A Baby Would Be Eggs-cellent: July 2019

I will never forget the first time I walked into the Animas House seven years ago. I walked in, saw the view and was in awe. But I also walked in and felt peace for the first time in a couple years. We were right in the middle of our infertility struggle and everything was hard. I was sad, angry, bitter and sort of depressed and the overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness that washed over me was staggering. It just felt right. This was where we needed to be. This was why God told me to move to Durango. This was where our story would change. And oh my goodness, did it ever. (click here to read more about the decision to move)

Home is where your heart is. I'm sure you've heard that saying and while it's true, there are also actual houses that have a heart. The Animas House has a heart. It is a very special house. We loved living there. There is just something about the mountains, the river and waving at the train everyday that healed us. It was almost impossible to have a bad day there. If I was feeling sad, frustrated or angry, I'd just look outside and that feeling of peace would wash over me.

And while the house itself is amazing, the couple who own it are beyond amazing. The 5 years we lived there and shared that house with them were wonderful. They were our first friends here. There were many hours spent in their home below ours, talking with them, playing games, drinking wine and craft beer, and just getting to know them They became like a 3rd set of parents to us. We love them and they made the house feel like home.

We had so many fun and memorable times in the five years that we lived there. Our biggest miracle happened in that house. Our sweet baby came home to that house and lived her first year of life there! Taking the pregnancy test in the bathroom, telling Ryan in his office, laying in the grass outside on a super hot day while pregnant, laboring on the deck before heading to the hospital, rocking my baby in her room and so many many moments will forever be seared in my memory. My heart and soul were healed in that house.

Two years ago today we said goodbye to our first home in Durango, and moved to our new one. It was one of the saddest days of my life. I know that might seem dramatic, but you guys, we LOVED the Animas House and moving out was gut retching. I think I cried more moving out than I did the entire first year of Olivia's life. Ha! It took me a full year to feel like the new house was home. And anytime I drove by the Animas House I cried. I felt like I left a part of myself there. It seems so silly to be so emotional over a house, but I missed it so much.

But God had a plan, as he does, and today we signed the papers to purchase the Animas House!! We've been living back here for two weeks now and every single day I wake up and see the view, I have to pinch myself. It's an absolute dream come true! Watching Olivia run into the yard and wave at the train every day brings tears to my eyes. Our baby came home to this house and she will now grow up in this amazing home! The emotion this brings is absolutely overwhelming.

It's so crazy to think of our story over the past 7 years. I would not change one single thing about it. We are SO blessed and we are HOME!!!!

~Tonya, Ryan and Olivia