Long time, no blog!

Whew...we have finally moved into our new house -- the big move day was June 19 (Andrew remembered as we were in the middle of moving that the day we moved to Sacramento from Vancouver was June 19, 1999, so I guess June 19 is just our day for moving)! Two days after we moved, some of our closest friends (we all met at Bible college) came to stay with us for a week, and the day they left my sister Anna and two little nephews, Ben and Aaron, came to stay for 10 days! They left last Sunday, and on Tuesday my parents arrived for a visit! They will fly home this Sunday evening. We have really enjoyed sharing our new home with everyone, even though it's been a whirlwind few weeks!

I plan to share some before and after pics of our new home soon...I just want to get a few more things done (like curtains and artwork put up) before I take the "after" shots! Thanks for your patience! :-)

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks...enjoy!

Becky and LaSarah, my two best friends from college, at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA, where we took a tour to see how the famous candies are made!

LaSarah with her husband Nate and their kiddos, Josh and AnnaLuisa, posing on some "toadstools" at FairyTale Town in Sacramento.

My brother Nate with our nephews Ben and Aaron at a little community parade we went to see.

My sister Anna and me; pardon my squinting -- it was bright!

And just a little something to tide you over until I can get more before and after pics ready, here's the circular fireplace in our living room as it was when we purchased the house:

And here's what it looks like now, after we commissioned a local artist to paint it (the scenes are from the Northwest, where I'm from -- Multnomah Falls and a scene from the Columbia River Gorge). We're quite pleased with the end result!