Riverblossom Hills, a small town secluded in the mountains, where its hardy inhabitants battle the long, harsh winters in an attempt to reap nature's bounty. Which is their own fault, really. If they wanted to be farmers so badly, they should've gone and lived in some fertile area where there's at least a chance of some sunshine or their crops not being frozen before they mature. Like, Veronaville or something.

One of the more foolhardy inhabitants of Riverblossom Hills is farmer and (according to Riverblossom Hills citizens, anyway) hot stuff Leod McGreggor.





Leod worries a lot: about the weather, about his crops, about his expanding waistline and receding hairline, and those totally scary old ladies from the village that walk by his house all the time and wink at him.



He's tried growing crops on his land, but to no avail, and has resigned himself to the fact that he will need to save up money for a decent greenhouse. He makes a living from his apple orchard, and from selling the paintings he makes on the long winter evenings.



He swears he's seen these strange lights in the sky above Riverblossom Hills occasionally, but nobody really believes him.



A farmer's life can be lonely, but luckily Leod finds companionship in Cleo Shikibu, who has recently moved to Riverblossom Hills. They've been getting closer over shared meals.





Cleo knows a good deal when she sees one. Leod's rugged good looks and own business are great selling points.



Though I'm guessing his home-made apple pie doesn't hurt the equation either.



Leod, Cleo and an adopted dog named Bessie makes three.



She's well suited for Riverblossom's cold climate, and makes a good guard dog for the farm. As soon as they can teach her the difference between a burglar and the mailman, anyway.



Cleo: 'We really got a roaring good fire going on tonight.'
Leod: 'Yes, adding some petrol to it really helped it along.'



Which is not the only thing Leod sets on fire occasionally. He'll have to find an alternate means of keeping warm, as Cleo has been hinting at.


The O'Mackey Family



With Cleo having moved out, Patricia Wan soon found the house too large and empty for one person. When Gabe O'Mackey offered her to come and live with him, she didn't hesitate.



Jules isn't happy at all about that development. Here she is commiserating with Beatrice Monty, who also has a possible stepmother she doesn't like.



I can't really blame her. Patricia really is an evil stepmother, beating up her stepdaughter on every occasion when Gabe isn't around. I feel so sorry for poor Jules :( Her father is going to have to decide between his love for Patricia and his love for his daughter pretty soon, because the situation is quickly becoming untenable. At least Jules will be leaving for college soon so she doesn't have to suffer this harridan anymore.



One of the benefits of having a teacher for a dad is that they know all the answers to your homework questions.


The Viejo Household



Jacob Martin loves his greataunts; instead of scolding him for playing videogames all day, they love watching him play while giving commentary.

Betty: 'Careful! Sniper at 4 o'clock!'
Catherine: 'MOTHERFRICKIN SPAWNCAMPERS, IF I COULD GET MY HANDS ON THOSE LITTLE BASTARDS I'D...'
Betty: 'Catherine!'
Catherine: '...make them go to bed without dinner. Is what I was going to say, thank you very much.'



When Catherine isn't foulmouthing Jacob's opponents, she likes puttering around in her garden.

She sits out on that bench a lot. I've had to unfreeze her a couple of times already.



Catherine and Betty are trying to stay active by taking up jobs. Discrimination against the elderly doesn't happen in my game, thanks to J.M. Pescado.





Which isn't the only way they try to stay young, if you catch my meaning. Komei Tellerman seems horrified at the thought alone.



Heeeyyy... You don't think Jacob's mum knew Amin Sims, do you?



Andrew has met someone new as well: Andrea Hogan. I barely recognised her, thanks to the wonders of default replacements.



She loves games and Jacob thinks she's cool. What more could you ask for, Andrew?





Catherine isn't at all happy about Andrew's hankypanky with Andrea. She's been harbouring a crush on him for ages and feels cheated when Andrew gets intimate with his new ladyfriend.

Andrea: 'Oh, uhm, hi crazy old lady...'



I think this is the first couple where one of the parties had kids in which stepparent and stepchild get along swimmingly. Even if Jacob is a sore loser at times.



Catherine takes her frustrations out on tuning the piano.

Catherine: 'BLASTED USELESS PIECE OF...'
Betty: 'Catherine!'
Catherine: '...mahogany mechanical monstrosity, is what I was going to say.'


The Roths



I know they're supposed to be Goth ripoffs, but I play the Roths as being their own family, not a carbon copy of the Pleasantview version. That would get boring pretty quickly.
Stella prefers socialising outside of Riverblossom Hills. She's on the phone with her friends from the big city and other places pretty much constantly. Good thing the Roths are loaded, as they'll need it when the phone bill arrives.



Sandra takes school quite seriously. She wants to get scholarships that will allow her to get into the prestigious Sim State Police Academy. Her greatest wish in life is to become a superhero and save mankind from villains and other evildoers.



She'll need to be in top condition to get into Police Academy.



Morty needs to work on his body skills for his job as well, but he prefers to combine business with pleasure.



I adore the adventure career track, it's so wonderfully cheesey.



Xander is a serious child, always with his nose in the books. He enjoys science and all things logical.







Stella: 'Seriously kid, all that studying isn't healthy. Lighten up and get outside in the sunshine a bit!'
Xander: 'But mom, 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. It's just much safer to stay inside.'



Stella's circle of friends is rapidly increasing, and includes Erin Roseland, who came over for dinner. Of course, a babybump needs to be thoroughly fussed over.



The Roths got themselves a butler, whose main activities consist out of calling the fire department a lot without any discernible reason. At least the fire department doesn't fine the family when he has to come over for nothing, but just tells them to be more careful in the future. More careful to hire dependable help, I'm guessing.



Not all is sunshine and daisies in the Roth household, though. Sandra suffers from anxieties a lot, probably because she has sky-high expectations of herself. She regularly has nightmares and wakes up in the middle of the night looking all distraught :(



As for Stella, well... She's developed a bit of a drinking problem. *snerk*


The Greenman Family



Are they boring, or what? It's rather obvious Maxis just created them as the Token New Creature family.



Yay, Daisy grew up. Sadly, she decided to return to her brothers and sisters in the wild, to live in harmony with nature. (Read: I made her into a townie because I couldn't be bothered to play her.)

I don't have any more pictures because they bore me out of my skull, for reals.


Next Riverblossom Hills will be dominated by the Roseland family, but Florence Delarosa, the Ramaswami's and the Ottomas Clan also get their place in the spotlight. Thanks for reading!