Pictures and Projects

A few before and after pictures-

The "den" and kitchen after we first unloaded

The kitchen now! The one room that is completely unpacked and somewhat decorated (and my favorite room in the house). The den unfortunatly looks about the same, save for the computer that is hooked up and tucked between the stacks of boxes.

Curly and Lou on the first day of preschool. Lou was just as excited as Curly and very disappointed to discover that just Curly went to preschool
Fisher has had continuing education classes last Saturday and Sunday and this weekend too. So, we have been doing lots of projects on Saturday and Sunday to keep busy... Last week we made these "Princess Pumpkins" then put on pajamas, made popcorn, and looked at pictures (which did not help with homesickness)
Yesterday, we found this cute craft idea on Family Fun. They are little pumpkins made from egg cartons. The girls loved painting them and choosing the face.
We also went to IKEA yesterday morning to get a book shelf and a few other things to get organized. I should have known better than to go there on a Saturday with two kids... it was crazy, but I ended up with most things on our list and it even fit in the car. I was so excited to put the shelf together when we got home and finish unpacking the living room. I opened the box AND it was the wrong color! I was so annoyed because I had double checked the pile I was getting it from several times (the boxes aren't labeled). I should have opened it before driving 45 minutes back home!

The highlight of the day was attending the Relief Society Broadcast. I feel so grateful to my friend's husband (The Shepards) who watched the girls until Fisher came home so that I could attend the whole meeting. I particularly felt inspired and motivated by President Eyring's words. After the conference, our stake had it's traditional "Fondue Frenzy". Oh so delicious and the company was equally great. I met several new sisters in our ward and stake.

Other highlights of the week - two playdates (one at a friends and the other at the fountain), a trip to the library, and A DATE WITH FISHER. We hadn't been out for months, so arranged for a babysitter and (thanks to the generous gift card from our realtor) had dinner at PF Changs then went to Home Depot to plan and price our garden.

An Outing ~ Yay!

Our friends/neighbors that live down the street invited us to go to a splash fountain at the mall today. Our first outing! In the excitement of it all I forgot my camera. The girls had lots of fun playing with their friends and I enjoyed some adult conversation. I attempted to get the DL on living in Arizona.
First Question - What do you do for fun here... in the summer?
Answer - You leave... and you swim like crazy.
~Apparently most people head out of town for the whole month of July~
I also found it humorous that the pools here close at Labor day - just like the pools in cold Utah... it's still 100 degrees outside in September, I think people would probably keep swimming - oh well.

Anyway, I will post pictures eventually, but I would like to be unpacked first...so maybe eventually will be more like 6 months... or years :)

Slowly settling

Hello blog world! I have lost my energy for unpacking and feel like losing myself in the world of blogs for a few minute. I thought while I was here, I may as well give an update. I know you are all dieing to know how I like Phoenix - or "the valley" as Arizonians euphemistically refer to it.

There are quite a few things I really like - I really like our house (even with it's quirky shelf-deficient cupboards), we lucked out with a great neighborhood with lots of little girls, we also happened to end up in a great and very friendly ward and have already been issued callings (they didn't waste any time), our location is great (close to a pool, the school, a library, lots of shopping :), a playground), Curly loves her preschool class and the routine in her life has decreased the deplorable tantruming that developed this summer (though there is still room for improvement).

The list of things I don't like is much shorter - I miss our families :( and I don't like the heat - fortunately we are past the hottest part of summer and it only gets to 105 on really hot days - I am dreading the receipt of our first utility bill - but oh how we love the air conditioner. I also don't appreciate Lou waking up before the crack of dawn and imploring Curly to join her for a visit to see if mom and dad are awake (we have taken to locking our door hoping it will encourage them to sleep until a more decent time - I could settle for 6 am).

Before closing - I must once again thank our families for the generous help we received. We had so much help loading our truck and our amazing dad's packed it to the brim...too bad we didn't have two more feet of space... Amazingly we also had plenty of help unloading the truck (thanks to a friend who tipped off our Elder's quorum), it was unloaded before I arrived (we were delayed by Curly's episodes of car sickness). We feel very blessed and very grateful! We have seen many tender mercies in our lives the past few weeks. Okay - here come the tears, I better go.

Check back in for pictures in the future. Until then - enjoy the pleasant fall weather!