Weeeee’re Baaaaaack

After much deliberation, Rhyetta and I decided to get the internet back in our home. We will now be able to do so much more during the summer months while I am away from work and the internet there. We are also able to stay on top of our rental home in Utah much better. We are grateful that we are able to be connected once more.

Rhyetta is 9 weeks pregnant and thought she would be getting over the sickies. However, her body is not easing up on her and she says she feels like it is getting worse. I hope that it is getting better. We are not sure what we are going to do about where to have this baby, but Rhyetta does want to see the doctor for prenatal care, especially since the closest midwife is 30 minutes away and we just haven't chosen one. We are still heavily leaning on having the baby at home though.

The kiddos are growing up so fast. They love playing outside, even if it is pond water with tadpoles in it. Kian is becoming a self-proclaimed computer wiz, and it is all he talks about. Abby has learned to whistle on her own and makes beautiful music with her new found talent. Ella has become more and more independent and isn't shy about letting people know she is in command. Felicity is using more and more words to communicate with others, and has taken on quite a comical and commanding voice sometimes.

Rhyetta and I enjoy me being home for the summer. We spent the morning today at a produce auction and came away with 4 flats of 48 bell pepper plants, and one jalapeño plant for $16. WHAT A DEAL! Our garden is beginning to grow (beans, cukes, and zucchini). Our dog has become chicken friendly and actually plays with them. The summer break looks like a fun family together time once again.

That's it for now. We'll write again, sooner than later now that we are connected at home again.

 

Loves from the Musser Family

Abby's Announcement

Sorry the video is sideways.

Springtime Preparedness

Living in Missouri has brought on a new meaning of April Showers. We have recently purchased a NOAA Weather radio to keep us informed of weather warnings, watches, and advisories. On April 1st, we had our first experience using this new radio. It is plugged in and goes off if an alert is issued for our area. Rhyetta and I were working on our chicken coop outside when it went off. It told us oncoming severe thunderstorms. We cleaned up our tools and things outside and headed inside. It went off several more times, which prompted me to invite the family into our laundry room (it is the room on the inner-most part of the house) to practice being safe when we are advised to do so. As this alert prompted us to "Stay away from windows (due to high winds and possible hail), and take shelter inside promptly due to the severe thunderstorms (heading our way)." We were in the laundry room for a time and decided to venture out to the living room because the warning was downgraded to a watch. Well... we went to the living room to watch the storm blow past. Dark clouds darkened the sky and room. Then almost instantaneously the heavy rain and strong wind started (you couldn't see outside the wind and rain were so strong). We headed back to the laundry room to seek safety. Welcome to Springtime in Missouri!

The other day while I was at work, more Spring storms started to blow through our area. Rhyetta reported the following to me when I got home from work: They, Rhyetta and the kiddos, were doing their afternoon activities, when Rhyetta looked outside and noticed the chicks got out of their temporary pen. Rhyetta noticed dark, ominous clouds rolling in fast. Rhyetta knew a storm was coming and put the chickens into their newly built coop. With the help of Kian and Abby, this chore was done. Our dog, Storm, was moved to shelter and started tidying up the yard. While Rhyetta, Kian, and Abby were cleaning up the yard (and watching the chicks peck at the first snake of the season in our yard), the phone rang and the weather radio went off at the same time. Ella, who knew the routine when the radio went off, went into our room to listen to the weather radio. She shouted out warnings to her mom and siblings still outside, "Stay away from the windows!""Severe Thunderstorm Warning!""Damaging Winds!""Seek Shelter Immediately" On her own, Ella grabbed the weather radio and brought it into the laundry room and plugged it back into the wall (it has batteries in it as well so it can be unplugged and still work). She also went and grabbed our battery-free flashlight/radio and brought it into the laundry room.

Nothing happened, but who says that preparing your kids for emergencies doesn't pay off? I know that Ella will make sure that Rhyetta, Kian, Abby, and Felicity are safe with the weather radio, and flashlight if an emergency happens.

Ten Things We Can Do Now That We Live in the Country

1. Watch our 19 four-week-old chicks explore the yard and raise a ruckus with each other (there are some roosters, for sure). We smell them too. Until the coop is built, they are in our dining room. Stink-a-rama.

2. Look outside of our house East, West, South and North and see no one, no house, no evidence of any other humans except ourselves. It's so private!

3. Walk down our loooooong driveway--because it's too muddy to drive! I tell Matt, "It's like we live in a campground! It's like we're camping!" On Sunday morning when we're hurrying to church and our shoes and socks cannot escape the mud, it's still fun!

4. Hear and watch the frogs mating all day long. They are so small but they are so loud! We found the ones in our upside-down backyard pool and I told the kids, "Don't pick them up! They're mating." Kian asked, "What will happen if you pick them up while they're mating?" I replied, "I'm not sure. But we should just leave them alone and they'll make baby frogs."

5. Walk down the middle of the "street" with the kids and never worry about them being run over.

6. Not check e-mail for a month. Well, maybe this is good, maybe this is bad. It gives me a lot of free time, that's for sure.

7. Explore creeks and fields and forests, right outside our doorway.

8. Battle beetles. Why are there dozens of Japanese beetles that get into our bedrooms? How do they get in? Where are the holes?!

9. Burn our garbage. We just throw it in a pile and set it on fire. Instant bonfire. Really, that's what we do! No trash pickup here.

10. Watch the kids build forts in the trees, jump in the mud puddles and revel in their new life outdoors.

11. The Stars! Who knew there were so many up there?

12. Go for a drive in the country every time you get in the car to go somewhere!

13. Having a valid reason for owning a truck (and not just a truck but a 4x4).

(Okay, so maybe you can do some of those things and live in the city, but it was a fun list to write).

Neighbors

We love our new place. It's so totally what we were looking for--it's actually better because there's a new house on the 10 wooded acres that we didn't have to build ourselves. We're having lots of great experiences--meeting new people, learning new things. Can't wait for winter to be over so that we can get out and plant. Our ward is so awesome.

I had an experience that I'd thought I'd share. I got all the kids bundled up to go for a nature walk. We hadn't all been out of the house yet, usually just me and one kid will go for the walk up the driveway to check the mail. It's just been so cold every single day that we haven't been outside much but I was determined we'd all get out of the house for even 15 minutes.

It was freezing cold and supposed to snow. We got ourselves bundled and I was the last out and shut the door behind me, only to realize (too late) that I had just locked ourselves out of the house. I said, "Kids, I just locked ourselves out of the house!"

"Let's go for our walk anyway!"

I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking to myself. What am I going to do? No car. No phone. No idea even where anyone that I know lives. I don't even know a friend's phone number. Freezing temperature.

Three options: 1. We huddle in the garage all day till Matt comes home (NO GOOD!)
2. We get to a neighbor's house and call someone to come pick us up and we hang out at their house for the day. (Don't even know our friend's phone number).
3. Call Matt and he comes home early so that we can get into the house.

The kids vote to hang out at a friend's house all day. I'm thinking to myself, "I wish I knew where they lived!"

I'm convincing myself not to cry. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Don't panic. Say a prayer. Just don't cry.

We walk up the road to our nearest neighbor's house. The bundled up 2-year-old is having a hard time managing the uphill walk in the freezing cold. I'm trying to keep cool. Abby is terrified of going onto our neighbor's property when we don't know them yet. I knock and knock and no one answers. Shoot.

We walk on. I remember seeing a driveway further down the road that is secluded like ours. I don't know where it leads but when we get there, we turn on it and hope that this neighbor is at home. Again, the kids are uncomfortable on someone else's property. Well, I am too, but there wasn't really a choice, was there?

We live on a seriously quiet street. I wouldn't expect a car to come down it for hours.

I knock on the door of the log cabin. Yes, someone is home. I hear him shushing his dogs. The moment he opens the door, I start crying. The tears are just streaming down my face and I hear myself saying, "I'm sorry. I'm crying because I'm so stressed out. I locked myself out of the house and I'm your new neighbor and I don't know what to do." Can we say pathetic?

He's totally cool and nice. The kids have a great time playing with the dogs while I call Matt (can't get ahold of him) and leave him a message. "Hon, I'm locked out of the house and I don't know what to do!"

Thankfully, our neighbor, Leonard, knows of another neighbor who can open car locks (he's a mechanic). He calls him up and soon Mitch is over with his pickup and we all pile into the back of the truck and ride back to the house (that was the fun part).

He pulls out his tools and starts trying them out on the house. Meanwhile, Leonard is checking the windows and finds one unlocked and we open it! Hooray! We are back inside. Talk about relief. I was so thankful for my house that day!

Lesson learned: Living in the country means neighbors help you and drop what they're doing so that you stop crying in their living room! I needn't feel stressed about the isolation. I discovered that neighbors here are neighborly!

PS: I told the story to a couple of people in our ward and they just laughed at me. "I don't even know where the keys are to my house!" they replied. Apparently, not everyone locks their doors. Oh yeah. We live in the boonies now. "Actually," one friend replied, "A farmer told me once that you want to leave your truck or car unlocked and leave the keys in the ignition. You never know when your friend might urgently need it!"

So there you go. A new paradigm. A friendly place to live. I don't have to be worried about that anymore. Living in the country lesson #1 learned.

(If this post has mistakes, it's because I don't have time to edit it. Please forgive me. And I'm practically NEVER on the internet so these posts will have to be few and far between.)

We Finally Got Off the Closing Roller Coaster

Here is the latest news about us getting our dream home and land.

Last Friday, Rhyetta and I, went to close on the house. When we got to the title office, we were told that we weren't going to be able to close due to Fannie Mae not getting all of the required paperwork to the title company. We basically said that there was no way we can delay this any longer, because we were being kicked out of our current apartment and had no where to go. A phone call was made and we eventually signed all of the paperwork to close and got the go ahead to move in, eventhough the title company still was waiting for one last document.

We moved out of our apartment Saturday morning. Blessings from the Elders Quorum in helping us load up the truck. It would have taken a tremendous amount of time if we had done it ourselves. Once the truck was loaded, we drove the hour from Platte City to our house in Weatherby, MO. Blessings again from the Elders Quorum in our new ward in helping us unload the truck, that took 2 hours to pack, in aproximately 30-45 mins. WOW.

We love our new home. It is much bigger than any place we have lived in. There's room enough to stick all the kiddos in one room, if needed. There's room enough for dancing in the living room. We are able to actually use our dining table again, not a card table. The garage is big enough for all of our storage, two cars, and then some. Needless to say, we are thrilled to be in a home big enough for our family.

However, homeownership is not all roses. Before we closed on the house we had to get repairs done on broken pipes because the house was not winterized properly. We continue to have a broken pipe here and there which will leave a 4x6 hole in our kitchen ceiling until fixed. For the first two nights, we had no hot water because one of the heating elements in our water heater burned out (and I am glad to be able to take a hot shower now!).

Aside from this, Rhyetta and the kiddos explored portions of our 10 acres yesterday, and they loved it. There are some advantages living in the "boonies", as there are disadvantages. The main disadvantage we are facing is internet access. We have no DSL or Cable access. We may have to resort to dial-up. We may have to not have internet at home. Satellite internet is too expensive. So, for now we only have internet, email access from my work. Please be patient with us while we figure things out. We are going to be getting a land line, so when that happens we'll let you know.

Also, pictures and video will follow soon. As for now, we are glad to off the home buying roller coaster and settling in our new home.

The New News

Well, here's the new news.

We were hoping-hoping-hoping to close on the house today (Friday) and move tomorrow. The bad news is that didn't happen. We've got to cancel the moving truck and pay for another week in the apartment. The GOOD news is that I heard these words out of the loan officer's mouth, "Let's plan on closing next Thursday."

I've been waiting for those words, those magic words. It's really going to happen! We are buying our dream property! It will be ours!

One more week!