More from Mayberry

Two of Cade's favorite things. The backyard and his little sister. Photos taken by Cade a few days after moving here.

There was a bit of a rocky start upon our arrival here in Mayberry. Someone in the neighborhood was displeased that our recycling can was sitting in the driveway in plain view and complained about it to the president of the HOA. To my defense, the city had dropped off the recycling can and I was at Seven Peaks with my children so darnit, it had to sit in my driveway for a few hours before I moved it. This same neighbor complained another 3 times in two days regarding the placement of our garbage can (also dropped off in the driveway on another occasion when I wasn't home), a large bean bag sitting in front of our basement door (I was waiting for Kyle to get home from work because it was too heavy for me to push inside on my own), and the parking placement of the car.

It seems as though some folks here in the 'hood have an awful lot of time on their hands.

Fortunately we got up to speed on the proper placement of our garbage cans (the backyard) and the appropriate places to park our cars so our next door neighbor the HOA prez, who happens to have an uncanny resemblance to Ty Pennington, doesn't receive any more complaint calls about us, being the obscenely white trash neighbors that we seem to be.

The move here has been a pretty easy transition for the kids. All of the sudden they have a dozen friends at their fingertips and every afternoon they hop from house to house. It's been a little tricky trying to train them on the fine art of Letting Mom Know Where They Are. Cade now has the hang of it, but I don't trust Savvy enough to let her roam the street like her big brother. She has remained determined to prove to me she is 17 years old and can handle it though.

One of the most beautiful things about this place is Our Favorite Babysitter. She is amazing and arguably a better guardian for my children than I. She brings a surprise for the kids every time she comes. She makes them dinner. She does my dishes. She gets the kids to bed. She cleans my house. She scolds me if she thinks I paid her too much or if my house was too clean because she didn't have anything to do. She has Cade and Savvy wrapped around her finger. I'm wrapped around her finger. Oh, and did I mention she rides here on her little scooter and lives a mere 2 minutes away?

Another fine attribute about Mayberry is the womenfolk. It really is a taste of Zion. Everyone watches out for everyone. There is no gossip or backbiting and there's just the right amount of friendship and concern. And what I love the most is how different everyone is. Despite the rumor that even I have subscribed to about Utah Valley, there is no cookie cutter woman here on Mayberry Street. I want to be like all of them. There's the gorgeous, brunette singer who although is never found without her stiletto heels, defies every stereotype about gorgeous women who are never found without their stiletto heels. There's the gentle redhead who bakes the neighborhood goodies and doesn't lose her cool when her three year old escapes the house naked while she's feeding her infant. There's the independent and saintly mother with a sassy short 'do who would do anything for anyone and worries about all the right things, and lets everything unimportant go. I could go on, but suffieceth to say, I am in the Company of Good Women.