Movin' in!

I realize it's been a while, but we've been swamped! Unpacking boxes and locating items needed has taken most of our free (and not-free) time these last few weeks. And we're still not totally moved in yet, as we're still waiting on our minivan and non-temp storage (sigh!!) but we'll focus on the good points instead of the frustrating ones! :)

We love our house. It is comfortable and clean, and the neighborhood is awesome. We have several wonderful families who live very close by, and look forward to meeting others when school starts at the end of August. The girls are outside as often as they can, playing with neighbors, riding their scooters. We're all right on top of each other here in our beach city, but it's quiet (at night) and very safe. Also, Albertsons (a grocery store), Taco, Bell, Papa John's (pizza), and a frozen yogurt place (not as good as gelato, but similar) are all within walking distance. Oh, so are the library and post office. Score!! Jon's work is only three miles (5 km) away, and his commute can take him anywhere from 15 to 30 min. We are SOOO thankful we decided to live closer to his work rather than take base housing further south. Every day we are thankful!!

Here are some pictures from before our stuff came. (You really don't want to see all the mess, I know!) Here's the front: lots of lots in our town are two-on-a-lot. One house in front, one house in back. Sometimes they share a wall, sometimes not. We share a garage and patio wall with our neighbors (and landlords) which is no problem. But it takes some getting used to see a car (that's not ours) driving up our driveway.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the foyer, just inside the front door. 1/2 bath on the right, living room on left, and dining room towards the door and on the right. 

 

Dining room

Living room

 

 Turn around from the foyer and you're in the:

Family room

 

 

Turn around from the picture above and you're in the kitchen eating area. 

 



More kitchen, taken from the bar

The above picture is more recent, as I realized I didn't have a picture of the main part of the kitchen. Isn't it gorgeous and so big!!?? I love it!! Look at that American-sized fridge!! :)

 

Now we'll head upstairs to the bedrooms: K and E's room is at the top of the stairs. It's nice and big, and has a huge walk-in closet. They love the window seat.

 

 

Here's the guest room, next to the kids' room. Actually, it's between the kids' rooms. Miranda's room (which I now realize I don't have a picture of!) is the same as size as the guest room (below) but has the door and closet on the opposite side of the room below.  All rooms (except the master) have ceiling fans, which are invaluable in the humidity!! (of course, no A/C!)

Guest room. (It has a bed now, and is ready for visitors!! :)

About 1/2 of the master

About the other half--with two side-by-side closets complete with mirrored doors and walk-out patio

 

Here are some more fun shots of our getting used to life in CA: 

At the beach! (Photo courtesy of Gram!)

All the empty boxes driving me crazy, piled up in our garage. :)

The newest member of our family: a Mazda 3

 And Jon has earned his "furniture assembly" merit badge TIME and TIME again. He's done such a great job researching our needed appliances and organizing the purchase and delivery. Here he's getting a little help from K. Oh, and check out the size of our trash cans-- Hallelujah!!! :)

M with hat

Having fun in the paper of the dining room

Fun neighbors enjoying a rare thunderstorm

The girls in front of their school (starting in August)

Our plumeria tree (It's between our garage and our neighbor's)

 

 

And here's one for the record books: our first meal in our new house. It powerfully reminds me of God's faithfulness when I think about the first meal we had in our house in Germany--the day before 22 month-old Ellie was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. The same God who was with us in Germany and saw us through that rough transition is with us now--ready and waiting for us to trust Him. Through good times and bad, we always know He is present and loves us! And as we enter this new phase of life, we are thankful to Him for His many, many blessings. I hope you can see His blessings in your life today as well!