French Family Update

We have been crazy busy these past two weeks, and I have not had time to blog. Last week we went to Arkansas from Saturday - Saturday {I will have to blog about that soon!} and then Shawn and I turned around on Monday morning and drove up to Frisco, Texas and we will be headed back home in the morning. You may ask "why Frisco?" Pull up a chair and I'll tell you!

Remember last year we almost moved to Africa? The process was not happening as timely as we'd hoped and we really felt the Lord was closing the door on that opportunity. So thankful that my husband followed his heart {and the Holy Spirit} and we did not go down that road. With that said, we have felt a little unsettled in our homestead and open to moving, if it felt right. Since then, several opportunities have arose with Shawn's career, but they did not work out for one reason or another. We did not want to push anything or make something work out, if it was not meant to be.

An opening within Shawn's company came available in Frisco {just north of Dallas} a couple of months ago, so Shawn began pursuing it to see if this was something that might be a good fit for him and our family. To make a long story short, it worked out. A lot of prayer and a ton of patience has gotten me us through this process. What you would think would take a week, turned into 2 months. Can I tell you how hard it is for me to be hands off and trust that all will work out if the Lord wills it that way?? Faith. It is so key I tell you.

That brings me to why we are in Frisco this week. We are on our Home Finding Trip. The kids are back home, staying with family. Major kudos to our family who has helped out this week! What a blessing! This week has been a whirlwind. Craziness to some degree. The housing market in Frisco is nutso! On the market one day and gone the next, with multiple offers over the listing price. We arrived Monday around lunch time and it was game on with our realtor. We looked at some resale, homes in the country, and new construction. We realized that we would probably need to move outside of Frisco in order to get the most out of our dollar.

We ended up looking all day Tuesday too. We looked at several properties and pretty much saw anything in our price range in the areas we were interested in moving. We narrowed it down to 2 places: 1) the country home on nearly an acre in Celina or 2) the new construction home in Oak Point. I could write a whole blog post on the pros and cons for both, believe me. It was really weighing on me on having to choose between the two. I joked with my best friends that I can barely put together a meal plan and now I've gotta choose between two great homes. Yikes! While we liked both properties, I was leaning more towards one, while trying to remain open to the other. Wednesday morning after Shawn got up {I had been up for 2+ hours} we talked it over and decided on the new construction. We drove back out to Oak Point, spoke to the home builder on all the details and walked through the actual home that is still under construction. That afternoon we also met a pool guy onsite to discuss future pool plans. For the last few years we have said that if we move, our next house will have a pool. So, we did not want to throw that item out the window with this move. This backyard has a bit of a slope on it, but it is on purpose for water draining purposes. We wanted to make sure before proceeding with this house that a pool is a possibility and get a quote for budgeting purposes. The pool guy was very matter of fact and thorough. He did not see any issues in putting in a pool and we walked through all of our options from water systems to decking to depth to size, etc.

We woke up this morning and drove out to Oak Point and signed a contract on the home. We are super excited about it. We both love the home and the layout. Plus there are two ponds {one is about 5 acres, check out the footage HERE} within the neighborhood for catch and release fishing. Yes, Shawn has already tested it out and caught one!! There are also some hiking trails I know we'll be taking advantage of. And two community pools, of which one has a spray pad and water slides for the kiddos, a little mini water park. One of my favorite things about the home is that kitchen/living/breakfast is all open to each another. While our current home has been wonderful, the kitchen is definitely not as open as I wish and it is hard for me to keep an eye on the kids while preparing meals. So, they usually end up on the kitchen floor while I am cooking. In this home, there will be no concerns on keeping an eye on them while in the kitchen. Another thing is that this home is a 2 story, but there is plenty of living space downstairs, and if we wanted, everyone could have a bedroom downstairs. Since my kids are still small, I am constantly going up and down with getting them in and out of bed and picking out clothes. The boys may end up sharing a bedroom upstairs, but Jase is a great helper {my mother hen} and will help out with Finn. Plus with Maebry coming this fall, I'd like her to stay downstairs after we move her out of our bedroom. With this floor plan, that will not be an issue at all. And there are several other features that we both love about the home. Needless to say we are really excited.

Family and friends. That is hard, just straight up. I have cried many tears {even this week} about leaving loved ones. While I know it will be tough not being down the road from them, we will be a short car ride or plane ride away and open for visitors! And I'm sure we will be back periodically to visit as well. Only thing with that is that we are about to be a family of 6...kind of hard for us to hole up in 1 bedroom for a weekend and remain happy, shiny people! But I'm sure we'll figure all of that out when we do visit.

We are excited about our new adventure ahead. This is definitely stepping out of the box for us for sure. I am looking forward to strengthening our family unit and depending upon one another more than ever. I know the Lord can use this situation to make us a stronger and closer family. And fully dependent upon Him as well.

We still plan on homeschooling the kiddos, as that has not changed in our heart. Praying that the Lord will connect us to other homeschool families nearby. Shawn and I have already been researching local churches to see where we can visit when we move and it definitely looks promising. A united body of believers is such a blessing. A group of people to hold you accountable for your actions, study the word together and serve together.

Our new home is still currently being built, but should finish up next month. The plan is to close and move in our new home in mid September, two months from now. Tomorrow we will head back to Deer Park and begin getting our house ready to put on the market. The next two months will be busy for us to say the least. Praying for plenty of energy for this pregnant lady! Oh and I will have to find a new doctor to deliver Maebry. Trying not to stress over that, as I know all will work out, but I definitely need to start doing my homework and research in that department.

Stay tuned in for updates in this process. We hope that all goes smooth with the transition.