Cold nights means Warm Fires!

Been loving having the fireplace in the house - we've made the living room our 'home away from home' for the past few days.  Has been wonderful!

I would believe in Jesus

We've been talking to Elijah Grant about Jesus for quite some time and even though he could tell us all about the plan of salvation, he was never ready, and he always said so.   Grey and Josiah have been talking to Granter about the difference between heaven and hell at night when they go to bed. This morning Grant approached Mandy and said that he wanted to believe in Jesus now, that he was ready. 

Mandy and I spent a good bit if time re-talking him through it, to make sure he understood, and that his decision was sincere. When we were both convinced he understood, he prayed and made Jesus his Boss. 

Elijah Grant says, "God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are my Boss, and I know they control me"

Here he is in a pic taken afterwards. 

Morning Bible Study

Felling a Tree - HUGE!

Had another tree at the house that needed to go.  Thanks to Bob Stokes and Joe for coming out to fell this monster, and grind up the trunk!  Looks so much better, and no fear of large dead branches falling on the kiddies!

Family Picture

Wanted to push up a Family Picture, so you all know who get's to enjoy Denton's Rest every day of the year.

Morning at Denton's Rest

Well, we are more or less moved in - still pulling items out of boxes and putting everything where it belongs.

Work up to a glorious morning today, and wanted to share.

View from the breakfast room

and one more....

What a blessing our God is!  He gives His Children beauty every day!  Praise Him for what He's doing and done!

Ready for Paint!

Well, we spent the day getting a few rooms ready for paint.  Here are some of the results:

Lots of filling of holes, and sanding and cleaning with TSP!

Josiah, Elijah Grant and I did some cleanup of downed limbs in the yard again - which really got rid of some eyesores out there:

Then I worked on the master bath for a bit, as there is no way Mandy will be using it in it's present condition:

Definitely not the prettiest tile - it will soon go!

But, a very accomplished day - Paint in the living room next, then in the hall - and we had the greatest idea for the entry way that we'll see through fruition, as Mandy and I both had a 'whoa' moment when we realized what we were going to do!!  More to come on that!

Cleanup, Cleanup, everybody Cleanup!

Well, we've been out to the house for the past few days - Mandy and the girls have been washing walls/floors/windows, and prepping the house for paint.

Benn and the boys (with Annesley) have been outside cleaning up the yard - I get to use my chainsaw, which is super fun, and the boys get to use their strengths (thanks Nacho) to see who can lift the heaviest logs as they stack them.

Back out today - full out effort to get the main areas painted, and ready for more paint through the week.

Looks like a badly drawn map right now, with all of the putty filling cracks in the walls, but soon will look grand, painted all one color with no peeling paint or anything else ruining the look of the walls!

And now for a little Rest!

Well, It's official - we're home owners!

Praise God!

Denton's Rest shall now commence in full force.

We had some great help with buying this house - we've been looking for just shy of 2 years now - Mandy came down in April of 2011 to 'just pick a house for us to buy' - Yeah, I totally thought she could do that in a week.

The one constant in the last two years has been this man:

This is Don Bell - he works with Crye-Leike Realtors in Marion, AR.  Another pic of Don, and some contact information here.  I can't say enough good things about Don - he's walked us through at least two dozen houses, and I've talked more to Don in the past two years then anyone outside of family.  He, and his wife Anita, have been the best realtors we've ever dealt with.  If you need anything realty related, Don's your man.  I would recommend him to anyone looking for land/house/farm in the tri-state area (AR/MS/TN).

I'll do a Don post at some point, as there isn't room here to list all of his attributes, or tell you the stories of the houses we went to see that we liked/he liked; we didn't like/he didn't like; we liked/he steered us WAY away from (thanks for that!!); etc.  I've said it before, and I'll tell anyone who will listen, Don was just a realtor, but at this point, I consider him a friend!

Had a great bit of help from the people at Terry Abstract Company, especially April Payne: 

Money very well spent using Terry as a closing agent - I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Another guy who'd I like to mention is Andy Anderson.  While he was the seller's realtor, he did a bang-up job with all of the stipulations and modification and EXTENSIONS we had to go through with this transaction.  Here is a picture of him with Don and Anita:

Well, that's the day - and here is the result:

Gotta say, we're pleased as punch!

Closing?

Is having the final HUD-1 in hand a good thing?

Well, we do, finally!  Closing is scheduled for tomorrow (3/26/13) at 3pm.  Praying and hoping that all goes according to Plan!

When/If we close, will post such, and will celebrate just a bit!

...Days and counting.....

Well - times have been rife with the waiting.  Fun Fun Fun /s!!

We've been dealing with some very nice people at the mortgage company, and we feel that we're close!!

House is being re-roofed this week yet in anticipation of a closing shortly following - had to be re-roofed as per the real estate contract on the house, so that is in process.

Will be certain to take a few pics of that happening to document the transformation.  Got a fellow to do the roofing that not only gave an estimate same day, after traveling all the way out to the house, but als, traveled back out to the house when he got there and didn't have a tall enough ladder - that's commitment!  and appreciated!!

So, we're waiting yet again, and the days until we close seem to be going slower and slower!!  But, thank God, it is getting closer and closer as well.  Soon we'll all come home to Denton's Rest.

Countdown begins

Well, it's been a very bumpy road, but be believe that we're finally in the home stretch on this house, and soon we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We've been through three different banks, three different extensions of the contract we have on the house, but we now have an appraisal!  PTL!  so very exciting!

So, inspections next Monday, and then possibly a closing that week - the bank has been a gem for us, and worked with us in a very good way, so we'll see!

Anyway, sometime soon, I'll start on some history posts of this house - there is A LOT of history here, and we'll be making more soon!