Week 5

We went to our first family day and got to see the inside of Elson's Stryker and Kaylani loved it! It was cold that day (about 30-32) so it was kinda tough to stay outside much. They had some bouncy blow up toys inside, but Elson had to be with his vehicle a lot of the time because he's a VC (vehicle commander). Later that same day we went to story time at the library which was "cookie themed" so we read cookie stories and made fortune cookies! Kaylani loved it and Elson and I had fun too!
After hours of looking papers over and turning various things in we found out that we're reviving about $600-$800 less per month than we should be. So that additional money will be really nice! We also looked into getting the car winterized and found out that (not including snow tires) it is $580! That is a much bigger expense than we anticipated, but we should be receiving some reimbursement and backpay that will come in handy! Especially since we had the first snow of the year yesterday and another snow today!
We started decorating for Halloween and that has been fun. One thing we made was a sign that has our names hanging from three pumpkins and a spot we're doing to write "Sandoval".
Other things we've been doing are barbecues and get togethers, picking out paint colors for our living room (which is a light green to match the pillows and tables - and, ideally, light golden brown on the other 3 walls), and going to our first FRG meeting. They told us the schedule for the guys over the next month and the fundraisers that are coming up for the next 5ish months.
We looked into schools for Lu and went and checked one out. It seemed like a great place and if I start working I'd love to have her go there!
Things have been great, we're truly blessed! We have family dinner at the table every night which has been a change for us all, but a good change. Lu has gotten so much better with the change and she really loves it here. Typically we put her to bed between 8:30-9:00pm and then we watch a movie together to have our own time. Elson had a 3-day weekend last week, and a four day this week and next. He has a couple more 4-days next month, too! That extra time has been great for us all!
I'm sure there's more I have forgotten but that's all I can think of for now! Miss you all and we can't wait to see you again!