Decision made.

We met the realtor at the "other" house - (the nicer one with the views) again last night to look at it one more time and gave her a deposit, so it is now a done deal. We gave it a lot of thought and even wrote down all the pro's and con's and decided that it was just a much better fit for us. As much fun as I think the the pool would be, it also presents a risk. Drowning is the 2nd leading cause of death in children and the large majority of those drownings occur in a backyard pool. I read all kinds of articles about it and saw the faces of children who died in their own backyard and just decided it's not worth the risk. Even with the fence, there is always that chance that someone forgets to close it and all it takes is a few seconds to lose a child forever. Something I know all too well. So we decided, with 2 toddlers in our house, the risk just wasn't worth it. We also really like the feel of still being in the mountains, Kevin literally can't stand being in a subdivision in the city, he is so much happier being in the mountains. This place is a great compromise because it feels like we are out of the city but we are only 15 minutes to the mall, Super Target and every restaurant under the sun. There is also a really awesome community pool with slides and a playground really close to the house so we'll still be able to go swimming all the time. On top of all that, we just reallly, really love the house! It's big enough for all of us and our home offices & homeschool classroom but still feels cozy yet open all at the same time. It really couldn't be more perfect.

So, as of Feb. 1st we will have possession of the house and be able to start moving our stuff in. Our renters move in March 1st so it will give us some time to get out, get things cleaned and all the projects finished. I'm so excited to have finally found a place we love and make it our home.