The Bunny House

Twelve years ago last month we purchased our first home.  Michael and Jacob were finishing up Kindergarten, Rex was getting ready to purchase the practice from Dr. Martin and I was busy serving as the Relief Society President.

We were so excited for our new home.  After nine years of marriage we finally had something we could call our own.  I remember how spacious it seemed.  I loved the vaulted entry and the island in the kitchen - I had always wanted an island.  It was our 'starter' home and I told people that we would be here five to seven years.

I grew up in a neighborhood so I was used to neighbors being close, but Rex longed for space to live without neighbors watching our every move.  I longed for a house with a pantry and a study for Rex, preferably right off of the garage.

I can't remember when our search began.  It was probably at least seven years ago.  We started out with a realtor who showed us property after property - most or them quite a drive from Brighton.  Some of the homes would have even moved us out of the Stake.  About six years ago she took us to a home five miles outside of Brighton.  We now had two more kiddos and I was wanting a little more space.  We loved the house - it was older, but full of character - funky in some respects.  One thing that I always remembered were two "split" doors (perfect for playing store if you're a kid) - one at the laundry room door and one upstairs.  I'm convinced someone had daycare in the home at some point.  For Rex it was a dream - land, land and more land.  As we toured the basement we noticed that a bunny had fallen into the window well.  Michael was determined to rescue it.  I'll have him describe the rescue in a later post.  From that point forward we called this home "The Bunny House."  In hindsight it was way out of price range.  One day I checked the MLS and realized that it was off the market.  After dropping the boys off at school I quickly drove out to the house with the girls in the backseat still with their PJ's on hoping that the sign was still there - it wasn't.  I was desperate to know if it was under contract so I had my sister-in-law call the listing agent.  She confirmed my fear.  It was indeed off the market and it looked like the buyers were very solid.  I mourned The Bunny House.  It was always the house that got away.  The one that we really wanted.

Fast forward to 2012.  We went out to dinner on February 25th and as we waited for our server to take our order I scrolled through my emails on my phone.  Every now and again I get an email about a house that has come on the market.  I stopped paying much attention to these last October when we put new hickory wood floors in our living room.  It was an investment and I conceded that we would never move.  After looking at The Bunny House several years ago we have looked at so many more homes, made some offers and backed out on said offers.  It was a frustrating time and in many ways I was glad to be done with it.  Then the email popped up.  I looked at the teeny tiny picture on my phone and said out loud, Oh my gosh, Rex, is this The Bunny House."  He grabbed my phone and looked closely, "Yes, it is."  I expected him to say, "Oh well, we're not looking to move anymore."  Instead he said, "You better call Deanne on Monday and set up a time to go see it."  So on Monday we went to see our beloved Bunny House.  It had seen better days.  Pipes had broken in an upstairs bedroom and water had flowed from the upstairs through the kitchen and all the way to the basement.  Our realtor assured us that it looked worse than it actually was.  By the end of the week we had made an offer.

To be continued....

Posted by:  Bekki