Living the Dream

It's been a much longer process than anyone had imagined - but we have finally signed on our new house and although we've been living there a month, it is NOW, finally ours. It's just under 8 acres, comes with (what is left) a barn/stable, an outbuilding (aka carriage house) and a large house that we love to live in and hate to clean. It's only 5 miles from our other house-therefore we are able to stay in the same ward. Unfortunately it is a different school-although McKenna is finishing out the 1st grade with Mrs Larson (whom we LOVE & adore). On the plus side, Maple Lawn's current location is only a few minutes away so instead of catching the bus at 7:50 am, I drop her off at 8:35 am. Which has been nice for everyone. It's a wonderful place that we feel very blessed to have been able to move here. It's also nice to have the former owners (Clifton's) living next door in case we have any questions. Larry is very knowledgable and a great resource-it's amazing the stuff he knows-especially about birds.

 There is a small orchard of apple & pear trees and a couple rows of Grape Vines begging to be pruned back. All in due time...It's a great place for the kids to play and they call it the "Fairy Forest" and have spent hours in there playing, the trees are small and perfect for climbing.

 The wildlife is fantastic! Tons of huge frogs that croak all night long. We haven't caught any but we do scaring them back into the water. There is a ton of birds: ducks, geese, and a large variety of small birds I haven't identified yet. We've also seen Opossum, a beaver, a blue herring that drops in occassionally, and a large number of pigeons who live in the roof of the barn. Tyler loves them, prays for them, and the rest of us just deal with them. McKenna has been pooped on and is not a fan.

Taking care of the horses by far is the biggest highlight. Letting them out in the morning, putting them in their stalls in the evenings, feeding, even mucking the stalls-which Tyler loves doing and its actually catching on with the other two. The horses are beautiful and well mannered, their owners are very nice. They even let the kids come and hang out and watch as they groom and train them.
I had a friend mention, "you're living the dream." Some days I look around at all the work that needs to be done to get this place back in the beautiful state it was in shortly before buying it and I feel a bit overwhelmed. Overall we feel very blessed to live here. The opportunities, the challenges, and the fun are all to attest we agree, we feel as though at this moment we are living the dream.