Flowers that popped up in our yard this summer. It was fun moving in January... all spring and summer has been full of surprises. :)
Popsicles were a daily thing.
Even dad liked them.
One of our random trips to Tahoe.
We're really excited that we didn't have to give up the beach when we moved!
Any guesses?
Hint: The scarf is "hair."
From left: Katie (office assistant), Dr. Jack (head of the Reno office), um...the wolf, Steve, Dr. Cliff (head of the whole shebang), and Michelle (marketing chick)
Last month Steve's office had their patient appreciation picnic. It's kind of a big deal... over 1000 people came. They had bouncy houses, lots of food, face painting, and lots of giveaways. Even the UNR mascot made an appearance.
I wandered over here to my slightly-neglected blog and noticed that I hadn't finished this post from our 4th of July weekend.
Oops. Ahem.... anyway...
So, there are sandy beaches at Lake Tahoe. Who knew? It's weird to be sitting on the beach in a swimsuit and glance across the lake at the snow-capped mountains. Best of both worlds. I love it.
Yes, tiaras are a must at the beach. Don't tell me you didn't already know that!
We also had some friends from California stay with us while in town for a baseball tournament.
This next photo will only appeal to about 10% of you, but it speaks for itself, I think.
And that, my friends, is what happens when you spend the night in a house full of girls.
Between Steve having to work on Saturdays and responsibilities I had a church we ended up staying home for Easter. It never feels quite right without lots of family around (from either side), but we got to do the girls' Easter baskets for the first time! So fun!
We kept it pretty simple. Nightgowns, puzzles, bubbles and a handful of eggs filled with Jelly Bellys. And a sprinkler thingy for them to play out in the yard with when it gets hot.
We never had an egg hunt until Monday, though. Steve felt weird all day Sunday and was crashed out in our room most of the afternoon. Ivy fell asleep on the way home from church, so Sophie and I had a "date" Easter dinner. Again, super simple. Just grilled salmon, roasted asparagus and a yummy salad. I love not falling into a food coma after I eat.
So yes... the egg hunts went on for several days that week. It was their favorite thing to do in the afternoon.
They took turns hiding the eggs, and then showing each other where the eggs were.
When it was Ivy's turn to hid the eggs, Sophie didn't have too much trouble finding them.
My mom always sends the girls pretty dresses for Easter. (Thanks Mom!)
Our family has experienced quite a climate change since we moved to Reno. Neither of the kids had ever lived in a snowy place, only seeing snow in Idaho during a couple of Christmases. It's been hard getting them to bundle up -- Ivy especially. She turned into a limp, screaming noodle when I tried to put a heavy coat or boots on her. Things have gotten better, though.
A couple of weeks ago it snowed for the first time since we moved here and Sophie, immediately upon waking, wanted to go out in it. (Those were the anti-puffy coat days, thus the unzipped hoodie. She was only out for a few minutes.) She still had her "just woken up" face, too. Ivy wasn't interested.
Later that day she went back out (with a real coat) and I helped her make her first snowman. The snow was really dry and there wasn't a whole lot, so this little guys was the best we could do. Ivy still wasn't interested.
Until a few days later when it DUMPED. Nice, moist, sticky snow made the perfect snowman. She wanted to show my parents (who came to visit over President's Day weekend -- I'm lame and have no pics), but he fell over later that afternoon as the wind picked up and it snowed some more.
Too bad. He was pretty cute.
(Ivy still wasn't interested. She hasn't been out to play in the snow once and today was only the second time she put on her boots without a fight. Maybe she's a true California girl :))
I'm not a very crafty mom, I decided. I can never think of many easy projects for the girls to do, and I hate the mess it makes. And then what do you do with all of their projects? There's only so much space to hang things. I prefer to let them help me in the kitchen and make something that won't be hanging around, cluttering the house for the next six months.
But... they love glue. And glitter. And pompoms. And creating stuff out of paper. Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought I'd help them make some decorations. (Crafts that serve a purpose and won't be hanging around forever. Right up my alley.)
I didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of stuff (another peeve of mine... I have no place to store craft supplies), so I used what I had. I cut hearts for them out of white paper and let them glitter them up.
This was only the beginning. We had glitter ALL over the table, their hands, and the floor. And the couch.
After they made the hearts sparkly, I used a round cutter and cut some circles out of scrapbook paper (I do like scrapbook paper, even though I'd rather have a cavity drilled than do another scrapbook), attached the sparkly hearts with a gold brad, then tied them to a long piece of kitchen twine with some pink ribbon.
Eh. Not bad. (It's a lot cuter in person.) The girls loved it.
Another project I did last week was a step-by-step tutorial for the Tasty Kitchen Blog. I made my grandma's pineapple pie, which I hadn't had in a LONG time. I've been craving it since Thanksgiving. The girls were good sports and kept their fingers out while I was taking photos. They even held up some props for me.
Then we had pie.
Ivy really liked the meringue.
Like, a lot. Then she at the crust. And left about half the filling on her plate. Silly girl.
It's the moment you've all been waiting for, I'm sure. (Except for my friends back on Thornally... I know you'll be crazed with jealousy. I totally understand. I was there for 3 1/2 years.)
Before I show you the tour, I wanted to tell you a few things:
1. This house really isn't that big. It's only a 2-bed, 2-bath, 1200 sqf place that we're renting until we're comfortable buying a house down here. The house is owned by a couple in Colorado who used the place as an executive rental -- meaning, people from their company would come out and stay here while they were on business. I don't think this house has ever been lived in full-time, so that's why it looks brand-spanking new even though it's 5 years old. It's also fully furnished. And by fully I mean not only furniture and appliances, but curtains, decor, fully-stocked kitchen (well, almost... I brought in a lot of my own stuff, but that's because I'm nuts), sheets on the beds, towels in the closet, etc. They were even nice enough to leave us a couple bottles of wine and some limoncello (lemon liquor). (I'm still trying to figure out what to do with them.)
2. Although it was furnished, we still brought in our couch and dining set because we liked them better. (And it's the first time we've ever been able to walk all the way around the table. AND walk all the way around it with the leaf in!) So there's a mix of stuff that's ours and theirs.
3. I wanted to show you this awful picture, too. That's what it looks like when you have two toddlers and you don't move your couch for more than three years. . .
P.S. I'm wearing shorts because I'm doing laundry and all my pants are dirty.
Today we got our drivers licenses in the mail. It's the first time either of us has had a license in a state other than where we first got our licenses. We've got Nevada plates on our car now and will probably change our cell numbers over, too.
(I still wonder what the DMV thought when we went in... Our previous address was in CA, our cars were registered in ID, neither of our licenses had our home addresses on them, and our phone numbers were still UT numbers.)
We're settling in nicely, though. We love the area we're in, and Steve is really enjoying his job. So far so good . . .
Well, we made it to Reno in a million pieces. I have a lot to catch you up on and a giant backlog of photos. In a nutshell:
We spent Christmas with the Perry clan, New Years with some of the best friends I've ever had, and the first week of January packing, cleaning, and saying goodbyes. Leaving my friends in San Leandro was about as hard as I thought it would be. I still get choked up every now and then if I dwell too much on it.
We're renting a cute little house for a while which we LOVE. The boxes are under control now, so I'll post some pics soon.
It's really cold. We have a light dusting of snow on the ground, but nothing to chase a snowblower with.
The girls love it so far, but hate wearing heavy coats. We're working on that.
We visited our ward for the first time. The people seem nice enough. There are a lot of younger families with young kids. I spent 2/3 of church with Sophie in her Sunbeam class, so I didn't get to meet anyone except her teachers and a guy in the Bishopric. Sophie was a champ, though. She even said the closing prayer by herself at the end of class. Her teachers were pretty impressed. :)
Here are a few pictures of Donner pass on the morning we drove over from Sacramento. I was following Steve in our 26-foot moving truck (filled to the brim...Recommended for 5-7 bedrooms? Try a cramped 2-bedroom duplex. We have too much stuff.) He told me to stop and get some pics. It was so beautiful -- the pics don't even do it justice. We're really grateful the weather was nice. The last couple of times we've crossed over the pass we had to put chains on our car.
