Fall 2012 - First

Seth (46), Ivy (43), Kendra (10), Jared and Leah (2)

In the First household the twins were turning 2.  The family had a quiet celebration at home.

And then continued on with their daily routine.  Seth and Ivy would get the twins up in the morning

before the babysitter arrived and they left for work and Kendra left for school.

Kendra and Seth would be home first in the afternoon and spend some quality time together.

Unless Kendra had invited a friend home from school,

then Seth would help the nanny get the twins up from their nap.

The nanny knew Seth had a strong interest in stargazing and was curious if he'd ever seen any signs of alien life.

Ivy was still working long hours at the lab and usually got home late.  If the twins were still up she'd spend some time with them before putting them to bed for the night.

On her days off, she tried to catch up on the housework or yardwork.

And the little ones, especially, were always eager for some extra attention from their mommy.

When they weren't getting into trouble.  They were at the age where they could really be a handful.

Work was taking up a lot of both parents' time.  Seth had recently had a proposal accepted to build a local medical and research center in New Eden.  He and Bruce Lillard, the former chief of staff in Eden, were working hard to get everything together and running smoothly.

Back in the spring, when the McMillians had been in town visiting, Bruce had invited his niece and fellow doctor, Suzanna, to check out the work they had done.

It was kind of nice seeing an old friend again after so many years.  They had parted ways after college and since had found happy marriages, had children, and had been successful in their careers.

Since Apple Valley had a medical center for many years, Bruce and Seth were sure that Suzanna would have some helpful suggestions for making their endeavor work.

She was quick to point out a few minor glitches that would need to be addressed.

And she was excited about the research facilities located in the building.

That was Seth's favorite part too. His field was more in medical research than medical practice.  He knew as a professional scientist Ivy was excited about the new facility too.

Seth was going to have to get used to the idea of medical practice soon.  Since the newly opened center already had two patients.  Both were suffering from severe food poisoning.

"You just need to rest, take it easy for awhile and make sure you take in plenty of fluids."
"But I have so much to do at school with finals coming up."
"I know how that is, but right now taking care of your health, Violet, is more important."

After checking on his patients and after Bruce had finished giving Suzanna a tour of the facility, she stopped by Seth's office to say goodbye.

"It's too bad you have to go back to Apple Valley already.  Next time you're in town, Ivy and I will have to have you and Bradford and the girls over for dinner."

Amidst the seemingly fluid everyday routine, family strife was brewing underneath the surface.  Ivy was not happy

and Seth realized he was going to have to spend a little more time paying attention to his wife.

He promised her some night soon they'd hire a babysitter to watch the kids and go out for a night on the town.

Spring 2012 - Elementary and Jr./ Sr. High School

New Eden Elementary and Jr. / Sr. High School 2012 - Melody Harris - Kindergarten, Elsa Straight - 1st grade, Bryce Ebadi and Bridget Ebadi - 2nd grade, Lance Huffington - 3rd grade, Kendra First - 5th grade, Sierra Thaytowski - 10th grade, Augustus Thaytowski - 11th grade, Dana Todd, Bryan Carson - 12th grade

 

This school year was going to be a new experience for Hope.  Since the hood had not yet found a replacement for Jessica's position as the elementary school teacher, Hope was going to be pulling double duty.

She gave the older students some brief instruction while the younger children were at recess, then set them up on independent study, doing research papers and preparing oral presentations.

The students had expressed an interest in robot building and the school was able to budget some money to purchase the tools to allow the students to experience shop class as well.

With the older students settled, Hope focused on the younger students.  She knew this must be a confusing time for them, so she wanted to make sure they felt comfortable and felt free to discuss any feelings they had or ask any questions that were on their minds.

She decided to push the desks aside and sit in a circle on the floor and have a little chat before starting their lessons for the semester.

Bridget's metaphor of her mother's passing being like her leaving on a very long trip to a place far away, provided a natural segue to the day's lesson on geography and foreign cultures.

"What are some things you are curious about places that are far away from here and about the sims that live there?"

Bryce spoke up, "I would wonder if they play the same kinds of sports and games that we do."

"I bet they do," Lance added.  "Just think, if you lived where there was snow and mountains, you;d probably go skiiing all the time.  There's no where to ski here."
Melody added, "Other places might have different kinds of birds and animals."

"Those are all good thoughts.  What about food?  Do you think sims in other lands eat the same type of food that we do?"

"No, and I don't think I'd like the kind of food that they eat.  I only like my food."

"You never know," Hope replied.  "If you tried it, you might find something new that you really like."

"I heard in some places around the world, sims eat bugs."

Bryce frowned at his sister.  "That's disgusting.  Can we go back to talking about sports instead?"

"I heard there are even places where sims eat rats."

"Ew.  Seriously, stop it.  Let's talk about something else."

Hope posed another question.  "What do you think about traveling to other nations and meeting sims from around the simworld?"

Elsa thought it would be great to make lots of new friends.  Bryce thought other sims from places far away would be too strange and foreign.

Hope then shared with the students the culture of her homeland, a nation that constantly had to rebuild, that was ravaged by continual storms, and considered the number three, incredibly unlucky.

After their discussion, Hope sent the children to the art room to work on creative projects.

The older students, Kendra and Lance used the easels, while the younger ones gathered around the coloring table.

They were to come up with their own civilization and draw a picture to represent it.

When it was time to break for lunch, Hope continued the international theme, by ordering Chinese food.  Even Bryce, who seemed so adverse to foreign foods gobbled it down quickly and was asking for seconds.

Summer 2011 - First

Seth (39), Ivy (36), Kendra (9), Jared and Leah (1)

The First household was settled into a nice routine.  As soon as he came home from work, Seth would chow down on whatever leftovers Ivy had made earlier in the day,

then he'd head upstairs to take care of the babies,

so his wife could catch some much needed sleep.

The babies and Ivy in bed, he hoped on the computer to do some research until Kendra got home from school,

then they'd head outside for some one on one, daddy-daughter play time in the front yard,

before it was time for the babies' afternoon feeding.  By then Ivy would be well rested enough to enjoy some time with the family.

If they were lucky, they'd find at least a few moments to let each other know how happy they were to be married to the other.

As she was getting older, Kendra was starting to become more independent.  She was making her own friends at school.  She often invited her best friend, Bridget over.  Bridget was a lot younger, but there weren't really any kids in the hood that were any closer to Kendra's age, so she didn't mind that Bridget was only in first grade, when she was in fourth.

She was also developing her own hobbies as well.

She really enjoyed playing chess and was glad when she could get some special time alone with her mom and dad.

Soon Ivy would be returning to work, so the family had to employ a nanny on a regular basis.  She arrived just in time to change the babies' diapers.

Once the babies were taken care of, she let Kendra entertain herself, and the cat, while she caught up on her favorite soaps.

Kendra was always glad when her parents came home from work at the end of the day.

She couldn't wait to spend time with them.

And they with her.  As she was getting older, it was fun to watch her develop her own interests and grow into the sim she would become in the future.  They could hope for nothing more than for her to remain the sweet girl she is now.