Home Buying 101

The title is deceiving, it sounds like we know something, but we don't. Garett and I have been working steadily for about two months on educating ourselves and researching for the purpose of buying our first home. If you know us well enough, you understand that this will be a long process. (It took us 3 months to buy a car.) So we have checked our credit, are saving up, have unoffically picked a realtor, and continue to research. What we have discovered is that most people over buy and developers take as many shortcuts as possible. I guess we are just frustrated with how much money is needed and it does not seem that you can really get your money's worth. If you would like to send us some of your advice, we would like to hear about your experiences.

Happy First Birthday!

Well it is official, Owen is now 1! We celebrated with friends and this yummy Baby Einstein cake. He loves Baby Einstein, and cake too. We later continued the celebration by going out to the car and moving the carseat to the forward facing position. He seems to like the view.

Yum!

He was a bit wired after enjoying his cake.
He started by poking it with his finger and tasting
and quickly moved on to full hand grabs.
Happy Birthday Owen!

Mommy and Owen. Balloons are one of his favorite treats.

MD Check Up

Owen had a check up for his ears today. I'm happy to report that the ear infections are gone! The right eye infection is back, but easy to treat. He has a new head cold, hopefully it will pass quickly. Regardless of any illness he's in a great mood and has a healthy appetite. :)

Last night I was preparing dinner and the house seemed too quiet so I went to investigate and this is what I found.... so cute...

There's nothing better than a good nap.

Today we had a wonderful sacrament meeting. The bishop had all of the newest converts give a short talk about their conversion. They were all wonderful. I especially admire the courage of Lolita Perry who was only baptized 2 weeks ago. It was awesome. The bishop was the concluding speaker and he talked about "stepping it up" in regards to our personal salvation. He took a poll in our ward and noted that 2/3rds of our families are not having family prayer, home evenings or scripture study. He talked about improving how we serve and our over all devotion to obeying the commandments. We have a wonderful ward, probably one of the more friendly ones, we are good missionaries and great at fellowshipping. But sometimes we get too comfortable with our spiritual lives and it was wonderfully encouraging and motivating to hear the bishop today. I'm glad I was there and plan to "step it up". If you missed church today, check out the new 2007 manual Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, it's on line too. Lesson 1, it is wonderful and also, like sacrament meeting, addresses personal responsibility for your own salvation.

Today

Time to catch up

It has been a while since my last post. We had a wonderful Christmas break, enjoying time together and with family and friends. We also helped my parents move into their new home in South Carolina.

It was so nice to spend time with Garett without the pressures of work and school. Sleeping-in was something we had not done in a while, even Owen joined in. :)

No winter vacation is complete without a cold, so we all got one. Owen first, then us. Owen's took an icky turn and progressed to a double eye and ear infection and a cough that could shake the windows. Poor guy had to have breathing treatments, which are painless, except for the sitting still part - it was pure torture for all of us.

Owen is now back to his usual self with some added new tricks. He stands on his own and walks with the assistance of Mom and Dad or his toys that are tall enough. I'm sure he will be walking within the next month.

We hope all is well with you and your families. Send us your updates, we would love to hear from you.

Love, The Trent's