When we moved to Colorado, we didn't have time to fly out and look for houses. We quite literally had to pick a house out online and just pray it would work for us. We found one to rent that was within our price range and just crossed our fingers.
When we arrived in Colorado, we were shocked when we walked in and found a completely finished basement with a bedroom and bathroom. We had no clue there was a basement! We thought we just had a typical two-story, four bedroom home. Come to find out, there was actually five bedrooms and three levels!
Our original plan was to use it as a guest bedroom. But that plan quickly changed...in a good way!
Tim's dad, Rick, moved in with us back in 2015 when we had twins. We were so overwhelmed with our lives that we needed the extra hands. It ended up being perfect because quickly after the twins were born, we adopted Easton. So we had three adults trying to wrangle five kids aged three and younger. I honestly don't know how we would have done it without him. He made our lives so much easier just by having an extra set of hands around.
When we moved to California, he chose to stay in Washington. He came to visit us a few times in California and his visits were always the kids' favorite. The kids call him "King Pa" and it's the perfect name for him.
King Pa helped us move from California to Colorado, driving our Uhaul for us. Once we arrived in Colorado and saw the fifth bedroom, we offered it to him. He didn't want to accept it because he loved his place in Washington. But we made sure that if he ever wanted to, that he was more than welcome to move in. He insisted that he was content with his home back in the Pacific Northwest.
Sometimes life has a funny way of forcing you to change even when you don't want to.
His circumstances in Washington quickly shifted and he accepted our fifth bedroom as his. He flew out a few weeks before Bowie was born so he could be on watch for the other kiddos in case I went into labor in the middle of the night. Once Bowie was born, he and Tim flew out to Washington to pack all of his things up. They drove a Uhaul back here together during Mother's Day weekend.
So how do I feel about my Father In Law living with us?
I LOVE IT! Truly. I know the idea of living with in-laws makes some people cringe. I think welcoming an in-law into your home is mostly shocking to other people. But for us, the decision really was so easy.
He is such a huge asset to our household. He always has the dishes done before I can even think "oh, I need to do the dishes". He helped Tim clean up our yard for weeks and make it look beautiful before summer started. He can tell when I need a break from the craziness and will take the kids on a walk around the neighborhood.
Tim is really close with his dad, which is something I can totally relate to. So it's really awesome that they get to keep fostering their relationship. I love that Tim can spend so much time with his dad now, even just sitting on the porch and chatting it up at night while the rest of us sleep. With losing my own dad, I think that alone is what makes me want them to spend as much time together as possible.
For me, Rick is just a really respectful and awesome person. He's always asking me what he can do to help out and just constantly trying to make my life easier. While having him around is helpful, I also just love being in his company. He really is so fun to be around!
But most of all, I think the experience for the kids is amazing. They get to see their grandpa every single day! How fun is it that they can get spoiled with little treats from him every day. Plus just getting the opportunity to spend so much time with him will be so memorable down the road. I hope they can look back one day and be so thankful for these memories.
So all in all, this decision was really easy for us. We're all helping out each other so everyone benefits!
Welcome home, Rick!
