holidays in the sun

Earlier this year, my parents sold the home I grew up in and in which they had lived since 1983 and moved to a new house. The new house is just a few miles from the old one, and is in the same city as the old one, so "going home" still feels like going home.

The new home is beautiful, and is the kind of house I always wished we lived in when I was a kid. The yard is big, the ceiling are high, and there's lots of space. What's more, it's right next to the mountains, and I've always loved the mountains.

The house has become my parents' new project, and I'm glad. They seemed really bored with life before this new house thing came along. My father's part of the project has been the yard. My mother essentially told him to do whatever he wants with it, so he has. It's finally nearing completion, and it's beautiful--a place where you really want to spend some time.

A view of the neighborhood (and my dad and youngest brother) from the front courtyard:


The front of the house:
One of my favorite features is this creek/pond that my dad had put in the front yard:


Unfinished covered area in the back yard:

The pool. There are two rock fountains that go into it, and a slide--something I always wished we had on our old pool:


Looking down from the top of the slide:


Looking to the northeast from the top of the slide. You can sort of see the snow-covered mountains in the background:


You can't really tell, but this is a wading area my dad had put in the pool for his grandchildren:


The spa, with a blown-over palm tree in the background. We got heavy rain (heavy for southern California, anyway) on Christmas Day, and the new palm tree didn't make out so well:


Another unfinished covered area, with furniture and fireplace. This will be a really cool place to hang out when it's done:



The built-in grill is connected to the house's gas lines, which means no more propane tanks to fill. I would love that kind of convenience. There's also a built-in refrigerator and ice maker. Nice touches, but we'll see how much they actually get used:

It looks sunny in the picture, but the weather hasn't been the warmest--50F or below since I've been here. As I mentioned in a previous post, the pool can't be heated yet, but we're going to go in anyway. I think today is the day.