Bambi's Boyfriend and our other adventures

Well, we've been getting familiar with our neighborhood this past month and have found many fun and interesting things: a bookmobile/moving library that comes to our neighborhood every Wednesday where we can check out books, a shoppette to grab a gallon of milk without having to drive to the grocery store, a park with a fun twisty slide, and a goodwill! Well, we had a few more things to give to goodwill. So we rode our bikes over there to drop off some clothes and there was a box of stuffed animals marked "free". Of course the girls dove right in. Can't we just drop stuff off at goodwill without coming home with more stuff? Aye, aye, aye. So anyhoo, I caved and let them each pick one thing and Lise chose this reindeer to be our Bambi stuffed animal's "boyfriend". I didn't have it in me to explain to her that Bambi is actually a boy, or why they named a boy deer Bambi in the first place. It's best just to let some things go. . . Another thing we love about California is the time we spend outside. It's colder than we expected (55-70) and always cloudy in the morning and evening, but there's always a window from about 11 am until 4 pm when it's nice and sunny out. We have enjoyed walks, bike rides, swimming in the pool, planting flowers (and accidentally cracking a pipe in our sprinkling system - yikes!), and weeding the garden. It's good times.

We've learned that in Northern California the water is too cold to actually swim in without a body suit. So what do you do instead? Have bonfires on the beach! We went to one with the guys that are in Chris' classes at school and it was great! Hot dogs, Brats, Chili, smores, playing in the sand and rock climbing - love it!

Also, if you really would like to experience summer, you can drive inland or down the coast for about a 1/2 hour and the temperature will raise a good 10 to 15 degrees. There's a fun group of ladies in our ward who do a playgroup and we've been to a couple of fun activities with them to Lover's Point beach and shown below is playing in the river at Big Sur. The water is like six inches deep and they have all these cool wooden chairs sitting in the middle of the river so that the moms can sit and chat while the kids wade around and throw rocks in the river. It was so cool!

This is Lise singing to herself in her make-believe world at the river.

I seriously LOVED those chairs!

This is Aly exploring up the river a ways. Such a beautiful place!

Below is a picture of the girls at their pioneer primary activity. They had buggy rides, candle making, butter making, and bow and arrow target practice. It was fun to get to meet other families in the ward.

Other things that have kept me/us busy have been school shopping with Lise, her Kindergarten evaluation, making strawberry jam, and teaching in Relief Society at church (not my calling - I don't have one yet. They just split the ward a month ago and so they're still in the process of filling in the holes and are asking people to sub in the meantime. I'm subbing in the Nursery class this Sunday.) I've also attended a few yoga classes that they have in our neighborhood center every Tuesday and Thursday night. Chris has been awesome in letting me go and doing dinner those nights so that I can get out. What a stud! He has been awesome in helping around the house with the girls and getting us settled in. I am loving having him around and the good family time. I think we are definitely going to enjoy our time here!! :)

(Oh, and P.S. I don't necessarily see myself as a yoga guru, but I'm just experimenting with different options of fitness and different ways to fit exercise into my schedule. Some of those yoga poses are just a little beyond my reach - literally!)

California vs. Louisiana

So, Chris let me know this morning that we have officially been in California for a month. Wow, time flies! I have to say, that this move has been one of the easiest transistions for me thus far. The ward has been very welcoming, the neighbors are friendly, and we've had this nice month of time to figure out the area before jumping into school craziness with the kids.

Also, I must admit, that having and a house that was built 5 years ago instead of 50, a two car garage, and an extra 500 square feet doesn't hurt either. :) We went from a four bedroom to a three bedroom, but gained a den, so I'm not complaining at all! I mean, seriously, which house would you rather live in?

As per request I have also taken some pictures of the inside. This picture is of our living room/computer room taken from the dining room and facing towards the front of the house. Stairs are off to the left and the front door and bathroom are at the front. One thing I love about this house is all of the windows. It is so bright in the house!! Upstairs are the three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Sorry, no pictures there folks. We gave Aly her own bedroom with a queen size bed (perfect for company -- come on out and visit!) and Lise and Kate are now sharing a room with the bunkbeds. So far it's working out well and the kids are liking our new digs as well.

This is a picture of our kitchen/nook taken from the dining room. Off to the right is the laundry room leading out to the garage. The door in front of you leads into the den. Chris said he needed a den since he was going to be going to school full time and yadda, yadda, yadda. So the girls lost their play room and now every room is the play room.

Here's the downstairs bathroom off the entryway. Thanks to Chris for putting the shelf/extra toilet paper holder thingie together. He hates the cheap-o, put it together yourself furniture, but he was a good sport through all the projects I gave him and the 50 trips to Home Depot. Thanks hunny buns! :)
Another thing we love about our new home is our garden!! This will be our first ever, in the ground, one. Thanks to my dad for helping us get it started. Look at those awesome peas, corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers. YUM!!

Okay, so obviously there are a ton of differences between Louisiana and California, but you know, I think I can pretty well sum it up with one example: garbage. When we moved into our California house I was pleased to see that we had two full sized trash bins and one 1/2 size bin (for recycled goods, I assumed). The housing office lady told us that the waste management people would not collect any trash on the side of the trash receptacle bins or if the lid was not completely closed then they would not take your trash away either. But I thought, "hey, no problem, we've got three trash cans!" Well, then our first trash day came and as we went to take the trash out we realized that one of the full sized bins was for "yard waste only", the other full sized bin was for "recycled materials only", and the 1/2 sized bin was for actual trash! Hello! We ended up having to sneak off some of our garbage that first week to a local dumpster. Trying to take some stuff to goodwill was a huge ordeal as well. I mean, geez, I was trying to give away some stuff that was still in very good condition. But anyway, compare this to my experience when I first moved in to Louisiana. I called the housing office to ask if there was a goodwill nearby that I could donate a few things we didn't need anymore. You know what she told me? "Just leave whatever you don't want out on the curb. Someone will come by and take it." And you know what? She was right! I saw neighbors get rid of broken TV's, old baby strollers, fire pits, etc. You just put it out on the curb and whoa-la! it's gone before the garbage truck comes in the morning. Hilarious. So yeah, the overall point of this story is that Chris and I are now avid recyclers. Anything with a triangle on the bottom of it goes in the recycle bin. Chris thinks that 1/2 of the stuff we send probably gets rejected and thrown away, but at least it doesn't end up in our teeny "garbage only" bin, right?

Pics to go with the NAKED NOMADS

Ruins at Lake PowellOur Little Hooligans

Should we trade up for a one room wigwam?

Crazy Tubin'!

Augh! We're melting in the heat!

Keep drooling! Those Bicepts are all mine! :)

Families can be together Forever! Holiness to the Lord.

Hey! It's the fifth member of the Beatles - nice hair, Chris!

Fun at the beach . . .

. . . and more fun!

Once again ladies, keep drooling.

You can't do-do Disney without a little Pooh!

I love dolphins!

Chris checking out another "woman" at the Golden Horshoe.

We're all princesses on the inside!

From Naked Nomads to Beach Bums

Well, it has been one hullaballoo of a month and a half, but we are finally here in California and should be signing for our new home this afternoon. Thus will start the next phase of craziness known as unpacking and "settling in" which consists of finding new doctors, dentists, hair dressers, a grocery store, places to get gas (fuel and restaurants), shopping centers, and new radio stations. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's back up to when we were the "Naked Nomads" . . .

For some reason, we saw a lot of skin during our last week in Louisiana. I mean I know it gets hot there, but come on! Kate likes to impersonate being a puppy dog and feels that she must be naked to do so - because, of course, dogs don't wear clothes, right? Also, during our travels this last month she is really showing signs of being ready to potty train (like stripping in a corner and trying to clean herself up after a poopy diaper with wet wipes - thanks, Chris, for taking that hit.) Analise's primary teacher informed me that she always knows exactly what character is on Lise's panties because she always has her feet straight up in the air during class. And for the grand finale, Aly "forgot" to put her panties on after her bath one night (she was wearing dress like jammies that went down to her knees). Unfortunately, Chris happened to walk into the living room while Aly was doing a handstand. He did an immediate about face, came back into the kitchen shaking his head and said, "unbelievable."

We spent a large portion of this month driving: Louisiana to Salt Lake to Monterey to Salt Lake to Lake Powell to Salt Lake to Oakley to Salt Lake to Southern California to Monterey. Half of the time I still felt like I was in a car even after getting out. It has been an awesome month though, and here are some of the highlights:

• swimming with the kids at hotels every night while driving cross country (having this to look forward to did wonders for the girls attitudes and patience levels while we were driving.)
• getting a quote on my family's fridge "Who are the Denver Nuggets named after - gold nuggets, not chicken nuggets, right?"
• a sabbath day of rest and spiritual nourishment before driving 13 hours to Monterey
• a mini house-hunting honeymoon without kids in Monterey. (And finding an awesome weekly farmer's market and fisherman's pier while we were there.)
• after all the stress, being blessed with a single-family home in a nice neighborhood, close to a good elementary school, and within biking distance of Chris' college campus.
• Taking the family through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and hearing Lise sing "I Love to See the Temple" out on the grounds.
• Doing temple work and seeing family in the celestial rooms of the Jordan River, Draper, Salt Lake, and San Diego Temples.
• Experiencing a Lake Powell camping trip with my entire family: skiing, jet skiing, cliff jumping, tubing, fishing, crack in the wall, Rainbow Bridge, Indian ruins, playing in the sand. It was so fun to watch the girls having so much fun with their cousins, Jaden and Camren, just like I remember doing when I was little.
• Spending a day of shopping, laughing and joking around with my mom.
• Giving Lise the "white cake with pink frosting" she's been talking about for months at a park party with cousins.
• Taking our parents out to dinner to say "thanks" for being our parents - we have some great ones! They are always reaching out to serve us, welcome us into their homes, and shower us with love. (Oh, and don't forget spoiling the grand kids, too!)
• Relaxing at the O'Gwin's hideaway cabin up in the Rocky mountains while eating, talking, eating, shopping with Marilyn, eating, watching movies, eating, making jewelry, eating, watching the girls play with their cousin, Ella, in the new sandbox, and eating.
• Seeing the happy look on Chris' face when he came in the door after a day of hanging out and shooting guns with his dad and brothers.
• Staying at a beautiful beach house for a week with family: seeing dolphins out our window on the first day, a walk along the beach, finding pretty rocks to put in my flower gardens, beautiful sunsets, flying kites along the beach.
• Getting splashed by Shamu at SeaWorld
• Spending two Magical Days at Disneyland: watching the girls meet Jasmine, Ariel, and Belle, hearing Lise squeal and giggle during the entire "Thunder mountain Railroad" ride, watching Kate raise her hands above her head as we slid down the waterfall on Pirates of the Caribbean, Aly believing that she was actually driving the jeep on the Indiana Jones ride and defending her "bumpy" driving, Chris being obsessed with a peanut butter, chocolate chip cookie in the "Poo(h)" store.
• A day at California Adventures alone with my hubby. :)

I haven't been able to keep up with all the "quotes of the week" during our travels, but I have a couple to share:

Lise - "My head is HUGE!" (while looking in the back of a spoon.)

Kate - "Cute Outfit, Mom!" (okay, so where did she learn the word 'outfit' from?!?)

Aly (totally serious) - "I should be screaming right now" when we went into a store with a bunch of Hannah Montana stuff.

On another occasion, after my sister, Laura, took Aly to see Hannah Montana: the movie, they were walking through a store that had a display of patio furniture with a table and umbrella and Aly goes, "wow, that's fancy!" in this huge southern drawl. Also, when Chris and I went to see a movie, Chris was blown away by the movie theater and was like, "what the heck is a Pizza Hut doing in a movie theater?!" Oh my, we are going to be quite the southern country bumpkins in California, aren't we? We've lived in the South for our entire nine years of married life and military service. There may be some adjustments. Thus far we have liked what we've seen and are excited about the beach, the stores, the neighborhood, etc. The only thing I'm having to adjust to is the weather. When we were driving here it dropped from 115 degrees to 65 degrees in 1 1/2 hours. I'm not at all used to cool weather after all the Southern humidity and heat. Oh la, I'm sure I can deal with it! :)

One thing this past month or so has caused me to reflect on is some of my most cherished blessings: the gospel, time together with family, my wonderful husband who takes such good care of our family, beautiful children who are so full of life, and extended family who always make us feel welcome. With these wonderful blessings in my life I realize that I can feel at home, no matter where I am located. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my family are my home. I am so blessed.

(Sorry for the lack of pictures. I will try to insert them later when our computer is set up in our new home and I have time to download them off of our camera. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!)