New house!

After a year and a half of living with David's parents (thank you!!!) so we could save money, 6 months of that time spent actively househunting, we found, bought, and moved into our very own first home last month! The house we found really fits our needs: it has 3 bedrooms, 2 living areas (1 of which we've turned into a playroom), a big backyard, good schools, in the same church ward, and we're only about a half mile from David's parents' house, so the kids still get good Grandma and Grandpa time. There is a lot of work that we have done and much more that we want to do to get everything the way we want it, but that's true with most houses. So, without further ado, here are some pictures of our house! (I apologize to those of you who may not be that interested in all of these pictures. They're mainly meant for family members who don't live nearby and can't see our house.)

The house isn't much to look at from the front, especially with all of these overgrown bushes and trees. David has been working really hard to get them out (they're holly, which are technically trees, so they're no good for right up against the house), so I will have to do some good before and after pictures once we put in our own landscaping. The dead bushes are from the foundation repair company, who actually did us a favor by ripping out a few of the bushes to do their work. It's a little funny, though, that they stuck them back in dead.

Enjoying popsicles after hard work in the front yard

No more bushes on the west side! The playroom is so bright now. :)

This is the playroom, which is immediately to your right when you walk in the front door. The kids are loving having a room to play in, and we are loving that their toys aren't in their room. We also like the "reading nook" with the blue chair next to the bookcase.

Playroom looking into the front entryway

Here's the kitchen, and the door straight ahead goes into the playroom

Here's the living room, looking into the eating area in the kitchen.

And another view of the living room. The hallway to the left leads to the bedrooms, and the curtains to the right are covering the sliding door to the backyard.

Hallway to bedrooms. Going counterclockwise from the bottom right, the doors lead to the bathroom, furnace closet, master bedroom, Grant's room, and Evelyn's and Edison's room.

The week we moved the kids helped us make signs for each of the bedroom doors

Evelyn's and Edison's room, including the much-loved bunk bed.

Well, this is it for now! Stay tuned for more to come!