Hanging Out



Life in transition here in CA is moving along well! We are so excited to live near some family for the first time in almost 7 years. Here is a picture of the girls with Jon's cousin's sons. (Of course, his cousin is named Jen!) It's great to reconnect with Jen, Gabe, and the boys. Both boys were so sweet with the girls--especially Kate, who kept talking their ears off. :)

 

 



We spent one night at Jon's aunt and uncle's hose (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of you guys!! That will have to change!), then we drove down to San Pedro, where the military temp housing is located. What an amazingly beautiful place! It's right on the water, and you can see the piers of the Port of Los Angeles just over the fence. How fun to think that's the exact place our stuff was off-loaded when the container ship arrived! Our temp housing had plenty of room to spread out, but their availability lasted only five nights.  

 
 
 

The port where our stuff came in

 

Jon and I spent those five days house-hunting like crazy. Thanks a million to JoAnn, who came and spent two days with us while Jon and I scoured the city for places to live. After she went home, we ended up taking the kids with us, which was nice because they could give a little input on what we were seeing. Also, it gave the landlords a chance to meet the whole family, which turned out to be good for us b/c we found a house while the kids were with us. We get to move in next week, and are so excited! The girls will be so close to their school, and Jon will be only 3 miles from work. We're just a few miles to the beach, and we hope to have some great neighbors. Our landlords have two homes on one lot (common for this area of LA) and we have the front home while they live in the back. We hope to have a good relationship with them like we did with our wonderful landlords from Germany (miss you guys!!). We are so grateful that both shipments of our stuff will be delivered on the same day next week, and if we could just get some info on our minivan (still in transit) we'd be all set. But things will come, and are trying to be patient and deal with things as they come.

 

 

So now we wait and are living in a hotel that's walking distance from Jon's work. The girls and I are enjoying swimming at the pool each afternoon (their tan lines are already setting in) and we're trying not to go stir crazy sometimes in the mornings. But there are items we need (like a fridge, washer/dryer, beds for the girls, etc) and we're working on getting those items as well. It's slowly coming together and it will be an interesting few days when we're in our house with nothing but what we brought on the plane! But we're borrowing linens and towels and hopefully an air mattress or two, and I'm sure the girls will love "camping" in our house.

 



The girls, hanging out in the hotel room.

reading with Daddy

LOVING the dresses hand-made by Nana!

 While it's really fun to have a pool here at he hotel, it's also sometimes a logistical nightmare trying to get everyone dressed appropriately, with the correct eyewear, carrying a towel, etc. But we're getting faster at it--practice makes perfect--and I hope to make a similar plan when we start going to the beach. We attempted the beach only one time so far which was a lot of fun, but takes quite a bit of forethought with all three girls, one of whom has no fear of the ocean or understanding of the danger of the water. And if you've ever been to the beach, you know how much stuff you have to cart with you! But still, an adventure we're willing to take on. So plan to come visit us! We'll have plenty of room when we get moved in. Stay tuned!

Ready for the pool