Doug and I have been married almost 7 years now. In those short 7 years we have moved approximately 15 times. That's right people...you read it right....15! The only house we had owned...or should I say, Doug owned....was the townhouse he bought us before we got married. This is where he purposed and that is where we lived during the remaining year and a half we had left in Rexburg. After leaving Rexburg for good, we decided to sell it because it was too hard to maintain and keep as a rental when we weren't ever around. I signed the papers to sell in the hospital while I was in labor with Jake. From then on we never owned because we knew Doug's job would take us all over for the next little while. We weren't going to really settle down and stop moving until Tanner was ready to start Kindergarten. Well, that time had approached us and we knew that although Doug would still be traveling, after we got back from Denver it was time to hunker down and find us a house. We had a wish list of course....but we weren't going to build so we knew that we wouldn't get everything on our wish list, but we still tried. It felt like we looked at a million homes. I of course thought that we would get back from Denver...stay in a vacation rental for a short while so we wouldn't have to get our stuff out of storage until it was time to move for real....and get into a house and situated before our little Luke was born. Well, none of that happened....well, maybe some of it. We got back to AZ and moved into a vacation rental. We started looking at homes but I seemed to be a little more anxious than Doug since I was about to go into labor. Right before I was due with Luke, Doug came home and said that he found us the perfect house. He wanted me to go see it. You see, I totally trust Doug's taste when it comes to homes and furnishings....He knows what I like and after looking at so many homes we knew what we really wanted right now. So we went and looked and of course I loved it...but the price wasn't right. This process was taking waaaay longer than I had planned! We ended up extending our lease on the vacation rental because I wanted to make sure some kind of housing was secure for us if things didn't pan out before I had Luke. And they didn't....but that was okay. I actually ended up signing papers to put an offer on the house in the hospital right after giving birth to Luke. We brought Luke home to our rental and it worked out well. It was comfortable and cozy and it was just what I needed instead of bringing a newborn home amongst a billion boxes. We had to be out of that rental on Dec. 1st. At this point things were moving ahead with our house, but it was going slow. So what did we do? We moved in with Melis and Kyle of course!:) We ended up being there longer than we thought as well and then off to Oregon we went for two weeks of Christmas vacation! We came back and officially signed papers to get the house on Jan. 4th. We got the keys on Jan. 5th. We were so excited for our new home. We actually did get a lot of things on our wish list and we couldn't have been happier.
Now those memories seem bittersweet. I came home from the hospital after losing Luke and having to leave him and as much as I loved my house....I completely hated my house. This is where I found my baby not breathing....this is where the traumatic 911 call came from....this is where I have to relive that horrible day over and over and over for as long as we are in this house and that was one of the first memories made here. Not a happy one...and no more than 3 weeks after we had moved in. I would walk and just look around aimlessly. I felt like I was stuck yet I didn't want to leave. I cried to my mom and she would just tell me that she knew I didn't think that I would ever have happy memories in this house, but that they would come....with time. And they are. I still CONSTANTLY relive that nightmare, but there are memories being made that are slowly filling our new home with joy instead of constant sadness. One of those being Tanner and Jake teaching themselves how to ride a bike with no training wheels.
Jake just hopped on and did it one day. He was so proud of himself! It was too cute! 
Tanner just looked up at me in amazement and said, "Mom? I think I want to try that!". And when he built up the courage a few days later he did it himself too! No help from Mom or Dad....these boys were determined and they didn't need us! They have spent countless hours outside in the backyard riding and riding and riding.
Now Mikey wants to ride just like them and I wouldn't be surprised if he did it at his young age of 2. That boy is also determined....maybe just a little more than the other two! Those three boys are what is filling this house with pure joy! I know Luke is smiling down on us from heaven and loving every minute too. They are his big brothers and every time he looked at them he would smile and I know he was thinking "I want to be just like them one day!". Now that is going to be one great reunion!
