Month: December 2023

House Photos with Betsy, and Reunion with the Easton-Flakes

Lily and worked a lot yesterday and this morning to get the house ready for photos. We were so happy to have our artist friend Betsy Croft offer to take pictures of our house for us to help us rent the house. Betsy is always so fun, and not only were her pictures amazing, but we were laughing and enjoying ourselves the whole time she was over. What a ray of sunshine! It was also sweet how she worked in a picture of Clarissa as she was taking photos. I want us all to remember how much we loved this home, so for nostalgia and old times’ sake, here are many of the beautiful photos Betsy took.

After Betsy took pictures, I talked to Georgia’s bishop over the phone while she was in the office with him to help work through a question about her tithing because she currently can’t afford any of the care homes in North Carolina. The Bishop was a very good man and assured Georgia that tithing should be considered only after her needs are fully met, and he gave her comfort that she could prioritize her care, even if it meant not paying as much tithing as she used to, emphasizing that people are supposed to tithe on their increase. It was a wonderful meeting.

Then I went on a run and Amy and her kids came over to hang out. I really enjoyed talking with Amy, and Lily was over the moon to see her friend again. All the kids immediately melded like glue and started playing. Amy and her family have been traveling internationally for months, and just got home yesterday. Amy cried when she learned that we were moving, and the sentiment is so mutual. We have loved having them in our lives so much. And even though Lily is much closer to Amy then I am, I am going to miss her and her kids so much too, not just because I personally like them, but also because I observe how much light they bring to the entire family. I really hope we find ways to keep being in each others’ lives!

We ordered Via 313 pizza for dinner and I had forgotten how good that pizza is. We also celebrated Basil’s birthday (which was yesterday) by lighting a candle, singing, and giving him some pizza. I hope the video loads soon (and that I remember to post it), but until then, here is a picture:

In the evening, Lily creamed me in Wingspan 3 times, even when I had a Raven!

Jazz Game and Nails

Today I woke up early to play basketball, and then stumbled through my work day (I didn’t sleep very much). After work, I took all the kids to the Arches Gala while Lily got her nails done for the trip. Here are some fun scenes from the part of the Gala where we walked through the school learning about what the kids have been up to and the things they had created. Ammon was very excited as he walked around telling us about everything.

Then we had dinner at the Gala and Lily joined us. We were hoping the singing would be earlier so Ammon and Clarissa could participate, but they were running late, so we left before the kids sang because I had tickets to a Jazz game (extra tickets from Nick Apeland, my boss’s boss), and Lily had nail appointments for Mary, Lydia and Clarissa. Lydia and Mary never get their nails done because fancy nails don’t work with their instruments, but since they will be gone for a month with no music practice, this is their chance!

I had an awesome time at the Jazz game with Ammon. He has never been to one before and he was so cute how excited he was. He said, “Thank you, thank you dad!” as we were walking up to the stadium. He was also very excited about the vision of junk food that I painted for him. Right after we sat down, he turned to me and said, “OK, can we get junk food now?”. I made him wait until after the 1st quarter, but he definitely had his fill of ice cream and popcorn:

The Jazz got their clocks cleaned by the Clippers (who had Paul George, Russel Westbrook, Kuai Leonard and James Hardin), but I had so much fun paling around with my son and chatting with Steve who also got tickets and sat with me. Ammon got really tired at the end. It was very late, and I guess it was a lot of excitement for him! On the way out though he was still very happy.

Also here is a castle he built in the morning:

I love you Ammon!

Also, while Ammon and I were having fun, the daughters were all getting their nails done. I think they had fun!

What a fun day!

In Raleigh with Lily, and Thank you Baps and Bapa!

Lily and I have known for 6 months that there is a chance we move to Raleigh, for two months that there is a sizable chance that we will move to Raleigh, for a week that we are almost certainly moving to Raleigh and for a few days that we are definitely moving to Raleigh. Now that everything is official and I’m permitted to share with my work collegues, the cat is out of the bag, we are moving!

One of my favorite things about Lily is how fast she moves. I get overwhelmed easily, and upon learning that we were moving, I thought Spring might be a nice time, mostly because I was scared of the headache and wanted to take our time. Lily decided we should move right away, scheduled tickets to fly out (even before everything was official), flew out with me to view homes, orchestrated all the house viewings with an agent, organized a property manager to rent our home, found a photographer (who took photos), called multiple care facilities for her mother, and multiple other things all in one week (all while her Europe trip was only a week away!

I’m writing this entry on December 10. I signed my offer letter on November 30, 10 days ago. Now we are already under contract for a home, and about to list our home for a rental. We are only in this position because of Lily!

But this entry is about our visit to Raleigh. It felt like a date with a mission. Lily and I got to be with each other every day and look at homes together. We saw big homes, small homes, old homes, new homes, homes with a pool, homes near my work etc etc. Lily was so thoughtful about the decision, and we drove routes to homes to see what my commute would be like. We ended up choosing 3604 Lubbuck Street, right in Raleigh, only 10 minutes from the office. We fell in love with the charm of the house. It’s smaller than our current home, however, it has the space we need, is very well built and designed, and is incredibly charming. We fell in love with it, and being close to the office will really help me be successful. We also loved how warm, and friendly the people we met were (especially our realtors), and we also loved hearing all the people with their North Carolina drawl.

One evening as we were driving around, we bumped into a private property that put on a huge display of Christmas lights and allowed people to drive through for a fee. Lily and I drove through and enjoyed it. It was nostalgic because one of the first things we did together when we first started spending more time together was drive through a neighborhood in Itasca looking at Christmas lights together. Here is a video we took:

None of this would have been possible without my dad and Suzanne staying with us to take care of the kids the whole time we were gone, and on short notice. The kids had so much fun with them, and we are profoundly grateful for the way in which they enabled this important weekend for us!