We're finally committing

We did it..............we purchased a house and it's perfect. We waited and waited and were told we'd never find it by many, but we found our lot, in the area we wanted and couldn't be more happier.  We're finally committing to Southeast Boise forever and are so pumped I can hardly stop thinking about it.

It's on 1.1 acres and the house is 1950 square feet. It's the biggest house Dru and I have ever lived in. After 14 years I can't even believe we'll be staying put. We're like gypsies, almost, with all the moving around we've done over our marriage. I think it's 10 moves!!

We were unpacking from our McCall trip on labor day about 9:00pm and our friend, Rudy Bybee, pulled up and said to Dru, "you need to come take a ride with me". So he did.

I guess the owners are getting a divorce and so are selling the house. They both wanted to keep it but couldn't agree so just sold it.

It WAS going to be on the market that Friday and Rudy took Dru on the Monday to show him.

Dru came home that night and casually told me about it, but didn't seem excited about it.

That night we talked and talked till late into the night about it.

The next night I went and had a look at it and told him I thought it was great and the right price for us.

Dru said "Well what do you think, should we do it?"

I said "I'm the wrong one to be asking babe, you know me, I'm fine with wherever. You need to ask yourself if you're ok with this, and if you are, then let's do it"

So we did it.

So Dru rang the lady and made an offer and it all snowballed from there.

Dru wanted land so he could build. At first we figured we'd purchase this house, do it up and flip it when we found land. But after talking to his brother and me and his mates he came to the conclusion that he's going to make this place his very own and love it. 

He's so excited and I'm so happy for him and for us.

It has irrigation water that we use every Monday that flood waters the backyard. It also has a well that waters the front and part of the back yard of the house with sprinklers.

The actual house is on city water, but if we wanted we could put it on well water. They said the well water was a little hard on their clothes etc though. So city we'll stay, unless something happens with the city, then we got options.....................

They said it cost $60 a year to water. Pretty great right?

The house was built in the 60's, so is solid and built well. Dru inspected it and there wasn't much to complain about, it looked great. New windows, newer roof, new (last year) furnace and AC unit, I mean honestly man, we're ecstatic. 

I took video for my family in NZ to see, so I'll put that up on here for you guys to see.

It's dated, but a bit of paint and some minor adjustments and we'll be good to go. I'm so grateful Dru is handy and has family and friends who can help us out.

Our mates and family are so pumped for us. I was talking to my one mate, Natalie, and we were talking about how we'll be together for always and how our kids will grow up together in the same school and church. It's so perfect to be close to solid mates and in such a wonderful neighbourhood. 

Ok well I better stop talking about it I guess.

Dru was asking me about colours and tile and stuff and I'm just like o_0

I usually tell him to do whatever he wants, he has great taste and he cares, and I don't. He does a really good job of including me in it all though, probably wise I guess.

So now it's time to watch our money fade into our house and our time as well and party like it's 1999.

So blessed and grateful.

So I'm talking on the video to my family. So just ignore me if you can.

Here's the outside of the house.



Inside of the house.



The backyard.

Happenings

So things have been busy in the Nakaya household.

Emiko had a playdate with Nawang and Jonas on Thursday and Nawang said Emi and Jonas wandered around like this almost the whole time. Pretty cute right?

Random shot of sisters being crazy together on Dad's phone. I'm glad these two have each other. They're pretty great mates. I hope it always stays that way.

 I'm busy letting Dru know that my bicep measurement is simply huge. No idea why he needed that. It was way random, so I thought I'd be funny back.

 Takeshi's busy trying to kill himself for a bowl of cereal. You gotta love his problem solving skillz though right? Plus he wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't keep working for him. Let's hope one day he doesn't end up with a broken leg. I like that Dru's doing nothing about it but simply taking a picture. Dad's man.................

 And with a Dad that looks like this, it's no wonder he can't get up and rescue his son, he's too busy waxing his mo.

 This is Elder Hunt. He's fresh from Samoa and we love him. He gave Masaru a lavalava and a T-shirt.

And here's his companion Elder Methvin. He goes home this week and is a true cowboy. They're so great and we're glad we've gotten to know them.

Emiko and I will do hairstyles together. This one turned out great this day. Today's one is almost there but not quite. Oh well. Live and learn. I learned how to do a 4 braid today. Still educating myself, that's the way I roll.

Friday night we babysat our mates kids at their place so they could have a sweet date of paint-balling together. The kids had fun and Dru fixed a couple of their things that he couldn't handle were broken. Talk about a great babysitter. Her kids were easy and so it was fun for us to be able to do it. We love the Jorgensens.

Saturday was full from beginning to end. Piano, mathnasium, primary programme practice, soccer, rugby and mates for dinner.
Masaru's doing great in mathnasium and still likes it.
Takeshi's doing great with soccer. He needs to stop yelling at his mates though. We're trying to teach him to simply go up to them and help out instead of yelling "pass, pass" all the time. He gotta work for the pass man. He did a little better. I think he's just an emotional kid and so gets into it and yells and such. He comes and give us a high 5 when he scores'. It's pretty cute man. It's great to watch him. Their team is actually winning this year. Last year they lost every game and didn't even care. This year they're winning all their games and I'm not sure if they care. Maybe, who knows. They're having fun though and so that's great. It's nice to see them playing together and having that teamwork and togetherness that is so important in team sports. Their coaches are so good and I'm glad they have each other.
Yuki played her first 'next level' game on Saturday and was awesome. The only difference I can see in her rec team and select team (higher level) is the intensity of the parents on the sidelines. Can we just say out of control screaming? Crazy man. These girls are 8 man. People just need to settle down.
Yuki loves her select coach, cause it's the same coach she's always had, but she doesn't know the girls, so it took her a little bit to warm up to the environment. Once she warmed up though she totally rocked it man and scored 3 goals bringing their team in for the win. Dru and I are so proud of her. It's a privilege to watch her.
Then we had an hour rest and Dru massaged her legs while she lay down in the shade and the kids played on the bouncy castles that were there.
Her second game was with her rec team and new coach. She gets along with these girls really well and there are some sweet players on her team man. I'm gonna try and convince them to move up to select with Yuki so they can have the most awesome team out. But I just need to settle down maybe and ride it out for now.
I lost count of how many times she scored in this game, but a parent of one of the other girls pointed out to Dru and I that after she scores a goal she walks back and clicks her fingers. Pretty funny. They said they think Yuki is so great that she doesn't show off about her goals, she just calmly walks back to the halfway point and clicks her fingers. The parents and girls really like having her on their team. I would love to stay with these parents and girls somehow. It was hot and I got sunburnt. Luckily, not too bad.
We got home, prepped dinner and then ate with our mates Bleazards and Layman's while watching the Wales vs England rugby match.
HOLY MOLY PEOPLE talk about a nail bitter. It was an AMAZING GAME and you should all watch it.
We were going for Wales, of course, and they didn't pull through till the end and actually looked like they could very well lose it. Man we were all screaming and jumping up and down and our buddies don't even get into rugby, but they can sure appreciate a great sport and an even greater game. It was so fun to be there and together. Perfect night with family and friends.
Go Wales.

My brothers were ecstatic about the win. We had to stay off of face book and chats so they didn't ruin the results for us. It was great to share the celebration with them. So great. My one brother put this meme up on our page:

Pretty funny right?
I love it when a game turns out the way you want, but it's close and you really want the other team to lose and feel it. I think I've got problems. My ancestry is both English and Welsh, but for whatever reason our family goes for Wales everytime, it could be that their flag is way cooler? Hahahaha
In other FANTASTIC news, our brother also let us know that his papers came back from SLC and him and Ashaan can finally be sealed together in the Temple in NZ and will be doing so when all the family are together in November.
HOW AWESOME IS THAT? So perfect man. We'll all be together and celebrate and it will be amazing. I was already on a high and that just threw me right out there. We're so happy for them and are excited to be there for their special day.

Sunday was full of meetings for me, before and after church. It's the only one though, so I can handle one Sunday a month.
The kids did their primary presentation in sacrament this day and they all did so well. The leaders should be pleased as it was really, really good.
I sat in the back and was a little emotional that I wasn't a part of it this year. I kept telling myself that I'm happy in YW's and can't have it all.
Masaru looked like he was too cool for school and acted like he was bored. I guess he's getting to that age?
Yuki and Takeshi did a great job with their talks though and it was great watching them.
Dru made dinner and the kids played with neighbour mates while Dru and I visited with mates all night.
It was a busy weekend, but really fun. I love my kids and Dru and am very happy.

RWC - Rugby World Cup

So the 2015 RWC has started and it's been great so far and I've already had anxiety and craziness has happened.
NZ are the reigning champions and have a GREAT chance of winning it again if they don't stuff up. In reality it's there's for the taking, I just REALLY hope they get it man. They've won twice and both times it was in NZ, so they need to prove to the world that they're champs no matter where they're playing.
They SHOULD'VE won the RWC when they played Sth Africa in the final one year. Remember that movie Invictus where Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman acted? Well it was all heroics and feel good stuff about the underdogs but what they failed to mention was that the AllBlacks got food poisoning and were all sick the day of the finals and were spewing up on the sidelines and THAT'S how Sth Africa won man, by cheating...................according to my brothers at least.
Anyway....................hopefully everyone is healthy and plays well this cup.
So there's four pools with 5 teams in them. Pool A (AKA the pool of death) and B, C, D. NZ are in pool C.

In that Pool A at the bottom is suppose to be Uruguay not 'playoff winner' I don't know what that's about.
So this gives you an idea of how it's set up.
It's played every 4 years.
So we got up at 5am to watch USA play Samoa, then Wales play Uruguay then NZ play Argentina.
It was a morning of rugby.

Our TV wasn't working properly and so we had to watch on Dru's computer in the kitchen. We set up chairs and cheered.
USA lost to Samoa. Not surprising but I think USA could've done better. USA are getting better though, I don't think they're a joke anymore and that's great.
Wales smoked Uruguay, although I thought they would've beaten them by a little more.
NZ won against Argentina but it was pretty tight there for the first while. In the end it was NZ fitness and skill that beat them out.
I have major anxiety when watching these games that I really care about. When NZ was neck and neck I couldn't handle it man. I was pacing the house and pretending to clean when I was just trying to ease my stress levels. I take it all on board so seriously. I need to work it out man.
The BIG surprise though was Japan beating one of the top teams, South Africa, on Saturday.
What an upset. The game was brilliant. Talk about the underdogs coming out on top. It was so awesome.
The Japanese stole the hearts of the world and everyone was stunned and proud of them. It was amazing. That's what sport is all about though. I was wonderful.

They played Scotland today and lost by a lot. We thought they'd have a shot at winning, but they didn't do well enough and Scotland took them to school man. Oh well. Hopefully they can pick themselves up and keep winning.
Still doesn't take away from that moment the other day though. Best of luck to them. They have an Aussie coach and Scotland have a kiwi coach, that's all I'm gonna say about that.
NZ plays tomorrow and got an easy pool. I can't believe pool A (pool of death) and how they even come up with the fairness of that. How is it that NZ has an easy as pool and Wales has the hardest pool of all? I guess it's nice that NZ has an easy pool, they could choke, like they've done in past RWC and we don't what that to happen.
Pool D is easy as well. Freakn French, those dudes fall into mud and always come up smelling like roses man.
Anyway I'll be talking about this periodically over the next month, do I figured I'd better put it up here so people (American's) know what I'm on about.
I hope NZ wins.

Yuki's birthday - Monday

So Monday Yuki got to sleep in which is easy for her to do and I'm sure she loved it.
We had my mates kids come over in the morning, which was really nice for both of them. They all played on the trampoline as well as outside on all the toys.
Yuki showed me her long boarding skillz and so I took a video.


After our friends headed out we went over to our other mates place, Nawang, to pick up Jonas and take him out for frozen yogurt. Yuki said she wanted to take Nawang and Jonas out to frozen yogurt for her birthday. Nawang was busy making momo's this day and so just took Jonas, which was just fine.
We went to Blue Cow only to discover that it wasn't open until noon.
So we swung by to McDonald's to get an ice cream and some play time there instead.

 Jonas wouldn't look up, so I just took the picture. Funny right? They had a fun time in there. Jonas didn't wanna leave, so it took some coaxing.
Nawang made a card for Yuki, gave her some cash and a necklace she wore back in highschool for years in a beautiful Nepal bag. I told her it was all too much. Yuki loved it.

Then we met Dru for lunch. Yuki wanted to go to Chic'fil'A which was just fine with us. It was nice to be together.

After that we dropped Dru off and headed to the YMCA to do some swimming. That's what Yuki wanted. I didn't even look up another inside pool and I should've.
They told us the kiddy pool would be open the whole time, so we got dressed and headed down for some fun.

 We were then informed we needed to get out, that swim time was over because they didn't have enough life guards!!
Ah WHAT? We'd only been in the pool for 20 mins. I tried to fight it, but to no avail. Insurance liability, I wasn't allowed to watch my kids myself. I got my money back from them and left upset. Stupid YMCA. At least that 20 mins was free. They tried to give me a free day pass. What am I suppose to do with 1 day pass in a family of 6? I told them to keep their pass and walked out.
I could've handled it better. I've got a short temper, what can I say? I'm working on it. One day at a time.

 So we decided to try and hit Blue Cow again and get some happiness back into our lives.
I guess the owner was there and it was just us. He's a talker and told Yuki she could have her ice cream for free since it was her birthday.
So her whole day was free hahahahaha

He was the nicest guy. He's retired from Wall Street and lives here in Boise and has Blue Cow. He served in the Vietnam war and lives by the river. He talked about fishing and life. It relaxed me from my temper tantrum at the YMCA and I realized that life is good and people are good too.

I went shopping for Yuki's dinner, fried shrimp, her favourite. Yuki relaxed and watched TV while I prepped it all.
She then went outside and played with her mates.
We ate together, had FHE and put the kids in bed.
She'd had a great day for sure and a great weekend.

I can't believe Yuki is 8.
Yuki is a wonderful person.
I'm glad she's my daughter and I realize that I'm not good enough for her. But I need to work on that part of my esteem and do the best I can for her because I'm the mother she's got and I need to be the best one I can be for her.
She's so good with her chores, homework, and her sister. She's a hard worker and is kind. She's super smart, beautiful, athletic, fun and amazes me all the time with how awesome she is.
She's her daddy's girl and she has a special place in her father's heart and always will.  Their bond goes from the beginning when she was a few seconds old and he was the first one who held her, and he's barely let go since.
We love you Yuki, thanks for making our family great. Thanks for being you, thanks for your example and thanks for loving us.
Forever
Mum and co.

Yuki's birthday - Sunday

 So Sunday was Yuki's real birthday. We decided to wait on our gifts until this day, so it could continue to be special.
Dru wrapped the presents obviously.

 She asked for two things. Toe shoes, which she loves.

 She also asked for a longboard, which she also loves and we were happy to get her. She's quite the athlete, which makes us happy.

She got some chocolate at church and they also gave her a baptism gift.

She was pretty happy about that.
We came home and we just hung out as a family all night. We didn't do anything crazy but it was nice to relax and just be us.
Yuki got used to her shoes and had turns on her long board outside. It was simple and nice.

Her birthday wasn't over yet, however, she still had her day off of school the next day. This birthday spanned three days.
That's next.

Yuki's birthday-Saturday

So Yuki turned 8. She'll be getting baptized in NZ when we go at the end of the year, just like Masaru, with my family. Should be awesome.
She said she wanted a 'Toothless' cake and so Dru and I started to think about how we could do that. It's a rough one cause he has scales and is all black and we've been busy.

 So I got started making the cake to freeze for us to work on that night (friday).
Here's Emiko reaping the benefits of being the only one at home when I'm baking.

Here's the picture we came up with to copy. It's the simplest thing we could find.

This is what we ended up with. We had horns for the top but afterwards when we looked at it, it looked funny so we took them out. Not too shabby for how tough it was and how little time we had. Yuki loved it too and that's what counts the most. We didn't have enough fondant to add scales etc and we weren't about to make/buy more. So it is what it is.

She wanted to play 'pin the tail on toothless' as well as a pinata. I got her a soccerball pinata and then drew this toothless character for the other game.

Then Yuki coloured it in.

Turned out great right?

Then I began decorating the place for her. I decided to do black and red since those are the colours of toothless. I'm glad they're simple colours and everyone cheap had them.

The place looked great for having a mother like me. I'm not a decorator, so this was awesome hahaha

We had soccer all morning and then came back and prepped all of this before the party time.

Slowly her mates started showing up and we put on toothless movies for the kids to watch while the others trickled in.

Once they were all in I took a photo of them with a mask of their choice.

She had 4 girls and 4 boys which is totally her. Those boys are her best friends at school. Should I be worried? Then she had her best neighbourhood girlfriends come as well. Thank goodness for a great neighbourhood right?

She wanted pizza for dinner. Thank goodness. Easy breezy baby.

So after we settled in and finished watching the show we played 'Pin the tail' game.

Her mate, Harper, ended up beating her by a cm. Oh well. Fun game.

We then headed out to the garage to do the pinata.

It was a ton of fun and there was plenty of candy to go around for all.

On a side tangent, you might be wondering where Yuki's brother are?

Well they were suppose to get certain things done by the time the party started. Do you think they got them done? Nope, so they're in their bedroom paying for their crimes.

We then decided to open presents.

 Cash from Gavin

 NZ Grandma

 Cash from Utah Grandma

 Sweet money box that counts your change as you put it in so you know how much you have in there, from Joshua.

 Soccer/CTR necklace from Auntie Kristin.

 Cute card and pillow case.

 It's always so fun watching present opening right?

 Some arsenal from Piper.

 Yuki freaking out because Harper knew exactly what she wanted, even though Harper told her Yuki had mentioned it a few times in the past.

 Cute socks.

 Pretty pumped about her waterbottle from Carter.

 Loving her soccer socks from him as well as her candy and blue cow gift card. She now will have her shin guards covered. No one else has red either, so she'll be easy to spot on the field.

 Sweet card from Zoey and Fiona.

 Books and another blue cow gift card.
Blue cow is a frozen yogurt place down the road from us. She ended up with $25 worth!! That's a lot of frozen yogurt.

Lego's from Elijah as well as more legos from her Auntie Leslie that turned up today. She'll be pretty excited when she gets home from school today.

So as you can see, she was very spoiled and is one lucky duck.

We then ate dinner, let that settle in the kids tummies and then cut the cake.

So excuse the singing coming from me. Although I never have said I was a good singer, so it is what it is man.
After some cake and ice cream the kids continued to play outside and I turned the TV back on for the kids who wanted to just sit for a bit.
We promptly took Masaru off of the trampoline when we saw him out there, as nothing good comes from Masaru on the trampoline with a bunch of kids.
Fortunately no one was hurt at this party!! Yaa for us right?
The kids had a ton of fun, then everyone started to get picked up.

We headed out to a mates place for food, fun and volleyball and the kids kept running around like crazy and we didn't get home till around 9, then our mates came and visited and we stayed up chatting the night away with them. Super fun day.
I wasn't too stressed with this party, all the kids were good and it seemed to go well.
I tend to go on the more simpler side, kids don't care about tons of fanfare so why stress out about it right? Yuki told me what she wanted and so I did that. Thank goodness she didn't have any crazy ideas that would've taken tons of work, other than her cake hahahaha