Christmas Blog 2015

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Once again I feel conflicted about sending out Christmas cards.  

I love getting them!  I love sending them.  

But the price adds up.  

So, once again I have resorted to simply blogging for our Christmas greetings.

Our Year in Review

January
Jay and I blissfully rang in the New Year on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy, Jay's second earned Diversification Trip with Edward Jones.  What a blessing to get away without the kids -- something I had NEVER done before for more than a night or two!  It was my first trip to Europe and I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.  I can easily see why EJ financial advisors return to Rome 5, 6, 7, or even 8 times!

Enjoying a glass of wine on the Spanish Steps at midnight in Rome.
We didn't, however, smash our hotel glasses on the sidewalk, as the locals do.

February
In February we rang in the Year of the Sheep/Goat/Ram (Great Horned Animal is what it's called in Shaanxi) for Chinese New Year.  It is always great fun to dress up our girl in her qipao and head to the lion dance and then celebrate at home with homemade Chinese food!  Later that month, we did our 1 and only large home improvement project and removed carpet from our living and dining room and had laminate floors installed.  The boys and I enjoyed the filthy dirty demo and they helped me lug out all the nasty carpet.  Home Depot did the install.  The floors turned out gorgeous!

Chinese lanterns decorate our home every CNY.

Welcome Year of the Sheep!

New floors!

March
One of my best friends in the whole world, back from junior high school came to Texas for a visit in March.  It was great fun taking our friends on the boat on the Riverwalk and then driving up to one of my favorite places on earth -- The Exotic Zoo in Johnson City.  They missed the Bluebonnets by only about a week or two.

There is great beauty of a Texas hill country ranch.

My favorite animal on the ranch.

The bluebonnets are always stunning!

April
The kids were enjoying their tennis lessons in downtown San Antonio.  Super E turned 8 years old and had his first party with homeschool friends at a store that sells used Legos.  That very night, unbeknownst to our friends, we also had our first showings on our San Antonio home.

Super C.
Gosh, he's all legs!

Super E

Super E on his 8th birthday.
He's all about Minecraft, Legos, Pokemon and his dogs.

Lego heads at the store.

May
We announced on May 1st that we were moving from San Antonio to Minneapolis to be closer to family and to distance ourselves from allergies that could not be relieved in Texas.  Just 4 days after listing our home for sale, we received 3 offers!  We made a quick trip to Minnesota and made an offer on a home on Mother's Day.  The entire road of real estate was rocky and stressful beyond belief.  Later that month we completed our 3rd year of homeschool before our big move.  Super C finished 6th grade, Super E finished 2nd grade.  Late that month, Jay and our puppy Reese left Texas for good and headed up to Minnesota to begin work on his new book of business.  The kids and I and 2 dogs stayed in Texas to pack up the house and wait for closing.  On May 28, we celebrated Quiet Tiger's 3 year Gotcha Day.

Our Texas home for sale.

Our Minnesota home.

Last family picture in Texas the morning Jay left.

Jay and Reese are off to Minnesota.

Celebrating 3 years home!

June
We filled early June with packing, goodbye parties and trips to the dentist for teeth cleanings before the big move north.  Quiet Tiger learned to swim freely, on her own, with no lifejacket or floatation devices just days before we left in the pool in our backyard.  Our closing was continually botched and delayed and delayed and delayed again.  The kids and I left Texas while still owning the home due to too many delays.  We drove to 1300 miles to Minnesota through Texas tropical storms and went directly to Jay's Summer Regional event for work.  The Minnesota staff worked closely with the Texas staff to make sure Jay earned his 2 awards for work done that year.  With much drama and stress and tears, we closed on our Minnesota home just 2 days later than we expected.  We connected with family and friends we hadn't seen in years.  We made our first trips to the cabin in Hayward, Wisconsin to visit Jay's mom.

Took advantage of all the swimming we could before we moved.

The moving truck arrived a day early but we were ready.

Jay with his Eagle Award and
Ted Jones Entrepreneurial Achievement Award

Gathering with some cousins in Minnesota!  Hadn't seen them in years and years.

July
We celebrated Independence Day at the cabin, one of our favorite places to celebrate.  July brought visits from my mom and stepdad from Chicago.  We celebrated Quiet Tiger turning 5 years old!  The joys of homeownership began and we had to replace a washing machine.  We began to get to know our new town.  Our weekend trips to the lake became quite regular, heading up there once every other weekend and taking friends with us when we could.

On the dock at Grandma's.

The boat may be as old as I am, but she's still running.
Love tubing on Lake Windigo.

Quiet Tiger turned 5 years old!
She's all about coloring and playing dress-up.
Her favorite color is yellow and she no longer calls it "lello."

August
In August, the boys were enjoying softball with local homeschool students.  It was a great program that we wish could have lasted longer.  Home updating began as I painted Quiet Tiger's bedroom.  Another trip to the cabin in Hayward was extra fun as we celebrated Jay's Godparent's 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends.  After 10 long years, I reconnected with my dad when he stopped through for an evening on his way to Duluth to see his brother.  He met Super E and Quiet Tiger for the first time in person.  It was a quick visit but very enjoyable.  Despite Minnesota schools starting after Labor Day, we began year 4 of homeschool in mid-August.  Super C began 7th grade, Super E began 3rd grade and Quiet Tiger began Kindergarten.  It was a full plate for this homeschooling mom!  Jay and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with a nice meal at home and a date night out to the movies.

Super E's team.

Super C's team.

My dad with my kids.

September
With school in full swing, life became busy yet routine.  I managed to get the boys' room painted.  We celebrated Super C's 12th birthday with friends when both of our husbands happened to be out of town on business.  Surprisingly, Jay received an offer for an office closer to home, rather than having his own office in Maple Grove as originally planned.  At the end of the month he began working in an office in Zimmerman and the move has been great!  His office is 10 miles from home and he has a great Branch Office Administrator in the office with him.  Jay also joined the Zimmerman Chamber of Commerce and is very active with the group.  The boys' softball season ended late that month and we were sorry to see it end, especially with the unseasonably warm fall weather we had.

Super C turned 12!
He's all about Minecraft, Pokemon, Legos, and Nerf Guns.
He loves the roller coasters at Valley Fair.

Jay's new office in Zimmerman, MN!

October
Happy to be back in the Midwest, we spent our first October weekend at the Cranberry Festival in Stone Lake, Wisconsin, near the cabin.   We went back again to see peak fall colors.  Mother Nature did not disappoint and this family thoroughly enjoyed the fall colors, having missed seasons in Texas for 3 years prior.  Super E and Quiet Tiger joined Awana clubs at the church in Zimmerman that we had been trying since moving offices up to that town.  Super C joined 2 junior high youth ministries, 1 in Zimmerman and 1 in Maple Grove with friends where we first went to church.  We were very saddened by the Cubs losing in the playoffs in the middle of October.  Perhaps the Cubs-themed birthday cake I made for Jay's 43rd birthday on October 21st was a jinx.  Things became even more sad after that as Jay's dad's heath began to fail rapidly.  We made it to Chicago in time to see him and say goodbye and spent the weekend with my family and Jay's.  It was a stressful weekend but one we would never regret.  We knew without a doubt that moving back to the Midwest was the right decision and the opportunity had come in the nick of time!  We came home to Minneapolis and casually celebrated my 41st birthday, still with heavy hearts.  Just a week after our visit, Lynn Collins, Jay's dad, passed away on October 30.  Lynn wouldn't have wanted us to be too upset, so we proceeded with Halloween plans at home.

A beautiful cranberry marsh in northern Wisconsin.

Jay turns 43.

Super C as dracula.
I wonder how much longer he'll want to trick-or-treat.

Super E as an astronaut.

And Miss Quiet Tiger went as SuperGirl.

November
Early November was quiet as we began to plan a memorial for Lynn.  The unfortunate, first-world, problems of homeownership reared a rather ugly head when we learned our furnace needed to be replaced and we fought with the home warranty company that refused to do anything reasonable with it.  We set up our Christmas decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving, something I never would have even enjoyed in years prior.  It is something we will surely do again.  We traveled back to Chicago for Thanksgiving, spending the holiday with my mom.  That Saturday we gathered with the Collins family out in Rockford, Illinois for a very casual memorial for Lynn.  About 40 people came out to celebrate his life.  It was casual and quaint and not flashy or formal, just the way Lynn wanted it.

Jay and his brother Chris at a very informal gathering to spread their dad's ashes.

Spreading ashes on the farm, at Lynn's request.
Cousin Bruce also brought his dad's (Lynn's brother) ashes,
so the brothers are together on the farm.

IL and MN cousins at the memorial.

December
December brought us our first measurable snowfall -- about 3 inches and it was beautiful and enjoyed by all.  But warm temps have kept us off the pond for any ice skating as of yet.  We had our furnace (and a/c) fully replaced, which hurt the pocketbook for sure, but God provided.  I helped Jay and his Administrator plan their office Holiday Open House which seemed to be very appreciated by those in attendance.  The kids and I wrapped up our first semester of the school year.  Oh, and Super C passed me up in height, so that happened too.  We'll be staying home in Minneapolis for Christmas and welcome any visitors who might want to stop by.

Our first snow!

God's blessings always prevail even in times of stress and grief.  

No matter where life finds you today, I hope and pray that you know His peace this holiday season
as we celebrate Christ's birth.

Merry Christmas!

With Love,

Jay, Brooke, 

Super C, Super E, Quiet Tiger

and the three Woofs

Seeing Santa at the tree lighting in Zimmerman, MN.

Moving - In Pictures

Moving is so stressful and busy and chaotic that I never really had time to blog about our move.  Sure, I posted on Facebook, but here is our story in picture form.  This is obviously posted for more of a family memory, but feel free to listen in to the drama and know you are not alone, if you're in the moving phase of life.

We listed our Texas house for sale on Super E's birthday -- April 30th.

In 4 days we had 3 offers, all nearly identical and all above asking price!  We informed each to bring in their best offer by 9pm that night so we could make a decision before we went to bed that night.

The secondary offers were still nearly all identical.  We just had to choose.

We accepted offer #1 at about 10pm.  The next morning, before 9am when offices opened, we learned that the buyer had previously missed a couple of mortgage payments.  We were advised to let that offer go and accept offer #2.  So, we did.

Offer #2 looked good with a quick, 30-day closing, and we hightailed it up to Minneapolis to look at houses that next weekend.

We looked at 6 or 7 houses and narrowed it down to 2.  We went back and forth in conversation for an evening.

On Mother's Day, we put an offer on this beauty.  I negotiated price during a pizza party with good family friends and Jay's God Parents.  Our offer was accepted officially that next day.

That Monday we drove back down to Texas by way of Kansas City.

The next day as we were stuck in Ft. Worth traffic, we learned that offer #2 on our Texas house was backing out.  Seems she didn't like her proposed mortgage payment.

We immediately accepted offer #3.

I started packing.  A homeschool friend of mine gave me nearly all of her moving boxes and I started loading corners of rooms with packed, sealed and labeled boxes.  I called every 2 weeks or so to a local charity to come pick up donations from my driveway.  

Inspection was scheduled and took hours longer than we were told.  The buyers wanted a number of things repaired.  We chose some of the bigger items like replacing shingles and having siding sealed.  We painted the deck.
I hate painting lattice!

The inspection happened in Minnesota and nothing too major was found.  We looked into a couple of things and asked for some repairs.  The seller didn't agree to much, so we just had to live with it.

Jay left for Minnesota about 3 weeks prior to closing, to start getting settled with new clients.  I sent him up with our puppy Reese for some company.  He shared an office with another financial advisor.  Jay stayed with his God Parents in Coon Rapids.  

The day after Jay left we had a horrible storm complete with funnel clouds.  A portion of our fence came down.  The boys and I went to Home Depot for lumber and I managed to learn the big mitre saw in the garage and we fixed the fence in a day.

Why do those things always happen when the spouse is gone?
Did I really need that on my plate?

I made a paper chain to help Quiet Tiger with the excitement of moving, seeing daddy again, and getting our new house.  We hung it from the banister and removed 1 chain each day.

Not long after, I got a sudden call from our Texas realtor.  He said the buyers wanted to come see the house.  I panicked wondering why they'd want to stop by again.  Turns out, the buyer was out of state and had never set foot in our house.  Never!  Who does that?  So, the boys and I worked our butts off for 2 hours and moved all boxes into the garage, cleaned house, went to a good bye party for my friend Megan and her family while the buyers came through the house.

They loved it!  [Insert HUGE sigh of relief.]  Their realtor ordered the appraisal and the boys and I continued packing and packing and packing.  I knew the more I did, the less we'd have to pay the movers.  Jay's company was only to pay $4000 towards professional movers.  The rest would be up to us.

Our Minnesota appraisal happened and everything was done and ready for us there.  All we had to do was sell the Texas house, pack up and get ourselves up north.  I kept packing and packing and packing.

But the Texas appraisal didn't happen.  We were told it was ordered and that I'd get a call to schedule the appointment.  That call never came.  I pushed our realtor for answers because our moving date was looming closer and closer.  We learned that it was never ordered by their realtor.  Someone lied to us.  We pushed and it was ordered, but about 2 weeks later than it should have been.  So then we had to wait for the appraiser to write his report and send it to underwriting.  Everything was sent and we were told we'd close on time, as scheduled.

We said goodbye to our awesome friends and took pictures when we remembered to do so!

Movers called and asked if they could come late because they had a busy week.  No, that wouldn't work because we were scheduled to close on time in Texas.  They asked if they could come a day early.  Sure, I had 98% of the house packed anyway.  I let them come early.

We slept in sleeping bags for 2 nights as I scoured the house top to bottom.  We enjoyed a final, tearful swim in the pool.  Who cries while swimming?  I do.

Selling papers weren't ready to be signed the night before we left.  We drove to Kansas City through Tropical Storm Bill, (didn't know it was a tropical storm at the time) from Dallas all the way to OK City.  What should have taken 12 hours, took 14.  Awful, awful, AWFUL drive!  My kids never complained once.  They were rockstars!  We were told we'd be able to sign closing papers in KC.  That didn't happen.  We were assured we'd be able to sign over the weekend.

We drove to Minnesota and dropped our dogs off at a friend's before going to Jay's Summer Regional, an additional 120 miles away.  What's a few more miles after 1200?  We enjoyed downtown Alexandria and the hotel's water park.  We were told we'd be able to sign those selling papers at the hotel.  That didn't happen either.  At that point, we were stressed.

On Father's Day the Regional was over and we headed back to Coon Rapids.  Texas closing was still delayed.  We couldn't close on our Minnesota home purchase on Monday as planned.  We had to delay.  The lies and lies and lies from US Bank, our buyer's bank, kept coming.

Tuesday came, along with more lies all morning, but by 3:00pm we were finally signing papers to close on our Texas home.  Meanwhile, our moving truck had arrived and we were facing a storage fee of $2700 if we couldn't get into our Minnesota home.  The sellers allowed us to move our things in on Wednesday morning, prior to closing, for a very small fee.  I met our realtor/friend there, opened the house, vacuumed, met the movers, they moved boxes into the garage and furniture into rooms.  The money from our Texas sale was wired into our account just before lunch.  I wired the money right back out for our Minnesota purchase immediately.  I left to gather our dogs, where the kids and I were treated to an awesome lunch by our friend Lori.  Then it was back to the house where the movers were still unloading.  I changed clothes and ran to our closing, which took hours because the numbers didn't match up exactly.  Came home with keys in hand, I signed papers for the movers who were just waiting for me, and began cleaning.  I could finally breathe.  Ahhhhh!  HOME!

Except...

The sellers left the house in filth.  It took me 2 days to scrub bathrooms, cabinets, drawers, every single surface, before I could unpack.  Gross doesn't even describe it.  Angry.  I left my house in Texas so clean, you could lick the floors.  In Minnesota, I had to scrub for 2 straight days.

Gross!

But once cleaned, we were able to reconnect with family we hadn't seen in years.

And then we were reconnected with dear friends from Nebraska who had moved here and since adopted 2 beautiful girlies from China.  Bonus -- they live only 15 minutes away.

My college friend Mary came all the way out from the St. Cloud area (that's over an hour away, folks)  just to bring me lunch.  She brought her daughter and we basically picked up where we left off over a decade ago.  I love friends like that.

We have visited the cabin in Hayward numerous times already this summer.  We've been tubing and water skiing.  We've fished.  We've been swimming.

We've been to the Dragon Boat Festival in St. Paul.

The boys and I have been to The Guthrie to see The Music Man.

We've even started painting bedrooms!  Okay, I've painted 1 bedroom.

We're unpacked and settled.  

We're still learning light switches and quirks of the house.
We've faced our first appliance failure and purchased a new washing machine.
We've had repairmen out to fix a gas leak in the basement.

But...

We're home and very happy and grateful to be here in what we fully hope to be our
Forever Home!