SUNNY day at the beach

It has been pretty rainy here so a sunny day at the beach is a big deal to us. Oh, we go when it isn't sunny, but the water feel too cold or something so it isn't the same. The kids had a great time and Darrin and I chilled on the shore. This beach is our favorite. It is a state park so no big commercialism hanging around. It is called Cape Henlopen State Park. The light house is on one end and all the surf fishermen are on the other. The sand is very fine and soft and the waves are perfect: not too big and not too small. We have been eating a lot of fresh fruits lately. You can grow ANYTHING in Delaware. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (grow wild in the yard of the house we are trying to buy), asparagus...... there are farmer's markets everywhere. I can't wait to plant a garden somewhere. My garden in Arizona is flourishing....but I can't eat it! Raun, our nephew, is taking care of it. I am sure he is about to be overwhelmed. The zuchini plants did well and have 3-4 on each plant. ( I planted 12 but on six lived) That is a lot of zuchini for one person. I also planted 20 potato plants, 20 onions, 2 tomatoes, 2 pumpkins, etc. I wish I could enjoy them! So...I will enjoy what we can get here instead. Here are pics.

Washington D.C.

Yesterday I went with Jesse on a field trip to Washington D.C. I was supposed to chaperone a group of boys, but Jesse was the only one who came, so I chaperoned him. It was actually nice to just be with him. We don't get to do that very often. His teachers are great and the trip was very fun. Interesting start though. We got a phone call at 6:00 am telling us that school for Sarah and fieldtrip would be delayed 2 hour due to fog. Crazy! A fog delay. That NEVER happened in Arizona. The kids here tell us it is pretty common. Anyway, soupy fog for a while.....then business as usual. The bus was a charter, so we had great reclining seats and a DVD screen. We went the the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. In case you don't know, those are the two museaum featured in the newest "Night at the Museum" movie. They were pretty cool. Jesse didn't care for the mummies or bones though. We spent our time with the stuffed animals and fish. We walked along the National Mall a little, but we weren't too eager to do major walking, so.....we got an ice cream cone at McDonald's and sat for a little while. Jesse is loving this school, I am sad we only had a month here. He never really felt like a part of Thatcher schools, too bad. Jeanie and Emily both have interviews at Hotel Rehoboth tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

Birthday Cake!

Darrin made Emily one of his famous birthday cakes this weekend. He went all out! We have been watching "Ace of Cakes" lately and he decided to try his hand at fondant. It worked pretty good. The cake wasn't quite strong enough to hold it up, but it was a good first try. Em wanted a star cake, so star she got. All 7 layers of it. They had a fun time constructing together. We only ate a small amount of it before it caved in. It was alright though, the fun was in the building.

Rain, rain, rain

We had a beautiful sunny week and now rain. The weather was perfect for our NYC trip and for most of the weekend. Monday at about 3:30 the clouds rolled in and it has been raining ever since. It is supposed to keep up for a while. It is ok as long as we get a few sunny days in here and there. It sure keeps things green around here. Thursday I am going with Jesse to Washington DC for a field trip. We are both excited. Our kids still have 2 weeks of school, but it is ok. They had a long break when we moved. Emily and Jeanie went bowling with some boys from our ward last night. It has been such an easy transition. I got another calling this week, but I don't start it until September. I will be the Seminary teacher. Yep. We have it once a week on Sunday night. I go to Dover once a month for training all summer. Good thing cuz I have no idea what I am doing. Yikes.

NEW YORK CITY

WOW! What an amazing 2 days. I think Em really enjoyed it. I know I did. We were exhausted though. Lots of walking, walking, walking! Here are some highlights....rode the train from NJ to New York Penn Station. It is underneath Madison Square Garden. We then walked many blocks to our hotel. It was a great hotel in the middle of China Town. We took the subway to Time Square and got on our bus tour. It was good, but our tour guide was ANNOYING to say the least. His voice was like fingernails on a chalk board. We ate ate at a three story McDonalds in Time square and then wandered around a while before heading back to our hotel. Then we had New York pizza at a place in Little Italy. It was yummy. Then of course we had to have some Gelato too. I bought some cherries at a stand on the sidewalk from a chinese lady. They were weird looking but good. We slept like rocks and then headed out early in the morning to catch all the places we saw the day before. We went to Ground Zero, the Empire State Building, Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, Museum of Natural History, and had a hotdog in Central Park. Then we saw Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was spectacular. Oh My Goodness. It was amazing. Loved it. Rode the subway and another train and drove for 3 hours and fell into bed at home. So Great. Happy Birthday Em.

Tentative YES!

Our realtor just emailed me and said the the seller is signing our offer and sending it to the lender by the end of today! That isn't the end, but it is a great beginning. Also, our friends Olive Clawson and her daughter Jean Patterson and their family just invited us to spend the 4th of July weekend with them in Virginia (at Gary's house) and go to the fireworks in Washington DC. Gary has worked at the Pentagon and they (Clawson's) go there every year. We are totally stoked. Yippee!! Great Day! And tomorrow....off to get Jeanie and go to NYC for 2 days.

Out-of-sorts BLUES

Not really the blues, just tired of being out-of-sorts. I think it is worse than it should be cuz I had my whole life occupied in Arizona. I got up, got kids to school, and went to whichever parent/grandparent that needed me. NOW WHAT? I don't quite know what my role is anymore. I think it will be better when I have a house, but until then......WHAT? I eat most of the time and then feel gross. Food is my happy place right now (when I am not at the beach). I am sure I will survive it, but my clothes may not. I guess I will just enjoy it while I can. ;)

We Found IT!

We found the house!!!!! It is just exactly what we have been looking for. All of the others had at least one thing that wasn't exactly what we wanted, but this one has it all. We are making an offer today. Cross your fingers and your toes and pray for our offer to be accepted. It was built in the early 80's and thus has typical decor for that era, but call all be updated easily. It is a short sale (just about to go into foreclosure) so we can get a great deal. It is 3 bed 2 1/2 bath, but has 2 large unfinished rooms upstairs that could be bedrooms or whatever. Now, sit down......it is 3500 square feet. I know, crazy, but the price is right, and there is room for all of you to visit....at the same time! It needs a bit of work, nothing major, just a little cleaning and painting and finishing here and there. The back yard is amazing!!!! I am trying not to get too attached before it is really ours, cuz I will be super disapointed, but it is hard not to dream of being in our own house again. I am on my way to Baltimore in a few to pick Em up at the airport. Sooooo excited. It hasn't been that long since we saw her, but it wasn't in Delaware. Keep you posted.

Master bedroom

I LOVE Mother's Day!

But...not for the reason you think. We got to talk to Dallin for an hour + yesterday. It was so great. We tried to do a three-way with Emily, but Darrins phone died. SAD!!! So Emily texted and we talked and relayed her texts. Complicated but satisfactory. Emily will be here tomorrow. We cant wait. I am seriously tired of being in someone else's house. We are dilligently looking for one of our own, but......I am going out with the realtor again today. Maybe our criteria is took unrealistic. Who knows. The sun is out today. Thank Heaven. I don't know how much of this "unusual" weather I can stand. Everyone tells us that it is never like this in May. They better be telling the truth. I am at the Library again. We still don't have internet. It is beautiful today. I think I will walk on the beach for a while.........eat your hearts out Arizona. hahaha

Hello from the East Coast

We are still hunting for the perfect house. We thought we found it this week, but.......:( I guess we are being too picky. I refuse to settle for less than the house I want though. The kids first week of school started out pretty tough, but they are both happy now. They have met a few people and gotten used to their new routine and are feeling settled. Hurray!!!! Now, if we can just feel settled in a house........I know I need to just be patient. Our ward is really great and we are getting to know alot more of the members. They have been very friendly and helpful. We are excited for Emily and Jeanie to get here for Brooks's family to come in August. We have tried some new restaurants (seafood) and are big fans. I know we will miss Mexican food someday, but for now...not so much. Emily is bringing us some of our favorite enchilada sauce on the plane. Macayo's is the best. The Mexican food aisles at the grocery stores are pretty wimpy. So....Em to the rescue. We had rain all week and just a little sun yesterday, so I don't have any pictures to share. Everyone here tells us that this much rain is very abnormal. I hope so. I stayed outside and soaked up every drop of sunshine yesterday. Today it is cloudy, but not rain so far. It sure is green though. Love that.

Update

Sorry it has been so long. Kids started back to school today. FINALLY! It took forever to get them in. Lots of schools to choose from here. They have what is called "choice". You choose the school you want and then apply to get them in. Normally that takes a month or so, but they did a quick time for us. There is still 6 weeks left here. School ends on June 12th. Yikes. It feels like forever to Sarah and Jesse, so I guess a 2 week break in April is ok. Sarah is in Indian River High School, (pic) and Jesse is at Lord Baltimore Elementary. It is about a 1hour commute for me in the mornings and another 1 hour in the afternoons. We chose schools that would be close to where we WANT to live, not where we live now. We have found 3 homes that we really like and now the game is on. Negotiate and bargain, my two favorite things. We don't really like our realtor, but we are almost done with her. She talks WAY too much. I get a headache just knowing that I have to talk to her again. I have a calling in the ward. I am the 2nd Counselor in the YW. We have been twice now and are starting to learn names. There are an overabundance of 16-18 year old boys at the moment and they are all drooling over the idea that Emily and Jeanie are coming for the summer. They are all clones of Dallin, so the girls should have fun. One boy asked Sarah if her sister was a "cool dude". If they only knew how COOL Em and Jean are they would be out of their minds. Emily gets here on the 13th and Jeanie comes on the 19th. We can't wait. We hope we are in a bigger house by then......I am trying not to think about Mother's Day. It feels too weird and lonely. I can't wait to talk to Dallin though. Happy! Darrin and I had a lobster dinner on saturday. It was the special at a beachside restaurant. It was pretty tastey. The people sitting next to us were very chatty and gave us "lessons" when they found out we were from Arizona. So, all of you that are thinking about coming out here to visit, pray for us to get the house that we are looking for cuz we are looking big to accomidate extras. So far so good.