houses and a park

This morning Jon and I went and looked at houses...lots lots of houses. We did find a couple we really liked. The first house we saw back in November is still on the top of the list. It's amazing the condition of some of the bank owned houses. In one house the people who lost it took every thing, including the bathroom sink. Most of the houses needed a little upgrading but the prices are totally in our price range. There was one house that was totally thrashed and it was only 2 years old. Kim thinks it was a "coyote" house which is a house where 50 people lived in it. It would be a good "flip" if we were into that sort of thing. We just need to get out CV house for sell but the hunting is fun too!

Kim, my best friend and realtor, brought her 6 year old over to play with Sam while we were out hunting with her. They had a blast and she ended up staying the rest of the day with us. She is great to have around and Sam totally adores her. After the twins woke up from their naps we headed back up to Surprise to just drive around some neighborhoods and we found a park next to an elementary school. The girls had fun but both Sydney and Courtney had a hard time on the little slide. I have a video of Syd but it's to sad to watch so I am not going to post it then 15 minutes later Courtney did the same thing but she bit her tongue poor girls!

Jessica and Sam

out and about

Last night Jon and I went on a double date with Kim and Mike. As I was getting ready Samantha really wanted me to wear the shimmering blue dress that sparkles. She told me "You wear a dress when you go out and about and you'll be so beautiful!" The blue dress was a little to formal for the mexican restaurant we were going to so I ended up wearing a skirt and she was fine with that...my little girlie girl!

Ice Cream Cones

horses and curtains

The twins have really been enjoying the horses Namy and Papa got them for Christmas. We didnt bring them back to CA with us after Christmas so it's like they are new to them. They are really neat they neigh, make galloping noises and there heads and tails move.

Sydney really wants to learn how to ride the trike but she just cant reach the pedals yet!

Samantha being cute liek always!

The master bedroom and the twins room widows are facing east so when the sun rises so do the twins! So today I was on a mission to look for 'cheap' window coverings. I first tried JC Penny. They had some good ones but I didnt want to spend that much. I saw a fabric store thinking maybe I could just by some fabric and safety pin it up but once we walked in there, both my mom and I were a little overwhelmed by the thought so we got that idea out of our heads. Sam kept calling it the faggot store which really made me laugh. We then decided to try ikea. It's located about 30 miles away so we all (Papa, Cj, Syd, Sam, Namy and I-Jon's in SF super commuting) and went. We found curtains that I hope will work. It's a little more see through then I thought once I put them up so tomorrow morning will be the test. I'm tired of waking at 6:45!

Jessica is 6

Today is my bff Kims youngest daughter, Jessica, sixth birthday. She wanted to go to 'Sweet Tomatoes' for the delicious salad bar. It was a very deja vu kinda evening because afterwards we headed over to the mall to the play place. It is pretty much the same thing as the one at the Bayfair mall but a firetruck theme. Since I havent purchased a new little camera to carry around yet I'm sorry to say no pictures today. While we were playing at the play area Jessie went and got her ears pierced. Happy Birthday Jessie- we love you!

Jon

Jon drove all day Saturday...made excellent time- 10 hours! It sure is nice to have him "home."

Today is his first official day working at home. We need to get him a chair and a desk!

Apple Pie

Sam left the rest of her apple pie on the table and the twins found it!

the hunt for the eggs

Easter Egg hunt

where o where are the easter eggs?
Sydney found her first Easter egg!

wow it's pink

and it has princesses on it

a great hiding place

"here 'tort' I found one for you"

She found it!

so much fun!

Sam was very good at sharing...

The purple ones were the twins and the pink ones were Sams!

The Easter unny brought fun things for the girls!

the new hood

Here's the house we are renting. It's a 3 bed 2 1/2 bath. It's nice but the twins still are sharing a room for the time being. I dont think I will have to join a gym down here though with running up and down the stairs all day long! We are the only "white" folks in the neighborhood!
The Park is a very popular place with the older kids in the neighboorhood. So the twins just got to watch.

The bar is the perfect size for Sam

Courtney

Our house is the one behind the trees in the back middle. There is a pool right in front of us. Thank God school is in because Friday after school and all weekend long every kid has been in the pool and boy are they having fun laughing and screaming! We havent ventured over there yet.

Uncle Tom and Aunt Cindy

Our first visitors:

Ice Cream and BEER

While te Bekins guys were unloading all the stuff a couple of Kims kids came over to play with the girls at the little park down the street. Namy and Papa ended up taking them all for a drive once it got really hot and they stopped at the store and bought ICE CREAM. What a hit that was. Sticky mess too. Then we put it all in the freezer and the next day it melted because I never turned the freezer on! WHAT A BUMMER that was and messy too!

At the time we didnt have any drinking glasses unpacked so I ended drinking a beer out of a sippy cup. I had about a quarter of a cup left sitting on the counter and my mom put a lid on it and gave it Courtney. I walked in and was like "hey, where's my beer" and NAmy was horrified that she had given it to Cj. She was happily over in the corner chugging it down!

Barley was hopping that the girls would drop their cones!

Our first night in the house!

Welcome to AZ

We stayed the second night in Parker, AZ. I made Papa drive us back to the 'Welcome to Arizona' sign the next morning so we could get pictures. Sam thought it was pretty neat that we stayed in a place that was here friends name. She told us that she was going to marry Parker because he is here Prince!

Bekins

The Bekins guys spent all day Friday the 14th packing up the house and ALL day Saturday loading the truck. They pulled out of CV around 8pm and arrived in Avondale Tuesday morning. The two car garage is now jammed packed. It's amazing how much "junk" we packed. We did it the opposite of most people since the Bekins guys packed us up we will be getting rid of so much down here. As I go through the boxes it's like Christmas since I really dont know whats in each box. I would say 3/4 of the boxes say misc garage so those wont be opened until we get to our "real" house. I went through most of the kids boxes and got rid of all the warmy clothes...it's been in the 80's here all week so I dont think we will be needing the long sleeve shirts, jackets or all those jeans that the twins have.

Off to AZ

Friday March 14 we piled into Papa and Namys motorhome with the Tahoe being pulled and drove off the the land of AZ. It took us a couple of days but we were riding in style.

The girls spent a lot of time sleeping

and sleeping
and sleeping some more!

We stayed the first night in Bakersfield where theyhad a fun little park that was just perfect for the girls
When I was a kid my school playground had these

the park had a little shed with a fun little kitchen.

and Sam and Sydney played "thumper"

a fun tunnel, just the right size for Syd and Cj

Barley slept alot and was always trying to find a compfy spot

Meal time in the motor home!