Update (longer than I thought it would be...)

Now that we've been in Utah for a few months, it is feeling a lot more like home. We have had a few rainy days and it reminds me of the California winters we used to enjoy, snow-free. It has been getting a lot warmer (like 40s and 50s) and all the snow finally melted the day before yesterday, before it rained. I thought (or rather hoped) we were done with the snow for this year, but then today it dumped 3-4 inches within a couple hours. Sigh. Such is life in Utah.

We are enjoying this area, though. We love our ward and have made some great friends. Connor and I have been doing fun activities like going to the Zoo, visiting family, and attending Roy Library's story time every Wednesday. It's still a little cold for stroller walks, but the playground outside our apartment has been a life-saver when I just can't stand being inside anymore. The kid still really loves the snow.

Many of you have been asking how our house hunting is going. It is in full swing and we've already walked through close to 50 houses in person (and WAY more online). At this point all the houses are starting to look alike. Our definite favorite (the same house I talked briefly about a few posts back) is still our favorite. Actually, we have put an offer down on it! It's a short sale in Pleasant View and we have been waiting for 6 weeks so far for the bank to get back to us. Fortunately the price we offered was pre-approved by the bank for another buyer that walked away last minute. So it won't take the typical 6-9 months, like many short sales, for us to hear back (we hope). The listing agent for the bank told us we should have our answer within a few months of putting in our offer because the bank wants to move "fast" on this to get rid of it, and that was 6 weeks ago. In the meantime, we have been looking at more houses to make sure there isn't one we love more, but all this has only solidified our love for Green. (We call it "Green House" because every wall inside the house is green, but it is actually a big red brick house. And it's gorgeous.) Sorry, I'm still not going to post any pics yet. I want to save it for the exciting post and the big reveal when we close on it. Stay tuned!!

House hunting has been a fun experience. We are working with a great Realtor (which is free, by the way. The seller always pays the buyer's agent's commission) who has been great at getting us into tons of houses, has had some great advice of things to look/watch out for, and has even pointed out some potential problems in a few homes that we would have missed. It takes a trained eye. We have seen houses for sale by owners, short sales, houses in foreclosure; we have talked with builders about building a brand new house, and looked at potential lots to put a new house on; we've even participated in an auction for a house (it was a no-obligation auction - no money to put down at the start and really no risk to participate). It was a huge house, the bid started super low so we signed up (which was free). The price raised pretty high very quickly so we dropped out the first round. But hey, it all adds to the experience. It has been fun to imagine our future in each of the homes. But the only one we can literally see ourselves living in is Green.

Connor is growing up so fast, but I will post more of him in a separate post.

Brad's job is going well. He still works four 10's, with the exception being when he works overtime when clients come in for testing. Then he works five or six 10's (and sometimes even 12's). That has happened 3 weeks out of the few months we've been here. He likes what he is doing and enjoys the people he works with. He's also been playing church basketball. Good motivation for me to get back in shape too. (More on that later...)