We Are Home!

Look at our pathetic girls on moving day. They were paranoid about being left behind during the move, and insisted on cramming in to the front seat of the car as Chad and I unloaded the U-Haul. They would not get out no matter what! The car was packed full of last-minute odds and ends, but they found a way to crawl over it. It was a tiring hard week, but totally worth it.

Here is Chad chilling out in our new living room. Not everything is unpacked or in its place yet, but we love it so far! We feel like we are house sitting for someone...it is a dream to live here with Chad, Keiki, and Klemmy.

Klemmy is starting to enjoy life in the new digs. In the first 12 hours, she pooped in our master bedroom and ran through a screen door (she thought the door was open, poor girl!). Since she had such a rough start to her life before we adopted her, she is jumpy at first. Now she is relaxing, though. I think she realizes she is home!

A view of our dining area from the kitchen. Chad and I have eaten in front of the TV for the last few years. It is going to be fun to sit with him at a table. We feel like we are in a dream as we settle in to our home. Chad and I talked about how we both wanted to live on land somewhere when we first met, but we never dreamed it would all come together like this. Life is wonderful.

It's Getting Closer!

The tile is on the patio roofs, all light fixtures and plumbing fixtures are in, garage door is painted, and the tile floors are grouted. They also sculpted our driveway and brought in some good soil so we can replant trees. Hopefully it will fill in and our entrance will not be as barren. They lined our driveway with boulders from our property. Now they are hanging doors, putting in bedroom carpet, and other finishing touches. It looks like we will be able to move in early next week. Chad and I are really looking forward to truly being home.

Our Day Trip to Palomas, Mexico

Since our house is nearing completion, Chad and I decided to drive 80 miles south to our little border town of Palomas, Mexico. We wanted to look at Mexican pottery and some furniture. Pictured below is a close-up shot of the Tres Hermanas mountains. We can actually see them from our property if we look south towards the desert! They are close to the Mexican border. It is cool when we look out at our view and know that we are seeing all the way to Mexico!

Here is a shot of the entrance to Palomas. Because of all the publicized border violence during the past year, it was a lot quieter than our last trip. That was another reason we wanted to go: we want to support our local border town. All of the businesses there are suffering with the bad publicity. You can see the bright pink sign in the distance for The Pink Store. That is where we went to do our shopping. Even though Palomas has not had any recent problems, Chad and I walked straight to The Pink Store and did not go anywhere else.

Here is the border:

We bought some beautiful hand-painted pots for some of my plants:

We bought a beautiful solid wood hutch that will look great in our southwestern style house:

We also bought some huge pots that we will put outside somewhere. Of course Keiki had to get in the way.

Unfortunately, we had one casualty while unloading our car. One of the pots I picked out for our patio shattered. Oops! Overall, it was a fun trip. We had a great lunch at The Pink Store's Restaurant, enjoyed a margarita, and it felt good to support our little quaint border town.

Keiki Playing Dress-up

A Summer Evening

Even though we are really anxious for our house to be finished, we are really content with vacation rental where we are staying. It borders the Gila National Forest, and is surrounded by amazing rock formations and blooming agave. This is the view from the back patio. We sit out there every afternoon and evening with the dogs and enjoy our surroundings.



We are entertained by all of the hummingbirds. I have three feeders set up that I have to fill up daily. Hummingbirds are such feisty, beautiful little things. They have large personalities for their small size. We never get tired of watching them. It is much better than TV.

Last night we tried to take a family picture out on the patio. The girls wanted to look at us, not the camera. Oh well. We just wanted to capture a memory of a nice summer evening in the forest with our little pack.

Klemmy felt like sitting on my lap on the patio furniture quite a bit. She is a mommy's girl! Simple evenings like this are what makes life wonderful.