for: mom, from: Eliana

 

 

Happy Fourth Birthday, Selah!!

*This entry is two days late. So sorry, Aunt Danelle. Life just gets in the way sometimes!!*

It's been a few months since we've had a four-year-old in the house... but I'm delighted to announce that as of Wednesday, our Selah is filling that bill.

Selah, I can't begin to tell you how much you have added to our family in the way of joy and entertainment. We love your bouncy personality and the intensity with which you love us and others. You have a way of making people feel so special and loved -- you're simply delightful.

We love watching you grow and seeing the world through your eyes, and we cannot thank God enough for seeing fit to give you to us. You get so excited about the little things in life, and you are so sweet to express your gratitude. You also have quite a lot of opinions for a freshly turned four-year-old. But you share your opinions with such clarity and confidence that we can't help but be entertained by them.

I love how fearless you are when you're around me and how shy and bashful you get once Daddy is around to hold you and protect you. It cracks me up. (And I KNOW that Daddy loves being able to hold you and protect you. Please remember, as you get older, that by His grace, God gave you a good Daddy who is looking out for you and is trustworthy in his counsel.)

I'm so thankful for the grace that God has shown our family, and I pray that you will know that grace more and more, our dear Selah. I pray that you'll know how very good and loving our God is, and how He's given EVERYTHING to make a way for you to be right with Him. I pray that you'll find your rest in Him and you'll delight in His goodness more and more each day. And I pray that He'll use your delightful personality to show Himself to those who don't know His love.

We love you, sweet Selah. Happy, happy birthday!!

Meet "Love"

'The Naked Foot House' - A Timeline of Our Short Sale Purchase

In case any of you are interested (and for the record), the following is a timeline of our 2011 experience buying a house via short sale. Overall, we are very happy with our purchase and feel it was worth the wait and various headaches we encountered along the way. But we also want to paint a realistic picture of our experience for anyone who might consider venturing down this path.

February 26 -- We first see the property (a four bedroom, three bath, newly remodeled house in a good neighborhood) shortly after noon. We dub it the “Naked Foot House” after I see the seller's naked foot protruding from beneath the blankets on his bed. He had told our real estate agent he would be in the Bay Area but apparently he overslept. We make a full-price offer today. (For point of reference, we had also made offers on two other short sale houses in the last two weeks; one we withdrew, and the other we ended up as the backup offer).

February 27 -- The seller counters with contract details, and we accept.

March 4 -- The property's status is changed to contingent based on our offer.

March 8 -- The seller signs the contract.

March 9 -- More paperwork is requested by the seller’s agent and is submitted.

March 12 -- The offer package is submitted to the short-selling bank for review.

March 25 -- Seller’s agent update: “"The BPO / appraisal has been returned and we are in the valuations stage of the file. We are a little further behind than I would like to be but not too far off. I will continue keep the file moving forward. Please confirm your buyers are still in."

April 8 -- Seller’s agent update: "Our file is now in the analysis stage which usually takes about a week to 10 days. We should be getting a response in the next week or so."

April 13 -- The bank counters, and we accept. Close of Escrow (COE) is set for May 27.

April 14 -- The hang-ups begin. We’re informed that the bank will take two weeks to get us the bank approval letter to move us into pending. More importantly, we’re informed that there is a federal tax lien on the house. It is estimated that it will take 45-60 days to get this removed.

April 22 -- Seller’s agent expects the bank approval letter within the next week or two. Hmm... didn’t we hear this last week?

May 4 -- Seller’s agent update: He’s still working on the approval letter, expects lien issues to delay things by 45-60 days (wait.. didn’t this timeline start more than two weeks ago? Does the estimated number ever decrease?), and is trying to delay the foreclosure sale date of 5/23.

May 7 -- The short-selling bank asks for more paperwork, and it is submitted.

May 18 -- Seller’s agent expects bank’s approval “this week.”

May 26, morning -- The agent receives the short sale approval letter, which moves the process into “pending”; new COE is 6/20; we’re told that the federal tax lien might take 45-60 days to be removed. We begin to wonder if all time estimations belong to a continuum of which we are entirely unaware.

May 26, afternoon --We find out that the bank sold off the second during the process of negotiating with us. We’re now no longer officially pending, but still seem to be unofficially pending. The seller’s agent is confident the second bank will approve this within the next couple weeks and that this will not delay the sale, as he believes that the second bank will approve the sale before the tax lien is released in 45-60 days. We also find out that there is a state tax lien and some other lien on the house that the seller intends to clear.

May 31 -- The house we had made the back-up offer on in February sells/closes.

June 1 -- The house we had made and withdrawn the offer on in February sells/closes.

June 9 -- Seller’s agent update: he’s still working on getting the second approval and getting the liens removed.

June 15 -- Seller’s agent update: he’s still working on the second approval; IRS has confirmed receipt of lien removal package, which is under review.

June 23 -- Seller’s agent update: he’s “still working on it.”

June 29 -- We are informed that the second bank has asked the seller to bring money to the table, which caused a delay, but he has agreed to do so.

July 13 -- Seller’s agent update: he’s following up about federal lien and should be hearing about the second approval “today or tomorrow.”

July 14 -- Federal tax lien released; should be hearing about the second approval “Friday or early next week.”

July 20 -- Seller’s agent update: he expects second approval “Friday or early next week;” appraiser didn’t get bubble burst memo and valued house $200K more than worth, causing more delays; ordering demands to clear other liens off title; anticipates COE to be end of August.

July 27 -- Seller’s agent expects second bank approval today.

July 28 -- We receive second bank approval with estimated 8/26 COE.

August 8 -- Inspection/Appraisal/Pest reports done; expected COE “by end of month.”

August 23 -- Banks extend “drop dead” (date bank will take the house as a foreclosure if short sale has not closed; no extensions will be made after this point) date to 9/22; expected COE 9/15.

August 25 -- “Drop dead” date changes to 9/9; expected COE 9/6; the seller/seller’s agent “still working on” clearing title (having final liens removed).

August 31 -- We find out that with passage of AB 458, seller is not allowed to bring cash to close the deal as he had agreed to with second bank. Additionally, seller’s ex-wife is now refusing to pay off liens that she had previously agreed to pay. Seller’s agent is still trying to get second bank to agree to less to close the deal, but quite possibly all the problems will kill the deal. According to the seller’s agent, “This is a freaking nightmare deal. Every time I get one issue resolved 2 more pop up.” Our realtor says that in all his years of real estate, he’s never met a person who has gotten himself into as much trouble financially as this seller.

September 2 -- “Drop dead” date is now 9/16

September 6 -- “Drop dead” date is now 9/15; expecting answer from second bank regarding change of expectations for closing by 5 PM following the next day.

September 12 -- The second bank agrees to reduce expectations in order to allow deal to close; the seller’s agent is basically giving his full commission to see this deal close. When asked why, he says he’s doing this so he can say that he was able to close this deal. He’s a pretty big time realtor who specializes in short sales, and this one takes the cake as far as short sales go. Final liens have been cleared by seller’s mom and they are expecting the confirmation paperwork of that tomorrow. We sign all the paperwork today. Seller’s agent informs us that we may have an “occupancy” problem, meaning that the seller still hasn’t moved out of the house. We’ll hold our down payment until we know that the seller has actually vacated, so there’s still a chance that this might all fall together. Or apart. Hoping the seller will move and we can close on Wednesday (Sept 14).

September 13 -- The seller says he has a place lined up to live, but is working in the Bay Area for the week and can’t move out until this weekend. Foreclosure date still set at 9/15. Updated information a few minutes later: the seller’s agent got the bank to postpone foreclosure until Monday, 9/19. The seller says he will be out of the house by Sunday, 9/18 at 5 PM. We should be able to wire money and close on Monday!

September 18 -- Did final walk-through this evening and were happily surprised to find the owner 99% out of house. Seller said he was just grabbing the last bit of his clothing and would be out of there this evening. On course to close tomorrow at noon!

September 19 -- House closes/records at or around noon, and the title agency receives confirmation of this right before 2 PM. At 2:50 PM, I show up at the house to meet the painter and find the previous owner in the driveway on a motorcycle with a couple of his buddies. He seems surprised to see me and I ask him why he is still here. He says the reason why he is still here is because he had just gotten the phone call 30 minute before that the house has closed. I inform him that the house had closed three hours before and that he shouldn’t be here anymore. He tells me his dog is still in the house and he’ll be back in 30 minutes to get him. I tell him that is nice and that I am going to show the house to the painter. He shows up 15 minutes later to get the dog and tells me that he is NOW out of here.

Over the next week and a half, we have the house fumigated and painted; the "growing operation" in the garage is removed as we would prefer being able to park our vehicles in there over using the garage in the manner that the previous owner had. In the process of cleaning out the house, I find two smoked joints and a used cocaine straw. And a riding lawn mower. (Well, that one wasn't actually *in* the house).

October 1 - We move in (with much help from friends and family). Time to unpack!

Video: A Pink Wall and a Bed

See the inside of our new house as our kids saw it for the very first time earlier this month.

Happy Birthday, Danny!

You're FIVE!! That's amazing! Just like you, kid. You're so much fun to be around, and we just can't get enough of you! You have such a winsome personality. You love everybody, and everybody loves you. You enjoy life and life is more enjoyable, seeing it through your eyes. Even when you're picking flowers while you're supposed to be engaged in your soccer game, you do so with such delight that we can't help enjoying the moment along with you.

We love your exuberant hugs and the excitement you have over each aspect of your life. We love how you sing and dance on a whim. We love how your great big grin is such a part of your regular countenance. We love how caring and gracious and forgiving you are with your siblings. We love how you dance to the beat of your own drum and see things through your own lens.

We can't wait to see what kind of man God makes you into, sweet Danny. We pray that as you grow in age and maturity, that you'll remember what your name means: God alone is your judge. You are accountable, first and foremost, to Him -- the good, gracious, loving and righteous God who created you to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. May you glory in the cross that made a way for you to do just that. As you look up to so many people, we pray that you'll remember that we all fall short of God's holiness, but that He never falls short.

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Happy, happy birthday, dear Danny. May you know this day how very much you are loved!

Video: Sammy Playing

Video: Mikey Scores a Goal

Happy Birthday, Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

YOU'RE SIX YEARS OLD!! So cool!! We can't wait to see what this next year has for you. All we know is that you'll be jumping into it full-heartedly. Because that's who you are. You do everything wholeheartedly. You love wholeheartedly, you play wholeheartedly, you think wholeheartedly, you pray wholeheartedly. There's no hiding your happiness, and when you're grouchy, you're grouchy with everything that's in you. You even break the rules wholeheartedly. But you also reconcile wholeheartedly. Your passion for life, for God, for people... for robots... it amazes us and it teaches us. Constantly.

Thank you, Mikey. Thank you for being an open book. Thank you for sharing your life with us. Thank you for loving us, forgiving us, teaching us... and thank you for so ferociously soaking in our love, our forgiveness, and our teaching. We pray that this year you'll be overwhelmed with the realness of the God who created you and His love for you... and that this knowledge will grow in you more and more with each year to come.

We love you, Mikey. Happy, happy birthday, Birthday Boy!!*

*Note: I was informed today, "Mom, you don't need to call me Mike or Mikey or Michael or Buddy or Wazowski or anything. You can just call me 'Birthday Boy.'"

Video: Go Tigers!

Here's a video I put together from Mikey and Danny's very first soccer game last Friday. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Eliana!

You're seven. I'm not sure we're okay with that. But for some reason, I remember myself saying something like that last year... and the year before.

Eliana, you're so beautiful. You're such a gift of a child. You bless our heart with your quiet steadfastness and devotion.

You amaze us with your orderly assurance and poise. And by the fact that you are SO SERIOUS for a just-turned-seven-year-old. Good thing tickles still bring out that giggle in you.

We love how you look out for those who are younger than you, sweetly taking the time to pour out affection and love on the smallest around you...

We love how you regularly remind us of your love for us and your thankfulness to God for those who love you...

We love your creative, artistic soul that loves to bring out the joy in others by drawing them pictures of things they love. We love that God gave you to us.

Every good and perfect gift is from the Lord, and you certainly are a good gift. We love you and pray that you will continue to grow in your love for God and for others... and that you will experience the joy of being blessed by God, who loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Happy, happy birthday, sweet Eliana!

(guest appearances by Monster Toddler and his Trusty Sidekick)

Farewell... Until We Meet Again

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3)

Last Thursday, at a routine doctor's appointment, we learned that our precious unborn child of sixteen weeks had fled to the arms of our Savior. We're heartbroken, as we had so looked forward to this child entering our household and being a unique and irreplaceable part of our family.

Yet even in our grief, we trust that the very number of our baby's days was chosen by a loving and perfect God, whose character is not changed by our sad circumstance. He is good and infinitely wiser than us.

We are comforted in our mourning by many who love us and have grieved our loss with us. We are grateful for each and every one of you who have been and continue to be instruments of God's grace to us.

We were recently blessed with a gift of a poem, written by a dear friend from church as she grieved for us, and we would like to share that here, as well.

Take Comfort...

Yours was the vessel chosen to house the LORD'S littlest elect. (Mark 10:14)

Take Comfort...

Your precious babe is in the Presence, where He Himself will eternally protect. (Job 3:11-19)

So weep for now my love, yet not in despair... (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

Take Comfort...

Knowing that wee righteous soul lives forever, in the Lord's tender care. (2 Samuel 12:15-23)