We made a big move for our little family. I know I've been keeping the blog readers in suspense without internet for the past five days so here is the story. (part I in this post- I mean 5 days without internet is a lot to catch up on!)

We loved our little house on McKendry where Brian (and Katherine!) lived while we were dating, I moved into when we got married, we remodeled together, built and re-built up the backyard for parties, brought Francie home from the hospital, brought Maisie home from the hospital and started our family together. It will always be such a special place for us and we loved our neighbors. We were only 1.5 miles from work, less than a mile from my parents and I have to say it again- we LOVED our neighbors!! BUT it was a little house and we were quickly outgrowing it- "busting at the seams" as Heff says.

When Heff bought 369 McKendry Drive 7 years ago, it looked like this:

and when I met him three years later he had already improved it to this! (wonder why our neighbors like us as much as we like them? ;)

together we continued to fix it up with lots of weekend projects- we remodeled the kitchen the week we got back from our honeymoon- and did it ourselves in two weeks with only an electrician to do the final wiring! We put in gardens, fences, gates, playhouses, chickens, BBQ's, new lawns and so much more. We sure love this house and it has been a labor of love to work on it together over the years.

Here is Heff building the front picket fence when I was pregnant w Francie)

We made a nursery for our first baby. I know- I thought for sure it would be a boy! and we changed that nursery when SHE was 6 months old- had to pink it up!

We brought home MaryFrances September 22, 2007

and we left our house for the hospital to have Maisie- last time as a family of three! (still looking for the photo of bringing home Maisie- poor second child!)

We weren't even really serious about looking for a bigger house yet. It seemed too scary and we figured we could live in our little house (with one bathroom:) for a couple more years and be ok. At Christmas- we came home from Red Bluff with a car full of new toys/stuff and were kind of depressed as we looked around like "where do we put this stuff?!" and it seems crazy to me that 4 months later - we are in a new home. I guess you never know how things will play out! But we found a house we fell in love with and after months of thinking, talking, offering, countering... we got the house!

so we started packing up.

One box at a time

Good thing I had helpers

Some photos of our "old house" right before I started packing up- yup, busting at the seams.

our little blue room- never could bring myself to take the bassinet out (or really maybe just didn't know where to put it!)

FROM THIS:

TO THIS!

Francie's room (/girls closet/Heff's closet/office!)

TO THIS:

Hallway- maybe one of the only sparse and clean places left in the house!

Kitchen

Living Room

Dining room- last picture before I BOX UP the house!

and Heff's big weekend job - cleaning up, organizing and packing "his" garage

wow

Satisfaction

Oh yeah- and we had a garage sale! I love a good garage sale :) we cleared out a bunch of stuff and made a whopping $314 in change. Heff says it would have been way easier to take the tax write off and donate it all but what fun would that have been!? Plus- Francie go to earn quarters selling some old toys and she put each one in her tool belt around her waist. Little bargainer.

The best part of the garage sale was when we put the leftover crap out on the curb and posted it as FREE on Craigslist. This guy showed up- was ecstatic to find an old Santa suit (from when we had santa on an adirondack chair on the roof) and he put the whole thing on, got back in his truck with wife and kid and drove away as Santa.

even Maisie, from her favorite perch in the old house- thinks this guy is nuts

Jannie came over Thursday and said "It's moving day!" we were waiting for the call to say we actually closed!

holy stuff

"last meal" in her little chair ;) (where are all the Francie picks when I am packing up!? smart girl was probably hiding in her playhouse so she didn't get put to work)

oh there she is- pouting on top of boxes in Jannie's car(she was REALLY sad to leave Emma & Owen :(

a little cranky

my car (the day we closed we moved all the little stuff ourselves- movers came next morning!)

Happy husband- and I have to give him credit for being so willing to move/lift/just DO when I wanted to get in the new house the first second we could! Thanks Heff- sorry you didn't marry someone patient :)