Home Sweet Home

Here is our new house!! I have gotten several requests to show pictures of our new house so those who don't live close to us can see it.

We moved to C.O. 4 1/2 years ago and wanted to buy a house then. We looked at a house that was just like this in a cul-de-sac that was going for almost 300,000. (It is pretty amazing that after four years this house is now half that price.) I loved the layout but we knew that we could not afford it. Since then the market has changed as you all know. Last year we saw that we could probably buy a house because they have come down so much in price. We had looked and looked. We also put several offers out there but they all fell through. Honestly, we were trying to get the tax credit and felt we had to get something soon. Nothing we saw really met the criteria that we were looking for until we came across this house in November.

I remember when our realator saw this house and commented that this was the house for us!! Everything I wanted in a house was there except for an upstairs laundry room. The house had dropped considerably in price and we moved on it, only to be out bid by someone else. This was how it would go the next couple of months. The bid would fall through, we would jump again and the bank would take someone elses offer, but that would fall through. Finally the first of Feb. the bank not only took our offer but counter offered. It was a better deal than what we offered. That doesn't usually happen. The reason all these offers kept falling through was because the house had been through some remodeling and it is hard to get an USDA loan on an unfinished house. Just before closing we found out that they were not giving out USDA loans anymore, we had just made it. The extended tax credit that the government was doing was also ending. We also got a low interest rate before they started going up again. As it turns out- we are now paying about the same per month in mortgage and taxes than we did renting. What a blessing!

I am so thankful that we were patient on this house hunt and that God closed the necessary doors and led us to this one. Sometimes it is very hard to be patient and wait. I had finally come to that place where I was ok with renting, possibly for the rest of my life, when this house came available.

I have posted some before and after pictures. I regret not taking pictures of the master bathroom before it was finished, or of the deck before the railing got put on. We were told that a contractor lived in the house before us and was remodeling it. He had already put in new carpet and hardwood floors. He was in the process of redoing the master bath when the house got foreclosed. The bank rehired him to finish the job he started. He did a wonderful job and we are so pleased.


This is a before and after of the dining room.

This is Jeff's bedroom. He is so happy to have his own room.


Josh was a little sad at first to have his own room (he loves his big bro) but now he loves it!


This is the master bedroom and bathroom. Notice....the bed is made!! I'm trying to keep it that way.





Here is the living room. The other side of this room is the dining room.


Here is Emma's bedroom. It will also be our guest room because it is downstairs and she has the neatest bedroom.

This is the downstairs full bath that I prayed for! It was important to me because my dad has M.D. and it is difficult for him to climb stairs.

I love this room! It is our family room. It connects with the dining nook and kitchen. Now I can hang out with the family when they watch tv and I am still cleaning the kitchen.

I love my kitchen! We had a friend who is a wonderful tiler redo the counter tops. The kitchen has so many drawers and cabinets I can't fill them all!

This is the boys upstairs bathroom. No one fights over the shower anymore.

The only picture I haven't shown you was Mandi's room. She is in the garage!! Yes, it is true. We have a three car tandem garage. The tandem part will be walled in soon and it will be her bedroom. The church's house warming gift is to send several guys over next month to wall in her room, put in a door, closet and a window. Some new carpet was donated from a worship team member in the church. Mandi is very excited about this!!

Well that is it! We are very happy about this house and thank God for giving us a little bit of land in Central Oregon that we can call home. My prayer is that God will keep us here a very long time. I would love to see grand kids in this house!! But first....I want to raise these beautiful four children that God has given us. The 41/2 years that we have been in Redmond has been the longest we have been anywhere and the kids are reaping the benefit of that. It is very sad to think that I only have that same amount of time left before my oldest leaves home. How time flies.