Family Weekend

We had a busy weekend...

SHOWER
On Friday my aunts threw me a baby shower. It was fun to have so many family members together. I received many lovely gifts. Thank you family! This picture below shows the cute blankets given to Baby Wilcox. My sisters and I all wore teal on accident so we needed a shot.



REUNION
On Saturday we had a family reunion. It rained ALL day! But luckily the pool was heated. Here are some of the pictures of AJ, Monica, and Johnny playing with Olivia.



It was important we could still use the pool because we had some water contests to compete in. AJ won 3! He won the rubber ducky contest where you have to guide a duck with your nose to the other side of the pool, the cannon ball contest, and the swim with a ball between your knees contest. I was very proud of him. Here is a collage of some of his jumps off the diving board.

Here we have a real treat with Ashleigh and Bob doing a graceful synchronized swimming routine for our entertainment.



FATHER'S DAY

We spent Father's Day with my parents in the morning on Sunday. They were still in town from the reunion. I think this is the first Father's Day I've spent with my Dad since my first year of college in 2003. It was fun.

Marcus got a card from my parents that says, "Some super heroes don't have capes" and of course being pregnant (that is my excuse!) I had to fight back the tears. But I do think that Daddies are heroes. They do so much good. I know I love my Dad!

I gave AJ a painting of male Emperor Penguins who incubate their eggs through the rough winters. They have to endure temperatures of -80* and winds of 100 mph for 2 months and go without food for 3 months. This is what I call a hero penguin!

After my parents and Erika, Marcus, and Olivia (the Cardons stayed at our home) went home we headed up to AJ's parents'. Karma had an amazing roast and mashed potato dinner for us! We got to spend some time with Karma and Steve and have some Father's Day time with them too.

Here is Livvy playing the drums AJ bought a month or so ago.

Here is my latest pregnancy shot.

New House!

***Thanks Diane for your recommendation of using Picasa. It did the trick!***

After AJ got a full time job in mid-April I crunched the numbers hard core to see if we could afford a better living environment. Our apartment was terrific and has allowed us to save a lot of money over the last few years but it was limited on space especially with a baby on the way.

I searched everyday on ziprealty.com to find possible homes we could look at but so many were short sales or too pricey. We could not find anything in our price range that also had all the things that we wanted.

We were really discouraged one Sunday in mid-May. Then the following Monday, May 11th I had some extra time after a doctor's appointment and thought I would look again. I found a home with no picture listed but had many of the things we were looking for in a house.

I never looked at the listings without pictures because that usually means their ugly or I am just not enticed enough to look more. However, this time I looked. When I saw it was built in 2009 and was the square footage it was I thought for sure it was another short sale. I looked it up and it was a regular sale!

That night my sister Monica came over and she, AJ, and I drove by the house since it was near our apartment. It was a dream! So pretty! We peeked into the windows to see what it was like and I felt my jaw drop to the ground. I had to dust it off so I could tell AJ I wanted to make an offer ASAP.

I like the house so much I asked Monica if she would go back with me after dinner so I could take pictures of it (I hadn't taken pictures earlier). When we came back we found a flyer about the house with the builder's phone number on it. Since our real estate agent was out of town for the week I decided to call the builder to see if we could get in sometime soon. He told us he could show us the house that night and that it was funny I called when I did because just an hour before he got a message that the contract the house was in fell through.

When we arrived we found another couple and their agent at the house. They had been trying to get into the home for a while and happened to be passing by when they saw the lights on with the builder preparing to show the house.

AJ and I liked it so much we emailed our agent to make an offer first thing in the morning. We found out that couple that stopped in had made an offer that night and another couple people made offers as well. Yikes! We were up against some tough competition.

Luckily, our offer was the strongest and with a connection we had at Zions we knew we could close faster than usual which was important to the builder. We made an offer on Tuesday, May 12th and found out that night that our offer was accepted. We closed on Wednesday, June 3rd and moved in Thursday, June 4th.

There were many events that made this beautiful, beyond-our-reach home somehow within our reach. It is another display of Heavenly Father's blessings when He says "prove me now herewith...if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." (Mal 3:10) There were also many friends and family members who help us ready loan papers, pack, clean, etc. THANK YOU!

BEFORE

AFTER

Setting up and trying out our new dining table.

He Made It!

One of AJ's life goals is to run a marathon. Well, check that one off the list! He ran the Utah Valley Marathon and came in at about 5 hours and 55 minutes exceeding his expectations. He ran for 16 miles straight. Here are some pictures.

(BTW: I haven't forgotten about posting about our new house but I am trying to figure out how to do a collage because I don't want to upload 50 pictures on here. If you have a collage program you use please pass on the web address in the comments. Thanks!)








And here is the most recent picture I have of my pregnant self. Outie belly button and all.

GPS Joke

AJ and I are both a little directionally challenged and we have a GPS that we use to ease the discomforts of this ailment. Our GPS talks really strangely sometimes so we like to make fun of it. We appreciate a good GPS joke. This is right up our alley and I thought others might like it too.

Closing on a HOUSE on Wednesday!!!

Title speaks for itself! (I'm going to post some pictures as soon as we're in.)