Amy and Colby: HOW HAPPY ARE WE RIGHT NOW? VERY, VERY

We are just as happy as can be around here. All is well and right in this mama and sweet boy's worlds. Last week we hosted Thanksgiving. I think there were 20 of us. No way we could have ever gotten half that many in our former apartment. Guests included my parents, aunt, cousin and his family, brother and his family, longtime friends of the family and a couple of Mormons (long story.) The food was delicious and the company was fabulous, too. I was so glad to be able to host a holiday at our home instead of having to pack up all of Colby's stuff and travel with him. So much easier on Colby and me if everyone comes to us. We divided the cooking chores among ourselves. Only thing I had to make was my famous, super yummy carrot cake. Somehow we ended up with a ton of extra turkey. Guess my dad should have only fried up one and not two! Oh well, don't think I didn't Ziploc baggie up the extra and throw it in the freezer, because I most certainly did. I would love to learn how to make yeast rolls between now and next Turkey Day. We'll see. Not like I can't find enough stuff on any given day to keep me busy and practically cra-cra. Still don't have everything right where it needs to be. Took me forever to find the potato masher on Thursday. But eventually it showed up, just like my checkbook did after being MIA for over a week. I'll be very glad when things are a little more settled and organized around here. We've made leaps and bounds in those categories, just need to keep pressing forward until it's all done.

And, as of today, I am officially a homeowner again! After almost 9 years of being in an apartment, I am now the proud owner and mortgage payer to the most perfect and beautiful home for Colby and me. The original plan was to put Colby on the bus at 9:15. Nancy and Darrell were going to pick me up at 9:30 and we were going to ride together to the closing. Nope, NEW PLAN! Colby's nurse called off sick today, so he wasn't able to go to school. Called Nancy and Darrell and said hey, guess what, kid is going to the closing with us! No problem. They were very helpful in loading Colby's equipment and getting Colby into his wheelchair. The closing was a breeze. All the papers were drawn up. Everybody knew what was expected and bing-bang-boom, 20 minutes later I had signed the mortgage papers. Also got my homeowner's insurance all lined up and an amortization schedule for payments. Hopefully I'll be able to pay some extra towards the principle here and there. That's my hope anyways. Talk about Santa coming early. I bought a house! I had thoughtful, generous, caring people to help me get it upfront, along with tons of donations of goods and labor to get all the work done, but yes, I'm a homeowner again and man, does it feel awesome. Colby and I are truly blessed beyond words to have this opportunity.

I was trying to get Colby to watch Supergirl. I thought he would like it. You know, cute girl in a cape flying through the sky saving people. Nope. I can hear him down there fussing like crazy. Better go change the channel before he sets off his high heart rate alarm! More soon. Again, please, please know that if you donated to our house fund in any way, how very much it's appreciated. I love this house. Absolutely love everything about it. Colby and I are so happy here. Thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who took an interest and helped along the way. Every time I look around the house, I am reminded of how much help we received to get us where we are today. I am feeling the love, that's for sure.