So we have been here for almost a month and I finally had a chance to take some pictures.  Here is your guided tour of our newest abode.

This is the front of the house from across the street.  The former pastor & wife had the white picket fence put in because there is no sidewalk and they didn't like looking out and seeing people walking on their lawn(or should I say weeds?).  I am really enjoying the large driveway.  BW keeps laughing at me because I come in or park a different way all the time.

Closer view of the front of the house.  The former pastor & his wife picked the color.  They are from the Northeast and wanted the house painted colonial blue.  Little did they  know colonial blue on stucco is almost ELECTRIC blue.  It does make it easy to find.  BW is painting the trim white to match the white picket fence.   You can also see the monster hedge that we get to trim.

 From the front door, you see the living room and for the moment the girls napping on the couch and the boys watching TV.  Yes - that is blue on the ceiling.  And dark blue carpet (which I am getting accustomed to vacuuming EVERY day).  Someone really liked blue!  (Which is actually ok because it is my favorite color, but it is ALOT of blue!)

Other view of the Living room to see the fireplace and entrance to the kitchen/dining room.

Our dining room table didn't fit very well in our old house so we had made the dining room into a play room.  We are so excited that we've been able to bring our dining room table back in.   Everyone feels so far away now when we have dinner.  The kids are actually going to have to learn how to pass things - guess I'll have to start using serving pieces instead of just putting the pots/pans on the table!  And yes,  the tile is blue.

From the kitchen, we move to the playroom/homeschool room which seems to be an addition made to the rest of the house.  The walls in this room are sponge painted (you guessed it) blue!  It has been awesome to have this room where the kids can have all their toys, their own tv(which will really come in handy when we start our home bible studies here) and CJ really likes doing school in here. 

Now, if you go back through the kitchen you will reach the kids bedroom.

I couldn't find a good angle to get the whole room in so you will have to settle for an aerial view atop the bunkbeds.  The room came out really cute and the kids just love their bunk beds.  I couldn't believe how hard it was to put the sheets on. 

Now I will take you into the master bedroom.

Notice the closet that BW bought for me as the actual closet in this room is really tiny(I guess people in the 30s didn't have many clothes??).  He also bought me the dresser from the pastor who lived here before us.  So I have a big girl dresser now with the mirror we had hanging in the living room of our Northern Cal house.  As you can see, the blue from our bedspread(minus the sheet to cover the cat's sleeping area) complements the blue carpet in this room well.

Another view of the master to show that AF's crib fit as did the two dressers we had previously used.  BW needs both of them now due to the shortage of closet space.

I will spare you looking at the bathrooms as I couldn't get a good angle and we will head out to the backyard.

As you can see, it's huge for a Southern California yard!  The tree closer to the house may be cut down this spring as they believe the roots are causing problems which will really cut down on shade.  The farther tree is an orange tree and the front yard has walnut, avocado and pomegranate.  Maybe I'll have the kids start a fruit stand!

What I forgot to get a picture of was that behind the fence to the backyard is the parking lot for the church BW is serving in.  So he can just walk right over to his office - yes, he has his own office and we can walk to church.  There is also a school leasing property from the church so we have playground equipment.  It has a church bell that the kids got to ring on Christmas Eve, a very big hit that they continue to talk about. 

I am amazed at how quickly this place has transitioned to "home".  People always say that kids are resilient and I am finding that is really true.  The move doesn't even seem to have phased them at all and they are very at home here.  I am still trying to figure out where to grocery shop, how to get to the library and remember where the different streets go.  If only I could be as resilient as the kids!

I hope you have enjoyed the tour and that you come and visit often.  Have a great day!

-J