Happy 4th of July!!

Our family at an HP Picnic!

Thankful for the thankless jobs...

It's always good to do thankless jobs because it reminds us of how thankful we are for a home to do these thankless jobs in!  Tonight we completed several of those little items... installing 80 knobs on drawers and cabinets around the house (you only notice when those AREN'T there because there's nothing to pull it open!), changing out the 2 previous thermostats to programmable ones and spackling and repainting, putting together a bookshelf for our den, and hanging the last picture in the living room. It feels great to be pretty much done now!

Geneve might quite possibly be the most loved and spoiled dog on earth. I don't think she takes more than 9 steps a day on her own feet because one of the kids is holding her or hauling her around on a blanket or something. And she always looks so forlorn, but she loves it. She's always just so tired. It's so hard to be her. Whatever.

Uncle Dustin helped Kas make a birdfeeder, which now hangs on our kitchen window. We can't wait for the birds to find it. And we love watching our new little momma bird who sits on her 2 little white eggs in her nest up in our palm tree. 

Summer fun

From Kassie's new private guitar lessons... to Vacation Bible School with the cousins, we're having a great summer here in Texas!

Cousin slumber party in Kassie's room (her own phrase on the wall)

Steevie jumps back into Scouting after a break in Switzerland... here he's becoming a Tenderfoot and getting his first merit badge ~ Swimming!

Attending a local school board mtg to earn his Citizenship in the Community merit badge

 Cousin Sterling gets his Eagle Scout award - what a great example!

Backyard fun ~

Still keeping the French -- Kenny's note to Daron for Father's Day

Bidding Geneve adieu before weeklong Scout Camp...



Happy 10th birthday, Kassie!

What a cute girl! We're so happy that we've had cute Kassie in our lives for a decade now.  She's the most fiercely fabulous little girl we could ever dream of having!!  Her new suit just says it all - her grand motto for life - "Life Lively!"

Happy 7th birthday, Kenny-Boo!

The coolest ticket-catching tube ever -- so fun!



And Daron had a wonderful time on his week-long trip to Shanghai, China! Here he is with HP CEO Meg Whitman (2nd from left) and friends. Cute vest, honey. 8-)

The sweetest night-before-Mother's-Day gift. (I'll always know it's there, even though he painted over it...)



Tune-ups

As I was at the doctor's office today for 4 hours getting a 'tune-up' (everything I skipped while living in Switzerland ~ just a physical, a well-woman exam, wart removal, bloodwork, knee x-rays, and mammogram) I had fun thinking through all the people we've had doing 'tune-ups' on our new home.  The door has definitely been revolving over the past week; I might have forgotten some, but this is what I can remember ~  Storm door measure/install, AC repair, Home security install, Attic radiant barrier, Ecopest bug sprayer, Carpet guys, Paint guys, Furniture delivery, Mosquito mister quote, Electrician, Mini-bar conversion, Fridge movers, CPAP delivery, Sprinkler guy, Solar Fan installers, and of course all our family back and forth helping with everything in between.  Pure exhaustion.  But this is FUN fatigue... it's so exciting to be in a home we love so much.

Plus, it's good to remember that it's really all just STUFF.  Especially when the boxes seem overwhelming... but it's OK.  I'm grateful that we hung onto these things because lots of it brings me joy ~ mostly just gifts from others or home decor.  

Then there's Geneve, who brings the kids more happiness than I can even express.  They wake up wanting to play with her and go to sleep wanting to snuggle her. Her new thing is to hide in these bushes and pretend she's all sneaky, then she pounces out like a big cougar. Too silly for words. She's the best toy we could ever get. 8-)

We LOVE our new home!

WHAT A GREAT WEEK!! How fun to be surrounded by so many fun helpers as I climbed up into Mom's attic and pulled down all our 'stuff'!! And even though we sold most of our things before we moved, we had quite a few boxes to move.  But thank heavens we had a sparkling pool to jump into for breaks!

Steff made an incredible breakfast to start off our moving day right!

Christopher's floating lofty leg did lots and lots of work up in that attic... 8-)  So did many other people not pictured here.

Kassie was so excited to put together her new bed in her new room!

Cute Savannah in the Texas pot she and Jenny gave us!

Our "first night in house" party - rootbeer floats in the cute cups our sellers left for us!

Thank you Shelley and Mark for blessing our home with your cute plaque!

WE'RE HOMEOWNERS AGAIN!!!

We've been waiting for this day for so long... and now it has come!! We're finally homeowners again! We found the most perfect, happy place to live -- just a paradise for us. In a great neighborhood we've always loved, and with the added bonus of a pool, which we weren't even looking for!  We love every inch of it, and we already have precious neighbors with kids at the same school as ours.  We closed yesterday, and the kids were so anxious to get over there with us, they came up with all kinds of doozies to get out of school that day... 8-)  But Mom brought them right over after school.

We actually inherited a new piano with the house!! Here's Mom trying it out...

The kids search for bugs in our new backyard... it's like an oasis back there! We love it!

Kenny helped me move some bricks in the garage and we found baby lizard eggs that had hatched open, and the fossilized baby lizards were caught with curled up bodies in the little brick holes. Kind of sad! But kind of cool, like Jurassic Park.

Then I got right on top of my favorite job... sealing and painting the garage floor -- sprinkles and all!

Cute Tiff showed up with paintbrush in hand... ready to work her cutting-in magic! Aunt Kassie came too and brought yummy snacks and paintbrushes for us all.

Last week I got to go do "Arts Alive!" with cute Callister at his school.  He's the cutest child in there!

Then Fef and I ate burgers at Hubcap Grill - such a cool place!

Kenny and Maxwell at swim class together ~