April 2nd, 2014 is the day that this picture was taken, which was a day after our family said our final goodbyes to our first home. I must admit… I was a little teary when I went back for our final walk through and few belongings. We moved all our stuff on April Fools Day, with the help of some gracious friends (Chris, Erica, Troy & Romelle), into a rental home. I know fun and exciting times are ahead of us looking for a new, and bigger, home for our family of 5. But we have some good memories of 1158 N. Woodhill Drive so I wanted to reflect a bit.
We bought this home in December of 1999 and I was pregnant with our first child. I remember walking into the house the first time and thinking “this could be cute” and envisioning which room I would make the nursery. When the keys were handed over to us, we felt a sense of pride… you know “Our FIRST Home”… this is where memories would be made.
I remember walking in the door for the first time as we brought each of our kids home from the hospital. As I sat in the nursery rocking Chandler not long after he was born and kept thinking how in the world can I leave this precious little baby and go back to work. I did go back to work and after 6 months of that, I decided I had enough and came home for good. Each of our kids had all their firsts in that home.
I remember the sweat & tears that were put into clearing the land behind our house to make a backyard for our kids to play in. Sweat because that was some hard work bush-hogging and pulling up trees & roots for hours. Tears because that was the first night I was away from my baby boy at 8mths old.
I remember when we got a swingset for the boys and how happy they were as a 3 and 1 year old playing on it. Chandler was so sweet holding Carter between his legs on the “rocket ship” swing as they called it.
I remember when Corby built a huge sandbox in the backyard and we ordered a load of sand to go in it. When the dumptruck pulled into the backyard to dump the load, everyone’s eyes were big as golf balls looking at the mountain of sand sitting in the middle of it and wondering how it was going to fit inside the rectangle box. (It was a little mounded by the way 
)
I remember trying to figure out where to put our Christmas tree each year because the living room was so small, but somehow we always made a spot for it. I remember lots of lunches on the front porch with the kids when they were little.
I remember washing dishes day after day and hating it so much because we didn’t have a dishwasher. My parents felt sorry for me when I was pregnant with Carter because I gagged every time I had to wash them. So they bought us a portable dishwasher and it was the best thing ever. A few years after that Corby & I tackled a kitchen remodel that extended the cabinets and made the dishwasher permanent and put new kitchen floors down ourselves. We gave ourselves a pat on the back for that.
I remember hanging my head over the toilet in the bathroom when I was pregnant with Carter. Me & the toilet visited a lot during my pregnancies. I was looking across the hall at Corby sitting on the bed in our bedroom and saying “if I ever want to do this again, please slap me.” We did have a 3rd kid by the way.
I remember painting Kensley’s room pink after we found out she was a girl and when we were done, thinking… this kinda looks like Pepto-Bismol.
I remember all the fun times we had playing in the snow. The kids would stay outside for hours on end going up and down the hill in our front yard. And we have some great videos as memories. We also spent a lot of time chasing balls that rolled down that same hill. After about the 10th time chasing that ball, I made the comment that I never want to live in a house on a hill again. People were afraid to pull into our driveway fearing their car would roll.
Speaking of rolling, I remember Corby’s car taking a tour of the neighborhood. He went out to crank the car to take the boys to school and when they came back outside a few minutes later to get in, the car was gone. Since the parking break hadn’t been pulled up, the car decided to back itself into our front yard, turn the wheel, go back down the driveway, jump a curb, barely miss a fire hydrant, manuever between a telephone box and a bush and land in the corner of the carport and a funeral home hearse sitting in the driveway across the street and 3 houses down. It was still running when we figured out where it landed. Fun times folks.
I remember getting our first dog and how excited our kids were because they begged for a dog for years. We were proud of ourselves because we got him for free. I also remember that same summer thinking where are we gonna put the dog. Then we ended up fencing in our backyard. Our free dog turned into an expensive investment. But it was worth it because the kids love Buster and he’s been a great addition to our family.
Our little 3 bedroom, 1 bath house was great for our family for 14 years and we have SO many more memories there. We never, ever imagined that we would have stayed there as long as we did. But that little house allowed me to stay at home with my kids for a long time and raise our family. People would always ask how we could live there and my answer was always, “you just make do with what you have.” I’m thankful for that little house. Now we pass it off to another couple…New floors, new paint, new memories for them.
So as we are on the search to find a home for our family, I have full trust in the Lord that He will provide for us.
“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.” -Acts 17:26
