A Permanent Address and the Miracle Moving Crew

Triva Question:  How many different addresses have Dylan and Renee had since they were married?  Answer: FIVE!!!!!!  We moved twice in Athens, once to Augusta and now twice in Lilburn and we don't plan on moving for quite some time!!  


On January 6, 2012 we signed our lives away and added a check mark to the to do item: Buy a house.  Marriage, two children and a mortgage. WOW!  It certainly seemed like a crazy time to take the plunge, but we made an offer on our home 2 weeks after Ezra was born.  Since it was a foreclosure the process took a long time, but we finally moved in on Jan. 16, 2012.  Things were certainly in commotion for a while and we are still are in the renovation stage, but we are just taking it a little bit at a time.

Yes, sign your life away here.

Regretfully, I didn't take many pictures of the moving days, but I can remember all the wonderful help that we had.  Krista watched the children while we went to closing (and baby sat kids during the moving and unpacking process).  Richard and Dee were there when we came back and had the trailer ready to pack up and helped us begin cleaning our new house.  Mom sacrificed sweat, tears, her piano and even blood!!  Not to mention custom drapes, blinds, decorative pillows and bedding for Ezra.  Dad cleaned all the carpet and floors, gave Eliza a big girl bed, hours of pressure washing, yard hours, vicarious sheetrock assistance and so much more!  Ron and Melanie: Tear apart bathroom, tile bathroom, grout bathroom, tear apart another bathroom, tile bathroom, grout bathroom, rip out linoleum in laundry room, tile laundry room.  Fix the garage door, install new lights, fix all the toilets, paint the bathroom, install new bathroom vanities, faucets and hardware...not to mention the other 100 misc things on their list.  They bought us our first fridge and then Evan ended up holding up the weight of our fridge (heavy) on his back!  Ryan, Jenny, Ambree, Kyla, Jaxon and Layna were on the cleaning and moving crew.  Robyn, Steve and Naomi were also on the muscle moving crew and helped hang a bazillion blinds!  Emilee was the rock that entertained the kids and did pretty much whatever we needed.  Russell, Dylan and Dad willingly cleaned up the yard and in the process got poison ivy!!!!  Nathan climbed up to the second story to clean our gutters (because Dylan doesn't do heights) while Jenny cleaned and entertained kids.   Our favorite electrician Stan replaced all our switches and outlets.  Have you ever counted how many there are in a house?!!!  Add a light here, fix a ceiling there, move a receptacle and even climbed in the attic.  Susan the caulking and hand stitching pro helped out while Charity, Hope and Clay provided countless hours of entertainment for two very active children.  

So the moral of the story is that you don't buy a forclosure unless you have AWESOME family and friends to back you up.  Seriously, we couldn't have made it without such wonderful family and friends!!!!!!  I left off hundreds of other things that people did for us, but just know your good deeds are numbered our hearts.  They drove from all over the state to be here to help us.  It was a very stressful time but as I am sitting here reflecting back on it all I know that we are loved more than words can express.   Later on I hope to post a few before and after pictures too!