The Cousin Quiz!

Every time we go to Taos, the cousins are eager for a "quiz".  They have to answer a series of multiple choice/essay questions that I make up just for fun.  Some are "would you rather" style, others are interest seeking (because interests change so much at these ages), and some are just silly.  They look forward to these quizzes with great anticipation and scatter to different parts of the house to answer them.  Then we get together and read answers.  I always enjoy watching how their personalities come out in the answers.

 

Hanging Out At Granny's House!

Thanksgiving In Taos!

                                     

 

                                     

 

SOLD!

It looks like we are on a new and exciting adventure!  We made an offer on a house closer to the mountains about a month ago.  Buying that house depended on selling ours, and lots of houses in our neighborhood have sat on the market for months.  We worried that our house might not sell for the amount we needed to be able to afford the new house, but the first people who looked at it made an offer and we ultimately got our asking price less $1000 that we agreed to pay for some of their closing costs.  We also have a full price back-up offer waiting and another potential buyer is coming today even though the house has gone into pending status.  We have put so much into our house and it is truly beautiful, so much so that I do have moments in which I question our decision to leave.  Our new house will need many of the same updates that we have already done here.  It is much bigger, though, with ample room for us, our friends and family, teen hang-out time, and general gatherings.  I am hoping that this new house will be the place where all of the kid's friends want to be, as our old house has been for a long time.

  I will post pictures of the new place as soon as we move in and have our own touches in the house.

Baking Bread!

This was such a sweet project!  Every child at Dylan's school received a bag with flour, yeast, and a bread-making instruction book.  We were to bake two loaves, one to keep and one to give to hungry children.  We made the bread Thursday night, ducking in and out of the house as potential buyers came to see it, but we accomplished our task and had a lot of fun doing it!

Mocking Jay Part 2 Premiere!

Tee shirts were made beforehand and then these girls were off to the much anticipated final Hunger Games movie!

Spelling Bee!

Third place and one very happy boy!

                                     

                                                
                                       
        

Changes...

In case you are wondering where we have been, here it is!  We put an offer in on a new house contingent on the sale of our old one.  The problem is that nobody told me how much work it takes just to get a house ready for sale, especially when you have fifteen years of "stuff" accumulated in it!  We have been moving things to storage and cleaning out closets, the garage, and everything that we used as storage at the house.  This is a huge move for us, especially after all of the remodeling that we have done on this house since we moved in to truly make it ours.  At first, I could not bear the thought of leaving, but the house we hope to get is made for us in so many ways.  It has a room for guests, three stories (with a fourth at the half level between the second and third), a loft in Dylan's room, and more rooms than we know what to do with, including one built especially for storage!  It is nestled in the foothills and has beautiful views in all directions!  We hope to know soon whether our house will sell and if so, when we will be moving.  I'll keep you posted!

First Snow!

These are not the best pictures, but the excitement was extreme!  Of course, the snow delay that they all hoped for did not happen.

Last Soccer Game Until Spring!