Thanksgiving and Trip to Sedona

A Great Family shot

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is right around the corner. We had a wonderful turkey dinner with good friends/extended Arizona family. Dan and Karen invited two other friends who were not able to be with their out of state families for the Holiday. Marie and Harry (Kevin's parents) flew in Thanksgiving night and spent 5 days with us. We enjoyed having them. Thank you Harry for all your work around the place. We had one major issue with the garbage disposal that was shooting water THROUGH the cabinet doors which needless to say was replaced. Kevin and his Dad also hung some great Xmas lights and decorations out on the tree in our front yard. We are amazed at how many people down here decorate for Xmas.....It's very strange to see cactus wrapped in white lights!!! We were also able to spend the day sight seeing- went to Sedona for the first time and all I can say is God sure knows what he/she was doing when the Red Rock country was created. Amazing! Also drove up to Jerome which at one time was a booming mining town. So much to see here. We are looking forward to taking day trips when we can.

Reegan and Greer's first day of School

Reegan and Greer are having a GREAT time at their new school, Anasazi Elementary, home of Sammy the Friendly Scorpion. Reegan's teacher is Mrs. Coleman of all things and her class gave her a very warm welcome with notes written by each student. Greer's teacher is Miss. Whitten who is awesome! Greer was given a buddy to show her around and she had to introduce herself to each student by shaking their hands and saying "Hi, my name is Greer" and the kids followed suit. It's been a great relief to know that we made a wonderful decision in placing them into this school district. It ended up being one of the most difficult decisions in the whole moving process.

Before Pictures of our New Digs

I am sooo behind in keeping everyone updated. I am going to post a bunch of "before" pictures of the house when it was empty, carpets being replaced and some from our lovely moving-in day. Things went well and we are feeling somewhat at home..... but it's going to take awhile to find everything! We are so grateful to my parents who drove the Sequoia down for us, watched the girls while the movers were delivering the 500+ stickered items into the house and even gave Kevin and I an opportunity to go out to dinner all by ourselves! Within a couple of days they helped us unpack almost everything. Thank you Mom and Dad! We could not have made the transition without you!!! One of the first things we did was tear out the window treatments and built-in desk that was in our master. The girls decided to christen the pool even though it's not heated- but they didn't seem to care! I will post more photos of the "after" shots as well as more in depth details of the process. But at least this is a start. Blessings to all!

My favorite view from the backyard

Brynn's wonderfully painted room in "Baby Diaper Yellow".......

and our lovely "Rapsberry" master.... but the previous owner insits that it's "Merlot"

Happy Halloween

Whew! What a day. It started with very excited girls waking at 6:00am. Reegan's class decided that this year they had to read a book, dress up as a character from that book, and then give a oral presentation of their favorite part. Reegan chose to read Charlotte's Web and dressed up like Fern... Wilbur and all. So, once Reegan was dressed and sent off to school, Greer was next. She was very excited to wear her costume to school for the Ordway All School Parade. Got her to school and then turned back home so that I could get Brynn in her costume and then back to school at 12:30 so she could partake in the festivities too. She had so much fun being a big girl and following her biggest sister through every classroom during the parade! With that all said and done, once the school bus landed we all headed off to Gigi and Boppa's house in Poulsbo, redid all of the costumes, and went trick-or-treating on Main Street with the Wells, Schmidt's, Meek's and Gaines. It was perfect! The town shut down all car traffic and the kids could wander from one store to another gathering a ton of candy. To top off the evening we all headed back to Sheri's for dinner. Needless to say by the time we got home about 8:00 PM the girls were asleep before their heads even hit the pillow. Me too! I hope that you all had a very safe and sane Halloween with your families! Keep this blog on your favorites and check back often. It's a great way to stay connected!