdays

Our garden

Washington Wildlife

Wallace Falls

Smith Tower

Fair Days Parade

Halloween 5k Fun Run

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Silo

Fourth of July Demolition Derby

Deception Falls

Seattle Zoo

Flowing Lake

Christmastime

The Hot Tub

Tacoma Museum of Glass

Playing in the front yard

Pike's Market

Pacific Science Center's Butterfly Room

North Bend Train Ride

Katie catching her first frog

The Fort

Deception Pass

Bellingham, WA

Corn Maze

Snoqualmie Falls

Seattle Ride the Ducks

Camping inside

Mowing the lawn

Big Four Ice Caves

Trip to Vancouver, BC

Cruising Lake Washington

First Day of Preschool

"Our" cat, Oreo

Seattle Aquarium

Evergreen State Fair and the Crazy Chicken

Science Fairs

Cushion Forts

Playing computer

Playing piano

Seattle Temple

The Cemetery by our House

The Cemetery Tree

First Day of Kindergarten

International Fountain

The sunsets

The second song captures some of our friends. It made me realize that I do NOT take enough pictures of MY friends - so I focused on the kids' friends. It's not all-inclusive either and I realized that I need to take MORE pictures of my kids and their friends. I only had one picture of a couple of my kids' really good friends. So, if I'm snapping away before we go - now you know why!

The second song has some other great memories for us: Ethan's baptism, the Funny Farm, playdates, parties, preschool,  pinewood derbies, baseball, the Children's Museum, Pioneer Day, Jetty Island, spirit week, school concerts, legos, and of course, the neighborhood's annual "end of year" soaker bash!

Thank you everyone for making the last three years such an awesome adventure.

Here is a larger version on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80vQ01gcZM8

Moving Update 2

When are you moving?

The movers come to pack us on March 12th and 13th. They load on the 14th and we roll out on March 15th. The kids' last day at school will be on March 14th. Since Thursday is my usual volunteer day, the kids are going to take some cookies in and say goodbye to their classmates then. Their teachers are absolutely wonderful and we will miss them. Ethan has a school concert that night. So, we will go to that and bid farewell to this little town we have loved to call home.

Where are you going? 

Because this is a public blog, I don't really want to give the exact location of our new home, but it will be in Meridian, ID and I will post pictures down below. The inspection on the new house happened last week and we are waiting to hear back on those items. Everything seems to be moving forward. We hope to close by March 20th. From March 15th-March 20th we will live with Greg in the company apartment where he is now.

How are you doing? 

It was a new experience to be without my spouse for two weeks. The house rebelled with a broken washer, two clogged or running toilets, and numerous inspection items needing to be fixed. We had our first ER visit with Katie's chin accident, all while trying to balance lenders, realtors, relocation specialists, appraisers, inspectors, and repair people. In the meantime, I was trying to keep up with the day to day of homework, dogs, housework, dinner, get last minute dentist appointments in, have the buyers come through one last tiem all while trying to transfer our medical info, insurances, school records, accounts, and everything else to a new state. It's been "fun."

But, Greg surprised me by walking in the door at 1pm yesterday. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see him in my whole life. I cried like a baby. It probably looked like a really bad candid camera scenario or something. I was completely surprised and utterly grateful. He got the slider door secured, the carbon monoxide detectors installed, the washer diagnosed, and got to say farewell to a bunch of people in the neighborhood on Saturday. Then, we got to enjoy one hour of church with him before he headed back to Boise today. It was great.

With that said, I will post a few pictures of our soon to be residence:

This is the best it will look for the next couple months :)

Moving Update

As  most of you know, the last month has been a whirlwind for us. First, I want to thank everybody for the support they have been- the playdates for my kids, the food, the prayers, and the fun Facebook comments! I know our lives aren't the most interesting in the world, so read as much or as little as you'd like :).

THE SHORT VERSION: We received an offer on our house and accepted it last weekend. I flew to Boise this week to look for houses and found a few options. Greg will start his new job tomorrow morning. The kids and dogs are hanging in there. Our tentative move date is March 15th.

THE LONG VERSION

THE JOB: Greg gave his two week notice on Friday, February 8, which also happened to be his birthday. We went out to dinner to celebrate at the same steak house we went to when we first moved here. It was a great way to celebrate both his birthday and the end of his career at Cypress.

He spent 12 years at Cypress and just like everything in life, there was good and bad. It made him the engineer he is now and they gave him a great farewell lunch. He will miss the people there, but career wise, this was probably a good move for him. The week after he gave his notice, the company laid off 2 people in his group. It would have been three but because he resigned the previous Friday, they could count him as a cost reduction. Several other things happened at work that week that assured us that Micron was a good decision. We hope the future will confirm it. He starts his new job tomorrow morning.

I think he will miss being a star the most: Click here to see his big debut

THE HOUSE: After two weeks of decluttering, repainting, organizing, staging, carpet cleaning, and repairing, (and despite the septic alarm going off on Thursday night and a mole infestation on Friday morning) we put the house on the market last Saturday at 10am. We got a call at 2pm that someone wanted to see the house at 4pm and they made us an offer at 6pm. It was amazing.

Given our last house selling experience where our house was on the market for 6 months and we had to sell it THREE times before it went through (one guy was laid off and it fell through, another couple just backed out), we think this sell is miraculous. I'm not saying we SOLD the house yet, but simply that we accepted an offer. All fronts still look good, though. The inspection was done last Wednesday and the couple want to close on March 15. So, March 15 is our vacate date if all things work out.

THE NEW HOUSE: I flew to Boise this past week to look for housing. There are definite pros to looking for a house in an area where you already lived for eight years. You know the schools, and the shopping, and the commute times. But, as I found out the first day, a lot has changed in 3 years. New interstate exchanges have been created, new subdivisions are up, housing styles and prices have changed, not to mention traffic patterns that accompany all the new growth It's the same, but it's not. Thanks to all my friends who gave me great information during my stay and updated me on the latest and greatest facts!

House hunting is hard because it's like comparing apples and oranges. "This is in a great school district" "This was is closer to shopping" "This one is less expensive" "This one has the space we want" "This one is in a great location for the commute" etc....if I thought a pro/con matrix would have helped, I would have made one :)

The last day I was there (literally one hour before I left for the airport), I went through a house one more time. I had already been through this house twice and while I didn't have the "A-HA! This is your house moment", it was a nice home, in an area we have been looking at. Greg walked through it tonight and it will probably our house.

Why didn't you build again? We seriously considered building a third home in Boise/Meridian (we already built - and sold- two homes there); however, old age has changed us. Just kidding - sort of. During the first house we built, all I had was one pug. During the second build, I only had one boy and one pug. Now we have two dogs, two kids and a TON of stuff. If we built, it would mean moving all our stuff twice (or three times), possible moving the kids through schools, not to mention all the decision making that comes with it. There's the construction time, the construction around you when you move in, and the fact that it's hard to picture what your views will be from a second story house that doesn't exist yet.

While it would have been great to build and have EXACTLY what we want, this WA house has shown us that we can live in a house without picking out every finish and it can still be OUR home. Plus, if there is something I don't like, I can complain about it instead of it being my fault - ha ha ha!

THE KIDS: Ethan and Katie have been troopers through it all. A couple weeks ago, Katie was "STAR OF THE WEEK" at school and this past week, we took a short family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park a few hours south of our house. We went last Monday and Tuesday. Katie had fun on the waterslides and being pampered with her first pedicure while Ethan loved running around completing the MagiQuest game throughout the hotel. They dropped me off at the airport on our way home and had a week to spend with Dad before their four day Presidents' Day weekend. We're trying to soak up time with friends before we leave.

THE DOGS: The dogs don't know what to think. We keep packing suitcases, leaving and coming back. They were boarded for the first time EVER last week while we were at Great Wolf Lodge. However, they got two walks a day, playtime, and had their own TV in a doggie suite. I think Abbie was sure she had been abandoned again (we are her third family) while Baxter was just mad his stay at the Petsmart hotel came complete with a grooming appointment :).

I just wanted to give a shout out  and a big THANKS to Dawna and April who helped me stage my WA home. It will be hard to leave!

The Entry 

The Den

The Living Room

The Dining Room

The Family Room and Flex Room (Piano Room)

THE SHORT VERSION

Today Greg accepted an offer with Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho and our family will be moving (back) there sometime this winter/spring. To answer a few questions:

Did we see this coming? No.

Is it ironic? Yes.

Is it the best thing for our family? Yes.

We have absolutely LOVED our time here in WA. We have made lots of good friends and wonderful memories. While this will be the seventh move in my life, I don’t think it’s gotten any easier. Moving all your STUFF is a pain, but moving your heart and your emotions is even harder, especially for someone like me who loves people so much.  I am SO grateful for electronic media that makes staying in touch easier so I can still share moments of our life and see glimpses of dear friends’ lives.

THE LONG VERSION

(a.k.a. The version I wrote instead of seeing a therapist J)

(a.k.a. The version I wrote because my life is an open book because I am part Italian)

(a.k.a. “Come on, when has Sally ever made a story short?”):

In 2001, Greg graduated BYU and started work for a small start-up company called In-System Design (ISD) in Boise, Idaho. Three months later, they were bought out/taken over by Cypress Semiconductor. From 2001-2009, Greg survived about 10 rounds of layoffs, we built two houses and had two children. Cypress provided a job and steady income until Feb. 2009 when they decided to close the Boise office. They offered to transfer Greg to Lynnwood, WA and in that job market (where Micron had just laid off 1,500 people the previous week and HP did across the board salary reductions and did a hiring freeze) we took it.

We said then: “Well, there are worse places we could have landed. Seattle could be fun.” Little did we know we were falling into something wonderful. Since coming to Washington, we have had adventure after adventure. We love our neighborhood, our ward, and our little town.

However, Greg’s work wasn’t quite as fun. His long commute and longer hours meant less time with the family. And after 12 years with the same company, his career took a less interesting path. So, last summer, he decided to start looking for a different career locally. After six months, we decided to expand our search and while our first preference was to move near family (if we had to move at all), a great opportunity presented itself in Boise. Within 3 weeks, Greg went from a phone interview to having an offer in hand.

The plan from here is up in the air. Greg reports to work on February 18^th. The kids and I are going to stay and finish things up here – maybe until spring break. Right now, I’m spending a lot of time communicating with relocation agents, bankers, realtors while getting the house show ready and trying to keep life “normal” for kids with Valentine’s Day, Star of the Week, and all that other good stuff that happens everyday. Thanks goodness for wonderful friends who have taken my kids on playdates and provided food for us. It’s such a blessing.

We’ll update our “plan” as we go. Thanks to everyone for all your support and love!

Our Reactions

Reactions to the Move

Greg’s Reaction: Slow and Steady. Greg has loved the northwest climate and amenities the most out of everyone, but he is excited for the opportunities and growth Micron will provide for his career.

Sally’s Reaction: All over the place (come on, you guys know me – hello, drama). One minute I smile as I recall all our good times as a family in Boise (the two houses we built, bringing my babies home, spending time with friends) and then the next, I am crying as I drive up the beautiful little hill to my subdivision and a hawk flies over my truck, and I realize that we will soon be gone. Through all of it, I’m learning a lot about myself and even more about life, control, prayer, faith, home, and family.

“Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.” 

I really like this quote because I have lived in a lot of places (Indiana 6yrs, Florida 8yrs, Pennsylvania 5yrs, Utah 5yrs, Idaho 8yrs, and Washington 3yrs) and I have found good people and great things to love everywhere I've lived. I feel blessed to keep all those memories inside me. 

Ethan’s Reaction: “Let’s go to our old house and kick them out and say – ‘This is our old house – give it back!” No, really, Ethan is a lot like me. One minute he was jumping for joy remembering his Idaho friends, the machine gun shoot, and the pug parties, but as he fell asleep, he was sad to leave friends and things he was looking forward to doing here.

Katie’s Reaction: The news came a little harder for young Katie who was only 18 months old when we moved here. She doesn’t have memories of Boise. At first, she just cried big crocodile tears. “Will someone else live in our house forever??!!!” “But I love my teachers (school and church).” We are answering her questions one at a time.

A Few Things We Will Remember/Miss about WA: The green, the green, the green J. Ok, a few other things: the short drive to waterfalls and amazing hikes, the hills and rivers, Seattle and all it offers (Symphony, Space Needle, Museums, Pike’s Market), our Canada excursions, Helping clean and do the Veteran’s Day flags for the cemetery by our house, the birds in our backyard, our neighborhood (Christmas lights, 4^th of July parade &Halloween)

(I will NOT miss the slugs – not one bit.)

Things We Look Forward to in Boise: The sun, the sun, the sun. J For real: More time as a family, better career for Greg, Machine Gun Shoot, Catching up with old friends, Boise Pug Parties, Snow Days, Being closer to Greg’s family (in Northern Utah)

(I do NOT want to go back to the ragweed – not one bit.)

Father's Day

For Father's Day, I made a slideshow of Greg and Katie. When Ethan was four, I made a father/son one, so this is a father/daughter one. I wanted to go country and use Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes" song, but this song has is special for Greg and Katie. Katie knows it by heart and loves to bounce around the house singing it. So, I abandoned my country singing, tear jerking ways for once and give you this....:)

Ethan's Father's Day Video when he was four years old (No, I did not give up country for this one!):

http://sneakypugprivate.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-post.html

July 16th

Sneakypug Private

July 15th - Gettysburg

Sneakypug Private

July 15th - Day 1, Lunch

Sneakypug Private

July 15th- Day 1

Sneakypug Private

July 14th - Travel Day

Sneakypug Private

One Month - Three Trips

Sneakypug Private

New Haircut

Sneakypug Private

Family Visit

Sneakypug Private

Baptism

Sneakypug Private

Around the House

Sneakypug Private

Garden Fence

Sneakypug Private

Sandbox

Sneakypug Private