Adventures!!

Finally a nice day that Dan was home for so we headed out of town! Not far but far enough to breath the fresh pine filled air! It was a wonderful outing!! We originally were planning to hike the Naturalist Trail, but we ended up on a different trail, Ophier I think...

Riley was excited to try out his new found craft, pine needle chains! We have a few decorating the house now!

Jake found treasures, including a large piece of sap!!

Leili was happy to eat the dirty snow, yum...

Snack time! I was excited to get all the kids in one shot all doing their own thing! Too fun!

Thanks to the rock I balance the camera on so we could get a family picture!

Even a picture of ME! :)

And look at these cuties!!

So fun, we are lucky I came home!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo (or three) - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember

Snow Day

When the snow started falling this morning on the dry ground we said, "I did not know it was going to snow today". In this wild adventure we've begun it sometimes snows when the sun is shining so we just did not think much about it. But it did not stop, there was enough to play in, there was enough to look pretty, and it kept snowing.

I looked at the evidences of spring as I washed dishes, it was warm the other day, we did celebrate the first day of spring. But I am not complaining. I had missed the forced slowing of our pace by winters blanket. I think this was a blessing from Heaven, they knew I needed a little isolation.

Nests were made and enjoyed, legos were plentiful, heater vents were sought out as the squeals ran through the house, "the heaters on"! It was loud, it was quiet, it was still snowing. Maybe we should have bought a snow shovel, but if we had it would not have snowed.

"A swirling, whirling snowstorm" at that.

Soup and hot chocolate were required, Leili jubilantly exclaimed, "LELLOW" when I pulled down the small cup once just the right size for Fern. Another new word, they are coming too fast to catch them all these days.

And then at the end, quiet and the earthly glow of a world covered in snow, and a quite little arm around my neck as I walk down the hall.
Good night.

Just in case...

you were not sure,

our bathroom is co-ed and non-smoking!

Thanks Riley!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The Great Basin Co-op...

...is SOOOO cool! I found out about it on the internet when learning about Reno and I have NOT been disappointed! The store they have now is pretty small, our family fills it up but it is LOVELY!! We became "owners" and so now we can order anything by the case or in bulk and if we volunteer to work for a few hours a month the mark up is waived! Our food storage will rock! :)

Their produce is local, they have seedling sales (grown locally), and look at this cute boy I found there! :)

This cutie had to hang out outside as she was screaming because we would not let her fondle the bulk bins. Mean old parents! Sheesh!

Great Basin Community Co-op

Edible Reno-Tahoe article (their grandma is Riley's primary teacher)! Small world!(scroll down to the "Smart Shopping" part).

Exploring!

So I know some of you know what is going on with crazy us and some of you don't... so.... what's the story!?!

Well you all know the last move was a bitter one, and unemployment lasted MUCH LONGER than we would have guessed, we actually ended up in San Diego for over a year! But thankfully last month Dan was offered a full time, salaried flying job! He took it of course, after 17 months of unemployment we would have taken almost any job almost anywhere. (It wore me down enough that we actually thought about applying for a job in South Africa!) So here we are RENO! We drove in a week ago Thursday and that was the first time I had set foot in the city. Dan is enjoying the new flight department, we are enjoying a pay check, and soon we will also be enjoying medical insurance! The company that hired Dan is owned by an individual, who is wealthy enough to have an airplane to fly their cats to the vet in Sacramento when they want. :)

So that is the story!

Now to the exploring!!

It can get pretty windy here (I LOVE wind), so the kids and I headed out on foot the other day when the wind was blowing!! The river was a draw, I had to remind Jake a MILLION times to not get in because I did not want to get in!! :)
Leili is all about elephants and was so excited to find one at the park! :)

I am not sure what they are all doing in this picture but I like it anyway! We found the giant Indian head at the park too, it was a monument for Washoe Paiute, and Shoshone.

More adventures to come!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

We Are Here!

Nevada welcomed us out in the middle of nowhere!

We made it safe and sound, we are settling in nicely, the house we rented sight unseen turned out good, and we have internet now! Hooray!
The drive was beautiful we split it into two days, the first was a little long but the second was not too bad although we did not get to drive though Mammoth because chains where required! We had quite the envoy, Dan in the truck pulling the Honda, Daddy in his Jeep pulling a trailer and the rest of the crazy bunch bringing up the rear in the van! Our own little circus!

We have found all the important things so far, the Reno Temple, Church, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, the co-op (more on that in another post!), Goodwill, but darn it I have not been to the library to get a new card!!

The mountains are beautiful to look at, I look forward to seeing the area green this summer! I know everyone calls this the littlest big city or what ever but so far I am lucky to have maps on my phone or I would not have made it home (several times)! I am just letting Dan be my driver for now!

The kids where all excited to have snow the other day, it covered the ground and then melted a few hours later. Win, win!!

I am still drowning in boxes, although this kitchen is oh so cute and original to the house (60?) it is small and we are missing the added space of a finished basement we had in CT. But it is our own and we are discovering all our long packed treasures (and a few things we are wondering why we packed)!!

Thank you all for your love and prayers!

XO

On the Road!

I could not resist to share one more with you all! Our family is quite familiar with moving trucks, and Leili is most definitely ours, she is IN LOVE with the truck! She even said "truck" for the first time!

We'll just call her Dad's little sidekick!

All Packed UP!

Back when we unpack!
XO

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

KALE!

Don't fall over, yes posts two days in a row! I guess I'm on a roll!! :)

So... we LOVE kale, yes it is true. Fern will eat the whole pan if we'd let her, and now Leili has found the love too. What 20 month old eats raw kale?
She stole my kale this morning when I was cooking, I asked her to show me the kale and this is what I got! :) I should have know better, "do you like SEE food?".
Why was I making kale for breakfast? I told you we LOVE kale! But seriously we have found a new favorite breakfast, Be Bop Breakfast! We are all a little addicted to watching Cookus Interuptus, it is made by the gal who wrote my favorite cookbook.

The purple on is my first copy, the pages are all fallen out and stained. Then a new edition came out and I got it for Christmas!! LOVE!!
So go make yourself some Be Bop Breakfast!



And now I need one of these!!

Leili Faces (and Dan too)!

Grumpy?
Silly!

Important work to do!!

It's February!!

That means LOTS of celebrating at our house!!!

On the 10th Riley earned his yellow/white belt in Jui-Jitsu!
You have to enlarge this photo and see his proud smile!

Sorry out of order, Valentines was all full of love, although I only got a picture of breakfast. I did not get a picture of my cute kids (I made them each something to wear), or our fun dinner and valentine giving with Mary, Novella, and Koa. Nor did I get a picture of the yummy fondue dessert we all enjoyed. oh well.

And FEBRUARY 11 was Riley's 10th BIRTHDAY! How can it be! He was stoked to get an old wooden military footlocker from Grandpa and us, and grandpa gave him this padlock so Riley received a little privacy (even if he still has to share a room with Jake and Fern and deal with Leili's frequent visits)!

10!

Oh The Posts That Need Posting...

Yes I am behind, things are just moving at a breakneck pace and so lets dive in!

Lots of scouting going on here, Riley is moving up to Weblos this month! After he completed all his Bear requirements he was able to work on a couple extra things, most exciting is that he earned his Whittling Chip. Yes that means my child can now carry a knife! He was very proud of himself and yes we did give him his own pocket knife.
And it is RACING time again! Jake is in a different pack than Riley so you'll see more racing next month!
Jake's car is the orange one in the crate with the other Tiger Cub's cars!

Jake's car did pretty well, unfortunately the race came when Dan was traveling so mom had to fill in a little! :)

Jake was quite happy, he tied for 3rd place! Although he was bummed to not get a trophy he was glad for the patch!