A new house, a visitor and a very happy Easter

After almost 7 months of waiting, we finally got to move into our new house at Sahuarita in early April. As I write this I don't have pictures to post but I'll try to get some up here soon. We have the lake in our backyard and we're really close to the local pool and activity centre. We're really glad that we waited for this house - so far we are really enjoying living here. The only complaint that I have about the house is that so far it has just as many scorpions as the house in Bagdad had - for the nine months that we lived in Green Valley we didn't have to wear shoes inside (no scorpions in the second-floor apartment) but those days are gone and we are back to wearing shoes at all times again.

Our first visitor arrived just a week after we moved in. My dear friend Helen came to visit us from Baldivis, Western Australia. She was here for a week and it was just so nice to have a break from work, spend time with a close friend, talk and catch up on the time since we last saw each other (Christmas, but still, we had lots to talk about). I don't have a big circle of friends here to say the least so I really enjoyed having Helen here. She was a real trooper too, helping me to get lots of boxes unpacked and of course, helping me to set up my craft haven upstairs! For the first time in a long while I had a friend who was very happy to go shopping (N likes to shop but like all small children, he'll only put up with it for a short time and isn't interested in clothes or shoes), who understood the need to stop for morning and afternoon tea, and who really knows and understands who I am. Friends like that are rare treasures.

Easter morning Nathan and Helen did the Easter egg hunt before Paul and I had even woken up. I'd wanted to make hot cross buns on Good Friday because they aren't available in America but when the day came I hadn't found the box of recipes yet and I hadn't found my breadmaker (I have a really good recipe for hot cross buns that you mix in the bread machine - so good). Even without the hot cross buns, it was a very special Easter, our first in our new home and wonderful to have Helen here to share it with us.