We are home owners again!

We were finally able to close on our house on Friday, after so much frustration and work. It will pay off though. It was such a nice birthday present. To top it off, my mom and dad took Charlie and I out to dinner and it was great. I had a really good time. So our first step to fixing the house is to get the skunk out of the basement and then the electrician is coming tomorrow to restring the electric in the basement so we can have power to check the furnace and for power tools and such. We went this weekend to tarp the one part of the roof that was so bad that it started to leak into the house. Yes, we had to do some of it yesterday and break the Sabbath, but Charlie is so busy during the days of the week that we wouldn't have been able to finish it any other way. We are happy it's done now because we have rain in the forcast this week. The roof will have to wait until next month to be fixed. We just didn't want anymore water in the house while we wait. We can't move in until all the work it finished, per our rehab loan rules, so we plan to go as fast as we can. It looks like we will have until April to stay where we are. The redemption period will be up on March 8th and then we will have 30 days after that to be out. We are hoping to get that 30 days extended, but we aren't holding our breath. The realtor who will be listing the house once the redemption period is finished told me that the bank who owns the house doesn't usually let people stay in the house once the redemption period is over. We can't officially ask for permission until the redemption period is over, so we will know more by March. Either way, I'd like to have the work on our new house finished by the first of April just to be on the safe side. We are all pretty excited. I had to pick the kids up from school on Friday so we could make it to the closing on time. We told the kids that I had to pick them up so we could go get my birthday present. So when I picked them up Makayla said to me, "So are you going to see what we get for you?" Because it's suppose to be a surprise, right? I told her that I had to. She asked why they couldn't wrap it so I wouldn't see. I told her that the present was too big to wrap. She said that that was impossible and I replied that the present was as big as a house. She said that was impossible. So I told her it was a house and she got the biggest smile on her face and exclaimed, "We got the house!" Our kids have been waiting for forever to buy that house. In fact, Jaxson said almost everyday to me, "I want to buy the big house." And I'd have to reply that we were trying to. Yesterday as we were leaving, after we had tarped the roof, he started to whine that he wanted to buy the house and we tried to explain to him that we had finally. But I think it's just been so long that we haven't been able to that he just doesn't understand that that has changed now. Yeah for us! Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts on our behalf. We know it helped.

Daryn and Sara + 2

Hello Ladies. Just thought I would write a quick post and update you on our lives out here in Oregon land. Things are going great out here. It's a little rainy, but I'll take the rain any day to sub-zero arctic temperatures.

So you might have guessed by the post title that we are pregnant. It's true! I'm about 15 weeks along and I'm due in May. Everything is going well with the pregnancy. There were a few weeks of nausea, but I think the worst is behind me. I just wanted to let you know that you are all invited to come and visit sometime this next summer for a baby blessing, so start planning now!

Here's a few pictures we have taken recently:

We went camping on the coast a few weeks ago

Flying kites on the beach


Mud, water, and sticks -Logan's favorite things.

Petting the goats and sheep at a local farm

Picture tag game

This is a fun game my sister did on our family blog. I thought I'd try it on this blog and see how many of those signed up would actually join in. Go to your My Pictures on your computer and select the 7th picture you have on there and tell us about it. I have a few pictures because we have lots of folders of pictures on our My Pictures so I picked the 1st picture of the 7th folder, the 7th picture of the 7th folder and the 7th single picture. Enjoy!

This is Makayla in the giant bubble exhibit at the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum. This trip was one we took summer of 2007.

This is Jaxon playing the giant pipe organ exhibit at the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum during the same trip.

This is my nephew, Harvey. His first birthday is Oct. 25th. He just learned to walk a couple weeks ago. He is such a cutie!

Charlie has a job!

Charlie finally has a job. He'll be working at Beecher High school. We aren't sure when he will acutally start because he has to be officially hired by the school board, but the school offered the job and he accepted. The school board is more of a formality-type thing, but until that is taken care of he can't actually start working. We are excited for him to have a job, but not very excited about the school that he'll be working for. It's a pretty rough, inner city school, with some rough and tough students. It's also going to be for 7th and 8th grade math. Charlie doesn't really like middle school either, but he thinks he has a good chance of getting into the high school next year. They have a pretty high turn over rate for teachers because the school is so rough. I will for sure get him some pepper spray to carry and I joke that I might have to get him a tazer gun as well. I know the Lord will watch over him though. Now we can move on to buying a house. We have one picked out. Now we just have to get a mortgage for it which might be trickier said than done with the way the market is now.

Hicks update

Charlie's dad just got a new job and he leaves for West Virginia next Saturday, the 4th. The plan is for Charlie's mom to follow in the middle of January, after this first semester of school is over for the grandkids. They take care of Charlie's sister, Sabrina's, kids. She is in the process of divorcing her husband and gave guardianship to her parents for the time being. So she is thinking about transfering down there too. I'm a little bummed about them moving out of state. It was nice to live close by them again. I really hope this works out for them well though. Charlie's mom has wanted to stop working ever since they got Sabrina's kids and this new job may let her be able to do that. It'll be good for her and the kids.

Charlie had an interview for a JV wrestling coach position at Swartz Creek high today. The varsity coach did the interview and seemed to like Charlie. We think he might get this job. It would be nice. We're still holding our breath for a math position at Hamady high school. He hasn't been able to start subbing yet because the company that handles all the subbing positions for Genesee county is dragging their feet getting all his information together and available for schools to use. We aren't happy about it, but there really isn't much we can do now. He has submitted everything they have asked of him. Now we just wait.

My classes are going pretty well. I've been able to handle the work load pretty well. I don't feel overwhelmed at all (I was nervous I would).

The kids are doing great. They just started after school programs this week. Lexi and Merrit are in a ceramics class together and Makayla and Chelsea have an arts and craft class on Mondays. Lexi does the robotics club on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Merrit has the chess club and Makayla does dance on Thursdays. I have Chelsea on a waiting list for the young authors' club for Thursdays. They love the chance to stay after school and do something fun. I love them staying too, except that I have to go pick them up. Lexi's robotics club is going to be something great for her I think. They are planning on going to competitions later this year. It's going to be a great experience for her.

Back from Provo

Hello Ladies,

We dropped Austin off at the MTC yesterday. And to be honest, maybe because I am a convert, and this is all new to me, but I am VERY sad and am crying alot. I must be out in left field because I never hear of moms that are this sad. So, I assume its because we are first generation missionaries?? 2 years sure seems long to me!

Thanks for the listening ear.

Debbie Hall

Canning

I should be doing an accounting quiz right now, but I don't feel like it. I'll do it tomorrow. I'd like to share with you my first time experience I had last week. Charlie and I canned for the first time together and for me it was my first time canning We don't have a pressure cooker, so we hot wate bathed them. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, just time consuming. We felt like this is a skill we should learn especially as food prices keep going up. We actually got 18 quart size jars. We would've had 19 but one of the cans didn't seal. I thought that was a pretty good ratio for our first time. Maybe next year we'll expand our horizons to include pickles or apples or something like that. I'll include a picture soon.

The kids didn't have school on Friday (teacher prep day) so we went to a children's museum in Ann Arbor. I have a cute little video clip I hope to post soon of our trip.