Do you have a minute?

it has been a while. And like a shaken champagne bottle, I have a lot to release! I am finally back in the saddle. My laptop is new and wine-free and I have download a million photos from the past month of my life. So if you have some time to sit and listen to my stories, let's get started.
So..2 days before closing,, the appraiser decides to actually appraise our new house after much prodding by all parties. And of course, he comes in WAY low out of spite and horrid economy. So the seller's won't take this stupid appraisal and we are left to sell our house and move our stuff in to storage while we wait out the political bull crap. We leave the old house on Friday with NO idea when or IF we are going to purchase our new one. So..what does any homeless person do..head to the comfort of friends and dogs. We head to Kristen's to await our fate.
and pretty much do this for 3 nights..

The kids lay around a lot..
I am not sure if Stella is more disgusted by the slobbery squeaky toy or Dante himself
Regardless, she forces herself to lay on the soft bed
naps were had by all

Shiloh shows us her best smile!
While not sleeping, the helped Stella guard the yard.Besides our anxiety about where we might live, our fish were probably getting the shortest end of the stick. this is how they spent 5 glorious days. But alas, on Monday at 7PM we finally closed on our new house. We spent the first night on an air mattress as the movers could not bring our storage unit until the next day. But the first morning of our house..was sweet victory! Jason surveys our back 40 while waiting for the movers. And I take a look at all the flowers in bloom
Kristen and gyeong graciously bring our kids back to us after we had a chance to unpack a little. Dana needed her bowl and bed in a spot to prevent meltdowns!

I think the kids love their new yard!
The squirrels are a new nuisance that the previous treeless yard lacked!As well as our neighbor..meet Frick..it might be Frack..i can't tell you.
We spent every waking hour unpacking..Cali and Dana show off their probably favorite winter spotDante shows off his new deck!
and without fail, we get a foster pretty much immediately after moving. Par for course, i would say! We had him before, meet Skiddy Urban. he is a very good boy.

I decide to paint the 1/2 bathroom and Urban 'helps'Finally, after about 3 weeks, we are finally able to cook our first meal in the new house. And I might add that this is my view as I type minus the food :-)And of course..we throw a small party. This is only foreshadowing the massive one to come. But it was July 4th! Stanley says "Jaime..succomb to my power" or "I squish your head"

So that is my last few weeks in a very long nutshell. Now you are caught up and I am now devoted to providing fun shots with my new back drop. I have missed you all!!!