"What's in the BOX!"

 This last week we FINALLY got our stuff! Yay! It's been over a year since we last packed it all up. You could imagine that I had(still have) no clue what I truly own. As the boxes came I started to get all excited. "Yay, it can finally be a home" I thought, but as the men left me there with all my stuff, I had no clue where to start. My excitement quickly changed into more of an overwhelming anxiousness. So as you can imagine our weekend was mainly just unpacking . We did two more trips to Ikea. I love Ikea, but I think that going over there as many times as we have in a month, is ENOUGH. Unfortunately,  now that I have unpacked most of the boxes, I see there is still a butt load of stuff I have to get there. ANNNNYYYYYYWAYYYY, in-between all the unpacking we did get to take a few breaks playing "cars, singing ABC, going to the park, AND on Saturday we got  to go to  The Grove. There we were lucky to meet Susan Petersen from Freshly Picked at her Nordstrom launch. She was so sweet and such a cool lady. We also walked around for a bit and ate some disappointing Louisiana cooking at the Farmer's Market, but it was nice to get away for a bit and spend time with my boys.

This boy and his cars.....oh how he LOVES his cars

Playing at the same playground I played in when I was a little girl......Cool

We went out for dinner a few times since cooking in a tiny cluttered kitchen was just not happening

Looking to see if there is anywhere on this page that says "just move in here"....nope, you can't do that. "It's frowned upon"

My baby was eight month last time we had these couches, he had NO clue what all this stuff was but he was really excited

mystery of "what's in the box, WHAT'S IN THE BOX!!!!!!!!", I could not for the life of me read what the boxes said. 

Another awesome perk of LA, fruit on the street....YUMMO

Mr. Bashful meeting Susan, he did bat his eyes at her a few times, little flirt

David ordered Jambalaya and I got Pasta Salad, who the heck orders pasta salad as a whole meal....big mistake, Baby D liked it though

This kid is just like his Daddy. He loves to help building and using tools for the furniture

Ahhhhhhhhh, naps, if only I was as good as he is at taking them.....Those lashes....

Oh hey

We have been here for one whole week! I still don't believe it. Mainly because our moving van has yet to arrive (one more week). So as you can imagine it's been a bit challenging to really settle in. My brother-in-law did us the favor of selling a few of our things so we bought what we knew we didn't have, a dining table and a bed for the baby. Well I think I should stop referring him to the baby, he's almost 2!!!  Anyway D doesn't have a crib/bed anymore so we bought him a daybed. One, because we didn't want to buy a crib to have to soon do the whole "big boy bed" and because when people come to visit we have where to put them. It's also been OUR bed for the last week, and will continue to be for the next week or so. Like I mentioned we also got a table and two chairs, yep just two for now. For dinner we were doing David in one chair, Baby D in another chair with his booster chair and I in the stroller. I called it a chariot when my cousin Estefania came over and had to use it. The next day she came over with two chairs. YAY, I guess I'll be dining like a peasant again. That's all we really have with the the house and all, but it's been nice to sit down for meals like a "normal" family (whatever that means).
David's first few days of work have been good. It's so weird to see him be home at a decent time, I can sure get use to that. Also today he even came home for lunch, a great perk of living a few blocks away. Though I do miss some of the excitement of traveling and being a bit more careless, I've really enjoyed being with my boys and starting to "settle" down in our little apartment.

Here are three pics that show exactly what we've been doing:

Building

Furniture testing

And Shopping

Happy weekend everybody!

Settling

As I mentioned before we are settling down back in the US of A. It's all been happening so fast, but I am so excited to say that for the next year and a half or so we will be living in the Los Angeles California area. AHHHHHHHHH! I know I know, how freaked exciting. For those of you that don't know, I was born and raised in L.A county so I am SO SO SO excited to be coming back "home" and calling it home for the next couple of years or so. David and I flew in a couple of days after receiving the official news. It hasn't all sunk in quite yet and apartment hunting/furniture window shopping, plus car shopping has been a little ( a lot) stressful, and we decided to have my parents babysit my little baby. I MISS him SOOOOOOO SOOOO much. Oh gosh Sunday can't come any sooner.  BUT geez this stress gets me all out of whack, both physically and emotionally. I'm crying, nauseas and just plain uncomfortable in every way. "Ohhhh she's prego" you might all be thinking, but no, I just have all the ridiculous symptoms with no cute baby at the end of it all. Hopefully by the end of the week we get all if not a least most of these things taken care of  so I can get back to feeling normal again.

While we've been here we have been able to have a little fun doing some fun L.A things. Labor day we spent our night at Dodger stadium with some of my favorite people here.

Someone is a bit excited he has a ball from the game

some explaining

These couple of weeks have been filled with lots of emotions and change. If you haven't noticed I've been a bit more absent than usual but this time it was with good reason. Our little adventures abroad have come to an unexpected end. While in Mexico, we seemed to become a target of some not so nice people. There was no physical harm, but it was enough to scare us. This event had  us reevaluate everything that we were doing. After a lot of talking, praying and counsel from those we love,we came to a conclusion that these Budus need to stop moving so much so often and settle down for a bit. It was NOT an easy decision. Sometimes I wish we could take it all back and be back in our "element", traveling, having no true or difficult decisions to make,(finding a place to live, bills, etc.) but then I realize that already things seem to be falling into place.

So hang tight, hopefully I'll be back soon with a real post. Lots of changes but having a lot of change seems to be the most consistent thing in our life

HALLO germany

We have been loving Germany so far. It feels familiar in some weird way.....Maybe it's Aldi that is truly the only thing that is actually familiar. ANYWAY we love it. The only thing I'm not loving is still having to live in a small hotel room. We've had no kitchen for over a month now, and now we don't even have a fridge. So this means us eating out and just eating carbs. I know that during the winter you normally gain a few pounds, but come on, I'm no longer enjoying the food and spring is here. I think I'll have to be extra creative with what we eat. I did however find an amazing park right across the street. OH and guess what? I found a friend!!! Thanks to my spanish, I found someone to hang out with. It was so random. She has the CUTEST kid. He's two and brought over some toys for David to play with, then I heard something familiar. WHAT??? SPANISH? Yes! She was so helpful. We talked for hours and then she offered to show me around. She lived about a block away and showed me how to get there incase I ever needed anything she said I could just come over. I know we are taught stranger danger, but trust me, she's okay and she was exactly what I needed to feel somewhat at peace. Now I have someone to have playdates with. YAY!


We have had ONE sunny day all week, and most days it's been raining. It rained yesterday but we were able to find a great shopping mall, so you know I was happy. It was great to see some shops and have the baby run around and play. We went to church today and learned baby David is the only one in nursery. Small ward but met more spanish speakers and had the meetings translated. Overall great weekend.

Last weekend we also had tons of fun. We went over to Dusseldorf and explored a bit. Ben is the Team Leader in this project is speaks German fluently. It is SO nice to have someone that actually speaks the language. He is all of our personal translator/tutor whenever we are out. Most of the stores were closed when we went so lots of window shopping but now I know where all the good shops are at. We will for sure be heading back that way.

Ever wonder why I'm not in too many pictures....This is why

"playgrounds" are really different....We seem to have a hard time figuring them out

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom"

Nestle team with Baby D as the mascot 

"Say hello to my little friend!"

He was so done by this point

Still seems like so much to explore. Anyone know any other cool cities???? Berlin and Munich are a must. Hopefully soon we get to explore some more!

All aboard

Switzerland has been fun these last few weeks, but the time has finally arrived David and his team has been reassigned to a short project. Recklinghausen/Dortmund (we have yet to find a place), Germany will be our home for the remaining three months.It has been an interesting month or so. Hotel hopping, moving from room to room, eating a ridiculous and delicious amount of carbs, and enjoying the local parks. Of course with our proximity to other fun cities we have, I believe, made the most of it. I’ve loved the experiences and opportunities we have with this life of ours, but sometimes it can be a tad difficult, especially when you have a little person that needs structure, but his world around him changes so often that it sometimes seems impossible to set any. I call us nomads, and for the time being we are, but I can’t see us doing this for much longer than this program goes, (knock on wood) I know when that time comes it will be bitter sweet, but I think by then, we would have seen much of the world and can take a break for a few years.  So as nice as hotels are, I can’t wait to get to a house that we can make our home. 

Long train ride to Germany....we came prepared

Now that we have left Switzerland, there is a lot we will miss. We had lots of fun these last few weeks. Now that I'm familiar and can get around pretty well with transport I feel a bit more relaxed even I STILL can not speak a lick of French.

One thing of a hotel that I will miss very much, waking up to having breakfast ready every morning

These tartlets have become a problem for me, as has all food in Europe.......

Airplane, Bus, Train, if it gets us there, we will take it

Promise he is happy, but when I called his name he gave me this face

Meeting Lego Man....look how excited he is...."not washing this hand ma"