Week 22 was the week of the 4th of July and we spent it with James, Holly, the boys, Philip and Amanda. It was so great to relax a bit before the scramble of getting ready for our big Alaska Vacation. 4th of July has become one of those holidays that I really look forward to. Not only do you get to cook out and eat good food, watch fireworks, catch up with family, but we get to celebrate our independence, give thanks for those men and women in the military who defend our freedom and protect us so we can have great days of celebration like we do. I will always associate this holiday with our first nephew, Tyler's, birthday since its so close. We always get to spend time with Ben's side of the family around this time of year!
This 4th of July was a little different in that we put our house on the market, on the 4th. We spent the evening of the 4th cleaning out the garage and doing little last minute touch ups here and there around the house before our first showing the next day. We took a break in the middle of it about 10:00pm and sat outside on our back patio to listen to and watch all the fireworks being shot off in our neighborhood. I think that memory will stay with me for awhile, knowing that it could potentially be one of the last holidays spent at our first house and just taking that moment to be still with Ben. Fireworks have always been really special to me, I definitely feel like a kid again and get excited just as excited hearing the firework launch and waiting for the burst of color in the sky. I hope I never forget that moment, that night.
Week 23 was spent in Alaska, we spent a week in Juneau with Ben's mom's family there. We had such a good time! We experienced a few firsts during the trip, in our 12+ years, 3+ years of marriage. We had never been on a plane together. (I hadn't flown since Jr. High) It is safe to say that we now have that one under our belts. It was a long couple of days of traveling but worth it! Here are just a few pictures of our trip. Ben posted an album on facebook documenting it, if you would like to see more.
Week 24-25 have been spent trying to get back in the groove after vacation at work and at home (lots of laundry), getting out of our house for showings, having my glucose testing done for this pregnancy to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes (I'm in the clear and passed!!), having our monthly couples bible study, celebrating birthdays at dinner with friends, and going to pick up our Rollie Jean from my family who had been watching her while we were gone. I feel like we have been pretty go, go, go since we got back.
All of the daily cleaning and and showings paid off because early this week we got an offer on our house that we excitedly accepted!!! We also started house hunting for ourselves and found a great one that we are currently working on a contract! We are so excited but are cautious in our excitement while we wait for inspections to be done on our house as well as our new house. Praying that everything goes well for all parties and we will be moving mid September!
We feel so incredibly blessed that everything is coming together before baby girl makes her debut. I think it would have been a lot harder to sell our house had it been the one we brought her home to. More on the house to come as things become more finalized.
I'll leave you with a few pictures we took, in Alaska, to potentially be placed around the baby's nursery.
