Champions!

 

 

Missed this last game due to Cory's wedding, but here they are...won their championship game and they rocked it.  Elijiah is just doing fabulous in basketball and we are so proud of him.  Congrats kiddo.  Love you!! xoxo

More of the same...

I believe a more detailed update is warranted…so many things are constantly happening and I keep thinking that I wont forget them but I will… We are doing well in the new house. As I mentioned last post it’s a good feeling here. We are meeting neighbors, kids are meeting other kids…so in all things are good. Ive looked around the house and even though I am committed to changing a few things, other things, im going to live with for a while. After our last house I really feel depleted. Especially of creative juices, ideas, and its so hard to come up with space ideas if that’s the case. I see these great things via blogs/magazines, but nothing is grabbing me. Plus we are still unsure how everything will work out with the financial aspect of living here- increased mortgage, utilities etc…so I want to see how things play out. Ive had some work challenges and interviewed for another job. I got that job but felt so conflicted over taking it in the end I didn’t accept. Its strange too as I have wanted to go back to that place of work for a few years. The stars I guess didn’t align this time around to make me feel good about it in the end.

  Jonathan finally finished grad school. He wrote the nicest thing on facebook the other day about it: “I've been a student nearly all the years she's known me. In the middle of finally finishing a viable under grad when we met then moving to a Masters with virtually no break in between. She's had to endure the heavier portion of MY workload by practically being a single mom on class nights and during hours of homework marathons. Whole weekends shot, stressed out and grumpy hubby, a fair chunk of debt, countless family events void of spouse, and 10 consecutive days juggling every aspect of our lives as I tooled around China. Well, tonight was the last night. The end of a pretty darn long road. She amazes me. Her endurance, her patience, her sacrifice, and her unwavering support -- these things amaze me. And so, it is with sincere admiration, gratitude, and awe that I congratulate Mrs Amber Devenney Bechtold for completing 7 consecutive years of (hubby's) higher education!!!” This is just an example of how its really all his hard work, but he turns around and recognizes me in the whole thing…who does that? Jonathan…always. Hes so so good to me. As such I needed to do something for him…I put together a “housewarming” party but really it was a graduation party for him. The kids and I got him a cake, decorated and had family and friends over to congratulate him….he said it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him. ( which im sure isn’t true) but so glad he had a good time. He felt really loved by those who came. Its strange really to have him done. No more nights gone, homework every day…hes ours after work no competing priorities. Ive never experienced this since weve been together. Im excited. 

Jett…I wanted to remember a few things lately…hes obviously all over the place but whats funny is his interest in eating random things. Taking the cereal boxes for example and carrying it through the house leaving cheerios everywhere…His learning to kiss. He doesn’t know how to pucker, but he leans in and gives lovely open mouth slobbery kisses….( those I cant get enough of) His hugs, his jumping on top of you to wrestle. Wanting to dance in the kitchen when there is music on with Tristan and I. He bobs up and down to the beat….his grunting and pointing instead of talking…hey if it gets him what he wants why sign or talk eh? Sleeping like clockwork…12 hours to the dot. I know if I put him down at a certain time…12 hours later Ill be getting a wake up call…so anything before 6pm is a bit painful. Hes discovered trucks, cars…loves to push them around but likewise anything construction related…tractors outside, pictures of farm stuff, trucks, etc his word for them? Dadda. Points to a tractor…Dadda…I guess he figures there are men working on those things and that’s like dadda…sooo that’s what they are. His extreme love of his blanket…the other night he had it in the kitchen with him…he put it in a pile and fell on top of it burying his face and rolling around with it. Most precious thing. He loves to play peek a boo with it. Hold it over his head in the AM to block out the light….This kid loves books. He “reads” for hours turning pages, talking, pointing out stuff…his favorite…kittens. Anything cat…he gets so excited when Tink and Bob are around running after them as they run away. If he catches them look out…kisses and body hugs are in order…( poor cats) He will hunt them down finding them in their hiding places. So there you have it a bit more of an update.

Moved

Two weeks we have been in the new house. It was a very hard move...a full 3 days. We have mountains of boxes in the storage room and garage, but we are getting close on getting the inside in order. Just trying to hang pictures and find places for all the nicknacks. the house itself is much better for our family...the layout and feel. we just had so much work in the other one and as jonathan put it...negativity. he doesn't miss it he said. our neighbors and ward yes...house now. for 2.5 years there wasn't a time when we weren't doing a full renovation/construction project which caused numerous fights and hardship...so to move into this new home...there is a feeling of peace...its hard really to explain, but its very homey and feels good. now this isn't to say there are no projects...but the scale is different so I don't believe we will kill eachother here lol. with not having a dedicated office, we haven't been able to figure out where to put everything that once occupied an entire room. we have come up with a solution to the desk/computer issue that I think will work for us. in the corner of the living room off the kitchen there was this alcove that had a built in shelf. not too user friendly. we figured if we knocked it out we could put in a computer hutch and the kids would have a place to use the computer in plain sight and it would store the printer some office supplies etc. we are still figuring out if where we will be putting books, filing, and the billion other office things...but for now... jett is growing so fast. feeding himself, walking like a pro now, loves to wrestle, give BIG hugs and kisses, quick to laugh...hes such a joy. Tristan -looking into some new school options...friends/bullying for him hasn't changed. hes so sensitive and it kills jonathan and I when hes struggling. elijiah- reading constantly, playing basketball and their team until sat was undefeated, hanging with friends, doing well noel...has a boyfriend. :) is thinking about coming spending more time with us in the summer in part to get out of az for a bit, hang with this boy..so we will see. ONE more week for Jonathan to finish is MBA. ONE week. It feels anticlimactic...but its such a huge accomplishment I need to think of something cool for him to celebrate this milestone....

Jan 2014

Noel came into town. It was a good 10 days. so many pictures taken but since I am at the mercy of others I just pulled these few off facebook. we had a lot of fun...sundance, swimming, movies, hanging out with the boys, daddy daughter/ momma daughter dates, girls nights with my friends, family stuff...in all a busy and fun time. Shes met someone here and so she was out and about a lot as well. Cant believe shes all grown up!!! :) Boy do we miss her already. ( side note) Jetts walking!!! 14 months. Hes developed some strange reactions to things...very allergic to certain types of milk( regular, coconut, almond, lactaid, etc- so hes on soy with his reflux meds...and hes got eczema, and severe issue with amoxicillin sooo its been a fun month or two with these things...but hes doing fabulous... says: mama, dada, Tristan, elijiah, bob, tink, baba, more, please, bye bye, I think that's it. Hes a super star :) we are moving next week...sooo much to do, so little time. im exhausted just thinking about all that still needs to be done. Jonathan started his new job...selecthealth. crossing fingers...but so far so good. 4 weeks left till hes done and graduated with his MBA!! I honestly cant believe we are so close. Kinda anticlimactic considering all that we have going on and whats happened the last 6 months but we are super close.... Tristan - got into the French program and we are excited about that...doing a science class afterschool and start gymnastics. hopefully he will continue to do well...some challenges with school, friends etc hopefully it will pass. Elijiah doing fab as usual in school, basketball is underway, and soccer in the spring. seems like hes always so busy and engaged the time just flies by for him. hes not thrilled to be moving but I hope it will work out okay. Nothing is new really for me...same ol at work....super busy juggling life with the boys...my foot still injured so haven't worked out in months and im getting restless...that's about it for the bechtolds these days!!!

New home....we hope

A few things on the horizon...we close on the sale of our current home in a week. and the week after on our new home...at this time everything is progressing well...no more hiccups at this point so we are optimistic about the moves(that they will happen). Getting antsy knowing whats ahead, the packing and move, and changes that will come with it, but excited as well. As much as our home has been a challenge(the constant remodeling and size of projects we have taken on over the last 2.5 years) Im getting sad to leave this home. We finished the last major project just a few months ago- the master bath...) and we finally took a breath. The home is really perfect now. I love it....each day I even go down in the basement just to look at the kitchen we installed a few weeks ago just to look in awe. Everything in the home - every piece of tile, the patterns, the finishes were all redone and picked out specifically for the space. It wasn't new construction but its been 100% redone and now we will be leaving it. Jonathan has done so much work, his blood sweat and tears are in this house. We love this neighborhood, and ward( oh how we will miss our ward) And more tears than I care to admit as while we were doing all the of the work we butted heads and fought like crazy.... And now without even being able to enjoy it- its time to move on. I think we are a little crazy - but really this move will be financially for the best. After running all the numbers and even considering renting the basement out, we just couldn't justify staying here, when we could sell and start over and be debt free. So a lot of people have asked me why did I pick the house we are moving to? Its 17 years old, needs all the updating that we just did to our current home, and we MUST be crazy to embark on such a journey again. Well heres why....the new house that we bought in Bluffdale never felt right...we had some concerns with it while we were in escrow. While it had all the finish work that I loved, and new construction, I felt uneasy. So when the original sale of our home fell through and we lost that house in bluffdale ( we had to pull out and loose our earnest money because we couldn't afford two house payments) I was upset but felt like it was going to be fine. I looked at probably another 8 houses in Draper and Lehi and none felt right. I didn't even want to look at our new house because it was over our price range but with a recent reduction I put it on the list. Immediately when I walked in...I felt right at home. It was like being at grandmas house. Welcoming, warm, loved....The place while not having been updated since it was built, had a single owner ( a recent widower ) and she wanted to downsize. Everything had been maintained well and its a very sound home. I could see us raising our kids there, and the space and layout were perfect. I had visions of what I would do, how I would change it all ( in good time) and I was super excited to be still in the same school district and just a few streets over from where we live now( ward will be new- every few streets in Utah is a different ward lol). So when we put an offer in, we were surprised to hear that it had a contingent offer on it and it had been several months...we were panicked...Here I thought this was the house and it already had an offer....they had 72 hours to make their offer a "hard" offer of pull out. It was the longest 72 hours of my life. JK. Well kinda. Jonathan and I both were on the edge of our seats hoping for good news. When it came I just felt overwhelmed and grateful as I really knew this was a good home for our family. Ive included some pictures of some of the spaces below - and be assured that pretty much the major stuff will get a makeover in the future ( kitchen, baths, and flooring ) but the rest of the house is done...the basement and yard are done - although we will likely put in a fence and some garden stuff down the road. Specs: Its a rambler...2200 each floor. ( main and basement) total sq 4400 oh my guys...the basement has 12 foot ceilings! The basement sold me...I could envision the boys running around playing down there for hours! 6 bedrooms 3 baths. Open floor plan which I love. Large laundry room and a separate 700 sq ft storage area for food storage and all our CRAPola! 3 car garage which Jonathan gets part of it as his man cave which hes excited about...Valley views :)! I will miss our current backyard...seeing the entire SLC valley and no neighbors and backing a park....couldn't get better- but this is a good runner up....kitchen is large, and while it and our master bath need work, everything works! No broken cupboards- so we will be able to really take our time in changing things as nothing needs repairs. Well that's about it...wanted to share with the family the pics and latest info as the last two months has been literal hell for us and Jonathan specifically( job , school, home issues..)We have been put through the ringer. We are excited about 2014 and all the new changes it will bring!

37th...

My birthday kinda got celebrated with Jetts as we had Jetts dinner on my day.  No biggie --good time – had everyone over for dinner and had a great relaxing day. 

I got some very thoughtful gifts and Jonathan was especially good to me with a bracelet I had been asking for.  The one thing I wanted was a picture with the boys on my day.  Its hard to get them all together for a picture let alone a good one, but we tried.

my oh my

things couldnt get tougher for the bechtold family.  our house went under contract a couple weeks ago.  we found another house in bluffdale.  great neighborhood brand new home.  a few minor issues- near trax.  new construction means no landscaping, basement isn't finished, needed updated carpet and blinds.  so some costs.  PLUS out of our preferred location and not so great school district.  but inventory is low and we need to stay in a few places- lehi, draper area close to freeways, elijiahs carpool etc.  the house itself is adorable so we put money down.  however with the loss of our buyers last week- they pulled out... we aren't able to buy another house right out-so with the feeling of bluffdale being just so-so Ive started to look for houses again.  GOODNESS there is nothing for sale in our price range, desired location, with the finishes I want with NO work.  its a tough one.  what do I sacrifice?  location, school district, DRAPER? Or a house with no work?  I dunno.  However what is amazing to me is for a new house even in Lehi, that is not very big(2300 sq ft) we are talking close to 400K.  So pricy to me.

on a good note jonathan found a job! yippee! starts in Jan so we are very relieved.  hes super excited and out of the crappy situation that is the current role soo on ward.

so while there are numerous other things going on that cant be discussed its a miracle neither Jonathan or I are in the funny farm.  we are hanging in and will just keep plugging along.