It has been just over three weeks since we moved into the new house. I am thoroughly enjoying it! The counter offer that we made on our condo yesterday was accepted so I think that just makes life here all the sweeter knowing that soon we won't be in nearly such a big hole of debt. There will still be a hole, just a much smaller one! :)
One thing we have really noticed over here is a new set of noises. Back at the condo we got frustrated with a lady who lived below us and liked to vacuum 3 or 4 times a week in the morning, sometimes early on Saturday mornings. Well now we get noises over here that are construction related, and a couple of times I have heard something that sounded like the vacuum lady. I know it comes from some of the equipment outside, but I think it is ironic that we can't get away from that sound. The first week or two after we moved in it seemed at 7am sharp hammering would start (I think it was in the house behind us that is being built), but that has ceased. I imagine with time we will get used to all these new sounds, and in a couple of years when houses are done being built in this area the quiet that follows will probably seem strange.
Another sound that will take some getting used to is the trains. We knew that when we chose this area as an option for a place to live that there are train tracks close by. I was impressed when we first moved in and when the trains went by you could hardly hear the rumble of them on the tracks. I thought, the berms must be doing their job keeping the sound out. Then in the last few days or so every train that goes by figures it needs to honk 4 or 5 or 6 times to let us know it is coming. I thought that they just honked at railway crossings? Maybe I was wrong. Sometimes the honking is kind of distant and not too loud, but sometimes they honk a bunch of times and it sounds like it is going to come through our backyard. I hope that it stops at some point. We were told by one of the construction companies (can't remember if it was Fraser, or someone else) that they would be taking out the railway crossing at Preston so there would be less honking. I suppose we'll see what happens. I imagine as with anything we will eventually get used to it!
On the weekend Jay went to the U of S with my sister and her family to take a few family pictures. Here is my favorite one, or one of them anyway. I can't believe how big my nephews are already! I look at James and can't believe he is only three years old. If he keeps growing at this rate, he is going to be six feet tall by the time he is 10 years old! Maybe not...but still. And Will is getting so big. He is starting to say a few words, like mom, wow, done, byebye, bobo (his teddy bear's name) among a few others. He just had his first real haircut and it makes him look a little older than his sixteen months. 
I have already used it to bake a cake and a pizza. We also used it to cook perogies last night for supper. After spending over three weeks without a stove, it is SO nice to have it. It seems to work well, but I am looking forward to trying to bake three sheets full of cookies at once with the convection bake setting. I suppose I would need to get another baking sheet because I only have two. That is going to make baking peppernuts for Christmas go by SO much faster! I really appreciate the large viewing window. Our old stove had such a small one and you could barely see in when something was cooking so you had to open the stove to see. But now I can watch and no heat escapes!
