Last 6 months in Michigan- part one: Lake Michigan and Chicago

Back to our last fun trip of the summer of 2011- - we went camping at Lake Michigan at Warren Dunes, and then visited my brother Steve and his family in Chicago.

Finding butterflies/ and dragon flies with the park ranger . . .





Camping is always fun- - Daddy cooking breakfast, smores . . .






The beach was amazing! I can close my eyes and remember how it felt- - the warm sun, the amazingly soft lake michigan sand and dunes and the sound of the waves . . . We called the sand- Cinnamon and Sugar sand because that is exactly what it looked like. It was so soft that it was wonderful just to wallow in it- I caught Tyler "swimming" in it because it felt so nice. The lake is a deep blue color and looks like the ocean- but without the salty coastal smell I am used to. I can see why Lake Michigan (especially the Michigan side) is a favorite destination for people in the mid-west.
















Our next stop was Chigago- one of my favorite cities. We only spent one day there- with a short few hours seeing the city sky line and driving around the city center, and going to the nearby conservatory to see the wonderful plants. Mostly we had fun visiting with my brother Steve and his wife Natalie- and their two children Joshua and Kelsey.

Quick update

Family pictures from Easter!


Before I move on to blogging some of the last months in Michigan - - I will write a super quick update. Things are AWESOME here in Spokane. The flowers are now in bloom and the sun is shining today (after lots of rain last month)- - and as I hear the breeze blow through the pine trees I feel so at home. Needless to say, things are super busy now that we have been put to work at church. I am now in the Young Women's presidency- over the Beehives (12 and 13 year old girls) and so far have been loving it!! I am super excited to be working with these BEAUTIFUL girls. Jon is now in the Elder's Quorum presidency- and of course the kids are super busy with school, etc. Cynthia just started SYSA Track and had her first track meet yesterday. We have been out of town several times- Spring Break in Utah and then Yakima and Sunnyside last weekend. WOW- when I think about the amount of dearly loved family and friends I have been priveleged to see in the last month- it is mind staggering. I feel so very loved. More pictures to follow- - hopefully not too long from now. Things are starting to settle down a LITTLE, so I am hoping to do some catching up. I have to share the computer with the kids too- - making it even harder for me to really get on and post.

Has it really been over two months?

Wow- I really needed to do an update! Then I will embark on the quest of blogging about our last 6 months in Michigan- - things have been so crazy, blogging has been the last thing on my list.

Anyway, I am alive and well, and we have now moved into our beautiful house here in Spokane! Looking at one of the last few posts about our house buying saga- I never did post about which house we were going for. We went for the first one on the list (the brown house with the nice staircase and wainscoating). We just felt so good about the neighborhood (it was the same as the short sale house we first went for), the price was right and the house is beautiful. Once we put in our offer, things moved along pretty predictably- and we only closed a week later than we planned. We moved in on February 21st. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being back in Spokane- it just feels so much like home. Our ward is so wonderful and welcoming, and so far school has been good for the kids (though it WAS hard to jump in to school in the middle of the year). We live blocks from the church and school, and only 1/2 an hour from both sets of parents.

I can't say it has been a piece of cake though- the last few months have been NUTS. It was WONDERFUL to have a moving company- the first time EVER that our move was mostly getting paid for. We still went over budget- but we were still way less out of pocket for a move than normal. Even with the moving company, there was a fair amount of stress getting ready to move, and of course trying to get things unpacked and set up in our new house. I have to remember it always takes time- and this is how it has been for every move.

So the timeline of our last few months was this:

Jon finished his residency program in Michigan on January 15th. He worked a bunch of shifts at a local urgent care to help make up some loss in income and then left for a week in Spokane the end of January. He worked at the Deer Park Urgent Care (which is run by the Deer Park Family Care Clinic- his new employer). He did this to get his feet wet and to also make up some lost income. He came back seriously the day before the movers came to put our stuff on the truck- - so I had the movers pack about half our stuff- the stuff I couldn't get to myself. Jon loved working in Spokane- though the Deer Park Urgent care is super busy and there is lots of paperwork involved! He is still currently getting used to the new system and has been VERY busy working.

Leading up to the move we were super busy with last minute paperwork for Jon's credientialing, buying our house and the move (the amount of paperwork we have done in the last six months is staggering!!!), selling off some of our junkier furniture, packing and organizing, and much more. The movers came on February 8th and hauled all of our stuff away! We left on the 9th, drove to Laura's for the night- and then continued on our trek to Orlando, Florida.

We took a LOVELY detour to Disney World during our move to Spoakane, and had an absolute blast. We took two days to drive from Laura's (it was fun to drive through states I had never seen before- Kentucky, Tennesee, and Georgia). My mom and dad met us in Orlando for our Disneyworld trip, then we all flew back on February 20th (and our minivan was shipped from Orlando). We arrived in the middle of the night that night, then spent the next several days at my parents waiting to close on our house. We actually signed the papers while we were in Orlando with a traveling notary, but with a three day weekend involved and other things, we didn't get keys until Thursday the 23rd. The movers came to move our stuff in on February 24th and here we are!! We borrowed one of my parent's vans to use until our own van showed up on March 1st.

Now we are working super hard to get our life into order- - unpacking, getting the kids settled into their new school, buying a car for Jon and other furniture and getting our finances into order. It was awesome that JOn could work a short week in Michigan moonlighting, and two weekends here in Spokane and make MORE than he would have in 6 weeks of full time work as a Resident. Boy, I can't wait for that first REAL paycheck!! It feels so nice to not be as worried about money. At the same time I want to be smart with our new income level, and we DO have A LOT of debt to pay off- - so I am still trying to be frugal. We got some great deals on furniture- we got some new couches and a washer and dryer (very much needed), and we found an AWESOME bedroom set (queen four poster bed without the mattresses, huge dresser with a mirror, 2 matching night stands, and an armoir) on Craig's List for only $570! New this set was probably $3500. It isn't in perfect condition- but good enough for me! My room in my new house looks so beautiful . . . I love it!

The stressful thing has been how much Jon has been working. He was set up to moonlight at the Urgent Care again our first weekend in Spokane. Since we were delayed a few days moving in, he literally started working the DAY we moved in! The movers were here on that Friday morning, and he went to work that evening and was gone most of the weekend! It was rough, though he did get paid well for it so I guess I can't complain too much. I knew that things were going to be busy in his new position- - busier than in Michigan. I just have to get good at doing things on my own again. The best consolation is that Jon LOVES what he is doing. The paperwork (and the learning curve on the computer charting) can bog him down, but he loves the people he works with, and he loves his job so far.

Sooo- to wrap up this long post- we are still alive and well- but now in our new home back in the West! I will hopefully post more pictures soon- of our last 6 months in Michigan (we had many wonderful events during that last half a year), our trip to Disney World, and our move here.

Eenie Meenie Minie Moe

I love the things kids say to brighten our days! As you can see from my last post, I was highly distracted yesterday, trying to figure out which house is right, etc. Lillian is the type of child who can tell when you aren't giving her undivided attention when you talk to her (hmmm- just like her mother), and was getting mad at me. I apologized to her and said- "sorry honey- I am just thinking about what house we should move into when we move!"

She then said "Mom, just do Eenie Meenie Minie Moe! I'll help you!"

Made me smile and realize I was stressing way too much. I love the simple life of a child.


In the end we DID decide- actually it was the same decision we had already pretty much made- to forget about the short sale house and go for the one around the corner on the cul de sac. Jon found a nice photo tour online with even more pictures to remind me what a great house it is, and after thinking about it all day I came more to terms with giving up on the other house, and had the good feeling that this REALLY is the right course of action. So- today we will be putting in a new offer and I am anxious and excited! I hope all goes well and we will have a place to move into come February 21!

Should we go for a different house?

I feel so distracted today! My mind is filled with worry and doubt, as I hope we make the right choices!

We found out yesterday that the house we put an offer on just got another offer that is better than ours. We also found out because of outsourcing and more by the bank, it will be at least two more weeks before we could hear back. We are really taking a gamble that we will be able to move in on time with that house. It is a short sale kind of headache. So, should we just move on to another house? Our "second choice" that I mentioned in my last post is no longer avaiable- it must not have been meant to be.

There is another just around the corner that we had originally decided against, but as we were looking through all of our notes and listings for the houses we looked at while we were in Spokane, we decided to think about this one again. It is about the same size and WAY nicer, but less bedrooms and a smaller feeling backyard. The first house (the short sale one) is the same square footage and the lot size is also the same. The second one is on a cul de sac (which we like better), but it makes the yard a wedge shape instead of a square, which makes it FEEL smaller. It is actually EXACTLY the same shape and size as our lot was in Yakima, but this time the house takes up a little more room. The yard on the first house wasn't THAT much better or bigger, just a better shape.

In the long run, we could easily egress a couple of rooms in the second house- giving it more bedrooms-- it just doesn't have them to start off. As I said, the second house is WAY nicer looking on the inside, with a much better kitchen, a shop in the basement, a better garage, and wouldn't need all the TLC (and who knows what else because the short sale house has been vacant for a long time). We went for that house because the potential was GREAT and the price low- - I am not sure if it is worth fighting for, since it would now be the same price as the second which was actually better. Originally it wasn't enough better than the one around the corner for the higher price. Now they have come down in price, and we would have to UP the price on the first-making them pretty much the same.

Since we have been thinking of and getting excited about the neighborhood- it would be great to just be around the corner in a nice cul de sac, still being blocks from the school, church and a nice park.

I can't say we have found the "perfect house" -or one we are willing to really fight for, since there are other good options in our price range. It is just what is the right thing? I really don't want to move twice, or put our stuff in storage, so timing is becoming more important to me and the short sale just doesn't seem to be working for us (especially since there are other offers coming in which forces us to up ours). To stay above the other bid, we are already higher than we wanted for that house with the upgrades we would need to do in the long run.

Pictures of the "second house"




Or should we go for another one of our original favorites in a different neighborhood (still good but not as convenient- it is farther to drive to everything, including Jon to work). It is beautiful and on a 3/4 acre lot, but slightly smaller (we would loose a lot of basement space because it is a four level split), and costs $30-$40 thousand more.

A few pictures of this one:







As we were discussing the house last night, Jon reminded me that the only problems we had originally with the "second house around the corner from the first" was the funny shaped backyard and the way it was landscaped, that we would have to egress a bedroom, and that it looked "too nice" for our family - - and mostly that there was a house around the corner that was the same size with more bedrooms and a square backyard (although needing some TLC and more, and the kitchen wasn't as good), but was $20,000 less because of the short sale. He feels really good about that second nicer house, and I guess I do to, but for some reason I still feel worried about it-maybe just because we had originally decided against it. Anyway- I want to do what is right- and feel so distracted about it today! We need to decide in the next day or so what we are going to do.

We put in an offer . . .

Success!! Our trip to Spokane was a whirlwind of activity - - certainly not romantic by any means, even though we were there without kids, but wonderful all the same. As we flew in late Thursday night (Dec 1st) I had an overwhelming feeling of coming HOME. We recognized all that we were seeing from the air and celebrated in the beauty of our home town. Besides being able to visit with our parents and a few family members while there (and of course my side trip to CA), we looked at around 25 houses in Deer Park and North Spokane, and settled on a house in Brentwood Forest in North Spokane. Jon will still only have to commute 15-20 minutes up to Deer Park (on a nice highway through beautiful scenery) and yet it put us much closer to our family, shopping, church, etc. In fact the house we chose is only blocks from the North Spokane Stake Center, Brentwood elementary school, Northwood Park and Mead High School. I love the pine tree forested neighborhood which has newer parts and older parts, but yet feels so family friendly and nice.




The biggest hitch on the house we chose is that it is a "short sale", which means the whole process of buying and closing takes longer. I pray it will be ready in time- - we have 2 1/2 months until we need to move in- - I hope it is enough time!! It wasn't the most gorgeous house we saw (we saw some really BEAUTIFUL houses that we almost too fancy for a family like ours), but is VERY livable and nice as it is. With 6 bedrooms, 3652 square feet, and good amounts of storage- it was the house that seemed to fit us best, and at a great price. It seriously is $70,000 less than our second choice, saving us hundreds on a house payment. We decided that the amount we would save is worth the little bit of TLC it needs (it has been vacant for awhile). It still looks fine, but there are just enough little projects for Jon to do to keep him happy (since he likes that kind of thing). It just feels so right- so we are going to try for it- - we are fervently praying that all goes well! We do have several other houses we really liked (at a higher price, but still within our price range) that are not a short sale that we could go for if this doesn't work out. I really hope that it does, though! I am trying to not stress over it- again I go back to the feelings the Lord has given me throughout this whole process. Whenever I feel a little doubt or worry, I feel strongly that everything will work out, and that I should not stress. I almost get chastized when I start to feel stressed- - like the Lord is saying "I ALREADY told you that things will work out the way they need to- - quit worrying!!" So, however it happens, even if it isn't in the time frame we want- it WILL be fine.

You know how certain songs seem to apply at different times in our lives? The one that keeps running through my head is "It's gonna be a good life, it's gonna be a good life, a good, good life . . . ". Maybe it is because this song is played on the current Disneyworld ommercial and we are heading there soon, but I think it does apply. We have sacrificed soooo much for Jon's career. We have had some truly difficult trial over the years with his path to becoming a Doctor. Financially, of course it has been hard, but truly our hardships were not related to money. As Jon visited with the clinic in Deer Park, I see this amazing light of excitement in his eyes as he will get to finally do what has has been trained to do, and in the setting he chooses. For our family, we have moved across the country and back, and then accross the country again, uprooting our family each time and the repercussions that came with those moves were difficult. We have lived surrounded by poverty and in places too small for our family. We have managed apartments, pulled out more loans, shopped at the thrift store, carted laundry across parking lots, scrimped and pinched to make it. Truly through all these times, we were a happy family, and we have had many wonderful memories together as a family. I think since we knew that we were working toward a better life, and with a Gospel Perspective we truly didn't feel impoverished or deprived. Our hardest trials had more to do with the emotional well being of certain family members. At the same time, I can't say I never cursed our tiny kitchens, lack of washer and dryer or junker cars over the years. . but I am only human, right?? To see the end of all of that so near- it truly feels like it is going to be a "good, good life". I will NEVER take for granted a good income, and I will also never take for granted my family! Like I said, we truly did have wonderful times as a family working towards this goal, and I am so grateful to finally be there. I know that there are probably are other trials we will have to face ahead, for money isn't everything, but I know that we can handle them with the Lords help. We have been through so much to this point- I have no doubt the Lord has been with us through it all, and I am so grateful for how much HE has watched out for us. For truly, I feel we have been taken care of and watched over. I attribute our success and our upcoming (and past) "good life" to Him!

I will miss you Grandma Monson

(Grandma reading to me and my sister Shauna- 1980 ish)


(Grandma and Grandpa Monson with me and my sisters Shauna and baby Laura- 1982)


(My siblings and I with Grandma in 1991)


My wonderful Granmother, Geraldine Kirkham Monson passed away on November 19th, 2011 at the age of 89. During my trip to Spokane to house hunt, I also got on a plane with my parents and few to California for her funeral on December 3rd. What a wonderful and emotional occasion! We of course miss her dearly, but she is now with my grandpa and it was her time. The funeral was BEAUTIFUL as we remembered her amazing life. It was especially wonderful to see all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. All of the cousins are adults and it is amazing to feel the connection we have, even if we haven't seen each other for a long time. The depth of familial love and understanding, even when it comes to our life's challenges (such as with raising children) was wonderful to share. We share in the legacy my grandparents set forth and I realize how much I am a product of my Dad's upbringing, mixed with my Mom's legacy. I am so grateful for that legacy and what I am able to pass onto my own children. My favorite part of the service was singing "How Great Thou Art" with all my cousins. WOW- most are amazing singers and we filled that chapel with the most amazing sounds of love for our passed grandmother. The wonderful thing about funerals with a Gospel Perspective is that I feel like I can glimpse eternity, and I certainly felt the glory of it. It was also so wonderful to spend time with my parents and siblings, just the seven of us.

My grandmother was an amazing lady!

Her obituary:
Geraldine Kirkham Monson
July 4, 1922-Nov, 19, 2011
Resident of Hayward
Geraldine Kirkham Monson, a long time resident of Hayward, passed away peacefully at her home on November 19, 2011. She is survived by her 5 children: Keyne Bradley Monson (Sharon) of Orem, UT, Susan Monson Lyon (Michael) of Pleasanton, CA, Robert Craig Monson (Karen) of Salt Lake City, UT, Dr. Douglas Kirkham Monson (Marilyn) of Spokane, WA, David Brent Monson (Marla) of Fremont, CA, 23 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. Her husband, Keyne Parkinson Monson, preceded her in death on November 20, 2008.
Geraldine (known as 'Gerry' to her friends and family) was born in Oakland, California on July 4, 1922, as the youngest of 7 children to Francis Washington Kirkham and Martha Alzina Robison Kirkham. She spent her childhood in Berkeley, New York City, and Salt Lake City, graduating from East High School in Salt Lake and attending the University of Utah.
In 1941 Gerry moved to Washington D.C. There she met Keyne Monson and they quickly fell in love. They were married on September 12, 1942 in the Salt Lake LDS temple.
During the 1940's, Keyne and Gerry lived in New York City #172;while he attended medical school and completed his training in Ear, Nose, and Throat medicine. Their first two children were born there. A highlight of Gerry's time in New York City was singing with the New York Oratorio Society at Carnegie Hall.
In 1950 Keyne and Gerry moved their young family to the Bay Area and eventually settled in Hayward where he opened his medical practice. Gerry was Keyne's office manager while he established his practice, but with the addition of three more children, Gerry stayed home to rear their busy family.
Gerry was an active member of the community. She sang in the La Golindrina community choir, and was active in Questers (an organization that raises money to preserve and restore buildings of historic interest), Cal State Hayward Affiliates and Eden Medical Auxiliary, among others. She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, attending the Hayward 1st Ward for over 50 years where she held many volunteer church positions. She was a member of two book clubs and was a life-long learner.
Gerry's was a life of service to her family and friends, and she looked for the goodness and beauty in life and in others. Her many virtues and her love and appreciation of art, music, and literature were a guiding force in her life, which she passed on to her children.
Her family expresses its deepest thanks to the network of angels who helped care for Gerry in her last years and months, especially Martha Grover and the Garcia family and Araceli Loza, whose loving care made all the difference, and the dedicated team at Odyssey Hospice for their service.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2011, at 11:00 am at the LDS Hayward 1st Ward chapel, 2000 Highland Blvd, Hayward, CA 94542.