The Ning Housing Update

So, for all that have been wondering, we are a bit homeless. We are taking this all in stride. Here's what's happened in short:

- Feb 7: First Home offer Rejected (Both Kelvin & Susie saw the home)

- Feb 12: Palo Alto house is empty; Ning's headed to So. Cal to visit family

- Feb 19: Moved our single car load of stuff to Susie's Parent's place in Phoenix

- Mar 9: Second home offer Rejected (Only Susie saw the home)

- Apr 13: Third home offer Rejected (Only Kelvin saw the home)

On 2 of the 3 offers made, we were tied with the winning offer...we just don't have 20% down.

We are saving money, and enjoying our time visiting family in Phoenix. The kids have finally settled into their environment, but every once in awhile, Simon will ask, "Can we go to Simon's house?"

Kelvin still commutes to Palo Alto during the week and thanks to the generosity of great friends, he is able to make lay his head down in a home rather than in a rented room. Susie enjoys time with her family; she has been doing so many craft projects. We'll have to put them all out on display soon to show just how much she has produced.

We thank you all for our prayers. We are at any given day, at least 45 days away from moving back to the peninsula. Susie has to deal with Kelvin gone 4 days out of 7, and Kelvin has to deal with only sleeping at most 4 days in a row in the same bed. We know that the Lord is watching over us...we wouldn't have decided to take this route on our own. The Lord definitely wants us to move on and get onto other things and this was the way he had in mind.

Current search areas:

- Southern portion of Willow Glen, San Jose (better schools)

- Rose Garden, San Jose (Gorgeous neighborhood)

- Cambrian / Cambrian Park, San Jose (bigger lots, better schools)

- Campbell (better schools)

We'll see how many offers it takes before we actually land something. We'll keep you all updated.

Where do we go?

So, with the winds and rains of December, we started finding wet spots in the carpet in the boys' room. After pulling away the carpet we discovered a bit of mold in there.

Beyond our wildest dreams, the LandLord decided to evict us in order to fix the problem. So now we have found ourselves wondering the age-old question: Rent vs. Buy!!
Renting in Palo Alto is either paying $3000/mo for a comparable home, or stepping down to an apartment and paying nearly the same that we're paying now. We've toyed with leaving the area and have recently considered an area in San Jose called Willow Glen.

It's a cute little tree-lined street area and with the recent burst of the housing bubble, housing has actually started to get affordable. Schools you ask? Well, downtown isn't so great. Apparently most of the kids there get farmed out to private schools. But the peripheral (especially southern) parts of Willow Glen actually have great schools. What's the age and gender profile of the area? I found this online. (I know, very nerdy).

Apparently most of the residents are our age, and there are young kids. We encourage our friends to join us in the search for housing in San Jose. It's sad to leave Palo Alto, cool to try to find a house, even cooler if our friends could join us. :)

Unfortunately, in the meantime, we still have to get out of our home...so Kelvin's going to be a road-warrior and visit the wife and kids in Phoenix while looking for suitable housing in San Jose. If you spot a Ning in Phoenix or in the Bay Area...take the time to say "Hi" before they move again...

Wish us luck...

What's better than a juicy turkey for Thanksgiving?

BACON!!!
It didn't really matter that Cary came home from Quantico for Thanksgiving...we had Bacon on our turkey...basted with honey.
Yummy....
Let us know if you want the recipe.

Happy Anniversary

On October 30, 2010, Kelvin and Susie celebrated their 6th year of marriage. We've gone through 2 wards, delivered 3 beautiful boys, and endured 4 companies, 4 years of schoolings, 2 homes, 2 TV upgrades, 3 international vacations, and we're still madly in love.

Annual Pumpkin Patch Trip

It was time for the Ning Family annual trip to Farmer John's pumpkin patch in Half-Moon Bay. I think Miles was really able to enjoy it. We chose to go on "Bernese Mountain Dog" day but after meals and naps we only saw 1 dog there. Apparently there were over 100 that showed up throughout the day.

Summer Wrap up.

So, the following people have made personal requests for updates:
- Karisa Winkel
- Lindy Burgon
- Lillian Ning
- Lanie Wilkinson
- Tannya McFarland

This next hour of writing and editing is dedicated to all-y'all...I do have to say, that comments on our posts really do help encourage us to keep writing. :)

Here's the Ning Summer wrap-up:


SUSIE'S BREAK WITH TITUS AT LAKE POWELL
The Daniel's were upset again that Kelvin couldn't make it to Lake Powell. With a change in jobs (again) he couldn't pull away. :(

Titus enjoyed time with mommy and all the attention from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.


THE BOYS AT HOME
I think Susie and Kelvin can both admit that Simon's the easiest to take care of out of the 3. Miles however has been really getting his personality in. He's always been slightly allergic to chocolate, but it's been hot and hard to deny him the occasional chocolate ice cream cone.

It doesn't matter who it is, Miles has had the innate desire to just sit on top of them...especially when watching TV.

Grammy came out to help for a couple of days with the baby. It was great to have her here.

Miles can't keep his hands off of Titus. None of us are sure what this means in terms of his relationship with Simon. Simon will come by and give an occasional kiss to Titus, but Miles seriously gets excited when he sees Titus; to the point where he'll roll on top of him and wake him up.

Danny and Liz were some of the first to come by and visit us at the home. I think Danny looks like an old pro with Titus.
Not only will Miles not leave Titus alone...but he and Simon can't keep their hands off of Titus' toys.
As Kelvin was leaving one job and going to another...the Ning family took a week off to drive south, visit family, and relax.

The first stop was in Monterey, then a quick drive down to Pismo Beach. Simon absolutely loved the water. Kelvin had to chase him down just to make sure he didn't go too far in.


Miles liked it...sort-of...but after awhile I think he just started to get cold.


We did a quick visit to see Nate and Cari Owen (Susie's Sister). Sadly enough, the only kids there was Mile's twin cousin Annie. They had tons of fun hanging out and playing together.

Kelvin decided to wait awhile for Grace to come home...he fell asleep on her bed. :)

Next...it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Ning.

Grandma was especially excited about taking the boys for the first time to Disneyland. This is Miles' first ride ever. He enjoyed it...just a little.

We weren't sure what to do about all of the Disney characters. It was end of summer and the place was packed!!! We stuck to the rides...and Simon learned the true meaning of "waiting in line..."















Simon couldn't get pulled away from the rides.

It got hot...and we had to get the boys some Slurpee.





































We really wore out Grandma and Grandpa.

Introducing, the latest edition to the Ning Family!!!

Yup...that's right...another baby. With Simon being 3 years 2 months, all of the boys are exactly 19 months apart from each other.

This morning it was a bit surreal, waking up, tending the boys, having a huge breakfast, putting them down for naps, then going to the hospital to deliver.

Here I am with our OB Dr. O'Callahan. I was waiting outside the doors while Susie was getting prepped for surgery.

Kelvin gave Susie a blessing prior to the procedure to make sure everything would go well. And, as expected, everything did. We haven't named him yet (taking suggestions) but he came out 8lbs 3oz and 20 inches long. Here I caught him with his feet still inside. He looks like he dove out.

Here he is getting washed up. He has a bit of a soft cry, but would not open his eyes for hours. He has Kelvin's nose, Susie's hands and toes, and for now, his hair is dark brown.

Here's the proud papa.

About 40 minutes after delivery, Susie is looking great!!! At the time, she couldn't feel her legs, but she was feeling good.

Having 3 boys, 3 years and 2 months apart will certain mean we'll need multiple fridges and cooking classes in the home may come early so that they can help in the feeding process. They may all be in High School together and for sure all of them will be in College together.

We are very proud of our children, and love them all so much. They are truly the great source of joy in our lives. Thanks for everyone who has helped us so far...more to post once we pick a name. :)

Uncle Taylor gets married...

That's right, Taylor is officially off the market. As my single's ward Bishop said years ago to our Elder's Quorum, "Let's face it gentlemen, we're all a bunch of 5's looking for 10's." Tay found himself a 10.

Can you tell what the wedding colors were?

Simon enjoyed doing his favorite game of all with his cousins...

"Come and get me!!!!"

Aunt Denise made it to the wedding and also was able to see her grand-daughter Maggie.

At around 7pm, Miles decided he was done for the night. He couldn't use words, but the look he gave me was sufficient.

Susie's sister Annie made cupcakes for the event. They were delicious...especially all the frosting.

Congratulations Tay and Kelcie. It was a joyous event we are all so proud of you both.

Mormon Helping Hands

So, apparently, on May 8th, all of California's LDS wards were involved in a service project beautifying State and Federal parks. For the Palo Alto 2nd Ward, we were in charge of selecting the project. We chose to remove invasive weeds from the Baylands.

Specifically, we were to remove all mustard plants, anise, and Italian thistle.

Simon enjoyed himself and the crew definitely loved playing while they worked.

Here's a group shot of all of us who participated in the event. With a lot of transient families going through the event, we probably had upwards of 45 people helping throughout the morning. It was a fun morning spent doing service with friends.

Easter Games

This year, we were fortunate enough again to be invited to the Annual Kokanovich Easter Egg Fight. How do you fight with Easter Eggs you ask? Well, here are some steps below:

Step 1: Boil and decorate some Easter Eggs. Here the lovely Julie Smith is showing off her paisley designed eggs she made using some old ties she found.

Step 2: Pick an opponent

Step 3: Attack your opponent's egg by hitting it once with yours

Step 4: Check to see which egg has been cracked. The person with the "whole" egg wins and moves on to another round. (see images below)

It was a fun event. Kelvin never makes it past the first round. He's tempted to do a Design-of-Experiment to see which factors makes the egg more indestructible.

During the party, Simon found a Pith hat. Seriously...it's a cool looking hat. Funny thing is that the pith hat was an adult's hat...and it seems to fit Simon's head quite nicely.

Several times during the activity, Miles was confused for this kid. I think there's a bit of a resemblance.

Miles spent most of the day going up and down these stairs.