Move to Ridgefield, Washington in 2016
Many of you know that we did sell our house in Sequim to make our move to the Vancouver Washington area, so that we can be near our daughter Audra and her family. It was a lot of work to get things packed up and to make the move, but all went well. We have been settling in and little by little, we are getting organized. The ward here has been very welcoming and friendly, but we do miss our dear friends in Sequim, etc. Oh well, life does have changes when we least expect them.
We have included a few pictures of our new house and neighborhood. Enjoy.
Neighborhood
The neighborhood is a very nice one, but most of the houses are several stories tall. We finally found a house that was on one level. Ours is the blue/green house. The street is quite wide, but is very quiet and has very little traffic because we are at the top of the hill. The neighbors have been very friendly, and we have met many of them. There are quite a few retired people living here, but we do have a few younger families.
Outside of home
It was a challenge to find a house with minimum yard maintenance. This one fit the bill. As you can see, we have a giant rock garden, which needs very little mowing :) We were pleased to find a three car garage, because we have so much "stuff" to store, and this worked out fine.
Home Entrance
The front door opens to a nice hallway, beautiful hardwood floor, and a front room parlor. We decided to use the parlor for an office instead. It is a light and pretty room. We have set up displays of our memories from our missions. Africa is first and the West Indies is in the great room.
Great Room
We set up the great room for a media room. You can see our "rock garden" from the sliding door. The birds love to come visit often. There is a nice mantel and gas fireplace. And of course, the great wall of china (collector plates) from the many places we have lived or traveled.
Kitchen
The kitchen is quite nice. It is a bit smaller than the one in Sequim, but with some organizing, it is working out fine. The dining room is large and is between the kitchen and great room.
Lorna's Office
We had so many collectibles, that using the parlor as an office worked out well.
Gerald's Office
Then, of course, there is the man cave. Believe it or not, we got rid of many boxes of books, but we still have quite a few left.
Master Bedroom
The master bedroom is quite large with a nice walk-in closet.
Main Bathroom
There is a beautiful bathroom with a big tiled shower, a real "water closet" and a jetted tub, which is very nice after unpacking boxes all day. The only strange thing is that the fireplace is in the bedroom, but also visible from the bathtub. We try not to let workmen come through when someone is in the tub.
Second Bathroom
This is our fun "surfer dude" and West Indies guest bathroom.
Wall between Gerald's office and bedroom
We have one other bedroom, that isn't set up as yet. We hope to have it done soon.
We are finally getting some of our pictures hung up, so it is beginning to feel like home. We are starting to enjoy being here, as we meet more and more nice people. The weather has been very mild, and that has been nice. Ridgefield is a small town about the size of Sequim, but we have to drive a little distance to find the bigger stores like Costco and Home Depot, etc. Church is about 20 minutes away, so that isn't too bad. All in all, we are getting settled in and hope to NEVER MOVE AGAIN! We do miss our family and friends who don't live close, so please come visit us. This is a beautiful part of the country.
Isaak Jensen's Mission Report
Last Sunday we attended church in Vancouver, WA to hear the homecoming mission report from our grandson Isaak Jensen. The other family members in the picture are the Jensen families from our daughter Audra and Dave Jensen.
Temple Trip
This week we had an enjoyable trip to the Portland Temple.
This last photo showed us the ladder to climb to heaven.
