Lily 2.0

Lily got glasses.  Her eyes weren't developing properly.  Hopefully they will be now.  She is very cute with them.  She picked them out all on her own after trying on about 100 pairs.  She got them on December 2, 2011.

Staying Positive

I'd like to say I am a very positive person.  I would like to say I don't get stressed out.  I would like to say that every time a challenge/trial comes my way I handle it with the utmost poise, grace and confidence.  I really would like to say that, but in truth I completely fall apart at the seams when things keep coming at me with the rate of a TGV train.

This past week has been particularly stressful with things going on all around us.  We have had plumbing issues, insurance issues, health issues, car issues, taxes are due and the holidays are upon us.  On top of that we have, pack meeting, swim team practice, a band concert, ballet recitals/dress rehearsals and 2 choir concerts for school and the Christmas choir at church.

The lessons at church this week had to do with hope and challenges (two separate classes).  They reaffirmed that I needed to push through and persevere with hope, faith and endure it well.  That's the part that is hardest for me.  One by one we will tackle these challenges as they come are way.  I'm trying really hard to stay focused and enjoy this season while it is here.

If you have suggestions how to keep the Christmas spirit around through all the craziness leave a comment.  It would be appreciated.

Mission Trip again!

In the summer of 2009 my family, my parents and sister and her kids, went on a tour to visit the Northern most missions in California.  We did this since Noah was going to be in 4th grade and 4th graders study California history and the missions.  We have 2 4th graders this year and decided it was time to finish our quest.  There are 21 missions.  We still haven't seen them all.  So we planned another mission tour for the week of Thanksgiving because we all have this week off.  We all met up at Jolon, California and managed to see 6 missions in 2 days.

We started off with leaving at 5:15am and managed to get to L.A. by 6:30 and hoped that we would get through before rush hour traffic.  We were wrong and it took us an hour to get through it.  Yuck.  We finally made it to Mission San Antonia de Padua by 12pm.  My parents and sister were already there.

After that we drove up to another small mission out in the middle of nowhere called Mission Nuestra de Soledad.  These missions seem to be out in the middle of nowhere, but that is where the padres put them since that was where the people were.  The original mission is just ruins now, but another one has been built  right next to the ruins.

After that we drove to San Juan Baptista.  We drove through some really pretty scenery to get there.  Driving up the 101 and the 1 was fun and at times pretty.

Our last mission of the 1st day was San Carlos  Boromeo de Carmel.  We loved this mission.  It was really pretty and had a great location.  Carmel is beautiful.  We spent the night in Monterey, which is also very beautiful.  We ate at the Crown and Anchor which was a British Pub.  The kids tried fish and chips for the first time as well as popcorn shrimp.  They loved those which surprised me and Damon.  The kids thought it was really cool to go to a "pub".

The next morning we headed out to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It didn't disappoint.  We all enjoyed are time there and can't wait to go back.  On our way to the car to leave we passed this cute little cafe so we popped in for some clam chowder in bread bowls with some apple strudel for dessert.  Yum!

We headed down the 101 again to hit San Miguel Archangel.  It was a very humble mission, but nice.

Our last stop was in San Luis Obispo and its mission.  That was a really pretty mission too with nice gardens.  The kids like playing in the gardens and in the fountain out front.  We went to a place called Mo's for dinner.  Our waitress at the Crown and Anchor recommended it.

We thought we left late enough to miss traffic, but again we hit traffic in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.  We didn't get home until 11:30pm.  We were exhausted, but we had so much fun and made many memories that will last a long time.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun trip!

Happy Birthday

Damon celebrated his birthday today!!  His birthday is usually around Thanksgiving so it is always hard to celebrate.  We are only here for one day during this week and it happened to be Damon's birthday.  We did a little celebration last Saturday over at our friend's, the Woodard's, house.  We enjoyed a great dinner and yummy cake.  Today we just relaxed, Damon's favorite thing to do.  He wanted apple cobbler instead of cake.  The kids put one 3 candle and 3 2-candles on his cobbler.  Then they said he was turning 3222 years old.  We had a good laugh about that.

Happy Birthday Damon!

To Our Veterans

As today is Veteran's Day I've been thinking a lot of the service men and women who have protected our freedoms as well as others around the world.  I'm especially touched by the stories of those that didn't make it home in times of war.  The stories break my heart, but make me proud.

When Damon and I were in France we were able to go to the American Cemetery on Omaha Beach.  I'm sure the one up in Flanders Field in Belgium is just as nice.  While there we heard many stories of men and women who didn't have to fight, but chose to and ended up giving their life while saving others.  It was a very moving day for both of us and left an impression in our hearts that we won't ever forget.

Today we honor you, are Veterans, past and present, for the service and sacrifice to a country and freedoms that you love and protect.  Our hope is that our children can grow up with the same amount of courage, respect and honor that the brave men and women who serve our country have or have had.  We thank you.

A picture of my grandfather's navy uniform from his funeral.  He served both in WWII and the Korean War. He passed away earlier this year.  The last remaining WWI veteran passed away earlier this year at the age of 110.  Think of his stories.

We had the day off from school.  We went to the zoo, but I forgot my camera.  We had a lovely day there.

Trick-or-Treat! Smell My Feet....

Happy Halloween!!  We had a fun and busy day.  I stopped by the school for Lily's parade.  Dinner was my favorite part. We had chili dogs and witches brew.  The kids named everything with a spooky name, which I have since forgotten, but they had a good time with it.  After dinner the tree kids gathered to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood.  They had a great time with lots of spoils.

I left Damon in charge of the photography that night so this is the only picture of the kids.  I'm very sad about that.

 If you can't see Adam in the picture... He is the short all black character.  He was a dementor with scary gross hands and everything.  Noah is a roman soldier and Lily is a snowflake dancer.

Halloween Weekend Fun

We are finally trying to get into the Halloween Spirit after the birthday spirit left the house and the lovely stressful spirit (I'm glad that one left us).  We made fall treats and new meals, Chicken Parmesan and Molasses pumpkin spice cookies, had Grandma and Grandpa and Robyn and Riley over, watched favorite Halloween movies, made our Jack-o-Lanterns and our cake-pop pumpkins.  Needless to say the sugar has been running freely in the house and It isn't even Halloween yet.  The sugar-detox will be forth-coming.

I will be glad when this holiday is over.