Pictures!

Karli's teaching me how to add pictures. Here's some from the things we've been doing the past 2 months...

These are the worlds funniest Mother's Day flowers. This was just the day after I got them and they really made us all laugh and laugh. The company felt so bad that they sent an amazing boquet of lilies that are still blooming as I type!

Here is Karli in all of her glory! Her choir did a great broadway review of CATS. I'm not sure if she liked the singing, dancing or doing the make up the best... It was so fun to watch.

Ta-da! Only a week after she learned to crawl and she is standing. This was a couple of weeks ago, so she's really good at it now.

I think her cousin is her friend for life for giving her this lollipop! It provided an hour of enjoyment and then I got to mop up a huge slobbery sticky mess.

This is the first time that Ron and his sisters had all been together with their cousins in 30 years. I love that family can get together and it's like they were never apart.

The Compound

Ok, so I told you this would be next and now I have other things to tell, so here goes... I grew up near Westwood. My family moved there from Washington state when I was 10 because my grandparents, aunts, uncles and most of my cousins were here. When I was in jr high, my family built a home only 1/2 a block away from the original one and that is where they still live, in the culdesac of Orange Street.
Last year, my parents decided to downsize from the 5500 square feet and bought the smaller older house next door. After a beautiful renovation/remodel, they moved in and my sister and her husband with their bouquet of 5 daughters returned from Pennsylvania and bought the Big House.
I know that sounds like a party, but it gets even better. My older brother with his family bought the house behind the pool and one of my younger brothers with his family live in the house behind the swing set. Block by block, all the fences between the yards have been taken down and the perimeter enclosed... yes, by white pickets:) That means lots of room to run and play!
At last count there were 9 adults, 15 children, 3 dogs, and 1 cat all calling this patch of heaven their home. They share a sandbox, climbing trees, 2 tree forts, a pool, a swing set and all the lawn equipment. There are lots of trees... pecan, peach, apricot, apple, orange, lemon, tangerine, persimmon, pomegranate, misc. shade, date, olive, and mulberry.
So the 8 of us have been blessed to live in the basement of the Big House since the end of January while we try to sell our home near Poston Jr High. We have loved playing in the irrigation, picking and eating mulberries, helping and living so near cousins and grandparents. This is an amazing time that our family will never forget.