But let me remind you that we lived in an amazingly beautiful place before, too. One that we loved dearly and were sad to leave behind. One where the mountains were right next door, and a river ran (practically) through our back yard. One where we had our first baby, Callie June, and watched her first two years of life develop. One where we had dear ward friends who substituted as family since we were so far away from our own. One where our family came to visit and explore with us for vacation. One where so many people came to vacation . . . but we got to live there year-round!
So, why the change? We didn't have to move in the sense that Gregg had a job change or we could no longer afford it or anything like that. But the thought had been on our mind for a long time, and we just felt that now was the right time to make the move. Here in Eden, we are happy to be within an hour and a half of both sets of grandparents (and a lot of great-grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles, too). We're happy to have no shared walls and a lot more space to spread out. We're happy to have a "yard" to work in, seemingly endless quiet streets and trails to explore, and a huge park just a block away. We're happy to be somewhere where the cost of living is such that we can save (a lot) more money and eventually (soon, we hope) buy a house to really set down some roots.
So yes, it was hard to say goodbye to our life in Colorado - bittersweet has been a word we've used a lot over the past couple of months - but here we are, jumping into a new adventure in what is surely the Garden of Eden.
First load - garage stuff and weirdly shaped stuff and stuff we won't need for a few weeks - in my dad's truck early in April. |
Bobbi and Evee Brook helped Cal clean the windows while the menfolk from the ward were loading the truck. |
That's most of our stuff (minus two mattresses that we slept on that night as well as some other miscellany we threw in Friday morning) and still there's room to spare! Good tetris skills, Gregg! |
Some of the others who came to help: The Jeremies (Slade on the left and Huntley on the right) and Bishop Webb (back to us). |
The Elders stopped by, too. Not pictured, but present: Heather Hay and Chris Brook. And the Rosenfelds stopped by to say goodbye after everyone was done and gone. |
One last outside shot - complete with our Budget truck in the driveway. |
Packed car! |
Park stop in Green River - a must for an antsy toddler (and pregnant momma). Cal found some treasures to show Grandma. |
There's that trusty truck, this time in the Eden driveway. |
Home sweet home at "Cowies New House!" |
And here is Cal in her new room. |
Unpacking party with the cousins and aunties - Cal was in heaven! |
Looks like Grandma is in heaven here. :) |
Now for a little tour. Hang tight, there are still a grundle of photos to go!
View from the northwest corner of the house, looking northwest-ish. |
Same view Gregg saw, just a couple days later. This is from the front porch. |
Standing at the end of our driveway (on garbage day) and looking right will give you this view. |
And this is what you see when you look left from the same spot. |
Looking up from the driveway gives you this. These trees are stinkin' tall! |
And, of course, from the end of the driveway looking back at the house, you see this. |
Another view of the jungle, looking north east from the northwest corner of the house. |
This is Stan's house, up the lane that goes in front of our house. |
Some pretty "wild" tulips growing along the east fence line. This is looking from the southeast corner of the lot looking north. |
Another view of the deck area (and door into the garage) from the great room doors. |
And why don't we head inside, while we're at it? This post isn't long enough as it is, let's just add even more photos to the tour!
In the same doorway, just looking back into the kitchen. |
Same doorway, looking into the front room. |
Dos's room is full of stuff right now - including all the broken closet doors from the rest of the house. Another quirk? That window looks directly into the garage. |
Cal's room when it's all "put together". |
Our room/Gregg's office. |
Hallway bathroom. |
Master bathroom with a long closet on the right, opposite the vanity. |
And here we are again, back down the hall with another view of the kitchen. |
Whew! You made it. Welcome to our new home! As you can see, we have plenty of space for you to roll out a sleeping bag, so come visit!
Looks like home! I agree that Colorado was a great spot. I was always impressed with the friendliness of your ward family. They sure took great care of you when Callie was born😊. I'm pretty happy to have you close now in another pretty place!
ReplyDeleteMoving is always hard, but it looks like you've found a great and beautiful spot to live . . . and until it's time to move again ;) Enjoy your "Garden of Eden".
ReplyDelete