Christmas is Finally Here!

We were a little worried about Christmas eve because Ryan and Molly were going to her Dad's house. We talked it over with the Bakers and the kids were worried it was going to be boring. Then my brother Scott, his wife Denise and their family decided to come down for the day. My Dad also came over for awhile. Then Ryan and Molly surprised us by showing up that night.  All in all it was Christmas eve.

Ammon and Denise opened presents from Grandpa and Carolyn while Scott took pictures and Evan watched.

Heath, Jenna and Alec check out their gifts.

Scott models one of the girl's scarfs.

Grandpa was especially excited for Heath to open this Robot Raptor.

Everyone had to watch the raptor.

Scott with another great scarf.

Later we went to LaJolla Cove to see the tide pools.

Christmas eve at the beach was wonderful!

Good News/Bad News

Last Friday was a busy day.  Here are just a few of the ups and downs.

Good News:  We got a big bag of hand-me-downs from Molly. Lavender was thrilled to wear her nieces' clothing and was especially excited about these kitty-cat shoes.

Bad News: The kitty shoes are just a tad too small.  Lavender learns the hard lesson that the cutest shoes are usually the most uncomfortable.

Good News:  She also inherited a pair of sparkly, gold sandals that were perfect with her red fur coat.  Obviously the right outfit for a morning walk in July!

Good News:  Evan was prepping for a trip to Palmyra, NY where he would attend EFY (a church youth conference) with his cousin Alec. 

More Good News: He got to go for a bike ride in the hills with his friend Jacob.

Bad News:  During the downhill portion of the bike ride, Evan crashed and flew over the handlebars.

Good News:  We were able to get a doctor's appointment within 45 minutes.

Bad News:  The doctor suspects that one (or two!!) of his arms is broken.  I tell her that his flight leaves Sunday morning. She informs us that in order to get a cast (or two) in time, we will need to head to Children's Hospital and camp out in the ER.

Good News:  The x-rays show that Evan's arms are not broken!

Bad News: Evan landed on his hands with his arms outstretched so the bones are compacted (not a medical term) and his elbows are very swollen and will take a week to 10 days to heal.

Good News: With Evan safely resting at home (playing on the computer while icing his arms and taking Advil) and no need for a trip to the ER, John and I head to the beach for a walk, a game of frisbee and a beautiful sunset.

Hope your weekend had more ups than downs!

HAPPY! birthday

My birthday was at the beginning of August and my family took good care of me.

Evan got the day started right by making crepes for breakfast. Actually, he made two kinds of crepes!  He made a small batch of gluten-free ones for me and a large batch of regular ones for the rest of the family. They were delicious with fresh fruit!

Molly made my whole week special by asking members of our extended family to write me a birthday wish. Every day she emailed me letters from a few of my loved ones!

My sister Jenny said she would take me to see a Shakespeare play and she more than kept her promise. We saw a really fun musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream and a few days later she took me out to lunch and to see a film version of Much Ado About Nothing.

John took some time off from work and we went out to lunch, walked along the beach and played frisbee in the sand and then went out to dinner.

When we got home, we found that Marianne had made yummy German chocolate cupcakes from scratch. My favorite flavor and gluten-free to boot!  I know they were a lot of work and it was even harder because Lavender really wanted to eat them all.  Marianne kept telling her that they were for my birthday and tried to teach her to say "Happy Birthday." Lavender got half of it right.  She did wish me "happy" when we got home.  Then she ran to the kitchen, frantically begging for cupcakes and shouting "happy, happy, happy." She seemed to think the cupcakes were called "happy."  Now, almost a month later, any time she wants a treat she still asks for "happy."  John brought home a big box of donuts yesterday and she was thrilled to have "happy" for dessert last night..  Guess what she wanted for breakfast this morning?

Do you like the way she is attacking that donut in the top picture?  She may not be smiling, but she is definitely HAPPY!

Family Reunion

As a little girl, I knew that my parents came from very different families.  My mom had a huge extended family just a few generations removed from handcart pioneers.  They held big family reunions and published family history books.  My dad had a very small family and we didn't know too much about them.  Several years ago, my dad was able to make contact with his half-siblings that he hadn't seen or heard from in many years.  He was especially touched when his brother Dan and his sister Cheryl came all the way from Minnesota for my mom's funeral.

Last weekend Dan made another trip to southern California and this time he brought his wife Karen.  It was wonderful to spend some time with them and get to know them better. On Saturday we all got together for a visit to La Jolla Cove.  Even though it was a little chilly for the rest of us, it didn't feel cold to Dan and Karen and they were happy to be on the beach enjoying the waves and the sand.

I was having so much fun visiting with them and taking pictures, that I didn't notice my flip flop was headed out with the tide.  Fortunately, Cammi grabbed it for me!

I think my dad and Dan look alike, but I couldn't believe how much Dan's sense of humor and personality reminded me of my dad.  Dan is about 17 years younger than my  dad--the same age difference between me and my youngest brother David.

Next the family went to explore the tide pools.  Molly and I didn't go down.  We stayed with the strollers, thinking the little girls could play on the grass.

    Instead, they wanted to play in the dirt and climb trees.  But they had a great time getting dirty!

Lavender was following this seagull and was surprised when he flew away.

Evan got in some good unicycling, but our game of frisbee was cut short when the frisbee went flying over the cliff and into the ocean.  Not even Cammi could get that one back for us.  Later, most of the adults went out for Thai food.  We had so much fun laughing and talking and eating.  I haven't had such a fun dinner in quite awhile!

On Sunday, my dad, Dan and Karen did a bit of sightseeing and then joined us for the Cinco de Mayo dinner I told you about in my last post.  We are so glad they came to visit!  They are such lovely people and it was a treat to have them here.  Dad's side of the family seems to be growing bigger and better!