Our New House!

God is sooo good! Last week we signed for the ONLY single family residence available in the two housing communities at the Naval Post Graduate School. Below is a copy of an email that many of you got a little while back, but right now I don't have the energy (our household goods came yesterday) to recreate it. :)

" We arrived early in the evening yesterday and because our girls are with my parents we were able to drive around both housing areas for a few hours figuring out what was available. We found a few new duplexes and lots old ones, built in the 1950’s. Sean also noticed that there was one single family home on the pending list. We decided to ask about that one first and then go with a new duplex if the house wasn’t available. Neither one of us slept very well last night. We kept reminding ourselves that God is in control and that he has the perfect house picked out for us, even if it doesn’t look that way to begin with. We knew of at least one other family who were looking for a house today. We felt a little like we were on the Amazing Race.

This morning we arrived early at the housing office, but it turned out to be the wrong housing office. By the time we got to the correct one the office had been open for about 10 minutes. Sean wasn’t stressed, but I was anxious. We walked in to the office and it was obvious we were the first ones there. The lady gave us the list of available units, all of them were duplexes. Sean asked her about the pending single family house. She looked at the list confused and said that she wasn’t sure what the status was on that one. She gave us a key to go look at a duplex and told us she would research the house. When we came back about 30 minutes later she told us that the house was available!!!! She said the last residents moved out December 12th and that she had no idea why it hadn’t been made available. I was thinking, “ I know why, God has been saving it for us!”

Not only did we get a house, but it is right next door to the neighborhood park and I can watch children play from my kitchen through the family room window. The girls like to watch other kids play too although Jenna is working on sharing her park and not getting upset when others are playing. Heather reminded me the other day that I had prayed for a house close enough to walk to a park. God outdid himself on this one. :)

Sean found an amazing deal on a fantastic gas grill, so even though we had to live in the house for a week without our stuff we were well fed. :) We were able to borrow a card table and some chairs, along with some dishes from the local post lending closet and of course we had our air mattress and the girls tinkerbell beds. My parents had also given us small couch and a kids table which I was thrilled could fit in my Pilot. I was even more excited when I remembered that we had it after being told that we wouldn't have our things for a week.

My parents brought the girls up on Thursday. It was strange being in an empty house, but we made the most of our time. On Saturday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is everything that I hoped it to be and it is 13 minutes from our house. There were so many exibits and lots for kids to do. They even have an area disignated for infants and toddlers. This will be a must see for anyone who comes to visit.

There are many things that I already love about this house. The breakfast bar is the perfect place for the girls to eat breakfast and lunch while I am working in the kitchen. I was plesantly suprised to find that Sophie could hold her own on a bar stool. I also love having the backyard right off the diningroom and the fact that it is warm enough in January to play outside without a lot of layers. It's not very pretty, just a concret slab with out 5 feet of gravel beyond that, but it is clean, fun to play with and requires very little clean up which will be a welcome break from our last home.One of the biggest thrills yesterday was when the "brown beds" were unpacked. Jenna has been asking for her bed for about a month now. She told me that she wants to put her tinkerbell away and not get it out for a long time. I couldn't agree more. So now the unpacking has begun. My parents left today, but we were able to get the living area and kitchen unpacked while they were here a long with a good portion of the girls room. I am so grateful for them. I just wish I could return the favor and help them pack up in a few weeks in preparation for moving to Dallas. I'll post some before and after pictures as soon as we have "after" pictures.