Update

We're finally in our new home! We moved in today but have not fully unpacked and settled in. It's a bit small and crowded but we're slowly making it feel like a home, cozy and beautiful. It's also very close to both James and Sasha's school. It even has a back yard with a swing set!

James drove our car from Houston to Amherst, and Sasha and I flew. Colin and Britt took us in and made us feel so welcomed back in MA. It was a nice transition time after the hectic move from Houston and before the hectic move into Boston. They took care of Sasha for an entire day while we took all our stuff out of storage and brought it to our apartment - SUCH a great help since it takes so much longer to do even the simplest of things with her! :)
They're also letting us store half of our stuff in their basement. It wouldn't have fit here with us, and we would have had to pay to store it anywhere else. James and I are VERY grateful.
Before we returned our truck, we still had some things that we wanted to get rid of - furniture that we didn't want to throw away but we couldn't leave at a goodwill store because they were all closed over the weekend. So, feeling worried that we wouldn't be able to get rid of it, we pulled up to a student apartment complex and lay all our stuff out on the yard. As soon as I put up the "FREE STUFF" sign and before we finished emptying the truck, there were swarms of people hauling stuff away.
They were all so surprised that we were giving it away, and we were so thankful to be getting rid of it! So it all worked out perfectly.

I've taken lots of pictures since the last time I posted. There are pictures from before we left: our last visit with Sonja and her family, and our last dinner with Adrienne and Jan. There are pictures of our hike up Mt.Monadnock, of a swim in a river in Amherst, (and Colin jumping off a tree into it!), and of a visit to the zoo. The last one is of a dinner that Christine, James' mentor at Exxon, invited us to. Her neighbors came as well as some other Exxon employees.

Once we're settled in a bit more, I'll try to post more regularly again.

By the way, our new address (until June 09) is:
308 Homer St.
Newton, MA 02459

Kayaking

This will probably be the last post in a little while. We're moving back to Massachusetts next Thursday. Then there's the task of finding a place to live and of unpacking once again. Soon after, all three of us start school!
As soon as we're settled in again I'll post pictures.

We went kayaking recently. It was such a great activity. It was so peaceful. We all have missed going for hikes and being out in the wilderness. Sasha enjoyed it too! She sat in the back and occasionally dipped her feet in the water, and even helped us row.

The last pictures are of us spending some more time with Sonja, Xena and Bo (We're really going to miss them) :(

Jane invited us to a birthday party today. We met lots of interesting people and Sasha got to play with other kids and eat a lot of sweets! :/



Her first piñata.. she was very determined to get it open as soon as I told her it was full of surprises:



Picking up as many treats as she could:



Learning to play Daddy's favorite sport: Baseball!







Sitting with Federico (Jane's grandson) next to the biggest Russian doll I've ever seen. We took it apart into about 20 different little dolls!



Having a tea party in the tub:



Her favorite new game is Hide and Seek. Her idea of hiding, though, is sitting in a corner, giggling like crazy, and facing the wall (as long as she can't see us, then everything's alright!



Peeling an orange:




We said goodbye to Mima on Wednesday. :( We all miss her very much.