House Hunting Week

Monday Tom and I drove to Springdale to look at houses for Deborah and Ian.  I had been worried about the weather.  They had forecast several inches of snow.  But it really didn’t materialize.  So we had clean roads on the way to Springdale.  We looked at 5 houses for them.  It was easy to see a ranking on the ones we viewed.  

But in my mind we came up with three real possibilities.  Each house we viewed improved in quality and neighborhood even though they were similar in price and size. The nicest one had an offer going in, so if Deborah and Ian wanted it, they needed to decide and put in an offer quickly.  They did put in an offer.  However the other offer was a cash offer, and they didn’t get that house.  So the next day they put in an offer on another very nice house.  Here is a picture of it.

It had been Ian’s favorite.  And it was accepted.  So they are moving along in their house selling and house buying and packing and moving plans. 

Tom will fly out on Dec 10^th to help with the final packing and help Deborah drive their stuff out.  Ian will need to work another 2 weeks or so.  Then he will drive to Arkansas shortly after Christmas.  Deborah will stay with us until the house closes in early Jan… or maybe at a timeshare if it’s cheap enough.  They already have plans for Tom to come and help them remodel a bathroom as soon as it closes.

We hope that Andy and Kera and Miranda and Dan will come for the week after Christmas.

The week started with bitter cold weather.  At night it got down into the low teens and in the days barely above freezing.  As the week progressed it warmed up.

My writing was pretty uneventful.  Mostly just more of the same. Tom helped neighbors and delved into the leaf raking.  Wow!  Did we have a generous abundance of leaves.  He burned a lot of them and we mulched some and spread them in the garden.  I had intended to get the weeds out before we covered them with leaves.  I was only sort of successful. And not all the leaves are off of the trees.

Thursday we prepared to go to visit Jonathan and Kirsty.  We had planned on looking at some houses for them, but they also decided to come down and check out houses.  So we went to Branson and did a little Christmas shopping.  Then we caught up with them after the 3^rd house and went and viewed another 6 or so.  While they were looking at a favorite house, they learned that an offer was coming in on the house.  So as they looked at the other houses, they compared it with the one with the offer.   That one was the one we thought they’d like the best.

They did decide to put an offer in on it.  Each house had some trade-offs, but that one seemed like the best—nice house, energy efficient, close to church, lovely barns and land.  However, the other offer (like Deborah and Ian’s) was a cash offer, and so the seller chose that offer.  So it’s back to house hunting for them.  Since they don’t plan on moving until summer, they are not rushed.

We spent the night with them in Bolivar, as they discussed an offered on the house.  Then Saturday we drove to Kansas City and went through the temple.  It was really great.  We did some sealings for a sister in our ward.  To kneel around the alter with a father, mother and 7 children created a very special spirit. We also did a session.  Then we stopped at 5 guys for a delicious late lunch and drove on to Jonathan and Kirsty’s.

They had stake conference.  So I watched children while Tom, Jonathan, Kristy and Isabelle went to the evening session.  Today we had a great Sunday Session.  Now it's raining, but we are snug inside.