From our family to yours...Home on Westminster Avenue

Michael and Kelly,

Forgive the intrusion.  By now you have hopefully received the offer from my wife and I to purchase your home on Westminster Avenue (or will be receiving it from your agent in the very near future). We are excited about the prospect of this transaction! We realize it is entirely possible that you might receive multiple offers in a short period of time—especially for such a charming home. Therefore, in addition to making our offer for your full list price, we also want to take a few moments of your time to list out the reasons we are interested in your house and why we are hopeful you will choose to sell thehouse to our family. We realize this type of communication is a bit untraditional in real estate transactions, but sometimes it is nice to know a bit more about people you might choose to entrust with something as special as your home.

1.       Family tradition. I am a 1996 graduate of Highland Park HS, but more importantly I am a 1989 graduate of UP Elementary—see picture for proof! (As a side note, it was my 5^th grade class that voted to select the Panther as the official school mascot!) Our daughter will be entering first grade soon and we would love to enroll her at UP, followed shortly by her two younger brothers.

2.       Family ties.  I grew up on University Blvd just a few blocks away and my parents still live in the same location (though they had to rebuild in 2005 after a fire sadly burned down my childhood home). My wife and I value family interaction and we really love the idea of our three kids being able to walk and bike to see their grandparents house or meet them at the UP Pool for a summer swim.

3.       Historical appreciation. In our opinion, there are already too many McMansions in the Park Cities. As we  contemplate our move into HPISD, we have been focused on finding a beautiful historic home with lots of character. We are pleased to say that your home meets that criteria delightfully! Unlike so many potential buyers in the Park Cities, we are not planning to tear down and rebuild. My wife describes us as hermit crabs…we just want to find a perfect “shell” that will fit our family rather than build a new house from scratch.

4.       We are art lovers, too! I found Michael’s website online—very impressive work and how great to be following your passion like that. We have a huge appreciation for the arts (my mother is an art professor and also the Chair of the art department at Dallas Baptist University; my late grandfather, Jack Hamm, was an internationally syndicated artist with his faith-based drawings and a live art show on Channell 11 back in the 1960s). I think our appreciation for artistic ideas and creativity is one of the reasons we find the features of your home so appealing (such as the various styles of unique lighting, the wood countertops, and the giant family chalkboard—which we would love to have remain with the house if you are willing!).

So there you have it…from our family to yours. If you prefer to keep everything formal between the real estate agents we understand. Though we would also welcome the opportunity to meet you for coffee or dinner in Snider Plaza if you would like to learn more about us or discuss the sale of your home directly.

Sincerely,

Grant and Erin Walsh (and Cadence, Ranger and Colton)

Scarborough Faire: Happy Birthday Big John!

We go to Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival every year, but the rain made this year memorable. We celebrated Big John's birthday sprinting to shelter and then finally embracing the rain with ponchos, face painting and JR deciding to jump in every mud puddle he encountered.

Goar Park Easter Egg Hunt

Last weekend was a "Mom" weekend which meant we didn't leave the house between Friday after school and Monday morning! We ordered pizza, had friends over to play (Jory and Hudson - sweetest boys!), played in the backyard, made pancakes, worked on a few projects (goodbye 6-9 month clothes - hello 12 month clothes for our chunky baby) and had lots of snuggles.

This weekend was a "Dad" weekend which meant packed to the brim with fun! Friday evening dinner in lovely weather on a patio of Taco Cabana, Saturday morning Easter Egg Hunt, straight to Six Flags for plenty of rides and popcorn, Saturday evening date night and then Sunday off to Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival (the rain can't stop us!). By the end of the weekend, the house was in a state of chaos, but we made plenty of memories including Colton's first ride at Six Flags (Conquistador), Cadie and Ranger making a strong egg hunt strategy and running straight to the back so they didn't get caught in the craziness, Ranger rolling in mud puddles at Scarborough Faire and even a bit of house hunting by Grant and I. Whewww....

These two still look a little tired. A 9am egg hunt on Saturday morning is a bit early for us.

Just Hanging out with the fam

Ben captured some fun moments while he hung with this crazy crew.

Happy Birthday Papa

We had a surprise birthday party for Papa! Nina and Papa were in town and Ben Davis was visiting Dallas with his comedy troupe and we all got together for a fun and crazy dinner at Kaze and then CJ and I raced home to setup a surprise party for Papa. Ben was so kind to take pictures! Thank you!

Model Debut

Cadence and Jack Ranger made their modeling debut last night at Tootsies for a Fashion Show benefiting the Kidney Foundation. A long-time Walsh family friend, Karen Settle, was a hostess for the event and her grandson, Benjamin was also a model. The 3 of them were the only kids and they kicked off the fashion show with a lot of energy! Benjamin's dad, Blake, has been friends with Grant since they were kids and we had a great time hanging out with Blake, Amanda, Benjamin and Camryn (3 months) in the dressing room. Blake walked down the runway with all three kids while Amanda and I hung back with Camryn and Colton. The kids were modeling clothes from Kidz Biz which we didn't buy because they were too expensive! $150 for Cadie's dress and $50 just for Ranger's green shirt. They did look adorable though.

Colton: 7 months

Colton is crawling like a champ, standing (his crib is now on the lowest setting), cruising, eating tons of food, laughing at Cadie and Ranger and is SOOOO heavy. He crawls really quietly and quickly and I put him down, turn around to do something and when I turn back he is gone! It always scares me a little and sometimes I yell, "I lost the baby! Help me find him!"

He is still extremely calm and often serious. But, every once in awhile we will do something that tickles him and he can barely contain his laughter. Recently Jack Ranger had a tape measure and he was pulling out the tape and then letting it go and quickly retract. Colton thought it was hilarious!! He was laughing uncontrollably which got all the rest of us laughing too.

He loves most of life - eating, bathtime, playing outside, crawling around the house. He feels neutral about getting his diaper changed and he doesn't protest about it as long as we give him a small toy to hold while we change him. The only time I really notice him getting upset is when we wipe his face and nose. He has quite a few bruises because he takes hard spills almost daily as he tries to walk, but he doesn't ever cry long.

He is still nursing, usually 3-4 times a day and then also has a bottle or two. He is a great eater and enjoys scrambled eggs, toast, graham crackers, pancakes, cheerios, avocado, blueberries, bananas and little things off the floor.

I love that he gets excited when I come home from work, that he quickly recovers after falls or knocks from Cadie and JR and that he fits so perfectly into our family. I can't imagine our lives without him. We love you little buddy!