Plumbing Problems

So we moved in with my grandparents on a Wednesday.  On Friday morning, the toilets in the basement stop working.  Grandma and Grandpa were up in Layton at Doug's house, so I called Grandpa to tell him the situation.  He called his neighbor (who built the house), and he came over to take a look at it.  He got the toilets to flush, but said it looked like a bigger problem and told us to not use the toilets in the basement until he could take a look at it and get it fixed.  Kind of stinks, but there's plenty of other toilets in the house, not a big deal. We went up to Doug and Shannon's that evening for Mason's 2nd birthday party.  Here's a few pictures from that...

Anna with Lauri...not sure how they're related...cousins twice removed?  Something like that, haha.

Mason opening his presents

Meanwhile, Derek was getting attacked by the older cousins

I think we'll need to have some boys...that or Anna will have to learn to like roughhousing!

Mason was so cute, while all his siblings and cousins were playing with his new toys, he wanted to read a book instead!

Back to the plumbing issue...so Saturday morning, the upstairs toilets are not flushing either.  It's apparently an even bigger problem.  They have to dig up the septic tank pump.  Meaning no water can go down the drains.  Meaning no showers or washing dishes or washing hands.  Starting to be a bigger deal.  At least there was one toilet out in the pool house that still worked, so we could still go to the bathroom. Grandpa, his neighbor, Derek, and Trevor were outside all morning and afternoon digging a giant hole in the ground.

I lasted until about 3:00 that afternoon and then decided I really wanted a shower.  So I took Anna and we went over to Beth and Todd's for the rest of the day.  By the evening, Derek came over to report that there was a 15 foot hole in the lawn, the problem was still not fixed, and the one working toilet was no longer working.  So we decided to spend the night at Beth and Todd's.  I'm not really one for roughing it!

To make a long story short, we spent three nights at Beth and Todd's before they got the problem fixed.  (You'll have to ask Derek or my Grandpa to explain what the problem was and what they did to fix it...they told me, but I couldn't explain it again...I don't know anything about plumbing!)

It actually ended up being kind-of fun for me. Beth and the twins were at girls' camp all week and Jared at EFY, so I watched Ethan, Joshua, and Rebecca during the day while Todd was at work.  We played lots of board games, jumped on the trampoline, busted out the slip n' slide, rode bikes/scooters, and all sorts of fun stuff.  The kids love Anna, and they're really good with her.

Anna really enjoys Ethan. He's good at making her smile!

Derek and Joshua on the trampoline. They boys really liked how high Derek can bounce them!

Anna and Rebecca

So it actually worked out OK for us.  I felt so bad for Grandma and Grandpa though.  They had just finished landscaping their beautiful lawn and now there is a 15 by 25 foot patch of dirt in the middle of it.  It was really sad!  But like Grandma kept saying, it could have been worse.  At least it didn't happen in the middle of the family reunion in two weeks.  That really would have been a disaster!  50-60 people (or however many of us there are now) and no working bathrooms!  Yikes!

Moving!

So our biggest event in May was moving!  We decided about a month ago that we would take my grandparents up on their offer to go live with them.  We are hoping to buy a house in the next few months, so saving money on rent will help us meet that goal sooner.  Our apartment contract was good until August, but we thought we would try to sell our contract so we could move out sooner and start saving money.  So we listed our apartment on KSL at the beginning of the month.  Within two weeks, someone had bought our contract and we needed to be out by May 30th!  So we started packing boxes and getting ready to move!

Moving is one of those things that always takes longer than you anticipate.  I had started packing away things about two weeks before we had to move out, and I was feeling like I had made some really great progress.  When we left for Denver over Memorial Day weekend, I was thinking we only had a couple hours of work left when we got home.  Just kidding!  We got home on Monday evening and started on the rest of it and quickly realized it was going to take much more than a few hours.  Derek ended up staying home from work Tuesday, and we still were packing up the last boxes Wednesday morning, which is the day we said we would be out.

We got some help loading the truck from a few men in the ward, but mostly it was Derek and our friend, Kent, who did all of the work.  It was so nice of Kent to spend the day helping us, because they moved the next day and I'm sure he had tons of work to do at his own apartment!  I wish I would have thought to ask for more help with cleaning the apartment...that took much longer than I thought it would!  Thankfully, our neighbor Brooklyn was able to watch Anna for a couple hours so I could get it done quicker.  Even so, it was 9:30 in the evening before we finally locked the door for the last time.

It was really bittersweet leaving that apartment.  It was a good little apartment, and we had great neighbors and a good ward.  And lots of good memories, especially because it's where we first brought home Anna.  But at the same time, I'm definitely excited to be finding a house.  I'm also really enjoying spending time with my grandparents.  And I love having free access to a pool for the summer!  I think that's how it goes with changes.  It's hard leaving behind what you know and love, but it's exciting looking to the future and its possibilities.

Saying good-bye to our apartment.  Sad to leave...

But excited for the future!