And it goes on

And then one July day, an offer was made on the house. One that would ensure a break even walk away (not counting all the repairs and upgrades!). Our Realtor was skeptical that the appraisal would back the offer up. "It doesn't mean anything if the appraisal doesn't match...". Glorious. Just glorious. I was told to get the kids out of the house when the lady came to see how much our house was worth. But I stayed. I'm glad that I did. When she said "If you had an air conditioner in that top bedroom, then I could count it..." I was there to tell her where it was. The appraisal went through!

It was July 4th weekend and we needed to find a place to live in Fredericksburg. We searched that weekend and put in an offer on a dumpy foreclosure (and won!). Oh it needed lots of work and smelled of cigarettes but we are young and love to see potential.

The sale on the Richmond house was smooth and went through the first week of August. The backlog on our new house was weeks away.

We would be homeless for a month (so we thought!) but some great friends stepped up, laid down their lives, and welcomed us in. We each have four kids to our name, 8 combined. We chipped in with meals and made it work wonderfully and can still say that we're friends today! Our friends really showed us what it means to sacrifice to help others. To go outside of their comfort zone to help (love) a neighbor.

So one month turned into three. The government is not known for being quick with paperwork that's for sure! On Oct. 3rd, we closed and had the open door to start working on our new "smoke house".

 The kids helped us rip up nasty carpet and pull thousands of staples.

                                                
Wall paper coming down in the dining room and kitchen.

 We all worked HARD to make the new place "livable"

 This is how we lived for a few weeks. But looking back, it really was a short season.

 So glad this guy is the handiest thing ever!