I had a sinking sensation that something was terribly wrong....

Unfortunately, I meant "sinking" literally, and unfortunately I was right about the "terribly wrong" part. Yesterday as I was walking through my backyard, I stepped into a soft spot. Something was weird, so I kept pressing my foot, on the spot until I realized there was nothing below the grass, It felt hollow underneath. In my mind I imagined giant snake habitats, broken sprinkler pipes, large yard varmin all as possible causes. I was definitely worried I would find a problem. I ran to the garage and grabbed a hand shovel went back and dug a hole about 6" in diameter. As I pulled the grass up to reveal what lay under the mysterious patch of grass I immediately began freaking out. It was still kind of bright outside so what I initially saw was a bottomless hole. What happened after that basically consisted of me freaking out for about 3 hours. I finally had a neighbor come over who is pretty knowledgeable about Lehi geography who quickly diagnosed a bad seal on the burried irrigation pipe that runs beneath our yard. Upon further inspection we determined the hole was about 4-5 feet in diameter wide at it's widest point, and probably 3-4 feet deep at it's deepest point. I tried to take some photos, but they really don't do it justice. When we dig the rest of the grass up to fill the hole I'll snap a few more shots.

Our neighbor's little boy threw a stuffed animal down into the hole. It's a small stuffed animal.

My hand is still a few inches from the bottom here. The hole slopes down so it get's a little deeper further in.

I called the city this morning who promptly sent their water guys out to look at it. Unfortunately we found out that this "ditch" as they call it is owned privately by 3 different individuals. I called the water master who is part owner and of course his response was, "well it's not the ditch". He doesn't realize who he is dealing with. I'm sure if I told him it would just be easier for him to come fix it than to try to fight me, he probably wouldn't listen. He's coming out tomorrow to take a look at it and hopefully he'll do the right thing and make some speedy repairs. (Yes I will be hiring an inspector to approve the work.)

The first night in our house, the second time around.

I still remember the first night Mark and I slept in our house July 23rd, 2002. The fresh smell of a new house and no air conditioning. It was our first time buying a house and our builder had the power turned off on the day we closed. We weren't able to get power until 2 days later and I remember how uncomfortable it was sleeping in the heat. But we didn't care, we were home and we knew it.

Over the next 7 years we poured our heart and soul into putting in a yard all on our own, and finishing our basement, again on our own. We painted, we decorated and rearranged furniture and rooms many a time. Three of our four kids came home from the hospital to our house and Maddison spent 6 of her 8 years growing up in our house. We truly had an amazing time making memories in our home.

Last year, when we decided to move to St. George, there was no way we could sell our home. That decision was probably the best of our married life. Laying in my bed, in my room for the first time in over a year last night was even better than the first time around. After 16 hours straight of moving with little breaks, I couldn't sleep because the happiness I felt overpowered my weariness.

Home again... at last.