Indoors

Passing the time in hot weather requires some indoor activities!  So we have discovered the library!  They had a summer reading program where the kids earned lots of prizes each week for reading.  The library system here is more high tech than we are used to with the ability to get free music downloads, books & magazines on kindle to check out, not to mention a really cool family bathroom that Kate thinks is AWESOME!!

traditions

To me holidays have always spelled large family gatherings.  Now that we are on our own, with no extended family nearby we have to create some traditions of our own.  I am anxious to see what activities will stick and become tradition to us.  It's actually kind of fun thinking that we have a clean slate to create our own!  For the fourth of July we got up and went to Kneader for some french toast!  I don't even like french toast but this kind I crave!! After that we headed over to the Mills mall for a visit to the aquarium.  The girls loved touching the starfish and other creatures.  Lilah got brave and touched the spiky looking fella!  After that it was home for some barbeque and Neeley and Kayla's expertly decorated cake!  Later that night we went to see the fireworks of Gilbert.  We both laughed as Lilah asked if she needed to bring a coat for when it got dark.  Yep, 105 degrees after dark and we need coats!?!  That's about as good as Neeley asking if it was too cold to go to the pool when it dropped to 98 degrees!

It's a sign!

Signs arrived this week!  It's official!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

We hadn't even been here a week and Neeley started having social withdrawals.  We were so busy getting everything done to move from doctor appointments, packing, dentist, packing, last play dates, packing, parties, changing banks, setting up and canceling utilities, finding a house and schools and preschools, etc that we hardly had time to breath.  Then we move here and everything came to a grinding halt.  I look at the calendar and there is literally nothing until the first day of school on August 7th and Kayla's baptism which is scheduled for October 19th (Neeley's birthday too!)  In a way I love it. It's like this new life with a clean slate that we get to mold and create.  We can be whatever and whoever we choose to be.  I have always been careful with my calendar.  We are the kind of family that likes to be able to pick up and go at a moments notice without having to worry about what's on the calendar.  But never have we not had ANYTHING...  Now is the careful task of deciding what is worthy of being added to our clean slate.

We have spent a lot of time at the neighborhood pools.  Both are very large but each have their own personality.  The "Barn" as it's called has flower sprinklers that spray in a large kiddie area and is a great place to meet up with lots of other moms.  The "Ranch House" has more of a country club feel with private shaded areas, lap swim lanes and a separate kiddie pool, a playground and splash pad nearby.  Both are really fun depending on what you want for the day.  I think we have been swimming nearly every day since we arrived.

The pictures above are from a huge water park called Sun Splash.  We took the kids there for the day on Tuesday.  It is as fun as it looks from the freeway as you pass by.  Huge four man tubes and a waterslide that shoots you uphill were our favorites.  We spent the day building new memories together there.

So back to Neeley and her social withdrawals.  We had only been here less than a week and Neeley started throwing this huge tantrum about not having any friends yet.  I had been on the phone the day before getting names of people in the ward that had kids our age from the primary president.  After leaving messages with several of them, one family called us back and wanted to meet  us at the pool.  The only problem was that this family had a girl the same age as all of our kids except for Neeley.  She was crying and carrying on about being so alone.  I sat down and calmed her and told her she just had to keep up faith that Heaven Father is aware of her needs and that we were all praying for friends so it would happen soon enough.  Not two seconds after our conversation ended did one of the girls her age call to say they would meet us at the pool too.  And while I was on that call another girl her age called to say the same thing.  Throughout this move I know Heavenly Father has given us many tender mercies but this one seemed especially apparent!  That afternoon after the pool our phone rang and yet another family wanted to come and meet us.  They have four kids, 3 of which are girls the same ages as Neeley, Kayla and Kate.  We all hit it off from the moment they got here and ended up talking for 4 hours while the kids played.  The next day was a play date at the pool planned by a sister in the ward for a chance to meet all the new families that have moved in recently.  Never before have I felt so embraced in a new community and ward.  By the time we got to church that Sunday I felt like I knew so many people.  The choir sang and I realized that I knew over half of the people up their singing.  We had only been to the ward the week previous and that was sacrament meeting only!

Since we decided to move here I have been praying earnestly that each of us would find friends;  friends that could become a family away from home as we are so far away from ours.  I feel so blessed to be so watched over and to see these prayers being answered.