Our Growing Family: July 2013

Our new life

We are slowly but surely getting settled into our new life. I started back to work at a small orthopedic hospital in Phoenix called Oasis. And it is just that! It's such a gorgeous place to go to work. How fortunate I was to find this place. The people who I work with are my family and I love calling this place my second home. Fortunately after working full time for the last month I will be able to cut back and work only part-time as planned. I think working less will give our family the most optimal balance. The girls have started pre-school and after a less than enjoyable experience with our first school, we have started the girls in a community school that has brought so much happiness and joy to all of us. Leia has swim lessons at school and truly has the time of her life. James is busy working crazy hours. Unfortunately for him, the summers bring the most business and that means being outdoor for 10 plus hours in the unbelievable AZ heat. He takes it like a champ!

Grandpa Clunie recently had a stroke and a subsequent surgery to remove the clot in his artery. Grandpa, we are praying for you and sending you love, support, and good thoughts your way.

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you so much.

Leia and Nora enjoy eating dinner together at the very same table that Grandma Sandra and her sisters ate on when they were little. I love how life repeats itself!

Poor Nora always gets pushed out of the way!

Nora throwing rocks in the pool

Leia at the pool at her preschool

First day of school

This is how they sleep at night!

This is what they look like in the morning!

Funny quotes of the month from Leia:

"Mommy since your Daddy died, I will share my Daddy with you"
When Mommy asked her why she is not listening, she replied "Mommy, I have had my listening ears on all day at school. I wanted to take them off when I got home"
Her daily saying "we eat babies" as she kisses her sister
After pooping in the potty everyday, she makes sure no one flushes it so she can show it to her best friend Scarlett saying "I'm saving it for Scarlett. She loves to see my poop"

Iowa trip

We made a last minute trip to Iowa to visit my mother's family and to honor my Grandmother who passed away last week. We truly enjoyed visiting all my Iowa relatives. I feel so close to all of them and it was wonderful to see Leia and Nora enjoying all of their cousins.

Happy Birthday Aunt Ruthie

Cousin Angie and me relaxing in the yard

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Cousin Lizzy and me with our 1 year old girls

Little David with Leia and cousin Nora

Happy 4th of July!!

We headed to San Diego to see our family and friends. We were able to spend time with my brother-in-law John and his new beautiful wife Bianca, as well as Uncle Mike's family, and my best friend Erin's family.

Nora loves car rides

We loved hanging out with Erin and her baby Oliver

Nora and baby Oliver

Nora's Buddha belly

We moved into our dream home!

We were able to close Escrow in 3 weeks and we feel like we were so lucky to own this home in Scottsdale. No doubt, there is a LOT of work to do, but that's one aspect we love about it--we can make it our own! The house sits on a 1.5 acre lot in a cul-de-sac in a gated community. We will be spending the next few years updating, remodeling, and expanding this home to make sure we have room for plenty of visitors.

We have truly been enjoying swimming in our pool every night. That's about the only time we can go outside during the 120 degree weather here in AZ. I never knew how much I would love the heat and the sunshine.

Check out the You-tube video of our home:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUy3qzFFpBs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Happy Father's Day James! We celebrated Father's Day at Home Depot where the girls used multiple tools to create a lawn mower pencil stand for their Daddy. James went to Jesse's bachelor party and my Mom and I decided to surprise him for Father's Day and arranged for everything to be moved from our apartment to our new house. He was so happy to return home to his new home!