Living in the Crest

Well, we've been here for 18 days now. It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long, and yet it seems like longer at the same time. We're making progress on our colorful house (more on that later) thanks to a LOT of help. Omar's sister Llael came down with us for two weeks. She's a slave driver and we got a lot done while she was here. Well, a lot other than sleeping--we didn't do much of that! My mom and Greta and Michael and Tara and Ava came for a day and helped tons, too! We're really grateful for the families God gave us. What would we do without them?

We've been having fun mixed in with the work, too. When my family was down here we went to Texas Cattle Company and my mom bought us all lunch. That place is fun, but SO much food! The cups are a even huge, a Liter a drink. (You don't even want to know how much soda Omar had that day!) Then we went to L.A. to visit Omar's brother and play at the beach with Llael for a couple of days. Lots of good food and good company there. We take daily trips to Home Depot where there are shoppping carts that are race cars (like Lowe's in Yuba City), which Isaiah LOVES. And there is a park close to our house that we go to almost every day.  The boys like having a back yard that isn't rocks to play in, also. Yesterday as he headed out the door Helaman told me, "Sunny days make me happy!"

Isaiah was walking when we first got here, but he refuses to walk now unless he's holding your hand. He doesn't really use you to balance, but just insists on the security. Probably had one too many falls on the hard wood floor and tile. Poor baby. He continues the tradition of crawling around and finding "ca-ca" to give me off the floor, and it's a lot easier to find without carpet!

Helaman loves primary here (that's a huge relief!) and can't wait to go, walking in and sitting with a huge grin on his face. We've been really enjoying church, too. We like our ward and so far church has been a spiritual feast every week. Plus with all these smart people (all the engineers and scientists on the base) they get into some fun discussions.  It's kind of like being in a BYU ward, for those of you that have done that. Actually, almost everyone in our ward is from BYU, so that's not far off. The government recruits heavily from there.

Helaman has made a friend at the park named Michael (who is really impressed that I have a brother by the same name). I think they were supposed to be friends. The first time we came this summer we took Helaman to McDonald's one night to let him run around at the play ground. There was one other kid there, who he actually played with (not standing there watching shyly). Michael talks as well as Helaman, but he's the same age, so it was perfect for him. He's not as cautious, and a lot more active than my little worrier, but I think that's good for him. When we ran into him again at the park we were surprised and happy. They play together at the park a few evenings a week.

As for the heat in Ridgecrest... it's not as bad as Gridley has been lately. The sun does beat down on you becasue there's no refraction from the humidity that doesn't exist. But it the shade, it doesn't feel bad at all without the humidity that doesn't exist. The trouble is finding shade in the desert!

I have a few pictures to share, I need to get the rest from Llael, she was our documentary picture taker while she was here, and I forgot to get the pictures from her camera before she left.

[gallery]