Packing and Park

Lincoln has been helping us pack.
We've boxed up what feels like most of our stuff, though there is certainly lots more to go. We're really ready to get the keys and start the moving process. That ought to come on Wednesday afternoon.

In the meantime, we took a trip to the park today.

Back from Vacation

Jenn and I are back from our vacation, and we had a great time away together. We'll share a lot of photos in this post, and tell some stories from the trip, but we're also going to include some tips and advice. These tips and advice are as much to ourselves for future trips as for anyone else, but also for folks who may stumble on this post when researching things like "first cruise," "Emerald Princess," and "Caribbean Vacation."

Jenn and I were looking forward to this time with each other in a big way. With all that's been going on with busy-ness with work, getting our house ready to sell, the excitement surrounding getting the house that we really wanted, initially stressing about asking family to care for Lincoln while we were gone... there were just a lot of things going on and getting a short break was very appealing for us. We chose Princess Cruises because Jenn had had a very good experience with them years ago, we knew they made great food, they had an itinerary that we thought we'd like, and the cost was very doable for us. We initially wanted to spend our anniversary on the cruise, but August 30th is in the middle of hurricane season, so we put it off until early November.

Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale was very smooth, and getting a cab to the port was actually very easy, and it was less costly than the pre-arranged Princess transportation. We got through the check-in process at the port very quickly, and realized that we had budgeted several hours for a process that we finished in less than one hour. So that left us plenty of time to get our stuff situated in our very small room and then explore the ship.

Holy cow. There's nothing second class about a Princess ship. The only arguable exception to this might be the cruisers themselves. Being on a cruise is like going to the State Fair... like a State Fair with lots of money. There are people, couples and fashion statements that you'd swear would be impossibilities. But I digress. The Emerald Princess was beautiful in every aspect: beautiful clubs and dining rooms, beautiful shopping areas, beautiful decks. Pretty soon after we finished scouting out the ship, we embarked from Port Everglades and started our sail. It's apparently quite the big deal for the locals (in their multi-million dollar homes) to sit out and watch the cruise ships take off.

Our first stop on Monday was Princess Cays (pronounced "key"), Bahamas, and it was overcast when we arrived. There's no port at Princess Cays so we anchored out in the ocean and took a life boat to the shore. Right after we landed it began to rain. Hard. We figured that if we were going to get wet, we might as well be in the water. But the rain made snorkeling difficult, and the splashing from the

Jenn read a lot on this trip. All of the books were novels about cruise shipwrecks.

rain threw salt in our eyes, so after about an hour and a half on the island we returned to the ship, at which time it promptly cleared up and was pleasant for the rest of the day while we were on the ship.

The second day we were at sea. The Atlantic was unusually rough and the ship did a lot of bouncing up and down. We found it most pleasant to be outside either on the top of the ship or on the walking deck because when we were inside we felt "almost dizzy" with the rocking of the ship.

On Wednesday we went to Sint Maarten. We first took a bus ride to The Butterfly Farm on the French side of the island. Once we left Philipsburg and got away from the shore and the shopping, we found Sint Maarten/St. Martin to be an absolute dump. There was garbage everywhere. The cattle were literally grazing among and lying on beer bottles. As veterinarians with training in public health, we were appalled.

The Butterfly Farm was really fascinating, and the folks that give their time and lives to it were pretty neat. We saw all sorts of butterflies and chrysalises and caterpillars.

After we were through there we went to Orient Beach on the French side and saw some of the things that you don't want to see on a French beach. The weather was perfect, though, and we had a good time relaxing. We did some shopping after our time at the beach, but no buying. Jenn has compiled a mental list of what it is that she wants to shop for on our next trip down to the Caribbean.

St. Thomas was our Thursday stop. There were some neat art galleries along with some nice jewelry stores there, and the costs on cameras and lenses in both St. Thomas and Sint Maarten were phenomenal. Still no purchasing, though. Our excursion in St. Thomas was aboard the Castaway Girl 2, a catamaran that took us to Buck Island for snorkeling over a shipwreck and some coral. (The reviews found here and here are consistent with our own experience.) When we boarded the Castaway Girl 2, we noticed that the crew was 4 guys between the ages of 20 and 25. They were highly entertaining, but we each had the same thought, "Do these guys know what they're doing?" They demonstrated their competence early on and we had a great time. Catamarans provide relatively smooth, steady rides, and the views around the bay and out in the sea were dazzling.
It was on Thursday evening that we noted at this point that each stop was better than the previous day. Friday did not disappoint. Grand Turk was absolutely beautiful, very clean and very enjoyable locals. We took dune buggies (brand new Polaris RZRs!) all over the island on a guided tour and Jenn and I both agreed that we could spend a week on Grand Turk. After ATVing, and getting dusty, muddy and sweaty (a nice combo mix with the sunscreen that we started with), we got our swimsuits and snorkel equipment and hit the beach right beside the ship. There wasn't much sand once we got in the water, but rather rocky coral. The fish we saw while snorkeling were fascinating, and sometimes a little scary. The sun went down on us in Grand Turk in a stunning way.

I've spent the bulk of text to this

That's the Emerald Princess way off to Jenn's left.

point talking about our island stops, but that was just one aspect of our fun cruise. No meal disappointed, and the servers, all of them very friendly and helpful, brought us anything we wanted. For instance, the appetizers were very good, but I heard that the Fettucini Alfredo was excellent, so I asked my waiter to bring me an appetizer-sized Fettucini Alfredo, and he did. I proceeded to have Fettucini Alfredo as an appetizer for the last four nights on the cruise... it was that good. We had most types of Caribbean fish, Jenn had lamb, we each had New York Strip, we regularly ordered two desserts and split them, etc. One could spend his entire time on a cruise eating in one dining room or cafe or another. We did not do this, though at times it did sound appealing at times.

On Saturday we went to a wine tasting event that was really neat. I'd never been to an official tasting with guides that knew lots and lots about the particular wines they were presenting. They gave us two whites, two reds and a dessert wine, which were all very good. It reminded me of when Jenn first introduced me to wine 7 years ago (7 years!) and I couldn't handle a dry wine. I've come full circle and nearly prefer the dry wines to the semi-sweets.

Twilight at Grand Turk

Each day they had fine art auctions and we found this to be one of the coolest ways to spend our times during the days at sea. When I say fine art, I mean originals by Alexandra Nechita, Wyland, and Pino. There was art that was worth more than half as much as our Norton house! Jenn and I have been art ignorants, but we learned a good bit from the auctioneer and with the thought of Forest Edge being a blank slate for us to decorate (with the exception of Washington Crossing the Delaware, we don't have any art), we were able to start brainstorming, though any thought of decorating with originals causes a chuckle.

The entertainment was very good. There was only one evening that provided entertainment that we just weren't into (a mentalist whose show just plodded along). There was an evening with a hypnotist, a stand-up comic, a comedian/magician, and a couple of bands gave us fun things to watch and laugh at in the evening. There were some shows with song and dance, but we were doing other things when those were going on.

Jenn and I came to the conclusion that we're going to plan all future Caribbean vacations around the itineraries and not around cost. Additionally, sailing from San Juan usually allows for only one day at sea as opposed to two days at sea when sailing from Ft. Lauderdale or Miami or New York. Prioritizing itinerary over cost and sailing form San Juan may sound idealistic, and you know, it probably is. But when it comes to spending a week of one's life, pursuing idealism isn't such a bad thing, in my opinion.

On a completely different subject, we came home to learn that things are moving along nicely with our closings. We signed the closing papers on our Norton house, and we're set to sign the papers on the Forest Edge home this coming Friday. The closing dates have not changed, and we still ought to take possession of the Forest Edge home on Wednesday, Nov. 18, allowing us about a week and a half to get all moved. Our goal is to be all the way out of the Norton house before Thanksgiving.

Reading with Grandma Laura & Football with Grandfather (pa) Dave

I'll sneak this photo in just before we leave. Lincoln is officially warmed up to Grandma Laura and Grandfather Dave. All it took was a book.
Lincoln calls Grandfather Dave "Pa," just like he does Grandpa Doug, so he may be taking away the "Grandfather" title and giving him "Pa." In any event, Lincoln has enjoyed his time with Pa Dave in this classic Ohio fall weather.

Going on vacation

This will be the last post for a while. Jenn is picking up her parents from the airport right now. Tomorrow we're showing our new house to them, and then on Sunday morning we're taking off for our cruise. Lincoln will be getting big-time quality time with his grandparents this week.

On the home front, the seller at Forest Edge agreed to take care of our four biggest concerns following the home inspection. (Not that they were big concerns, but of the concerns that we had, they were at the top of the list, and the most costly.) So they should be addressed while we're gone and shortly thereafter, and the closing ought to proceed as scheduled.

Expect to see photos when we get back.

The weekend is approaching. We're very much looking forward to visiting with Dave and Laura, and I know they're looking forward to their time with Lincoln. Jenn and I are also really ready for our trip.

St. Thomas:


St. Maarten:

Carving? Not interested...

Carving pumpkins this year was fun for me, but rather anticlimactic for us as a family. Lincoln wasn't terribly interested in what was going on, and he wasn't sure about what I was pulling out of the middle of them.

At one point I said, "I'm scooping out the guts!"

Lincoln responded with, "Guts."

And that was the extent of his interest.

Holy cow...

A fun link worth sharing.

Funny Baby Boy

Daddy Day last Saturday was lots of fun, except for the crappy performance from Terrell Pryor, Jim Tressell and the rest of the Buckeye offense. But Ohio State doesn't define Daddy Day. I got to see Lincoln feed himself with a spoon first time, we spent some fun time with Grandma Paulette, Grandpa Doug and Great Grandma Gates, we went to the Lyons' Fall Party for a bit, and by the end of the day, Lincoln was pooped out.

On the home front, we settled on an interest rate with our lender and we feel very good about how things shook out. The home inspection on the Forest Edge house is this Wednesday afternoon. The process is in motion for the move. The answers to our prayers have been phenomenal. I was telling the story that I've told here in previous posts to my 6^th Graders last evening at our small group and they were on the edge of their seats during the part about the Forest Edge house selling right before we listed our house ("Aw, that sucks, Mr. Gates!") and the part about the possibility of us not having a home to move into ("Mr. Gates, you would have been homeless!"). We were talking about how when the LORD answers our prayers it ought to increase our faith, and the story seemed fitting for the time, but I had no idea they'd get as into it as they did. We then followed up our Bible study time with a Mario Kart tournament. Our house got really noisy for that part.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Lincoln to the Dussel Farm's pumpkin patch yesterday. It's a neat place in Brimfield that's actually owned by a relative of an associate veterinarian with Jenn at Village Veterinary Clinic.They had all sorts of sizes and shapes of pumpkins & gourds. They also had a kids maze for the little ones to walk through with those crazy inflatables that you often see in people's yards. At first, Lincoln wasn't so sure about it, but he warmed up to things pretty quickly.Lincoln really got excited about riding in the wagon in between the groupings and piles of pumpkins. We couldn't let him carry any small pumpkins or gourds for very long because he just wanted to throw them.

Accepted

Our offer was accepted. Hooray! Praise God! Now the process of home inspection and bank stuff can begin, and we ought to have a new address by late November.

Former "Buyer" Released

Things apparently went pretty well with our home inspection. I haven't heard the final report, but when the inspector asks, "Did you put on a new roof? It doesn't look 20 years old at all!" I think that's a good thing. Bridget (our realtor) was there for most of the inspection and said there wasn't anything major found.

The Forest Edge folks officially released their former potential buyer yesterday. These hopeful-buyers had already paid for a home inspection, radon testing & termite inspection. We've found through conversation with the Forest Edge realtor that those folks had a Pre-Approval letter, but that's all they had. They couldn't actually get the financing they needed. This could be our second experience with buying a house only after a previous offer fell through.

Testimony time:

The day we came home from looking at the Forest Edge house we decided to finish the jobs that it would take to list our house. We'd looked at lots of homes over the previous ten months, but this was the first house that excited us. So we got busy pulling the wallpaper in our master bathroom and finishing up all of the little projects that needed done, and de-cluttering the house. We went through Forest Edge on August 12, and then it went "Pending" on August 20. Analogy: the air was let out of the balloon in a big way. But we knew we had to keep plugging away with our house because we didn't want to find another winner only to have to take more time to list our house. So that's what we did.

It was also after Forest Edge went pending that every night before Lincoln went to bed we'd pray for two things:

1. That God would provide a family to make an offer on our house.
2. That God would make available a house that would be good for the Gates family as we grow.

We prayed that prayer many days without answer. Then things started moving very quickly on our house and we found what might be God's answer to our prayers. But there were still several unknowns. Our prayers shifted from "Please provide a buyer and a house," to "Give us wisdom as we proceed and help us to accept whatever outcome plays out as Your will for us."

A week and a half ago there were a series of about 7 steps that had to be completed in order, and to this point we're through six of the steps. The only thing left to do is to have the Forest Edge people officially accept our offer (they'd be foolish to do otherwise). After that, there will probably be some small negotiating things, but the major hurdles will be over and hopefully we won't be homeless at the beginning of December.

God is good, and while we don't always receive the answer that we're looking for, we can always look back and see that, provided we are seeking Him, He has our best interest in mind.

Mixed into all of this is the vacation that Jenn and I had planned months ago before this crazy scenario began. Grandma Laura and Grandfather Dave are staying at our current house with Lincoln for the front half of the week, and then he'll stay with Grandma Paulette and Grandpa Doug for the back half of the week. I can't say we're looking forward to leaving Lincoln for a week, but that will be great Grandparent time, especially for the Parkinsons who don't get to see him too often.

I imagine will find out some news today or tomorrow, and I'll share it with you when I receive it.

Home Inspection

Our buyers have scheduled the home inspection for Sunday at 1:00pm. You read that right.

This is one of the hurdles. We've indicated to them that we're not going to pay for any changes that the inspection might reveal. They got everything in the first negotiating process. They'll either have to purchase the house with potentially revealed flaws or void the contract. If it's the former, yahoo! (but still a few more steps in the process)... if it's the latter, everything stops.

Wheels in motion...

We can't get too excited at this point because there are some hurdles that we still have to jump... big hurdles. But to this point, nothing less than the hand of God has led us to this point. We're not kidding.

We got an offer on our house on Saturday evening. The realtor for our buyers has been both pushy and aloof, impressive to neither Jenn nor me. The offer was lower than we liked, so we countered. (We covered this in the last post.) So the negotiation continued through Monday with us accepting their counter to our counter. It was a few thousand below what we needed, but we weren't interested in losing this buyer (they're a conventional buyer, not an FHA buyer), and we were close enough for our liking. Our realtor played a few gymnastics with our numbers allowing us to come away with enough for a down payment on a new house.

Tuesday was a BUSY day. Jenn found out on Monday evening that our Holy Grail had not sold and had been removed from the market. So our realtor called the realtor for our Holy Grail (hereafter referred to as Forest Edge). They reported that they had had a buyer, but that the house went pending on August 20, and they're not sure at this point why the financing hasn't come through. We were informed that the previous contract has expired. (!!!!!) So after a few phone calls and meetings with my banker, we called Forest Edge and offered them their original asking price. We needed to entice them to legally release the former buyer and take our offer. This is the house that we want, and if we are able to buy it, we won't move again until we downsize in 40 years.

In the meantime, we had to inform our buyers that a previous owner of our home had taken his life. We weren't sure how they'd take that info. If you'll recall, a buyer had bailed on our previous homeowner because of this detail, which was what allowed us to get this house for the cost that we did. Some people apparently get spooked by the thought of a death in the house.

Tuesday bled into Wednesday, and communication was nearly dead. You can imagine our mental state: we might lose our buyers over what shouldn't be any big deal causing us to lose the opportunity to get the house by which we judged all other houses. It would make sense that our buyers would want to proceed quickly (they're eligible for the New Home Buyer's $8,000 tax credit, provided they close before Nov. 30), but you never know with new home buyers. The lack of a ringing cell phone was painful. The last time we experienced anything like this was after we'd submitted our applications to Ohio State and the decision was completely out of our hands. (There's a lesson about give God control in all of this.)

Finally by late afternoon we found out (a) the Forest Edge owners were in the process of legally releasing the former buyers, and (b) our buyers intend to fax the final contract over tomorrow and they're in the process of lining up a home inspection.

So you can see why I say that there are still hurdles to jump: actually faxing the contract & the coming home inspection (the really big one). But Jenn and I have been praying for this for weeks... through the pending of Forest Edge, through the early weeks of having no one look at our home, through the evening when we weren't sure if our buyers would bail on us. It remains to be seen how things turn out, but we've given it to the LORD. And while we'll be disappointed of this doesn't work out, we'll know that He has a good plan for us.

We'd appreciate your prayers for us. We'll keep you posted.

Catch-Up post

September was a month where we weren't behind the camera or in front of the blog much. Our apologies go out to our out-of-town family that relies on this for their steady dose of Lincoln. I'm going to try and catch you up with this blog post.

First of all, some pics:
Listing our house brought a lot of excitement, but not much activity in the early going. Then, all of a sudden, we started having a number of showings in a short period of time. Almost all of the feedback was good (one thought we were over-priced, but they were comparing with Stow, not Hudson) but nothing in the way of an offer. Then on Saturday night at our chili party (more on this below) we got a call from our realtor saying that we'd received an offer. This was at 5:45pm. The offer

• was low, and they couldn't go any higher
• stipulated that they wanted to close on Nov. 6 (we'll be in St. Maarten)
• indicated that they wanted us out of the house shortly after that
  and
  
• said that they wanted an answer from us before 9:00pm that night.

Hmmmm....

So we countered with the number that we originally set out to receive for our house. Keep in mind that we don't have to move. We're not in a rush. So we've yet to hear from them. This set a number of things in motion for us... namely, that we may have to get our stuff out of the house soon. And, there's really only one house right now that meets almost all of the criteria that we'd originally set as our goals. And it's a short sale. From all that we've been able to gather, short sales generally don't move very quickly, so there's actually a number of variables and unknowns right now. We've been praying about the situation and we trust that the LORD will give us the wisdom that we need to proceed.

Getting back to the Chili Party, Saturday evening was our Second Anual Chili Party and this year we had a Cook-off format. Without any coordination between the chili providers we had 8 very unique and distinct chilis. It was a neat food experience, and because everyone was sampling all evening, it kept folks moving around but near the food, so there was lots of interaction. We even had a trophy this year for the winner, and it was the evening's host, Patrick, that took home the grand prize.

Lincoln has been growing up like a good little boy. He likes to push his toys around, but not because he needs the balance, but because they apparently need to get from here to there and he's the best suited for the job (in his mind). His words are coming along. He also likes to spin around and make himself dizzy.

(Since I wrote the above stuff about our search for a house, we found another great house that is not a short sale that we could move into in a timely fashion if we needed to. This doesn't shrink the number of variables, but it does give us something more to think about.)

In keeping with the theme of bouncing from topic to topic, last night was my first Edge Small Group night. I had 7 Sixth Graders, and from everything that I've been told from co-leaders who had Sixth Graders last year and the year before, my goal should be to "just get through the first year." On top of that, on my way out of church yesterday a mother said to me, "Mr. Gates, my prayers are with you for this evening." A real morale booster! But our evening was awesome! The guys are engaged, conversation wasn't forced and they're quite respectful. Most of these guys have parents that are extremely involved at church, mostly in the children's ministry, so their kids know what church is all about. I got the questions:

• What else do I need to do besides accept Jesus as my Savior to be saved?
  ~and~
• Do I really have to be baptized?

And then I got the comment, "Jesus' death and resurrection really makes me feel wanted." And after all of this deep theological discussion, most of the guys dog-piled on each other while I was greeting the parents at the end of our evening. If every week goes like the first, I don't think I'd complain.

Well this post has stretched out for quite some time, and I imagine that my next post will have some sort of big news, such as, "We're moving!" ~or~ "The offer fell through." So stay tuned........