Fun with Family!

I've had a great time in the past few months hanging with family and friends. Now that I have two kids in Alaska, (Kaycee and Jay), two in New Jersey (Ian and Shayna), one in  Texas (Makensy), and three in Utah (Neal, Sophee, and Kamber) I find myself really treasuring time with family. Just a few pix and notes about my recent adventures.

My best buddy, Cheryl. At the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point in Provo.

Getting ready to head south with Jay. We enjoyed the tulips and hit the road to St. George. So fun to hang with Jay before he headed to his new job in Alaska!

Mother's Day with my little beauties. Ummm... yes... I find that being a grandma is so much more fun than being a mom!

Memorial Day with my little peeps. Couldn't pass up the patriotic gear that said, "Mommy's Cutie".

I had to go to Washington DC for a conference. So fun that Ian and Shayna drove down from McGuire AFB in New Jersey to spend some time with me. Shayna calls this, "Ian with his two favorite women." Lucky me!

Here we are at Mt. Vernon. I miss you guys!

My mom and her husband Steve drove 6 hours from Spring Valley AZ to check out our new digs. Much to my surprise my mom had never been to Zion National Park. We fixed that!

Home Sweet Home... Finally!

Never mind about the Lava Flow home. It never really came together for us. We waited 60 days hoping it would happen and it never did. But, during that time, we found the Bloomington Hills home! We got the keys on Friday. Painted on Saturday... and Sunday. On Monday, we cleaned out the storage unit and on Tuesday we cleaned our stuff out of Mom Lefler's home. I'm pretty sure a part of her was relieved! So grateful she put up with us for the past five months! Thanks Mom! Can't wait to stop moving in and start living here. Kitchen and Master Bedroom are unpacked. Doug is getting the garage storage ready so we can get organized. It's coming together...

So, here's some photos of our new home!

Nice Landscaping

Must Have! Three Car Garage

View From the Front Door

Master Bedrrom

Master Closet... yeah baby!

Master Bathroom... a Little Dated but Livable

View to the Backyard from the Master. Just This Side of the Golf Course.

Double Fireplace. This Half in the Living Room... the Other Facing the Kitchen.

Very Functional Kitchen... Also Needs Some Updating... But it Works!

Pantry!

View from the Kitchen

The Pink Bathroom... I have Ideas!

Bedroom 2... Nice Size!

My Room (Bedroom 3). Build in Sewing Desk for Me!

Walk in Closet in My Room!

Everything Looks Better From the Back of a Bike!

I started a new photo album on my computer and iPhone. The album is named the same as this post... because everything does! Doug and I have been re-exploring our amazing surroundings. I'm no photographer. I just like grabbing my phone and snapping a few shots while we are riding... if we are going slow enough... heaven forbid my phone blow out of my hands doing 80! Doug is great about slowing down if I see a photo op. So, here are a few things we have seen as we have meandered around the countryside:

Gunlock Loop

Hey Mad Cow... haven't you ever heard of a fence?! Shooo!

A beautiful clear day except for the unusually low cloud cover over the back side of Snow Canyon.

More clouds. Mysterious.

Lovely.

In honor of Earth Day, our ride through Zion National Park was FREE!

Love how I captured the mirror on the bike:o)

Breathtaking.

Maybe I am a photographer after all!?

Can I go everyday? Love this place. So many great memories with our kids here.

Not Homeless Anymore... Almost!

Our home in Pittsburgh sold the first weekend that it was showed!

Before Doug got to St. George in February, we had decided that there were some specific things that we wanted in our last home. I was hoping for four bedrooms. Yes, it's only me and Doug. But, I love company! I also wanted my own space for a sewing/office area. So, bedroom four would be mine and bedrooms two and three would be for kids and company. Bedroom one was on Doug's wishlist. A master suite were we weren't cramped... had to have an awesome bathroom :o)! We have to have a three car garage because Doug needs his own space, too.  A workshop PLUS room for two cars. I can't imagine what it would really be like to park inside a garage! Also, it all had to be on one level. It is our last house and we didn't want to have to think about stairs in our older years. Finally, if it had a pool, it would be perfect!

So, on the hunt I went. One morning before I went to work, I stepped out of my mom-in-law's house and looked out at the red rocks in the twilight. I saw some streetlights burning in the valley below and took a drive. I wove in and out the the streets of the perfect neighborhood. Beautiful homes, tidy yards, lovely area. And there it was. The for sale by owner that we would dub the Lava Flow house, named after the major cross street nearby.

From the outside, I could tell that it had a three car garage and lot's of concrete... perfect for the anti-yard work Lefler's. Fully fenced. The landscaping was beautiful. When I called on it, I learned that it was a divorce situation. The price of the house was a little more than we expected to spend but the judge ordered the price. The ex-wife would not agree to a price and the agreement finally had to be court ordered. As soon as Doug arrived, I dragged him over to the Lava Flow house. The house had EVERYTHING on our list! But, because it was a little more expensive, and the inside needed some changes to meet our taste, we decided to really start looking.

We hooked up with a great realtor when Doug got here. I thought it was kind of funny when the realtor said that there are two kinds of home buyers. Those who look and look before they decide and those who find the perfect house and keep looking until they convince themselves that they found the perfect house. Who knew that we would be the latter? After looking in every corner of St. George, we decided that we would have to bump up a little in price to get everything we wanted in our last home. And if we were going to do that, we might as well go for the Lava Flow house!

We ended up using our realtor to help us even though it was a for sale by owner. We figured that the ex's had attorney's and we had better have someone representing us! It's hard to believe that we made an offer on the house on February 27th! It took until last Thursday when the judge ordered the ex-wife to accept the offer. So, the ball has begun to roll... slowly still. But worth the wait!

Lava Flow House Front View

Side View (Part of the garage is blocked by the current owner's trailer)

I'm Here!

February 2012 was an amazing month! I feel so blessed to be back in sunny St. George Utah. I look at the red rocks and get a little teary eyed. I love it here and I feel like I'm home. Doug made it safely driving a 26 foot Uhaul and pulling his truck on a flatbed trailer... all by himself. It's wonderful to have him here.

My job at the Red Rock Center for Independents has been amazing. So much excitement... which I love... which I find that I sometimes create because I'm the new director... which keeps things exciting. Each week I think, "Things will calm down this week." But, alas five new employees started this week!

Our Pittsburgh house went on the market and we got an offer the first day it showed. It's pretty amazing. But, not all together surprising. I went to the temple the week before it went on the market and put: Lefler Home on the prayer roles. I'm grateful for all of the prayers on behalf of our home.

We have made an offer on a beautiful home here... pending the sale of our home. If it is mean to be, it will. I'm feeling at peace that it will all work out the way the Lord wants it to.

I thought I'd share a couple of photos that represent not only the physical nature of moving from Pittsburgh to St. George, but also the feeling. 

Goodbye dark clouds...

Hello SUNSHINE!

Before and After

So many things are going on in our lives right now. It was an incredible gift to be able to take a cruise to the Caribbean for a week together with our friends, Brad and Diane. We definitely took a vacation from everything... including the camera. On our way off the ship, the steward asked, "Did you escape completely?" I think if we had escaped completely, we would still be on the ship!

Getting Ready to Take off to Florida!

Waiting to Come Back to Pittsburgh... Relaxed and Tan!

 Once we got back to Pittsburgh, we loaded up my Little Punkin' (Orange Kia Soul) and hit the road to St. George Utah... a 30 hour drive. Of course Doug let my help him drive. Two hours seems fair enough... yes? The weather didn't get bad until we hit Provo. What a wonderful contrast to come to St. George... wash the Little Punkin' and enjoy some sunshine!

Before Arriving in St. George... ick!

Ahhh... After Arriving in St. George... I LOVE Sunshine!

Air Force Air Traffic Control Graduate

I had so much fun spending a couple of days with Ian and Shayna in Biloxi Mississippi. Ian studied air traffic control at Kessler Air Force Base.  I have a little photo diary to share with you.

Before the grad ceremony, Shayna and I stopped by a tourist trap by the gulf coast.

Shayna got a pix of me right before I was eaten by a hungry gator.

Waiting to graduate.

Congrats grad!

Proud Shayna and her Airman

Proud Air Force Mom

Ian's trainers invited us to watch Ian at the tower simulator. It was awesome!

Celebratory dinner. Crawfish with a Cajun kick

Gotta have the boiled shrimp!

Homemade bread puddin' with 'prawleen' sauce.  Best bread pudding ever!

Ian and Shayna ready to leave Mississippi with their car packed to the gills. They left a little space for me to get take me to the airport. There wasn't any room left in the trunk for me!

 Thank you two for a wonderful time! I'll be seeing you right after Christmas as you head through Pittsburgh on your way to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey! Safe travels!!