stuff I missed lately:

We accepted callings in our new ward.  Husband will be teaching youth Sunday School and I'm on the Enrichment Committee which is possibly everyone's favorite calling (planning a fun, social, uplifting activity each month for the women in the ward).  We had a planning meeting last week and loving it, going to be so fun and a great way to get to know my neighbors.

One of my neighbors hosted a neighborhood girls night with food and games and what a blast!  I didn't know anyone there when I first arrived but loved everyone I met.  So fun!

Still moving in, unpacking and organizing.  The office is now usable (but a disaster) and we slowly even started putting things up on the walls.  Love this house, feeling really good about the decisions we made that brought us here, even despite some hiccups and frustrations with our builder to finish a few items.

Husband's mom's side of the family had a fabulous family reunion, hosted at Grandma's house.  Husband and his dad roasted meat (Braza Grill style) for the delicious buffet and then husband and I ran the rock wall while the girls bounced around to all the activities she had prepared: trying on silly hats, hay bale roping, shooting tin cans, horse rides and their favorite: the bounce house.  Then we had an auction with things various family members had donated: jars of canned salsa, family recipes of jam, crafts/decor/jewelry they had made and a few treasures that came from common ancestors that needed a new home.  All the money will be used for future family reunions.  I didn't know most of the family, only husband's cousins that we see occasionally but all of his mom's cousins and their kids were there too and it made quite a large gathering.

We had a garage sale, selling a bunch of stuff that we unpack and realized we didn't need.  The kids thought it was a blast and were actually really helpful and willing when we sorted through toys, clothes, books, etc.  They thought the sale itself was a grand adventure with all of our "visitors" and they each earned a little month to be spend on a new something special.
Husband took the girls for their first rock climbing adventure!  His parents' house is gorgeous, looking somewhat like an English manor and built of gray pot rock.  The far side of the house is almost windowless and bolted as a climbing route.  So we invested in a proper harness for the girls and Husband sent L up the wall of the tall, two story home.  I wasn't there but heard she tore up it with excitement and agility very quickly.  Then she turned around, panicked and refused to descend or even move for AN HOUR AND A HALF.  Still not sure how he got her down in the end.

I attend a SEP with L's kindergarten teachers.  They praised how helpful and sweet she is and showed me her test scores from assessment.  The target was for students to know 60% of the material they were tested on and she scored 71% already.  Overall, she's doing very well.  She's making friends, she's excited about school and has recently begun bringing homework home regularly.

Homework and alarm clocks are new additions to our schedules but I think we are finally getting settled into our routines.  But between school, ballet classes and whatever playdates we can fit in, the girls are regularly worn out and bedtime keep creeping earlier as we figure out what they need.

My little sister came to visit!!  I got to pick her up from the airport and we had her all to ourselves for a whole night before taking her up to join the rest of the family for a the weekend.  We ran a few errands, made her favorite cookies together and watched a movie.  (except she was so worn out and is two time zones ahead so she slept through most of it).  But the girls loved having her here and nearly smothered her with their energy and attention.

We finally organized the garage door enough to cut the cat door in and bring our cats over to the new house.  They seemed to do fine at first but one of them wandered off to explore and hasn't found his way home yet.  He's been gone for almost three days and the girls are breaking my heart, going outside to call for him and asking repeatedly when he'll come home.

I had my first experience volunteering in the classroom for L's school.  Today was the "dia de la hispanidad" party so I attended to help with the crafts and snacks.  They watched a cartoon about Columbus, decorated hats and made little rice crispy boats with a fruit roll up sail.  A and E went with me and were remarkably well behaved and eager to participate with them.

onto more adventures...

**just in case you were worried, after three days Simba found his way home.  Since, then, both cats have become content and extremely lazy, spending 99% of their time curled up in their bed napping.