Monday already?

Wow, where did time go? It is already Monday, and Christmas is over. That can be a relief and a sad thing. We had a great Christmas. David's parents came in Christmas evening. Got here in time for dinner! :) We hadn't opened all the presents, so after dinner we finished. We saved the best for last! We had bought a Wii about 3 months ago and it sat in my closet until Christmas Eve when I wrapped it. I thought the kids had seen it for sure, as they have been known to 'play' in the closet and climb to the Halloween candy that was stored at the top of the closet. Well, it was the last present pulled from under the tree and we gave each kid a different box to open (one was the Wii, there were 2 games and an additional DDR mat) so each of them -except Tyler- got a box to open. We had them open them at the same time. Yeah, I think they liked it!
Then the day after Christmas we went to the Mesa Temple to see the lights and hear a quartet sing. It was absolutely beautiful. David's dad said even Temple Square didn't have as many lights! It was so cold, but we enjoyed the night.
Yesterday we made one of my favoite things at Christmas time. David's dad is from Norway, and many years ago I was introduced to a favorite Norweigan Christmas dessert. Now you all know how much I love dessert. This is one of my favorites. Whenever his parents come to visit at Christmas, I BEG his mom to make it. It is called Sandkake. (don't know if I spelled it right...) It is so yummy! So his mom surprised me with the tarts already made, we just had to fill them with the creamy goodness that makes them so good! We sat and ate them all! I only had 2, ok, I may have had 3, 4... I may have lost count! :) It was fun to carry on this tradition with his parents.
Tonight we played the DDR game on the Wii. I had to get my camera and take a picture of Grandma trying out the game.
What a good sport! We couldn't get Grandpa to try -he claimed he would make us all look bad... Maybe next time.
All in all, we had a great Christmas and have enjoyed, very much, having David's parents here with us to help celebrate this wonderful time of year.

Yikes!!

Ok, so we have been living here in Arizona for almost 5 months now, Wow, has it really been that long?!?!? Anyway, I have talked about being freaked out by the scorpions that are abundant here and how it really freaks me out. Well, we have managed to find 7 here at the house, 4 outside 3 inside. 5 have been dead and 2 alive, only 1 in the house was alive which my wonderful sister had the pleasure finding while I was in California closing our store. It has been a long time since we have seen one so we, mostly me, have gotten a little comfortable. Well, don't do that, because whenever you do... BAM!!! Today Michael went into the bathroom and yelled "Mom, um... come here." I was busy so I hollered back "can't right now..." to which he replied "Scorpion!" This, of course, sent all the kids RUNNING to see if he was kidding or serious. Oh no, he was NOT kidding. I have never seen a scorpion this big in my life!
I could not believe it! I grabbed my camera and had to take pictures. I also grabbed a tape measure because I had to know how long he was! He measured just over 3 inches and his tail was still curled a little! I threw a bobby pin next to him so you can see how big he is.
Then I decided to have a little fun with him. I poked him, tapped him, he ran and I poked him some more. The kids laughed, I was having a great time until he ran down the drain! Ugh... Can he run back up the drain? I turned on the piping hot water and let it run - thinking it would burn him. After a few minutes I turned it off and stepped on the drain cover to close it. Then it hits me... He could climb out of ANY drain in the house!!! David is laughing at me, Christina is crying and saying she hates living here and I am frozen with fear! I have closed all the drains in the bathrooms, then I realize there is another hole at the top of the sink he could get out of. Now what?? David just keeps laughing and telling me I should have just killed him. So, here I am, I don't want to go to bed because our bed is currently just a mattress on the floor (our rental furniture was taken away Wednesday and we are without a few things, so our mattress is just on the floor!) I am so freaked out I can't go to bed. I know I won't sleep! Too bad I don't have a couch to sleep on or I would. I told Michael I was going to sleep in his bed, he is the only one with a mattress off the floor. So, I guess at some point I will get use to these scorpions, Nah... who am I kidding, I don't think I ever will! They are just creepy!!
Just one question... Does anyone know, do they crawl on carpet? We have some shag carpet that is the EXACT color of the darn things. David and I have convinced ourselves that they don't crawl on the carpet because it is too 'hard' for them to get thru all the shag, not worth the effort in our opinion. We thought maybe they prefer tile or wood floors, or walls and baseboards? Is this true? Please say yes!!! I don't think I will ever get sleep if they like carpet!!!

Another Quick Trip - This time to Northern California!!

Last week I had the opportunity to go back to Nor Cal to visit some of my most favorite people that I miss terribly. I got a msg from an old employee about a month ago that all the employee's wanted to carry on the tradition of a Christmas Dinner and gift exchange, so they set a date and wished I could be there. A few weeks before that I received a free southwest ticket in the mail. So, I decided to fly in to surprise them. After they changed the date 2 times, I figured it best to let someone know I was coming so the date couldn't be changed again. I flew in on Tuesday, spent the day with my really good friend Jen - she was one of our managers and we became very close friends! We were asked almost daily if we were sisters. I really miss her and it was so good to spend so much time with her. She was off on Tuesday so we spent the entire day playing! We had lunch with Karma, it was so great seeing her. (hopefully she gets out this way in the spring to see her family, or just ME!) :) Shopped at Broadway Plaza then we went to dinner with some friends from church Tuesday night. It was soooo good to see them. I think we could have stayed in the restaurant chatting all night, but they were closed so we had to leave. :( I really miss those late nights scrappin' at the store! Miss you guys!! Spent the night at Alice's house. It was great to see them again, even if it has only been a few weeks since we saw them in So Cal. Wednesday Jen picked me up and we went to brunch with Audrey and Kari!
We laughed until our sides seriously ached! Jesus -the server or busboy, not sure- really enjoyed us being there! I think he was a little sweet on Jen and/or Kari! What a great time! Some shopping at Kim's store -our old store- and then it was back to Fairfield. Fell asleep on Alice's couch... really needed a nap, I guess! Then a quick visit with Tammy and off to surprise the employee's at dinner.
(Not the best picture, but I guess this is what you get when you ask someone to take a picture for you...) Come to find out they weren't really surprised because Terri told them I was coming. Only because they tried changing the date Tuesday night! Good thing someone knew I was coming or I would've been at the restaurant by myself! It was so fun to see everyone! We had a great time catching up and I just loved seeing them all again. Back to Alice's where we stayed up way too late chatting. Then it was off to the airport the next morning, after a very quick visit with Bev. It was such a fantastic trip. I had the BEST time and I really needed it! I had been a little mopey and really missing my friends back in CA. I have only ever moved away one time, and that was when I graduated high school and went to CA. I moved a few times while in CA, but was always in the Bay Area, close enough to all my friends. So it has been a little hard being away from friends and people I have grown to love. So it was good for me to go back and see them. I missed seeing a few people that I just couldn't hook up with, but there is always next time, and there WILL be a next time! :)

Craziness

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I blogged. Well, it might just be another 2 weeks. Things are so crazy right now. Have so much to say, but it will have to wait! I haven't even started my Christmas Shopping!!! Is Christmas really just a week away??? Agh... Where does time go?!?!? Ok, gotta run, just found out I have to make 2 dozen cookies for Activity Days tomorrow...

Quick Trip

We took a quick trip this weekend. Our friends from California were -maybe- going to be in Southern CA for Thanksgiving. I had a bright idea that maybe we would meet them there. I called Alice and explained my scheme... Let's meet, but not tell the kids! I knew our kids would love to see them, not to mention how much I would love to see them! She explained that they weren't sure if they were going to be able to go or not, because of Lance's work. Well, Thanksgiving day they still didn't know if they would make it. David had Friday off so we had a very small window of opportunity to do this. Friday I get a text from Alice that they were going and would be leaving around noon. I got the text at 12:30. I called and Lance was not home yet so they had not left yet. I had to convince David that we needed to go (we had basically decided that there was no way we could do it since we had not heard from them). I pled my case to David and he looked at me and said, "there is no way..." I explained that we have done far crazier things - like going for a sunday drive and ending up in Oregon!!! He just said, "if you have already made up your mind, why are you asking me?" "I just need to hear you say yes!" Sounded reasonable to me. Well, I quickly packed an overnight bag, texted Alice and told her we would meet them there.
We told the kids we were going to the bank. See, our bank is 40 minutes away in a little town called Superior. Or 40 minutes the other direction in Tolleson. The kids threw a fit! "I don't wanna go to the bank! Do I have to go? Can't I stay here?" We told them no and they were all pretty mad. We left on our adventure. It wasn't too long that they figured out we weren't going to the bank. Then they all started speculating where we were going. When we crossed the River into California they got very excited. "Are we going to Disneyland? Are we going to Fairfield?" It was hard not telling them. We finally made it to Whittier, got a hotel room and headed out for dinner. We asked to sit way in the back of the restaurant. We waited... Finally the Elders walked in and the kids flipped out! The noise level went way up! They were so excited to see each other. It was so awesome. We ate dinner and then went to bed. The next day we met up with them and hung out at 'Grandma Alice's' and then went to the movies - we saw Igore. After the movie we went to the park and played. Then it was time for goodbye. :(
It was such a fun adventure! We got home 20 minutes before David had to go in to work for the night. Some might think we are crazy, but we don't. It was so much fun seeing them and spending time with them. We miss them so much, and we don't know when we will have the opportunity to see them again. Their son, Phillip leaves on his mission next month and we weren't able to go back for his farewell last Sunday, so it was nice that we had the opportunity to see him before he leaves. We missed seeing Sarah, who was with her school on a trip to perform in a parade in So Cal. All in all, it was a very fun trip and well worth the time!


All of us

Elizabeth & Amanda

Christina & Carolyn

Michael & Carolyn

Michael & Phillip

Determined...

So, some of you know this already, but when we lived in California, we did not have cable. Which translates to... we basically had NO TV. Which I was really ok with. I was never home to watch it, and well, David never complained, so it was just fine. If we pointed the antena in the right direction we could get PBS pretty clear and sometimes ABC would come in just a little fuzzy. Anyway, when we moved here we (I) got talked into bundling the phone, internet AND cable. Of course when you bundle you get a 'great' deal, right? Well, needless to say, the kids are loving all the 'kid' channels (If I NEVER see another Spongebob show again it will be too soon!!!!!!) and David and Michael are really enjoying Dicovery channel, History channel and all the others like them. Now, I said I was never home before, well I am always home now, and I am LOVING HGTV!!! Yep, I am addicted!! I watch way too much of it (according to my sweet husband). So with this in mind, I have decided that it is time for me to try my hand at decorating. Something I have never really done before. David decorated our home in CA and did a pretty good job at it. But with our roles being reversed, I have decided to give it a whirl. So, what am I doing? I am painting the entire house! Yes, I have lost my mind, but I really want to do this. I am DETERMINED to get it done and to make our house more 'homey'. I know we will need to start replacing our furniture soon, so why not make the whole house what I want? Yes, it is a rental, but they said we could paint a neutral color. So, I am! I have bought fabric to make valances for the windows, I have gallons of paint, and I have a long list of other projects I want to tackle. So, maybe I will post pictures as I finish these projects, but I have to ask that you not expect much!!!! I may have had a business in the 'crafty' world of Scrapbooking, but a 12x12 page is much easier to design than an entire room!!! So, I may make some mistakes, but that is ok. I am trying something new, and I am LOVING it!!! Hope this determination lasts through the entire project!!!

Nostalgia 2

I finally found some pictures of one of the things I miss most about living in California. I absolutely loved going to the coast to visit the tidepools!!! We would take off on a Sunday afternoon and head for the coast. The kids loved climbing out on the rocks to find all kids of sealife. We had two favorite places to find creatures. Rockaway Beach in Pacifica had the most starfish, sea urchins, sea anemone, coral and so much more! But, Pebble Beach (not THE Pebble Beach where they play golf, a different Pebble Beach), just north of Santa Cruz, was the most fun because there are lots of rocks you can walk out on to find sea creatures. The rocks are slippery, and you have to sometimes watch out for waves crashing into you, if you go out too far, but climbing around on the rocks is just so much fun! The weather is very unpredictable. In Fairfield, where we lived, it could be 80 degrees and beautiful. But, when you get to the coast, it could be cloudy, overcast and 50 degrees! Which is what happened to us on the day these pictures were taken. We took some of our employees with us. It is something we had talked about doing for a long time, and we were finally able to find a date that they could go with us. It was Father's Day of this year.






At Pebble Beach, you could climb out as far as the seals. They would jump in the water if you got too close. But on this day, they were pretty sleepy and we got some great pictures of them.


Another thing I really miss are my Girls!! These are a few of our employee's. THE BEST employee's and FRIENDS ever!! I miss them soooo much! I miss hanging out with them, scrappin' with them, telling them what to do... hee hee! They were truly the very best girls I could have asked for. We share so many wonderful memories. Scrapbooking just won't be the same without them there to laugh with and share all our jokes together! Love you guys!!!

Desperately seeking sleep...

How does this happen?? I think it has been established that David works nights. He goes in around 11pm and gets home -lately- around noon the next day. (Don't get me wrong, we are happy he has a job, I am not complaining...) So last night he is getting ready to leave and Ryan starts crying. I look at David and say 'Here we go...' You see, Ryan has this thing where he is TERRIFIED of the dark and being alone in his room. He wakes up at least 2 times each night crying. When David is working -and when he's not, come to think of it...- I end up with he and Tyler in bed with me every night. So I am sure this is the start to another long night. I had NO IDEA what kind of long night I was in for. I don't rush to him, I want to see if he will work it out on his own. Next thing I know, he is by my side throwing up. Great! He continues to do this every 10-15 minutes until about 3:30am. (don't feel sorry for me yet.) At about 2:45, I hear someone in the bathroom. Oh, it's Michael throwing up! What? both of them??? Oh no, as I am helping Michael I hear a faint 'mom...' Amanda then informs me her tummy hurts. No way!!! Eventually she ends up throwing up too. At this point, all the lights are on in the house, Tyler is running around thinking it is morning, and Christina is looking for a place to sleep that she doesn't have to hear all the 'noise'. I start laundry. I figure I'm up, I may as well get a jump on the many loads I will ineveitably need to do. It was 4:42 when I finally got to lay down. Not for long... At 5:15 Tyler starts throwing up too! Can you believe this? Does this kind of thing happen?? I have had a total of -maybe- an hour of sleep all night, and now I have 4 kids home sick. All of whom are asking for a drink of water. So, here I am, it's 11:30am, and I am exhausted. David is home and the kids are starting to fall asleep one by one. I am hoping to get a little shut eye soon! So, stay away from our house! You don't want whatever bug we have.

Boys and their bikes

So Michael and Dan have been hanging out quite a bit - everyday to be exact - for the last week or so. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's great! I love that they get along so well and have so much in common. Their latest 'adventure' has been really fun to watch. I have a front row seat, as it is in my front yard! Dan and Michael have the same ramps, and one day I open the front door to discover that they have brought Dan's ramps over and combined to two sets to make one big set. They have put them out in the middle of the court and are making circles as they 'jump the ramps' with their bikes. Of course I grab my camera and start taking pictures, LOTS of pictures! They were having so much fun. It was just the two of them...

Then, the next day I open the front door to find there are now 4 of them. Sam, Dan's brother and Kevin from down the street joined the fun. Dan and Michael quickly ask me to get the camera and take more pictures. I am happy to do so!

Then, the next day, I open the front door to find there are TONS of kids out there! Two of the kids I had never seen before! At this point they inform me that they have organized a 'BMX club'. As I take group pictures, they want pics of the whole club, the scooter club, the jr. club, etc. Didn't know they had so many clubs. Then they inform me the name of their club is TMFZ - which stands for Total Mature Freak-Z. (This is the same name Michael wanted for his 'band') I just think it is so cool that they are having so much fun with it. It has been fun to watch them as they perform their tricks. I am not sure the neighbors in the court love it as much as I do, but it gets all of us out of the house. Just 2 days ago we had 16 or more kids all out in the court playing!

I just LOVE this! You see, I have been complaining for years (10 or more to be exact) about how kids don't play outside anymore! Everywhere we lived we never saw kids outside playing. In our last house, back in CA, we wondered if there were even any kids in the entire subdivision. Our kids were always out playing - we didn't have cable or a game system, so they hated being cooped up insied, they loved being outside! There were even times that I had thought maybe kids just didn't play outside anymore. I would talk to people at church and -kinda- complain about how when I was a kid, we played outside and why don't kids play outside anymore??? It seemed that it was just a normal thing that kids didn't go outside. I dreamed of finding a place where kids play outside, walk to school, neighbors know each other, people are friendly and that there would be more LDS families close by. Once again, I am reminded that the spirit brought us to Arizona, and to this neighborhood! I am so grateful...

Amanda turns 6

Ok, so I am a couple days behind... Amanda turned 6 on Sunday!! Funny, I went out late Saturday night to buy a cake mix, I bought a pink one. I thought she would just love the pink cake - pink is, of course one of her favorite colors! I thought a pink and brown combo would be perfect! So after church, Michael pulls out the cake mix and asks if he can help make the cake. Amanda see's the pink cake and immediately informs me she 'hates that kind of cake! I like Chocolate, mom.' So, I pull a chocolate cake mix out of the pantry and start making her 'favorite' cake. She helped decorate the top of the cake with the decorating icing. We had some friends over to help us celebrate, I think she loved opening the presents most.

Happy Birthday Boo!

It's over...

Halloween may be over, but the insane sugar rush is not! Does anyone else find the whole Halloween thing a little odd??? I mean as a kid it is the BEST time ever - dress up in a cool costume and get TONS of candy!!!!! But as an adult, you go buy tons of candy (12 bags for me this year!!!) and hope it all gets handed out so you are not tempted to eat any of the leftovers - cuz you know you only buy the stuff you would want to eat should there be any leftovers!! Then you send your kids out to have their fun and BAM! Now you have 12 bags of candy again! Or more, depending on how many kids you have, in my case it feels like 30 bags!!! Now don't get me wrong, I do love the idea of having many choices of candy bars and sweets to 'steal' from my kids! But the constant begging for more candy from my kids is a little much! I take their candy away after they are done sorting, trading and eating until they are sick. But the next day is always a tough day. All they want is candy and when they are told no (at 6:30 in the morning!!!), they throw these insane fits, throwing themselves on the floor, kicking and screaming and crying. 'But I want more candy!!!' So, how long does it take to come down from this sugar high? Not sure, still there... Hopefully we come down soon!

Oh, I think I want a Butterfinger... What's your favorite???

Nostalgia

For some reason I am feeling very nostalgic for things left behind in California. I have been asking people here "What do you DO around here?" I am starting to really miss all the fantastic things the Bay Area offered. All the MANY things to do there, whether it be a day trip, a weekend or just a couple of hours. There were just so many options. Sadly, I took them for granted. So for the new few days, I will blog about a few of my favorites.

I am going to start with TILDEN PARK
I absolutely LOVE this place! It is up in the Oakland Hills. I was first introduced to this beautiful park when I was a nanny. A bunch of us, nannies, would get together with all of our kids and go somewhere every week. We were from all over the East Bay, and a couple of the girls lived in the Oakland Hills (a place I ended up living during the fire of '91). The park is nestled in tons of Eucalyptus trees and there is a lake you can swim in, a train you can ride on, a petting zoo, lots of picnic areas, camping spots, a carousel, pony rides and hiking trails. The thing is, the park is so big, you have to drive to each of these places individually. It is so georgous, and I loved going. I knew we were moving soon, so while David and Michael were at Scout Camp, I took the rest of the kids and ran for the hills! We had such a great time. There are spots on the drive up to the park that you stop, look out, and could see all the way across the Bay into San Francisco and beyond. On a really clear day you could see the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, the day we went was a little overcast so you can kindof see the Bay behind the kids on one or two of the pictures. I truly miss Tilden Park and I know we will go again someday.

Halloween Costumes

So, I finally figured out how to transfer my pictures onto my computer (it's a new camera). Now I will attemp to add a picture to the blog. It should be a picture of all of us in our Halloween costumes (crossing fingers...)

It's over... deep sigh of relief...

Phew, I made it through Sunday. Last week was a little crazy, not nearly as bad as the life I left behind, but still it was crazy! Our ward trunk or treat was Saturday and we decided to go as the Flintstones. Now, this decision was made weeks ago. I thought I had plenty of time to make the costumes before the party. Well, in true Brenda fashion, I started 2 days before the party! I got the fabric and most of the accessories 5 days before the party, but just didn't feel the pressure to start making them until the last minute. I just didn't want my sewing machine out on the kitchen table inconveniencing my family... So, Friday and Saturday were all about getting these costumes made! Well, it wouldn't have been so bad except I also had to write a talk for church the next day! To some this may seem like an easy task. But for me, it was more stressful than an entire year running the stores and trying to be a mom and wife!! I have never spoken in church my entire adult life. And even as a youth I think I managed to NOT get out of it only once or twice. So this is very hard for me. Now, put me in front of 100 scrapbookers and tell me to teach something on the fly with no prep... NO PROBLEM! But put me UP at a pulpit in front of the most wonderful people I have the pleasure of knowing here in AZ, and I freeze!!! It absolutely terrifies me. So, not only did I have the costumes to make but a talk to write as well. I finally -almost- finished the costumes at 3:30pm, then it was in front of the computer to write the talk -for the 3rd time! David had to take the kids AWAY so I could think and try to finish this daunting task. I finished and then jumped in the shower for a quick rinse 10 minutes before the party starts. Run off to the party - 35 min late, of course, did you expect anything else from me??? - and we actually won the costume contest for 18 and over/families! (never mind we were the only ones standing there!!) Don't have a picture yet, will post it soon! It was fun, but I was still a basket case with the impending talk the next day...
We got to church 10 minutes early - that in itself is a huge accomplishment! As I made the long, dreaded, terrifying walk to the front of the chapel, I felt my legs go numb and my hands shook. I thought I was going to pass out! The bishopric shook my hand and I asked them to catch me if I fainted during my talk. I don't remember much about any of the announcements, sustainings or anything else that went on. Luckily the guy speaking after me had a program on his knee so I knew when it was my turn to go. My mom told me to just picture everyone as fuzzy bunnies, oh everyone was fuzzy alright, but they didn't look like bunnies! I remember, from my youth, that I would shift a lot during the time I was up there. I think this time I froze. I don't think I moved at all. I looked out and felt dizzy. Like I said, everything and everyone was fuzzy! I started my talk and as I went through it, it did get a little easier. I was so happy to see the last page and even more happy to sit down. I had done it! I made it through the most stressful and terrifying experience thus far in my life. Everyone was so wonderful, of course - cuz we are in the best ward ever!!! - they gave me hugs and made me feel so good about what I had said and done. Even people I hadn't met yet were giving me hugs and again I felt the love of our new ward so strongly. Have I mentioned that we are in the BEST WARD EVER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
So, I made it. It's over. Hopefully that gives me a pass for the next 20 years!!

Did I move to the COUNTRY???

Ok, so I knew moving here was going to be a HUGE life change. Now, don't get me wrong, we absolutely LOVE it here. Yes, it is hot, but not too hot... Only 90(ish)! At night it cools to a nice cool 80 degrees. :) But seriously, it is not that bad!! So I knew it would be a huge life change. But seriously... I can't quite seem to get use to the smell of COWS every time I walk out of the house. Every now and then I will be outside and I start to wonder "what is that smell???" oh yeah, that would be COW MANURE!!! But there is that small part of me that kinda likes it. Not the smell, mind you, but the idea that we are so close to Phoenix - the 5th largest city in the US - and yet, here in Gilbert, we still have cows and farms and it's kinda like living out in the country. That is what I like.

I can't tell you how much we love it here. The people are sooo nice and they are sooo happy!! They are friendly and just really wonderful people. I am still on the hunt for a job, and I was complaining about feeling useless, then a friend set me straight. She told me to enjoy the time God has given me to be home and not have the huge stress in my life that I have the last 11+ years. So, that is what I am doing. I am enjoying the time that David and I are able to be home all day with the kids and each other. We haven't had that our entire married life and I think I do need to enjoy it. Once we both get jobs, and most likely will be working opposite shifts from each other, we won't have time to see each other and just hang out and talk. So thank you, Joella, for your wisdom and advice. I truly appreciate it.

Hello World!

So, I have decided to do this blogging thing. I kindof tried it with the old business, but never seemed to have the time to write. Now that I am starting over - so to speak - I figured I would try again, on a personal level. Just a little background... Approximately 2 months ago, David and I uprooted our family and moved - on a whim - two states away from our home in California and landed in Arizona. We had a few 'bumps' along the way, but we are so happy to be here and start this adventure together. We absolutely LOVE the area we moved to. The people here are so wonderful. We are in awe of the genuine love that has been extended to us and we appreciate all the loving arms that have helped us through the little rough patch we encountered on our journey here. Our kids have made friends fast, and love being here. They love their schools and have adjusted very well. David and I have enjoyed getting to know so many new people and feel so blessed to have landed in the neighborhood we did and to be surrounded by such fabulous people. Thank you for everything!!
I am sure I will find many things to write about in the coming days. Right now, I am awaiting the arrival of my sister, my mother, two neices and a nephew. My children are out of school for fall break and my sister's kids are out of school for UEA weekend. So they are coming here to visit us. My children have no idea they will be here when they wake up in the morning. It will be a big surprise! I can't wait to see their faces. Should be a fun weekend. We plan to do a little wakeboarding. It is still pretty warm here. The kids were swimming in the pool today and we were on the lake yesterday. I LOVE the warmer weather. I get cold way too easily! So Arizona is a great place for me to be!
Gotta go finish laundry! Until next time...