Moving Day?

Well... It looks like it is actually going to happen.  We are movin' on up... to a house!

The funny thing is... it is the house we originally wanted to buy back in May.  After some loopty loos and roundabouts, we are finally cleared for docs.  We should sign either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning and be funded by Friday am!  This means that we can actually get some keys on Friday and start moving in this weekend!

I will take tons of before pictures.  The before pics will be prettttty scary.  This house has been vacant for over a year.  The whole reason we wanted this place is because of all the structures and the acreage this place has.  It is almost 5 acres with a house, an extra garage, a shop, a barn and even.... a covered arena!  The covered arena is the biggest bonus for me.  For someone who rides and is a fair weather rider like myself, having a covered arena is a huge deal.  This one is 60X60 and so it is not a big arena, but it is plenty big enough for me to ride in most of the time.  It allows me to work my horse even in the crappy rainy NW winters.  It also allows me to be able to turn my horse beast out even in the worst weather with no fear of mud!  The barn has four stalls, a tack room and electricity and Water.  These are huge expenses that are already finished for us!  The shop is a mechanics dream and my DH will really really enjoy it!

While there is mucho work to be done there, we know that it is a really really sound investment.  I will have lots and lots of before and after's to share in the coming months, and I cannot wait to have a place for my things again, and most of all for our family to be together again.

I also am so happy that the Dogs will have room to run, room to play and a house instead of being cooped up in a trailer all day long.  I don't think our Beagle really minds, but I know that our Jack Russell and our Lab will be very very happy to move around more again.

It has been such a long journey and we are not at the end yet, just at the beginning of the real hard work that will start this weekend.  I so dislike moving, but this move I am really looking forward to.  Mostly because it will signal the end of our Real Estate struggles this summer.  I am so thankful that Hubby and I have made it through this.. in fact, he remarked that it has made our marriage stronger and us closer.  Most folks we know that have gone through real estate goes through a strain on their marriage.  Maybe because we are united in this?  I am not entirely sure, but I know that I am so grateful that we are seeing the light at the end of this very long, dark tunnel!

This week will mark the end of my long commutes and I am thrilled about that.  I have three and a half days left of work this week and then will be off for 5 and a half days to get this done!

I hope all of you that come here have a most fabulous week, and I will post an update once we have our signing appointment and our actual date to get keys!

We have a second Chance

Last night, I helped my Mcgyver husband lay down a new Vinyl floor, and finish up the wall trim in a bedroom.  I also cleaned along side our Realtor.

The one bright spot in this crazy journey... our Realtor.  She is the mother of a horse trainer I know and she is lovely.  I picked her to list our house but more importantly to find us the perfect horse property, as she is the equine property specialist up here.  This lady knows where every dry piece of land is in Northern Snohomish County.  She is professional, keeps her cool and calm even when I have trouble with mine, and is always in our corner.  One of the most impressive things about her, which has endeared her to my DH, who is NOT a fan of most Realtors (he has been burned a couple times in the past by less than competent agents and brokers), is that when you tour a house with her.. she doesn't point out how you can make things work.  She waits for your comments and then is non committal.  I asked her about this, and she explained that she doesn't want to sway someone either way, that it should be their decision and if they love a house, she won't have to over sell it anyway.  I like that.  It is something I would do.. let it sell itself.

Her Broker has been wonderful too.  If any one in the vicinity of this blog is looking to sell or buy in North Western Washington, I will hook you up.  After all we have been through, I am sure glad we have had her!

On to the title of this post.  A second Appraiser is coming out today and I am sending many prayers to God to let this turn out in our favor.  We worked very hard yesterday and last night to get a floor in, the plumbing repaired, the entire place cleaned (Our Realtor ran errands for us, got us pizza and did all the windows.. like I said.. she is a Rock Star!)  Our Youngest handled the touch up painting and some of the extra hands my DH needed.  I put in 3/4 of a floor by myself.. Yeah ME!  I wish I had the time to take photos.. but if this goes our way.. there will be Tons of before and after photo's to come.

My sister came by and helped me put up the couple of gutters that were off, and when we left last night I had a much better sense of it all working out.  The house looked much better, the plumbing is fixed and everything looked much cleaner and had lost the musty vacant-for-over-a-year smell.

McGyver Hubby is going back this am to finish the last of the flooring in the second bedroom and trim and install one more shower head.  The appraiser is scheduled to come today in the afternoon, so I really hope that this time it is listed as "average" and we can go and sign papers.  Everyone is just waiting on this ONE person to do their appraisal today.. and then we can go and sign.. what a relief that would be. Absolute Joy and Relief.

I have tried very hard to be patient and be positive.  I am just running out of both of these things as September comes to a close.

The funny thing is.. as borrowers.. we couldn't be lower risk right now.  Both have very good full time jobs, we have a years salary in the bank that is separate from the 10% down and closing costs of this house, we only have one car payment and no credit card debt, no student loans.. no real debt.  We pay for our son's college classes out of pocket and we own all of our toys outright.  They are not brand new or shiny or fancy.. but they are all paid for.  It is just how we live... if we can afford it.. fine.. if we can't we don't.  Hubby is a saver and I have slowly been coming around to his way of thinking.. so we save and are careful.. even more so now.

So.. I am going to be patient today and going to remain positive that this appraisal will come back in our favor and by next weekend we will be moving things and playing with a U-Haul.

Then.. I can start working on all of the projects that will make that "average" house into AWESOME!

"Fair Condition"

Okay.. so I can't write the really the mean and nasty things I want to say about home mortgage people and real estate and especially appraisers.

How is that for an opening line?

We are in the middle of a house deal.. well.. this is the original house deal that we have now come full circle on.

Let me give you the not so quick and very dirty version.

Last May.. I decided that I wanted to have my horse at home, and that I wanted some room to stretch out.  My Darling Husband agreed with the stretching out part.. he wasn't sure he wanted the horse where he would have to gaze upon him on a daily basis, but the financial savings over boarding won him over (not that there really is a substantial savings.. but shhhhhhh).  So we decided we would have to sell our house in the burbs across from the Lake to make our dreams of a shop, a house, acreage, and a barn come true.

Everyone told us that it would take awhile for our house to sell and that we would be in a much better position to buy if we sold first.  Wow.. was that WRONG (most of the time, that advice is sound).. in our case.. we should have hiked up our price and put in an offer on the house we are trying to close on and waited.. because our house would have sold in a normal amount of time... (3 months) and we would have been still in our house getting ready to move out for only a few weeks.. NOT months..but.. I digress....

So on the market our house went.. we put in an offer on a Short Sale.. and our house sold in 16 days.. we closed on it in the first week of June and moved out to our Recreational property, thinking.. how cool, we can camp out for the 6 weeks this is going to take and relax, enjoy the summer at the property and Paco can swim everyday.. Nice.......

Except that we didn't hear from the Bank.. and we didn't hear from the Bank.. just that it was in Stage III.. whatever that meant... July Came.. we started to get nervous because we wanted to make sure we were in a house by School Starting for young Padewan to start High School.  We found another house.. NOT a short sale.. Nice big house, acreage, no shop, no barn, but cheap and we could build the other things.  We went through the inspection, the appraisal, we signed papers to close at the escrow/title office on a Wednesday morning.. and Wednesday night.. we got a phone call.. The sellers had changed their mind.   It was unthinkable.. how could someone change their mind after we signed papers?  They had until Friday at 5pm to get their tushies to the closing office... they never did.. this is an ongoing dilemma we are still having and have retained an attorney to recoup our hard costs.  YUCK.

So... onward to another house.. this one a tiny house, but great property, no shop, no fence, no barn.. we were getting a little desperate, but it was even cheaper than the one before.. was not a short sale.. the house was owned outright.. everything seemed in order.. we got 1 week from closing and it turns out there is a boundary line adjustment issue with a family member that will take a minimum of two months to fix and early occupancy is fine but we have to pay rent and can't touch a thing or even put up a temporary fence for the dogs.. We walked from that deal...

Not to mention that we had found our dream house.. and I am not kidding.. Big Shop, Beautiful Big Tri Level house, 3 miles from my little sister, with gorgeous pastures, a barn, a huge garden, big beautiful shade trees and an orchard that was unbelievable.. and.. it was totally in our price range.  We put an offer in.. but there was already a signed around Contingent offer.. and they only had 48 hours to sell their house and remove the contingency.. NO PROBLEM we thought.. NO one sells their house in 2 days.. Ummm.. you must not have met us with our Horrible Real Estate Luck... They sold their house and STOLE our dream house.. It SUCKS.
So while I was sobbing and screaming and throwing things.. our Agent wanted to show us the "cutest place" with room for The Horse Beast.  OKAY.. here we go again.. Chin up and all...

The place.. ummmm not even going to go there.. It was a bust.. and while we were there our Agent mentioned that we did have the acceptance letter now from the bank on the FIRST house we put an offer in.  We talked about it and said.. What the hell.. that place has a house, almost 5 acres, a HUGE shop (like almost bigger than the house big shop), a 4 stall barn with tack room and a covered.. yep.. I said Covered Arena.
It also needs a fair amount of work to make it into the fabulous place we envision.. but it can be done.  The rambler needs mostly cosmetic fixes and it does have a new roof.

So we get everything done on this house as far as paperwork.. and we get to the end.. again... and The appraiser only calls it "Fair".. It has to be at least "average" for the bank to loan on it.

Really?  I have prayed and prayed for things to work out.  I don't know why this appraiser has to be the pickiest and craziest appraiser around and why we have to draw this particular one.  So as I get ready to head over to said house with my Hubby's saws and cords and garbage bags and cleaning supplies and paint.. I am hoping that God really is in my corner and will see this through with us.

I am crossing my fingers that the new appraisal we ordered comes with a new appraiser... and we can get that "average" that we are looking for.

I will keep this updated as we go along this week.. and if you made it to here.. WOW.. THANK YOU and here is a nice picture for your reward

This is a moon shot from my old backyard..

Back to square one

We lost out on the dream house.  I should have seen this coming from a mile away, but dang it.. I really thought that this was the house and that it was put in our path because we have been so patient and good and we would be rewarded with our dream house...

It is not happening.  I am so close to tears this morning.. I am tired of living in a trailer, and I am really tired of looking at houses and imaging my things there and making a life with that house and it is yanked away.

Today is a crap day.. no other words to describe it.. It is just CRAP.

Hopefully it will get better.

Another Friday

I hate to keep writing about Real Estate.  I would much rather regale you with tales of riding my pony, whipping up a fabulous batch of home made cinnamon rolls or the Fabulous BBQ Pork which I will share as soon as I make it again!  (the weather is still on the warm side)

So the latest installment of As the Real Estate Sale Turns is another "close to whiny post for me".  I hate Whining.  I come from the "Buck up little camper" school of thought.  However.. the optimism of 70 days of RV living NOT by choice with a husband, a teenager and three lovely puppies has worn thin.  Very thin.  We are two weeks away from school starting, so I am in a moderate state of panic over my son starting High School while living in GBNT. . and we don't have a GB address so he can't start high school in the closest town.  This would mean an 1.5 hour commute to school in the A.M. for him and he would have to go to a cousins house after school and wait to be picked up at about 6pm and then another 1.5 hour commute back to the trailer.

This would be such a hardship on both him and I that I just cannot bear to think about it too much.

We got an update on how long the title issue would take to get fixed.... Up to 8 weeks.  We are supposed to close in 7 days.  I am again.. in a moderate state of panic over this.

I wish that I could convey the absolute craziness of this summer and our attempts to buy a house.  We are both employed, we have excellent credit, the lowest debt ratio you can imagine.. we have ZERO credit card debt, we have more than 20% to put down, we are NICE people for goodness sakes, and yet it is us that is inconvenienced.  This is why I say;  folks to be careful how quickly you sell your home and to plan for

Contingencies. We planned for Contingencies, but not for TWO failed closings due to other peoples issues.

I choose to remain somewhat optimistic in thinking that this will be worked out and I will be getting a moving truck next week and all will be well.  I choose to believe that I have not pissed God off to the point that he will leave us stranded without a place to live.. and I am aware of the many things I DO have to be thankful for.  I figured I would jot them down.. it is always helpful to remember what you are thankful for on a Friday afternoon.

1.  I do have a bed to sleep on (it is a mattress on the floor, but it is a bed and it is pretty comfy)
2.  I have hot water, a decent size shower, and a working Potty.  (This really should be #1)
3.  I have my husband and at least one of my kids with me
4.  Our dogs are with us
5.  My Aunt and Uncle are our neighbors most of the time, and they offer us a beer usually.. and dinner
6.  I have a nice car to drive and make that long commute with
7.  My horse is safe, well fed and happy.. and the boarding owner is FABULOUS
8.  I have a John Deere tractor waiting to mow grass stored at above Boarding Facility
9.  My little Sister is the bees knees for keeping our Motor Home, Our oldest son, and our Hot Tub in storage at her house for FREE
10.  I have learned to do more with less
11.  I have learned to laugh at things that could and should make me cry.
12.  We have saved tons of money by not paying a mortgage, cable bill, water bill, or garbage bill., 19 year old eating grocery bill, . our monthly living expenses minus gas and groceries, insurance and car payment are 84.00 a month.. NOT bad~!

I am most thankful that both my husband and I are able to purchase another house..meaning we ARE still employed, have not had to take pay cuts or hours cut, we have very little bills and NO real debt other than one car payment.  These are things that carry me through to the next day!

What are YOU thankful for this Friday afternoon?

Enjoy the weekend

There is no crying in Real Estate

My DH made our mortgage person cry. He can be extremely blunt and to the point, and she took it to heart and was crying when he called her back. It has to do with our loan lock and the fact that we are stuck having to do 7 day locks instead of a 30 day lock. He and I are NOT mortgage or finance people so we are not sure why we have to play the banks game with this. The part of this that really chaps our hide is that she is trying to imply that the bank will feel "bad" if we don't continue with them.

Like we are supposed to have some sort of "bank guilt" if we don't continue with this particular lender since they have "gifted" us a week free of loan lock this week. (this is why she called in the first place). Since when do banks operate like the Sopranos?... we are obligated to this bank because they give us a free week of protection for our loan? Now we have to play their game??? He was understandably asking questions and she didn't have the answers we were looking for right away.

Long story short, we are keeping this loan this week, since we are talking to the sellers at the end of this week to see what we can do to get this wrapped up before I have a stroke. We are three weeks away from school starting and I really want to have Bubba registered so that he at least knows WHERE he will be attending his Freshman year.

My DH was reluctant to tell me that he made someone cry... and I pointed out that it is her job to take care of the borrowers, and she KNOWS that we have been totally screwed over with Real Estate this summer, AND... she has talked to you enough to know your personality when things don't make sense.. plus.. there is no crying in Real Estate.. it is business.. and she should probably get a little thicker skin to be in that business. Real Estate is emotional enough with all of the drama involved in a regular transaction, not to mention what we have been through.. and I still haven't cried over it. I have dropped some choice phrases, but I haven't cried.

I know that after this is over, and I am sitting in my tiny living room this winter, reading a book in front of the nice cozy wood stove, I will probably laugh so hard at our predicament that I might cry.. but right now I am far too focused on the end result to cry.. and I am sure that at some point it will overwhelm me and I might cry.. but not today.. today I am focused on work, and going to visit my Beau after work and start to pack up the crap I don't need at the barn. My horse will be and has been the balm to my frazzled nerves, and when I get overwhelmed, I go see my horse. I got emailed a great list today and I will share it here for any of you that happen to ride and or love horses.. you will "get it".. for all others.. sorry.. horse people are crazy.. good crazy mostly, but crazy none the less.

10 Exercises to becoming a better Equestrian!


10. Drop a heavy steel object on your foot. Don't pick it up right away. Shout, "Get off, Stupid, GET OFF!"

9. Leap out of a moving vehicle and practice "relaxing into the fall." Roll lithely into a ball and spring to your feet.

8. Learn to grab your checkbook out of your purse and write out a $200 check without even looking down.

7. Jog long distances carrying a halter and a carrot. Go ahead and tell the neighbors what you are doing - they might as well know now.

6. Affix a pair of reins to a moving freight train and practice pulling to a halt. Smile as if you are having fun.

5. Hone your fibbing skills: "See hon, moving hay bales is FUN!" and "No, really, I'm glad your lucky performance and multimillion dollar horse won the blue ribbon. I am just thankful that my hard work and actual ability won me second place."

3. Borrow the US Army's slogan: Be All That You Can Be -- bitten, thrown, kicked, slimed, trampled, frozen...

2. Lie face down in a puddle of mud in your most expensive riding clothes and repeat to yourself, "This is a learning experience, this is a learning experience, this is ..."

1. THE NUMBER ONE EXERCISE TO BECOME A BETTER EQUESTRIAN: Marry money.

I really really should have done #1

Happy Tuesday!

Another Closing Date has passed

People like to ask me.. "Have a house yet?".. and I am still responding.. NO! Thank you very much.. I don't. I have stopped talking about it, and really kind of stopped thinking about this house that we were supposed to close on this last Monday.

There is a delay. It is a fixable delay, but again it is caused by the other side not having their "stuff" together. It is starting to make be more than a little anxious as we are T Minus 4 weeks for school to start for the young Padawan. I still have School Clothes and Supply Shopping to do.. which I have held off on because.. OH yeah.. WE LIVE IN A TRAILER! and there is really no where for brand new clothes to go.. except for in a bin in the storage place.

I know that I will have to break down and go and do it while the best sales are on.. because my husband likes to remind me that "we are trying to buy a house here and we don't have extra money to be flinging around on clothing and paper for our 14 year old child who is entering high school."

Except that we have yet to actually go through a closing and "BUY A HOUSE.".. Most people tell us that it is a sign of the times and this is just a reflection of what is going on out there. I look at them in awe and I really don't respond any more.

I don't tell them that a. It is either God has a serious problem with us and wants us to suffer through this so we might go back to church, or B. It is just a string of bad luck because I somehow have some serious bad Karma.. probably because I haven't been to church in awhile.

Our Real Estate Agent is a very nice lady. She is also extremely level headed, wonderfully patient with me and is very very smart. She has really made this all semi tolerable. I think I would have gone to jail for assault if she hadn't been around to intervene in the last deal that went south due to the crazy sellers. One that front.. we STILL have not gotten our earnest money back. I think they are of the mind of sticking their heads in the sand and we will get bored and finally go away. That is horribly naive thinking on their part as I am as stubborn as they come and you cannot rip me off, steal my house, turn my life upside down and keep me from a really nice kitchen without having some repercussions here people!

I had so many things I wanted to write about today, but after my rant I am running out of steam a little bit. I went to the Doctor last night and it was the WORST appointment of my life. When did Doctors get cold, unfeeling and rush through things without listening to a WORD their patients say.. and then require them to come back for a 10 min procedure because they just don't feel like doing it?????????

At least my son got his sports physical.. his first one.. LOL.. I wasn't in the room for the exam.. you know the one.. the hand and the coughing????? ... but when I asked him about it.. He laughed and said it was just Weird.. and then he looked and me and said.. Drop it mom.. That is all you are getting.. Man.. that kid really knows his mama.. then I dropped him off after Taco Bell at my friends place. Her hubby is taking his son and mine to a Mariners game tonight.. They are excited.. if they are one of the first 20k, they will get a bobble head.. I know that is why I would go.. the bobble head. His aunt told him to get the garlic fries since that is the only reason she goes.. I told him I wanted the bobble head.. and he just said NO.. you cannot have it.. so I told him that I would never buy him Taco Bell again.. and he just laughed.. he knows I won't totally nix Taco Bell forever.. plus.. his brother would take him anyway.

The only really good thing about today is that it is Friday.. and that means two whole days of not having to go to work.. ahhhh.. two days!

Enjoy your weekend.. I know I am going to.

House Countdown again

Yesterday I received the beginning of the documents to close our house. This is the Third attempt for us to buy a house this Spring/Summer. We should close by the 21st of August. I have my fingers crossed, have knocked on many pieces of wood, have said a prayer to God, Jesus, Mary, St Francis, Joan of Ark, Zeus, The Pope and the President, all hoping that this deal finally goes through and I can move out of the 5th Wheel and into a real house..

Nothing against trailers.. I am just soooo over Camping with the kids separated and the DH trying to get the over the air antenna to pick up Retro TV so he can watch Knight rider.. I mean.. REALLY. If they would play Dukes of Hazard and Chips and the Love Boat.. with some Fantasy Island thrown in, I would be right there with him, banging on stuff. But I just can't get all worked up over David HasselHoff and Kit, not to mention that the Incredible Hulk is on right after that and that the A team plays right before... Man shows really.

Anyhoooo.. back to the real estate. Below are some helpful suggestions if you find yourself in a simliar situation...

Some things I have learned in the process:

1. Don't sell your house before you have another home to purchase.. that was just a dumb idea.

*The reasoning.. no one but no one will take a contingent offer right now.. and we will be stronger buyers with cash in hand* Says the DH and our Agent.. Okay.. but the trade off? LIVING in a Motor home for over 60 days with Said DH, one of the Teenagers and Three Dogs.. One of whom is a 70+ lb Chocolate Lab.. ummm.. yeah.. in 214 sq feet.. Yeah.. that works.*

2. If you do decide to sell before you buy.. have a back up plan..
*see above*

3. Do not attempt to buy a short sale house unless it is for investment purposes and you have like 6 months to wait around for the bank to get back to you. *We put in an offer 1 day after our house sold in May.. we have yet to receive an acceptance letter from the bank*

4. Research the sellers. We got all the way to closing before finding out we were dealing with freaks. *this is apparently highly unusual*.. hmmm it is Real Estate..NOTHING surprises me anymore.

5. If you do find yourself living at your recreational property longer than anticipated.. try to NOT divorce your spouse.. *This is sometimes difficult, I know.. because we have been thinking about how NOT to move into another dwelling with each other at times during this process*

6. Make Sure that when you put in your THIRD offer for a THIRD property, you ask lots and lots of questions like we did.. here is a small sample:

a. Are they Crazy? Anyone on the Seller's side having problems mentally or
financially?

b. Are they able to complete the sale?

c. Are they employed? Stable? Crazy? Seriously, we want to know. Just tell us
now, instead of after we have ordered utilities, bribed all of our friends, hired a
horse transport, and generally scheduled time off of work, made all kinds of plans
and mentally decorated every single room in the house. ( Oh how I am grieving
for the loss of that kitchen and the pantry and the space..)

d. Can we just have them sign something stating they are not going to back out after
we sign papers and then not respond to anyone, including their own broker, agent
and our attorney? Please?

These are the questions we had to ask. It saddens me that it has spiraled into this place of not trusting a nice elderly lady and her family.

I am also really struggling to come to grips with the smaller house thing. I had visions of moving UP in a house, not downsizing.

If the house closes, this Blog will transition into one primarily focusing on Home Improvement, Gardening, Farm live and living in a small space while trying to create culinary treats.

It will also probably still contain crazy rants.. like today. That is all..

Ciao

Round Two of Real Estate

We are officially "signed around" on a second Purchase and Sale agreement. This house is the second try. We sold our house back in May of this year in only 16 days, which we really did not anticipate. (This turned out to be a bummer and an adventure)

We have been living in our 24ft MotorHome since June 6th and it is really starting to wear on me, and my man, and Bubba, my teenager that is living in the tent. The three dogs are still okay, although there are times I think they really are contemplating running off into the forest and leaving us, hoping to find someone that will take them to a place that has more than one room.

Ahhhhhh Home Sweet Home.. Aint she a beauty???

This houses Myself, The Husband, One of the teenagers, and three lovely pooches.

Seen Here:
Bella - Our Jack Russell Child.. She is confused.. Sometimes she knows she is a dog.. and other times she is convinced that she is the actual baby of the family and demands the same level of respect that I did as a child.. I mean I was the Baby.. and I demanded RESPECT for MY position as Daddy's girl, the baby and the getter-of-my-way-at-all-times person.

And then there is Husbands Dog:
Mack.. affectionately called Mack Daddy.. cause all the girl dogs love him.. and he loves to Mack on them.. Seriously.. He does.. and what a handsome dude he is.. We think he is a bit Majestic.. although I am convinced he is related to Houdini.. since he practices the art of escape daily.. he is a hound.. and HOUNDS must follow their NOSES.. wherever it takes them.. even if it is to the neighbors sliding glass door.

I have saved the best pooch for Last.. That is because she is my dog.. my perfect dog.. The most wonderful dog in the entire world.. and NO.. I don't play favorites
She is my Sissy.. I rescued her from mean people when she was 7 months old.. during a really really bad and tragic time in my life and we are best buds.. she is super cool and she can run really really fast when she wants to. She is also a bit mischievous.. like someone else I know.. but not personally or anything..

The other cast members in the drama that is unfolding this summer out at our recreational property are the Husband.. who I think is pretty darn cute:Also.. my Bubba.. my 14year old teenager that is filled with that teenage angst:


I just want to squeeze him.. Man I love this kid.. He is my baby doll.

The other son, whom I miss like crazy.. is Here:He is a total goofball college student. here he is giving us the rundown on his Mad Skills.. this is when he still had long hair. I need a new picture of son.. I will take some at the family Reunion this weekend. I plan on Taking Many Many pictures this weekend with both my cheapo little Nikon and my Super cool Ass Panasonic Lumix.

My eldest Teenager whom I adore and miss like crazy is being cared for by his auntie and the cutest child in the universe next to my boys.. My niece.. shown here.. cuz she is so cute I could just gobble her up!
She is my little Bug.. and ohhhh how I love this child.

There are more cast members, but this is already too long of a post and I have lost most people's interest back at the motor home.. But it has made me smile a bit to post these pictures and write about those I love..

Ciao for Now