Right now life is full of craziness... it seems all we do it pack, pack, tape, tape, scribble notes on boxes, and start all over again. We're hoping to have our current house on the market by the end of this week, so hopefully life will regain a small semblance of regularity again soon...

Part of the challenge, too, is trying to decide what to pack for long term and what we'll need over the next six months as we wait for our house to be built. We're trying to avoid the "uh oh... now where did I put the toothbrush..." scenarios. It'll be crazy to live with half of our stuff in storage for 6 months and only a handful with us as we look forward to the completion of our house. But what a fun thing!

We debated a little bit, but I think we'll keep this box out... at least for a while~

It's official

While we were eating dinner tonight, Jadyn made an announcement: "Karina is officially my big girl-little sister." This came right after she witnessed Karina take a big bite of macaroni and somehow not spill any on her shirt. (There has been an ongoing battle at our house about Karina being a baby girl or a big girl.) Apparently, if you can eat without spilling, you are just one small step away from being a grown-up. Good to know.

Daddy makes a great bed!

I guess you have to be careful where you take a nap at our house.

A taste of chaos...

Guess what...?!

We just bought a new house.

Well, actually we just bought a dirt lot...

But in 6 or 7 months there is supposed to be a new house on that lot!

We're really excited!

The girls even volunteered to be part of the construction crew...

The new house will be only about 5-10 minutes from where we currently live.

Of course, the next 6 months are crazy busy as we get ready to sell our currrent home and go through the process of deciding what the new home will look like.

We even met some of our soon-to-be neighbors yesterday. Can you believe it... there are even 4 girls the same age as our girls that live on our new culdesac~

What a fun chaos!

Our new photographer

Jadyn has been learning to use a digital camera all week (thank you Gramda!) and loving it.

It is really fun to see what your 4 year old thinks is worthy of a picture.

Here are a few of my favorites out of about 200 or so.

Baby snakes??

I was outside pulling some weeds in the backyard tonight when I came across (or I guess, they came across me) some amazingly long worms. There were 4 of them that came out all at once from under the cement blocks that I was working near. I have never seen such big worms in my life. All of them were at least a foot long! I tried to catch one for the girls to play with tomorrow, but unfortunately, they were amazingly fast also.

The picture above shows most of one of them. He was headed underground already by the time I got to him.

Thank you!

"But why does she have to leave?"

" God made her house too far away from ours!"

"It doesn't feel good to feel sad."

Just a sample of some of the comments that have been heard today whenever

we brought up Gramda and how much fun they had all week.

Thank you so much for giving up your week and many other things to come all the

way over here to love on our girls and give us some much needed time away.

We all love you!!!

Our very own olympian

Jadyn ended her gymnastics season by participating in their version of the Olympics, which was really just a fancy way of showing everyone what they have learned this year. She was excited to have extra people come watch her "perform". (Thank you to Gramda and Grammy for coming to see her!)

These are the girls in her class/level. They were waiting with excitement to get started. At the end, they had an awards ceremony, where each girl got their own certificate

and ribbon. Jadyn really liked the part where everyone applauded for her.
Jadyn's coach, Kelly, has really made her want to work super hard to learn new things

and keep trying to master them. Jadyn can't wait for summer session to start in July.

Last day of school

Jadyn's last day of school was the Friday before we left for Mexico. It was a fun

luau-themed day. They started by singing a couple of songs on stage for us,

then a potluck lunch, followed by some fun outside activities. It was a great way

to say goodbye for the summer.

Here's most of her class getting ready to sing. Jadyn loves to be in front of people.

Bubbles are always fun outside on sunny days!

Jadyn's first tie-dye experience.

The finished product!

One last sunset....

Our girls doing what they do best...

Having fun together!

We will see you soon!

Cerritos

We went to a new beach today that was about an hour or so south of La Paz. It is a surfing

type of beach, unlike the ones we have been to so far. We had a great time playing

in the ocean (thanks to the wetsuit invention) and had some very

yummy food during our lunch break in between the waves.

We spent the whole day there and loved it!

Oops!

This is what happens when you try to pose for a picture with the ocean behind you. Did you all notice that the photographer just watched it happen?

An update from home

The girls have had such a good time at home with "Gramda". When I ask if we are missed, they always answer quickly "no", but then change it and say "a little bit" after thinking of my feelings. It is so good to know they are happy. Today they got the chance to go visit some great grandparents in Everett. Grandpa Dick and Grandma Helen are Ed's (my stepdad's) parents.

Jadyn was excitedly telling me all about it tonight on the phone. Her favorite highlights were that they didn't have to take a nap there and that Grandpa Dick used to be a fire fighter just like Daddy.

Just another day in the sun

We spent a little bit of time by the pool today after lunch. This bird (maybe a

crane??) was there the whole time. There are so many pretty birds here.

After the pool, we went back to town to the best ice cream shop around. They have this tree ouside the entrance that looks like it came right out of a Dr. Seuss book we have at home.
This picture was just for the girls!

A name to remember for amazing ice cream.

If this were available in Seattle, it would easily take the place of that

Starbucks hang out people seem to like so much. I know we are hooked.

Lots of new friends to make in La Paz!

We went to dinner tonight at a beautiful restaurant on

the water. This is what we saw as we waited for our food!