Christmas Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family:

This year was a full one!  We have been blessed (and tried!) in many ways and we want to share a few of our experiences with you.

In April, a month after making our final payment to the hospital for Gavin’s broken left femur, we were shocked when he fractured his RIGHT femur after a fall in our house.

 I won’t go through the details again, so if you haven’t heard this story you can read it here, then here.  Needless to say, that was a very difficult time for our family but we are happy to report that Gavin had his final checkup with OHSU’s orthopedic department this month and his leg looks great!

Speaking of OHSU, we decided to take Gavin to a pediatric eye specialist a few months ago to see if we could get more answers about his vision.  It turns out that, even with his glasses, he was seeing 20/500 out of his lazy eye.  So that means without correction his eye is over two times worse than legal blindness.  Again, we have good news to report…after wearing much stronger glasses and patching for an hour a day for three months, the eye doctor was shocked at how much his eye has straightened out.  And his corrected vision is now 20/100 - VAST improvement!

Other than his somewhat frequent need for medical attention, Gavin has had a great year.  He will be celebrating his fourth birthday this month!  He absolutely LOVES to talk and he says something to make us smile every day.  He loves to play with toys, sing, watch movies, read books, and wants to learn about anything and everything – especially when it comes to animals.  

Jaynee has grown so much this year – she will be turning two in March.  She likes to sing, play with dolls, cuddle, and use the potty (although she’s far from being potty trained).   She is really starting to take off with talking – some of her favorite words are: hot chocolate, pillow pet, potty, milk, brother, and sunshine.  She gives WONDERFUL hugs that can easily make anyone's day a little brighter.

I had Jared snap a quick picture for this newsletter and this is the final result.  I cut my hair and donated it a while back but, as you can see, it's still Jaynee's favorite plaything.

I am nearing the end of my masters coursework through Eastern Oregon University.  I am waiting to hear if my proposal is ready for submission, and hope to start my research after the first of the year. I have also gained momentum in couponing this year and have enjoyed the opportunity to save our family some money (I am always looking for more couponing buddies, by the way!).  I continue to serve in the Primary organization of our church and I also work as a substitute teacher on occasion, both of which I really enjoy.  

Jared continues to work for Les Schwab and is currently in the busy season.  It has been an interesting experience for him to get to know a whole new group of people after transferring to this store last year and he has been able to make some friends there.  Jared loves playing with the kids in his spare time, especially so that I can have some mommy time in the evening!  In addition, he continues to serve in the Young Men organization of our church.

Did you notice that there weren’t very many “spare time” activities listed for me and Jared?  That would be due to the fact that in the late summer we became homeowners again.  

It isn't moving day without a moving box fort!!

We feel very blessed to be able to own a home in The Dalles…something that we hadn’t thought possible due to the prices being much higher than where we came from and the fact that we weren’t “first time buyers.”  If you want to read the whole story of our home buying experience, you can find it here. 
We have spent most of our spare time working on remodeling the bathroom (thanks to much help from my sister-in-law’s father!) and doing some much-needed wallpaper removal and painting in other rooms of the house.  I am long overdue in creating a "welcome to our home" post complete with a "virtual tour" and before/after pictures.  For now, a few teasers...

Bathroom before

Bathroom after

Tub and surround before

Tub surround after.  And yes, the window is a new - and welcome - addition!

This house will be a lot of work for us, but we are absolutely in love with the potential and are grateful to own a home that we won’t outgrow!

If you would like to see what else 2011 has brought for our family, we invite you to browse the archives of our blog.

We hope that you have wonderful Christmas and that you can feel the love of our Savior as we celebrate His birth this holiday season.

With Love,

The Royers

A Little Note

I decided to take a quick break from what I was working on to document this little moment we had this weekend.

So life has not been overly easy for us lately and I have been living at a "simmer" for a while, slowly waiting for the moment that things boiled over.

This moment came on Friday.

I had taken time away from several other things that needed my attention in order to work on an assignment that was due that day. At this point it was late in the afternoon and I hadn't started. The kids were playing with some blocks on the floor right next to the computer so I thought that would be a good time to steal a few minutes for my assignment. Within 5 minutes, there was a massive blowup over the blocks and I was holding a SOBBING Gavin on my lap (I suspect that he may have been living on simmer for a while also).

So, here's Gavin, there's Jaynee (also screaming at this point), in front of me is an incomplete assignment, down the hall is drywall that needs mudding, in the kitchen sink is a pile of dishes, on the piano sits the unfinished Halloween costume, in my purse is a checkbook in dire need of balancing, in other words...everywhere I look I see either an unfinished project or mess that needs attention and I quickly felt the need to join Gavin in his sobbing.

At this point, as my tears are beginning to spill, Gavin's incoherent wails subside just enough so that I can understand this (apparently) all-important fact...

"Jaynee's feet SMELL!"

Gavin continues sobbing.

I begin laughing.

I love my kids.

SUMMERPALOOZA!!

(This post is the result of major homework procrastination)

SUMMERPALOOZA IS COMING!!

One week from TODAY.

Saturday, August 20th from 7 to 9 pm at our church

There will be an optional picnic dinner on the front lawn starting at 6 pm for families that want to make an evening out of it. Bring your dinner and blanket and come chat before the music starts inside.

Now, for those of you who haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about...here's a brief history lesson on the origins of Summerpalooza:

If you know my dad, you probably know that he is a talented musician AND published composer. What you might not know about him is that he has a little hobby...he takes popular music from the radio, listens to it and writes out the music for it. We're not talking sheet music for piano or guitar that you could buy at the store. He writes out the whole band part - we're talking authentic sound, here! :) One way that he uses these arrangements is in his profession as teacher - his choirs sing the songs, his pep band plays them, etc. Another way that he uses these arrangements is in putting on dances.

This tradition goes back to well before I was born...

I'm pretty sure this wasn't technically a dance, but you're getting the picture. Are you digging the recording equipment in the foreground? Oh...and my dad's awesome blue suit?

Then we were able to get into the performing when we were young kids. (This is my oldest brother and my dad doing "Woolly Boolly".) We would hang out backstage, sing our songs, and then a babysitter would take us home. (These were typically church dances for ages 14 and up so we couldn't stay.)

There was a break of several years...until my oldest brother got married. We decided to do live music for their reception (and at the receptions for the rest of our weddings, also). The fun part about the wedding receptions is that they were open to FAMILIES, not just age 14 and up. Do you remember my wedding reception??

I know...major fun, right??

My dad and brothers surprised me with an awesome rendition of "My Girl."

But besides the wedding receptions, over the past ten years since my oldest brother got married, our family band has played at my brother's mission homecoming, a family reunion, New Years Eve dances, other dances, and (of course) the original Summerpalooza:

We say "family" band, but we really couldn't do any of this without former students of my dad's...talented musicians who we consider part of the family now! :)

So if you want to have a bunch of fun, head on up to our church at 7 (or 6 if you want to picnic with us) on Saturday, August 20th. If you're not sure you want to go to the trouble, I just want you to know...

People have been known to fly to Oregon JUST for the occasion! :)

Still not sure?? Consider coming just so you can watch our kids bust a move. They've been brushing up on their dance skills:

Long story short, you are ALL welcome to come to Summerpalooza! If you have any questions, you know how to contact me!

Another Week of Vacation

Jared had his second week of vacation for this summer and we spent part of it going to Long Beach, WA for the King family reunion (my mom's side of the family).

We decided to get to Long Beach via Seaside for a visit to some of our favorite places.
Gavin's first trip to the arcade. We mostly just let him run around and sit on all of the various car games. This whack-a-shark game was the only thing we actually spent money on while we were there.

Then we took the kids on the carousel. Gavin was in HEAVEN!

Then we took a walk on the Seaside beach. This was Jaynee's first time walking on sand. After a hesitant start, it didn't take her long to realize that sand was awesome.

Gavin was so happy to be at the beach!

Then we got to Long Beach and had time to kill before the rest of the Hodges clan got there and we could check into the cabin/condo. This was Gavin visiting the whale bones.

This is my new favorite picture of Gavin.

On the boardwalk at Long Beach. Gavin was running ahead of us yelling "This is the Great Wall of China!!" He got smiles out of everyone we passed going the other direction.

The kids had so much fun playing in the sand...

...and hanging out with cousins.

That's where my picture taking stopped. We had a reunion, family auction, and a bonfire at sunset. We swam, ate, and hung out in downtown Long Beach. Then it was time to go home!

On the ride home, this is about how we were all feeling.

**If you haven't visited my new couponing blog, the link is on the right hand side of this page. I haven't had much feedback, but I'm hoping someone gets something out of it!**

ABC's

A while back we noticed Jaynee saying random short syllables over and over. My mom said "It sounds like she's saying her ABC's." So one day I listened to her from start to finish and I realized that WAS what she was doing.

Jared sings the ABC's to her as one of her lullaby songs, so apparently she's catching on! You be the judge. (I sang along so you could keep track of where she was at). Unfortunately Jaynee is not overly cooperative where the video camera's involved, but we at least made it to "w"! :)

House Hunters: Royer Style

Alright, here's another Royer version of one of my favorite shows (House Hunters on HGTV). I'm going to give you a taste of our house hunting experience by giving you three choices and you need to figure out which house we made an offer on (just don't tell on me for using the images from RMLS):

House #1: 2 Bedroom, 1 Bath 2316 square feet between two levels $179,000

+ Potential for growth, with full basement in great condition - already has a nearly-finished bathroom and two bedrooms (they just need larger windows to be considered bedrooms)

+ Huge corner lot, the yard is actually another legal lot.
+ Large bedrooms on upper level, double closets in master bedroom.

+ Awesome, private patio

+ Very close to my family

+ Great neighborhood

- Only two bedrooms on main level

- No master bath

- Garage not attached

- Needs some cosmetic updates, especially in the kitchen.

House #2: 3 bedroom, 2 bath 2778 square feet between two levels $177,000
+ HUGE house with a lot of potential for growth by finishing the basement (like the last house, there are already two finished rooms but this one actually has a large enough window for a bedroom, but no closet)

+ Brand new kitchen

+ Three bedrooms on the main level

+ Master bath

+ AMAZING neighborhood and location, within walking distance (two blocks) to the beautiful Sorosis Park.

- Only has carport

- Very little yard. The backyard is nearly unusable, with a large outbuilding taking up most of the sloped hill that is the yard.

- Some cosmetic updates still remain.

- The basement would need work before it could be used.

House #3 - 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, 1400 square feet on one level $179,000

+ Great neighborhood, with an LDS neighbor across the street and a great co-worker of Jared's two doors down.

+ TONS of updating (granite, flooring, moldings, fixtures, windows, etc.). Freshly remodeled and move-in ready.

+ Heat pump

+ Private backyard

+ A full blown laundry ROOM!

+ Master bath, although it is only a half

+ Attached, two car garage (with one large door instead of two small ones like our last house)

- One of the smallest houses we've looked at in this price range.

- Front yard is the biggest part of the yard, so it would need fencing.

- Heat pump is old

- Only one closet in master bedroom

So which one was it???

Sorry, I couldn't resist the trick question...we made offers on ALL THREE of these houses. Which one did we get? NONE of them!

Before I show you our future place, I need to tell you more of the story.

I had texted my dad to tell him about House #1 by saying "If we were able to buy a house right now, this is the one we would get." My dad (a man of action) said "Well, call the realtor." I laughed and said that we couldn't buy a house (thinking we needed a down payment now that we aren't first time homebuyers). His response: "Well, I can." They'd been looking for an investment property and this one, with the proximity to their house, would have been ideal. So I called the realtor and we were looking at it within the hour. The realtor was shocked to hear it wasn't ME that was interested in buying and he told us about a loan option for us that didn't require a down payment (turned out it was the same loan we used when we bought our first home...apparently not just for first time buyers). So even though we missed out on this house to a cash offer, it got us hunting.

So we got prequalified and our realtor said that with the condition of the market we shouldn't shy away from looking at places at the top of or above our price range. That's when we looked at House #2, along with the house we are currently under contract on and four others. The reason we bid on House #2 was because it had less cosmetic issues and it was starting IN our price range. (The house we are buying started out 25,000 above our comfort zone). There were definitely some negatives, like the lot size, but the positives outweighed them. House #2 was a no-go because there is a magic number that they need to get out of the house and we just couldn't do it.

The night we heard about House #2 we were pretty bummed, but decided to go look at another house we had been eyeing since moving to town and, after being sold and the buyer backing out, it was fresh on the market again. It was not going to work for us, but our realtor then took us to House #3, which hadn't been listed yet. We peeked through the windows, liked what we saw and wrote an offer that night. Since it was Friday, we gave them until Monday morning to respond. In the meantime they listed the house over the weekend to see if they would get any other offers (can you blame them?!) They had at least one other offer that was better than ours, so we lost this house.

That's when I asked Jared..."Why didn't we go for that other house? We were seriously considering it along with House #2..." So we called our realtor and looked at it again.

HOUSE #4 - 3 bedrooms, 1 full & 2 partial baths on two levels, 2360 sq ft, $189,500

Positives (compared to the other three houses) - This house is on 1/3 of an acre, and that space is divided nicely between the front, side and back yards. There are only two neighbors, and only one of those is very close. The basement is a daylight basement (a huge plus compared to the other two homes with basements that we offered on). If you can tell from the picture above...our house backs up to an orchard. It is a beautiful view! The other plus is that there are three bedrooms on the main floor, which will be very nice!

One drawback to this property is that (as you can tell from the awesome wheel motif) is that it is quite dated. There are not only cosmetic things to take care of, but some safety issues also (those will be taken care of before we close). This house will be a lot of work, but out of all of the houses that we looked at, we feel like this one has the most potential for our family.

Alright, so back to the story...We thought about this one for a little bit longer (mostly because it was so expensive and it needed SO much work!) We decided to make a low offer that was in our comfort zone, figuring there would be a counter offer that was in our "we can do it, but it will be tight" zone and then the tough decision would come. (Note: the latter was the zone we would have been in for all three of the other houses). We also asked for our closing costs to be covered and for them to pay for the repairs. Tall order, I know... The funny thing was that I had not a single pang of anxiety or stress with this offer, which I had with the other three places. Total calm. At the time, I couldn't figure out of it was due to my being numb to the process of making offers or if it was confirmation that this was the right decision.

Turns out there WAS a counter offer, but rather than the ten thousand more that we were expecting it was only $2,500 more and they agreed to all of our other terms. (I know...WOW!) We just sent them our list of repairs after yesterday's inspection, so we will see if they agree to those.

We feel so blessed to be able to buy another home. We know that this is the place for us and we continue to pray that the deal will close.

Our weekend...abbreviated...

Have you ever had the experience of sitting down after an AMAZINGLY AWESOME weekend, looking through your camera and realizing that your pictures didn't even capture a fraction of the fun that you had?? Well, I just did.

We had a wonderful holiday weekend, beginning with the arrival of my brother and his beautiful family from California.



The next night we had our annual campout in my parents' backyard. With the arrival of my aunt, uncle, and little cousin that afternoon, we definitely had the biggest crowd yet!

Handsome fellas....

Jaynee was in heaven with her very first s'more!

After giving Gavin his s'more, he frolicked to the tent chanting "I'm so happy! I'm so happy!" Then he crawled into his sleeping bag (s'more in hand) and, when he saw me poke my head into the tent, said "Good night!"


Fishing at a ward member's pond on the Fourth of July.

Then, after several yummy meals, some yard games, slip-n-sliding, chatting, bubble-blowing, and sibling game night, the holiday has sadly come to a close.

However, the party doesn't stop for the Royers. Oh, no... Jared has five more GLORIOUS days of vacation for us to play, play, PLAY! (Maybe I'll take more pictures this time...)

I'm Not a Fanatic...

...I just sound like one on my new blog!

Now that Jaynee is a little bit older, I have found that I have more time to devote to saving money (i.e. "couponing"). I have been trying to share the deals with my family but, alas, (no offense mom) my tips are somewhat lost on people who don't need to be as tightly-budgeted as myself.

Then I thought to myself, "Self...many of the people who read your regular blog are just starting their families, many are still in school, and might enjoy hearing about how to save a buck or two." Then that idea sprouted into starting a whole new blog.

So, really, this is an experiment. I want to see if anyone gets anything out of this new blog, so be sure to comment if you do! My first post is a LONG introduction with tips on how to make the most out of the blog. Keep coming back to it, though, because I will update regularly! There are some weeks when I find a new deal everyday!

Like I said above, though, I really am not a crazy couponer...but somehow you can't describe the process without sounding a little bit obsessive.

HAPPY READING!!

http://lessthanextremecouponing.blogspot.com

Where have we BEEN?!

I know, I know...it's been too long! What have the Royer's been up to? Well, quite a bit. We have a lot of reasons to smile, so here are a few of them...
Gavin has been out of his cast for a month and a half. He got to go to physical therapy at an AWESOME facility here in town, which included some pool therapy. Now that he's more mobile, our family has been, too!

This was the pit stop of our bike ride through the Mosier tunnels.

FREE STRAWBERRIES! Our rental has a strip of well-established, very productive strawberry plants and we have been enjoying berry season! I even got enough from them to make my very first made-all-by-myself batch of freezer jam.

One word...JAYNEE...this girl makes us smile to no end. She has been falling asleep in interesting positions lately...

(Highchair)

We've learned that Jaynee is even adorable with a shiner.

Big reason to smile - my brother and his family are coming to visit! Gavin has been very excited about this visit and has had trouble figuring out exactly when he was "going camping with Ethan" so we made this paper chain. This picture was taken a while ago...there are just seven links left!

And finally, this video makes me smile. Little Jaynee learned how to nod a while back and has become more and more animated with it over time. Enough said...ignore the shiner and watch the BROWS!