Family Update

It's been a while since I have written at all and I thought I would update you on everything that has been happening with us.

We are all doing well. We are all moved into our new home and we absolutely love it! I know that most of you saw it and can have an idea of what it's like. I just have to say that it is better than I ever imagined. The girls have so much room to play and we just love everything about it! We had a little fun time with the room that has the fireplace in it. We had decided to take the wallpaper off before we moved in but it turned into a huge job (that is still in the works . . .) It turns out that the wallpaper was somehow on a pressed board and those boards were both glued and nailed to the wall. A really nice lady from our ward came to help me and we pulled down all those boards, scraped the glue off the walls, re-spackled the walls, and now we are in the process of sanding them all down so we can re-texture the walls before we paint. I have learned a whole lot from this project and as frustrating as it is, I really do love home repairs. It's been fun to see the change and know that I did it!

Another big news is that we got a dog. To be honest, I was not excited about it. I don't like all that comes with a dog, like the shedding, the work, the barking, the mess, etc. but Jim and the girls really wanted one and we heard of one that the lady wanted to give away and we went to see the dog. She is a chow/corgi mix, with red hair and she is super cute. She is a medium size dog so I am happy. (I could not do a big dog!) The thing that won me over to let the family have a dog is that she is very well behaved. She knows how to sit, she doesn't bark hardly at all, she is gentle with the kids, and a very calm dog. We got her the day after we moved and have thoroughly enjoyed her. We re-named her Jo-Jo (Violatte's choice) and the girls absolutely adore her. We love to take her for walks and the girls love to play with her and can't wait each morning until it is warm enough to go outside.

Right now the weather has been pretty nice. It still gets a little chilly at nights but by mid-afternoon it is too hot to play outside. It is perfect in the late mornings and in the evenings, though. We spend a lot of time outside. It feels so good and we are enjoying it as much as we can before it gets really hot.

Jim is still loving his job. He is in a new branch for the next couple of months and he really has enjoyed it there. He learns so much and gets to see some really cool things.

The girls are getting soooo big! Annee is walking really well know and she says so many words! She knows, "dog," "yes," "outside," "please," "eat," "bath," and so many more. She also knows the animal sounds for a dog, snake, monkey, and (my favorite) the horse. For the horse sound she buzzes her lips like horses do. It's so darling!

Violatte is getting so big, too. She has started dance lessons and loves to show us what she learned. She is taking a ballet/tap class and she is doing so good in it. She loves to dance at home and has learned names for some of her favorite steps. She loves to arabesque and knows her first position and she loves to shuffle/step from tap. I love watching her learn. Both girls also love to come with me to my ballet class and both of them like to dance with me. It's a fun thing that all of us like to do together.