Our New House

We love our new house and neighborhood. This was the best move we have ever made. In spite of moving to the city, we have the closest neighborhood feel that we have ever had. I am constantly running into people at stores, school, etc. that we have met since moving here. I find myself saying "what a small world" often.

Most people that live in this area are here to stay. They have found their dream home, and it isn't what we are used to in the suburbs with people moving all the time (including us). The boys have found great friends at school, and a best friend their age that lives down the street. Their friend, Sullivan, is at our house most days (or the boys are at his house). Sullivan is the nicest and most respectful 8 year old child I have ever met.

I cannot say enough great things about this neighborhood and community. We love, love, love being here. I also didn't realize how much I love mountains. Our community is surrounded on 3 of the 4 sides with mountains. We are anxious for the weather to cool down so we can go on the many hiking trails. When I am in my kitchen, I look out my window at the mountains. There are mountains everywhere I look, and I enjoy their beauty daily.

Even though our house needs a lot of remodeling, we still love it. We have finished the first phase of major remodeling, and we hope to begin the next phase sometime in the spring of 2014. In the meantime, there are a ton of small projects to do around the house that also keep us busy. This house and neighborhood are just so comfortable and inviting. I never thought moving INTO the city would provide such an amazing atmosphere. We just love it so much!

Below are some pictures:

Built in 1969

Kitchen Before. The stove was circa 1969 I think. It was connected to the microwave, and the microwave had dials on it. Same with the wood paneled dishwasher.

Kitchen under construction. New doorways cut into the dining room (office now), and old doorways widened.

What the kitchen looks like today. The height is only 7 feet, so we removed the upper cabinets. You couldn't see anything if you were standing by them because they blocked your view. We hope to replace the cabinets in 2014, and fix the ceiling lighting space sometime this year.

Part of family room looking into the dining room. Before picture.

Adding a wall and doorway into the dining room and turning it into our office. Cutting out a window between the living room and family room so that you can see straight through our house out to the golf course and mountains.

Family room After Picture. Partial railings were removed, walls were changed, shutters were added.

Living Room Before Picture

After picture. Wall cabinet removed, window cut out in left wall, partial wall removed splitting this from entry way, carpet replaced with wood tile. The carpet was new, so we transferred it to the hallway and removed the old tile there.

Another photo. The chess table is Adam's deceased grandfather's. Adam used to try to play chess with his grandpa. I believe his grandpa had re-built that table after it had been on a train. His grandfather had worked for the railroad.

A partial view of the boys' room before we moved in. Baseboards have been added since this picture was taken.

This type of built in cabinets/closets are found in both the kids' rooms, the guest room, laundry room, and hallway. I love having the storage space! This photo is from the boys' room before it was painted.

Alemitu's room

Another view

This photograph doesn't do the artwork justice. We had a friend (another adoptive mother) create this work of art of Alemitu's room. The art is textured. Alemitu's name means "she is the world". So underneath this dress you can lightly see a globe. The beads on her necklace are real as well as the foil for her crown. I am in love with this piece of work.

View from my front porch looking down our street.