Anyone want a house?

Well, the first official day of escrow, the buyers backed out. The husband and wife were fighting, so they decided it wasn't the right time to buy a house. Oh well. They were driving me crazy anyway! The whole process was. Not so easy to sell a house! So, if anyone needs a house, please let me know!

We spent the day yesterday at a beach in Oregon. It was so cool. Cold weather, gloomy, overcast, but the kids had a great time digging in the sand for hours and Luke of course loved going in the ocean. And then we BBQ'd on the beach and had a bonfire, with s'mores and everything! - something you can't easily do in California. Such a neat concept! It was after 9 last night when we left the beach, and we were the first in our group to leave, but we had 2 hours to drive home!

Hucks (no longer) in the Hood

Well, we're gone! After two days of driving (YUCK!!!) we made it to Washington at about midnight last night. We had a good drive though. We stopped at the new Sacramento Temple for the open house - it was really nice and we really enjoy visiting as many temples as we can. We looked all over for our nephew, Elder Huckvale, but he wasn't there, and the one Sister that I spoke with didn't know who he was. Oh well. We weren't meant to see him.

Then, on Friday we kind of went out of the way and visited the Jelly Belly Factory. It was really cool and we got to tour the factory and find out how Jelly Belly's are made. Gave me a whole new appreciation for Jelly Bellys!

Now, we're just kicking it with Bob and Susie, trying to figure out how this new temporary life of ours is going to work out. All will be well. D starts his new job on Monday and he is excited to be back at work. Believe it or not, he really enjoys what he does. He gets to play all day and come away with something he's created at the same time. Can't beat that!

Going, going, gone...

Well, today's the day! The boxes are packed, and the cars are getting packed (and the kids are still sleeping!). Just a couple more hours and we'll be outta here. Headed to Sacramento to go to the new temple open house on our way to Washington. Bittersweet really. Very happy to be moving out of Los Angeles, but sad to leave our "home"... our family, friends, the life we know. I think that I am the only one having a hard time with it though. It really hit me last night when we drove out of Grandma and Grandpa's driveway for the "last" time. Sure, we'll be back to visit, but it won't be living 15 minutes away (at least we hope not!), "let's go to grandma and grandpa's to swim", just because we can.

Still not sure if house is sold or not, but kind of past it right now. Just want to leave here, get to Washington and sleep for about a month. Just sit on the couch and not move for as long as I can. Get a pedicure (I really need one!). Enjoy some nothingness. Won't last for long though. The kids have about 3 weeks before they start new schools, and I would really like to do some fun stuff and some exploring in our new area before then. The summer has been kind of stinky, except for our fun trip at the beginning, so I'd really like to make it up to them a bit. We'll see. We might just end up at Aunt Heidi's house painting her new kitchen! :O)

Sold???

The house may be sold! Not sure yet. Someone made an offer on it yesterday, and now we're going back and forth with counter offers. Their original offer wasn't very good, so it really bugged us. Well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

Still packing. The Relief Society President and one of the other women (THANKS Sister Stoll and Sister Menoitti!) came over yesterday and packed up our kitchen for us. It was so nice... I really hate to pack breakable items!! They were here for about 3 hours and did an awesome job! Only problem was, we had almost no way to make dinner last night! Everything had to be microwaved! Oh well, that's my kind of cooking!!!

Today it's back to playdates for the kids and more packing for us. Only two more days. YIKES!

Animals in the Hood

First off, a plug for BARNYARD. Go see it! It's cute, and D worked on the movie. Check the credits - under Layout Artist - Lead Layout Artist. Very exciting! I LOVE to see his name in the credits. Always makes me tear up a bit!

Anyways, haven't written in a while. Just been busy. The countdown is on for the big move. House not sold yet, keep your fingers crossed, but we all leave next Thursday with just some supplies in the cars. D's new job starts the following Monday, so we're leaving the house in the realtors hands and staying with Bob and Susie in the meantime. I'm a little, ok maybe a lot, freaked out at this new adventure, but excited as well and ready to get out of L.A. We gave our farewell talks in church last week, so now there's nothing left to do. Today all the kids have playdates scheduled with their best friends, and then we're pretty much ready to go. YIKES!!! Derrick and I went to the Los Angeles Temple last night for one final time, and now it's just clearing up the final things, and saying good-bye.

Oh my goodness...

at our house on Saturday, it was 117 degrees!!! What's that about? We don't live in Las Vegas, Arizona or the middle of the desert for that matter, yet we're getting weather to compete with them. Crazy!

On a sadder note... I feel so bad because our dog, Baloo, bit our nephew, Dakota, on the face yesterday. I don't know why, and it really bothers me. We've had Baloo for 7 years, since he was a baby, and he's never bit anyone before. Other than eating flies (which I totally appreciate!), he's the nicest dog. Now I'm not sure what we're going to do!!! And poor Dakota! He finally got comfortable swimming, and now he has to stay out of the water for 5 days! Luckily, no stitches, but he did have to have his face glued back together! :O(

CRAZY!

Well, it really happened! Yesterday the "FOR SALE" sign went up in our front yard. I can hardly believe it! Now, it's just a matter of keeping our finders crossed that it is someone's dream house.

Other than that, we've been taking a bit of time off after working our butts off on Monday. We spent yesterday and today swimming at grandma & grandpa's house - well, I didn't today because I had to work, but everyone else did. Much more the way they would like to spend their summer!

What a pain!

Well, our home officially goes on the market this week. Wow! Totally crazy! Grandma Helen and I have been packing boxes all week - THANKS GRANDMA!!! - while D has been installing new electric garage doors, closet doors and lots of other random things that only he would think of. And lots of thanks to Amanda too for helping me to paint all the doors and door frames!!! Again, totally crazy!!

Just sitting in the house right now trying to cool off a bit after we pulled all the weeds in the backyard - in 100 degree weather! Gotta get it pretty though! My hands are killing me! Then D's off to Home Depot (which he hates!!) for some more white paint and some ground cover. All our trash bins are overflowing, and there's still lots to do... and throw away! Wish us luck! Love to all!

Home???

Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! This is one of my favorite holidays!! I love red, white and blue! I love the fireworks, the bbq and the ultimate pool party at Grandma and Grandpa Huckvale's house! I love our country and am so happy to be a part of it!

We finally made it home from all of our adventures (and what a great time we had! We loved seeing all the many friends and family all over the place - we love you all!)! We got home at about 11:00 last night, and now it's time to start packing - after the ultimate pool party today, of course! Derrick was offered the job in Portland, starting August 14th, so we have about 6 weeks to pack a house, sell a house, buy a new house and move to another state. Yikes! Lucky for us, Bob and Susie said we could stay with them for a while if we need to, but we have to at least know the area that we are planning on moving to so that the kids can start school come Labor Day. Wish us luck!

What a view...

This is the view from Bob & Susie's porch. Isn't it amazing? Right above Lacamas Lake.

House hunting...

Just spending our days in Washington/Oregon looking for a house. I hate house hunting! It's almost as bad as buying a new car!

Still away from home...

After a few fun days at Yellowstone National Park, we are now in Camas, Washington. We had a great time in Yellowstone, and really enjoyed all the natural beauty! It's amazing what God has created! And there were so many animals. Derrick kept saying we could go and see them all at the zoo, but it's not the same as seeing them in the open. We saw a bunch of elk, bisons, birds, part of a moose (he was hiding in some trees), and almost a bear. When we were eating lunch, this huge bison just came walking across the street, through all the cars, thinking nothing of it. Totally crazy!

Crazy driving all day yesterday has found us in Washington at Bob & Susie's house. We are here for a couple of days checking out the area and looking at houses (looks like we might actually be moving here - crazy!), then back home for us just in time for the 4th of July. Hopefully we won't kill each other before then. Having a great time just cruising the U.S.!

Still on the road...

Well, we survived Aspen Grove and are now, believe it or not, in Montana, heading to Yellowstone later today. Aunt Sherri and Uncle Curtis have a townhouse out here, so we decided to come play for a few days. Not sure how long we are staying, just having a grand ol' time driving aimlessly. Aspen Grove was great! We had a really good time with all of our cousins, and then headed to Salt Lake for a Dean Cousin Reunion which includes all of Derrick's extended family. That was a lot of fun too! It's always nice to see all the family. Now, depending on whether I have to work at Memories on Wednesday or not, we will still be heading to Oregon/Washington at the end of this week. Who knows? Just enjoying our time together.

Chad turned 10 on Saturday! I can't believe that we have a 10-year-old!!!! Crazy! Wow!... that makes us old. A 10-year-old going into 5th grade! He's such a good kid too!!! We love him so much! Happy Birthday our sweet baby boy! We love you!

Derrick and I also celebrated our 13-year anniversary yesterday. Didn't do anything exciting (there's not a whole lot in Big Sky, MT, if you're not skiing!), except search for moose around the neighborhood, but it doesn't stop the fact that we've been together for 13 years, are still crazy-in-love with each other, and have 4 wonderful kids, who only drive us crazy some of the time. I love you D! Thanks for the past 13 years... more than half-way to 25 as you told me!!!

Hittin' the road...

Well, we still don't know what the job situation is - sigh! it's driving me crazy - but we're hitting the road today for Utah. Off to a week in Aspen Grove, BYU's family summer camp. We go every couple of years, and it's always a lot of fun. Most of the Huckvale's will be there - except for Rick and Terri and their family - and we're celebrating Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary, so that's pretty exciting.

Then, we might head to Oregon/Washington or Texas for a few days as well. Don't know. Just cruising around America for a while. Might as well, huh? It's summer... and it's way too hot already to stay home!!!

Hucks outta the woods?

Well, D and I spent the weekend in Portland. He went for a job interview and the company flew me out there too... wasn't that nice of them? We had a great time with Bob and Susie and their family - those that are there, at least - and with Heidi and her kids. It's always so nice to see our family! We also really enjoyed it up there in Oregon and Washington. Yes, for those of you "rain-freaked" people, it was a bit rainy, but when we touched down in Burbank it was 99 degrees - I'll take the rain over that any day!

The kids spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Huck. They had a great time - although Luke now knows my cell phone number and called almost every hour on the hour!!! Grandma took the boys and Haley to their school carnival on Saturday and Macy went to the Dodgers game with Grandpa. They all had a great time!

Haley's New Leg!

Today Haley got her cast off! YEAH!!! For those of you that don't know, she broke her leg on our trampoline about a month ago and had a cast put on that went from her toes all the way to her hip on her 2nd birthday. What a great present for her!!! But today, after deciding that she needed to swim yesterday with the cast on, the doctor decided it was time for it to come off. It's so nice to see her cute little leg again (and she was so happy to be able to take a bath in the bathtub - not the kitchen sink!). And, she's walking really good on it, except for the fact that she insists on walking on her tip toes!

(This is a pic of her with cast #2 on - the first one, which she wore out, was hot pink!)

Me with raccoon eyes.. and in the claustrophic machine!!!

Eyes 101

Well, as my first post to our family blog, I need to say that I finally went through with it!!! I had Lasik surgery today!!! Yippee!!! It was very scary to me, and although heavily sedated (thank you!) I still almost bolted at the last minute. Just a bit of that claustrophobic thing of having something right in your face! Now, I can (almost) see really well!!!