Santa and Toy make an appearance.

There are MANY, MANY reasons that I love living where we live. Honestly, living on horse property on an acre of ground really wasn't where/how I really pictured myself living. However! I am so grateful that John felt the Spirit the way he did after seeing this home over 3 years ago. I literally get goose bumps to think about the circumstances, and Johns sure knowledge that this was indeed where we needed to be. When John and I first heard about the house, it was about 8:30pm one evening. John and I were stopped at the stop-light on 12300 South and 1300 East. My cell phone rang, it was Casey-(a realtor, and my sister.) She knew that we were always looking for a new home, but not really in the market to make the big jump at that time. She told us where the house was, and we drove over since we were only a few minutes away. This house, when we drove up, was the scariest looking house that I have probably ever seen. The house was no lit up, the trees were overgrown, --and it was so horribly --70's ish. That was just the outside. We walked around the house and looked through the windows as it was clear that the owners of the home had moved out. John decided that he wanted to walk through it. We called Casey, who in turn, called the owners. It was this poor old man who we got out of bed! He told us that he would be over at about 10:00-he needed to get ready. We waited for both him and Casey. Finally, he arrived and showed us the home. The carpet was horrible gray, the walls stark white, the kitchen cabinets-- seventies walnut. I'm not sure that there was anything that, at first I was OK about and that I actually liked. In my mind, we were just walking through this old, old, unkempt home. The only thing that went though my mind was that the house kept going on, and on, and on. Just when you thought you had seen it all, there was another door with yet another room. John had his own thoughts on the place. He was in heaven!! When the owner showed us the house, he also showed us a part of the property that was also part of the deal. AND!!, it included a 900 square foot barn with about an extra 1/2 an acre of property which we didn't think was part of this house. John talked to the owner and told him we would have an offer the following morning. I could not believe that he was really interested in this place. We didn't really talk about it much that night. The following morning, I received a phone call from Chelsey-(my neighbor and sister and friend.) I was still sleeping and she asked me why there was a For Sale sign in my front yard, one that wasn't there yesterday. I sat straight up in bed and was shocked. John had put our home up for sale! I called him and he said that this is something that needs to be done, he would take care of the rest. Did he not remember that we still have a home? That if it didn't sale, we would have 2 house payments? I was floored. We made our offer that morning. We gave them, I think, until 5pm that day or maybe the next to either reject or accept our offer. His wife called us back a little before 5 and told us that another offer had come in as well that day, and were wondering if we wanted to have the final option of the home. Could we make our money stretch? We told her we wanted the home and would love to know if we were outbid. We were waiting patiently for the call to come in and let us know what our future was. She called back around 7pm and told us that they had really contemplated the 2 offers. The other offer happened to be a higher offer, and they wanted to close sooner than us. My heart sank. She said that after very much thought and prayer (funny, huh! That is what she said.), that they have decided to give us the home. I could not believe it. They accepted our lower offer. After we closed, we were talking to the seller. He said that his decision had much to do with seeing our little girls, a young family, and potential to a great home. It also had to do with my next door neighbor, Debbie, who without meeting us-chose us. The cute seller took both our offers and family descriptions to her for her input. She chose us. Honestly, we were meant to be where we are-I believe in divine intervention when our hearts are in the right place. I don't think that either John or I was real spiritually "in-tune" ever while living in our Draper home. We struggled with church, callings, etc. We went, and when we went it was only as part of routine. In part, I believe that Heavenly Father was answering our prayers, but also had his own agenda. I don't believe it is coincidence that we are where we are today. I believe that this home was hand-picked for us by our loving Heavenly Father. Spiritually, we have grown tremendously in this ward. I am seeing the power of service of ward members to other ward members. I see the miracles that go on all because, seriously, the ward cares about each other. Kindness, love, charity, humbleness, are all words that I would think of when I think of our ward and neighborhood. My testimony has grown more than I even realize. I feel VERY blessed to know the Featherstone's and have them in our ward. The General Authority, Featherstone's. I believe a large part of my testimony came from Vaughn and Merlene. I am so lucky to be assigned Merlene's visiting teacher. Actually, I am so lucky to be assigned the ladies I have been assigned to! I also get to visit Sharon and Barbara. For this I am grateful. It makes me wonder what I possibly have to help them advance and be better. Regardless, I am happy. I am pretty sure that not many people read this, but if only there was a way I could express the depth of my gratitude when I speak of this area. I will be forever grateful.

ANYWAYS!! That was just one of the reasons that I love where I live. Each Christmas, Santa and Toy make a stop to our street. The kids go outside and get to be with Santa and his horse. Each year, I try to have a few people over and eat until Santa comes. This year was no exception. This is another reason that I love the "horse" area.

I was glad, too, because John heard someone singing the other day and looked out the window. Down the bridal trail, he saw probably about 15-20 horses, and their riders were singing Christmas carols. John gathered the kids and me and we headed to the backyard and listened to them. The horses had jingle bells and were all decorated for the holidays. That made me happy.

I think it is the small things.