California Dreamin'

For at least a year now the girls have said they want 3 things...no make that 4.

1. A bigger house. Well, this one isn't really much bigger, but it definitely feels bigger because of the yard.
2. A swimming pool. I don't know how we can ever live without one again.
3. A trampoline. We went back and forth on this one but in the end agreed that the kids would get a lot more exercise and outside playtime if we got one.....it arrived Monday and the kids were jumping on it by that evening.
4. Bunkbeds. Grandpa and Grandma Lunt confirmed that they have some in storage that we can bring back when we visit later this month. The girls are VERY excited.

Sweet. Their dream list is complete and we're getting the bonus of a visit from our super-best friends Laurie and Taylor! Don't be jealous Columbus but Curtis surprised Laurie with a trip out to visit us for her 30th. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep from now until Friday because I'm so excited. We've made a long list of fun things we want to do so hopefully I'll have some exciting posts coming up!

Here are our first pictures from life in California...

Ward Luau

Allie's holding a tiny little frog. She caught like 17 of them that day!!!

Kate and her cute little friend. This is at a friend's pool.

Our dream property...which costs a gazillion dollars but we can wish!

Pics from the road

I know, I know, we've lived here two months and I'm just barely updating the blog about our move. I don't know how/when I'm going to get caught up!

So we started out in great spirits! I'm sure I over-packed the "fun" items for the car but I didn't want the girls to get bored as we drove across country. I found these awesome car art trays at WalMart - highly recommend them for long drives. Allie had a great idea to draw pictures of what she saw along the way. It turned out to be a really cute journal. I was so impressed with how many of our friends brought car gifts for our girls. Thank you so much, we definitely used them!

Day 1 we made it to Kansas City.

These were really cool to see! Really big.

Grandpa was nice to take the girls swimming at the hotel before we headed out again.

Day 2 we made it to Denver to visit Paul, Katherine, and Dylan. We all wished we could have stayed longer! Can't wait to see them in a few weeks though.

Day 3 we drove to Utah and were able to visit lots of family and friends! It was such a nice break in the trip. We reunited with Roman who seemed VERY confused by it all. He welcomed us back but definitely didn't seem like he missed us! lol It was fun to see all of the Lunt's and my niece Kayla...our "step-daughter" as we joke.

While Joan taught me how to make yummy homemade bread....

the girls got the "spa" treatment from their Aunties, and

Roman was occupied with dum-dums!

While we were in Utah we got to visit our dear friends, the Lewis' and Sundberg's. We love getting together with them any chance we can. Our kids are growing up so fast! When we became friends we only had Heidi, Allie, and Caden...now look at our group! Not to mention that since this picture Shannon had sweet baby Sarah Elizabeth....I KNOW!!!!! I can't wait to hold her, makes me cry every time I think of her and her amazing family! Love. Them.

I don't know if you can see it, but Heidi wrote "I Am So Happy" which described the day perfectly.

WHEW, we made it!!! The trip from Utah to California started out great, although I was very hesitant because Darin drove the Camry and I had to drive the kids in the Tahoe by myself. If you don't know, I'm VERY scared of heights and hate driving in the mountains. Well, when we got to Lake Tahoe the freeway was closed due to a standoff-hostage situation! YIKES! So, we decided to take back roads around the lake to get home. Wow, I pray that I NEVER have to do that again. Roman had been an angel the entire time until this....it added a few more hours to the trip because the roads were sooo steep, wet, and windy. Poor Roman threw up at least 3 times.....oh yah, gross. (Kate and Allie had both thrown up earlier in the trip...they were all carsick!) Anyway, the good news is that we made it and here we are in California and loving it!

Now I need to update what life has been like here!