The Starr Immortal Dynasty - The Final Chapter *happy dance, happy dance*

[ILoveDolls]

Great update.  I was just going to comment, that Agnes didn't even die of old age and I have seen the Grim slap the sim and then knock them in the urn.  I am not quite sure why that is, but it is kind of disturbing sometimes, poor people just died, why slap the poor sim.  The twins are adorable and your doing an awesome job.

When it comes to the Redhouse Dynasty, I am sure many forum members would like for Monica to be slapped into the urn . Poor Aggie was knocked into middle of last-week tho!

[Katluvr]

Snort, snort! That's not funny, but at the same time it is. Sometimes TS3 can be so cruel and funny at once.

It would have been funnier if it were some random sim or perhaps an evil one, but Agnes?!  C'mon Grim, have a heart!  There are some things about this game that really bug me and that has to top my list right now.  I think I need some chocolate to calm down.   

Great update.  I was just going to comment, that Agnes didn't even die of old age and I have seen the Grim slap the sim and then knock them in the urn.  I am not quite sure why that is, but it is kind of disturbing sometimes, poor people just died, why slap the poor sim.  The twins are adorable and your doing an awesome job.

Awww, thank you Salty!  That means a lot to me.

[Katluvr]

Just wanted to let you all know that the wallpapers I've used to decorate my dynasty home and vacation house are available on the Exchange at the official Sims3 site.  They use patterns I downloaded from another member (and she is properly credited in my uploads) so I can't post them in the Swap Shop.  My username there is Katluvr23, please feel free to stop by and download (and hopefully add me as a friend).

[Filly]

I'm just catching up. Congrats on the twins and I love the fountains at the front of the house. Might try that out down the road myself.

[Katluvr]

Sam Starr, Intrepid Explorer

Agnes's death was a shock to all of us.  I mean at her age we all knew it could happen at any time, but we all expected that she would go peacefully of old age, not some horrible blow torch accident.  We moved her monument out to the family cemetery where she and Lucia, our former butler, seem to be keeping each other company.



Things were pretty rough here for a while afterwards.  Jess took it very hard and Jemma kept bouncing between Jess and Jackson trying to console them.  She has such a tender heart.




Slowly things returned to normal.  Jess devoted herself to her family and her art.




Jackson spent time with his granddaughters and even went out to a party, something he hasn't done in a long time.




The girls have started school.  They are both straight A students.  Jemma comes home from school each day and does her homework without even being reminded.  Jori likes to play in the back yard for a while before she settles in to her homework, but she always gets it done.  I'm so proud of them!




Of course they find time to hang out and play video games.  Jess and Jackson are quite famous now and we recently were sent a big screen TV in recognition of all they have done for Sunset Valley.  Fame definitely has its perks.



Something always seems to be going on at our house.  Lucia makes nearly daily appearances.  She seem to likes to sleep in the sarcophagus in our treasure room.  Agnes has even shown up once or twice.  Even in death she's quite a character.  



We've also had an infestation of gnomes.  I have to remember to talk to Jess about calling an exterminator.



Once things had settled down around here I got the urge to do some adventuring.  Jess didn't want to take the girls out of school, so she packed my bags and shipped me off to Egypt.  My plan is to explore every tomb and pyramid I can find so that I can build us a vacation home there.  That way future generations of Starrs will have beautifully appointed houses in China and Egypt whenever they want to travel.  I would love more than anything to build a home in France, too, but I am days away from my elder birthday, so I'm not sure if there will be time for that.

My trip was fairly uneventful - just a lot of tomb raiding.  But I did have a particularly nasty run in with a local in the basement of someone's home...



Fortunately I had a few Scooby Mummy Snacks which gave me plenty of time to escape before things got ugly.  I don't have many pictures of my trip - Jess is the photographer in the family.   Despite my best efforts, I had to fly back right before I reached a level 3 visa - I was on my way to turn in the opportunity that would put me over the top when I realized that I was going to miss my flight if I didn't head to the airport immediately.  Jess was a good sport and sent me back for a short trip as soon as I got over my jet lag.  On my second trip I managed to buy some land and oversee the construction and decoration of our Egyptian hideaway.

It is 'U' shaped with a central courtyard that houses a hot tub.  The walls that open on to the courtyard are all glass so that no matter where we are in the house we can enjoy the view.  I had the builders put a staircase in so we can add a second floor in the future.  Here are some photos - I'm quite proud of how it turned out and can't wait for the family to see it!

Front Entrance and Courtyard


Living Room


Dining Room


Studio


Courtyard (from the studio)


Hallway (leading to bedrooms and bathrooms)


Beds and Baths





Courtyard (aerial view)


Once construction was finished I settled in to perfect my ice sculpting.  With Agnes gone it will be up to me to sculpt Jess when she has her next birthday.

As much fun as I've had in Egypt, I can't wait to get home.  The girls' birthday is the day after I return.  I can't believe they are going to be teenagers already!  I'm not looking forward to all the young men that are sure to be hanging around the house, but Jess and I have raised the girls right and I trust that they will make good choices.


Next time:  Jori and Jemma, the teen years, and the family goes to China.

[Esther1981]

Great update! I loved the part about the scooby mummy snacks haha. That's a beautiful house!

[ILoveDolls]

I love what you've done with the house. I am with Esther on the scooby snacks thing. They always settled Shaggy and Scooby, why not Mummy

[Katluvr]

Teenagers Kick Our Butt*

We had a lot going on when Sam got home from Egypt the second time.  Dad has finally decided to retire from the Bistro.  He didn't want a big party - we were all still kind of shell shocked after losing Mom.  We kept it simple and surprised him with cake and confetti when he came in from the garden one evening.



Next up was the girls' teen birthday.  There was no way we could avoid a party for such an important family occasion.  Dad, Sam and I held our breath as the guests started to arrive.

First Jori blew out her candles, then Jemma did.



I can't believe my daughters are turning into young ladies!




We all settled in to enjoy the buffet and some cake when we heard a commotion in the front yard...OH NO!







Sure enough, Grim had done it again.  This time it was my dear friend, Hank Goddard.  I was crushed...did I remember to put out the plasma fruit?!  

Then Grim started making goo goo eyes at Sam!!!  As we later found it was only to reprimand him for having such a filthy shower...




I swear Grim must still feel guilty about taking Lucia from us!

I'm not proud to say I sank back into a depression that not even the moodlet manager could fix.  I don't know what I would do without Sam and Dad.  Sam immediately made travel arrangements for all of us to go to our home in China for 3 weeks.  Dad decided to stay home and take care of our latest casualty.  I hope he's finding time to play in the sprinklers, he enjoys that so.

When we got to China I thought Sam had lost his mind.  He pulled up to a fancy house that was not at all how I remembered our cozy vacation home.  He told me that he was inspired to remodel after seeing how well the house in Egypt turned out.  Color me impressed, who knew my husband has the soul of an architect?!

From the Front


Entrance


Living Room


Dining Room/Kitchen


Ground Floor Hallway


Courtyard (from the front entrance)


Ground Floor


First Floor


Jori's Zen Garden


The first order of business was to get the girls' portraits and Jori's sculpture out of the way.  I'm so proud of Sam, this is his first ice Sim!



Jori has been very single minded about learning the martial arts ever since she was a child, so we picked China specifically so she could attend the academy.  She spent the first day in the Scholar's Garden studying the basics.



The next day it was off to the academy for more formal training.  





It definitely hasn't been easy going, but we're four days into our trip and Jori is already a blue belt.  We're all so proud of her!

Jemma is more of a home body.  She has her heart set on a career in science, so she has her nose buried in gardening books or is watching the gardening channel on TV whenever she gets the chance.  She's also started fishing.  I think I'll suggest that Sam take her to some of the fishing spots we found on our last trip here.

Sam is spending his time sculpting and painting.  He's getting very good at both.  Perhaps I should sneak him some ambrosia and let him take care of the museum pieces for future generations...

I'm really focused on painting.  I need to sell $15,000 worth of paintings to achieve level 10 in my career.  I've painted at least 5 masterpieces in the last 4 days, so I should have no problem reaching my goal once Sam takes them to the consignment shop back home.  Then all that's left is to secure my 6 best friends and have my elder museum pieces crafted.  As much as I hoped Mom would be around to do the honors, I know Sam will do an amazing job.

I call Dad every day to make sure he's doing okay.   He's been hanging out with Lucia, she seems to want to join him for his daily nap in the sarcophagus.  I don't understand why everyone wants to sleep in that darn thing.  The one time Sam convinced me to woo hoo in one I thought I would pass out from claustrophobia!  To this day Sam thinks it was his prowess that made me swoon and I let him go right on thinking that.    It's my secret to a happy marriage!

We still have 2 and a half weeks to spend here, so I'm hopeful Jori will earn her black belt.  We're all excited to see her participate in a tournament, but she insists she's not good enough yet.  Oh pooh, I think she's being modest.

When we get back to Sunset Valley it will be Sam's elder birthday and mine will be a few days after that.  We've already agreed that we won't have a party for either one of us because I simply cannot bear to risk another visit from Grim so soon.  Sam has also been making noises about completing his lifetime wish - he's 2/3 of the way there.  I may have to send him off to France to chase that dream.  If I know him, he'll set us up with a lovely home there, too.

But for now I'm going to relax and enjoy our family vacation...there will be time to think about those things when we get home.


*Shameless plug...The title of this post comes from an awesome song by Dar Williams.  If you haven't ever heard her music, I highly recommend it - she is one of my favorite artists.

**Another shameless, well not exactly plug, but...I got an iPhone last night *squeeeee* (I'm a die hard Apple fanatic) - did you know you can play TS3 on it?!  Will wonders never cease?!  It's not as good as the real thing, but I think my long train ride ever day just got way more fun!

[Esther1981]

Happy birthday girls! Good luck on the trip!

[Filly]

I love the zen garden in the middle of the house.  I never thought to bring nature inside the house like that.  I know what I'll be attempting to do today in my game!   

[Lilygirl]

Happy Birthday girls!
Love, love, love the vacations homes! Especially the courtyards.

[DeNile]

Loving the Dynasty! The houses, both home and vacation, are quite nice. I simply adore the twins. Too bad for the deaths, but sadly, that's what a Dynasty tends to be full of. Good luck with the rest!

[Katluvr]

Jori Looks Good in Black

Hi Grandpa,

I hope you aren't too lonely there in Sunset Valley without Jemma and I to keep you company.  We made it to Shang Simla just fine.  You should see the house, it's like a palace!  Mom couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it.  Dad put in a state of the art TV and computer so Jemma can work on her skills.  She's already level 6 in gardening and fishing without even lifting a finger.  Who would believe you could sit around the house all day and still prepare for your career?!  She says she's going to be a famous scientist and with her brains I'm sure she will.

Mom and Dad have been painting and sculpting like there's no tomorrow.  I've lost track of how many paintings dad has tucked away to bring to the consignment shop when we get back.  I hope the airline doesn't charge him extra for all of it.

I've been spending every day at the Academy practicing my sim fu.  I start out by meditating in the morning in the beautiful zen garden Dad built for me.



Then it's time to break boards and train with the practice dummy.




Once I made it to level 7 I started competing in ranked sparring tournaments at the Academy.  I've got a good record so far, Grandpa, you would be proud of me. 

My last match today was really special.  I was paired up against an amazing black belt.  He looked to be about your age, but boy was he tough.  I won the first round but he tied it up in the second.  It all came down to the third round.  I was so tired by that time.  I've faced some tough opponents, but no one like him.  It was really close, but I managed to claim a victory.



Later that same day I was fooling around breaking some space rocks and I earned my level 10 black belt!



I'm one and a half ranks from becoming a grand master and achieving my lifetime wish.  With a little bit of luck I should be able to wrap it up before we leave for home.

I wish you had decided to come with us, I think you would have had a great time.  Our neighbors are teaching us to eat using chopsticks.  Jemma and I are pretty good at it now, but Mom and Dad are hopeless.



Oh yeah, I almost forgot, they threw a party to get to know more of our neighbors.  Mom kept saying something about needing more friends.  I don't get it, but whatever, it was a fun time.



I can't wait to see you, Grandpa!  Oh yeah, Jemma and I have a surprise for you...we found a pair of Chinese gnomes!  I'm leaving mine here to watch our house when we leave and Jemma is bringing hers home to keep the rest of our little friends company.



I gotta go now.  Dad is hollering at me to pick up around here.  I guess we're having more company tonight.  I miss you lots!  If you see Grandpa Leighton tell him I miss him, too.  See you in a week and a half!

Love,

Jori

[Lilygirl]

I'm glad the girls are having a blast in China! Love this point of view.

[Gogowars329]

The teens are soo cute. The houses are wonderful.