Large Homeschool family moving to Foothills...advice needed (Roseville, Santa Cruz: big house, neighborhoods)

[carpentershomeschool]

Hi,
We are a homeschooling family with 6 children and another on her way soon. We currently live in Santa Cruz and like it a lot. We have been here for 13 years and live in a very nice neighborhood. But we are outgrowing our house (2000 sq. ft) and have found that we could move to the foothills for the same price and get a much larger house and possibly land. We are looking at houses with land (5 acres or so) in the Placerville/Shingle Springs area. We can't make up our minds as to whether to live in the country or stick to a neighborhood. We are concerned about the amount of work living in the country requires, however, we love the idea of having a more slower lifestyle and a peaceful, serene environment. My husband would work out of Fair Oaks and we are trying to keep the commute to 30 min. or so. So, we are also looking at neighborhoods in Lincoln/Roseville/Rocklin area since we could get a really big house for a good price, but no land. Can someone answer some questions we have?
1. Are there many large homeschooling families in the foothills and/or valley like Lincoln area?
2. For those that have lived in both neighborhood and country in those areas, where would you advise us to live?
3. Can you list the pros and cons of Placerville/Shingle Springs area vs. Lincoln/Roseville/Rocklin areas in raising a large homeschooling family?
4. Can you list any "hidden" expenses we might have for living in the country that we might not be aware of if we were on a well, septic, and propane? I'd like to know what it costs to live in the country vs. city areas since I have no idea. We don't use an A/C by the way in Santa Cruz, so I have no idea what that costs. We want to have a pool too so please include any costs of that.
5. We are Christians too and would love to find a great church...any suggestions? We currently attend Twin Lakes Church which is like your Bayside in Granite Bay. We also like Calvary Chapel.

Thanks so much!