The Last Couple Weekends

The last couple weekends have been spent visiting grandchildren. The weekend of Feb. 8, I went to Colorado. I couldn't resist taking this shot of Conner in "time-out". He is very good at throwing a ball, but now he is learning not to throw other things. It is great fun, after all, to throw a remote through the air and watch it land on a tower of blocks. You just can't be upset with a child as sweet as this.




We all know that Luke likes cars and in fact, the boys' bedroom has a NASCAR decor. So, it was fun to spend the next weekend and watch the Daytona 500 with that family. It is a very long race, so we watched the beginning and the end with the kids (with their race cars in hand). Luke fell asleep watching the post race interviews.


While Larry and Eric worked on an R&S project, Nina and I painted Ellie's room and shopped for a decorations that I might give her for her birthday. We also made use of things she already had. For example:

Knowing Eric's love of hiking, I bought this book for Ellie for her first birthday. Nina thought it was a great book to display in her "new" room, since it was all about the outdoors- birds, flowers, and sun hats. This room is so feminine. It is just perfect for her. With Nina's permission, I'm posting a few pictures of the almost completed room.

The Lesson

Daniel was very excited when Larry announced that he thought Daniel was old enough to play pool. Enjoy the pictures of his first lesson.





Then Luke wanted to play.


Ellie just enjoyed reading.


Conner enjoyed trying to point out Daniel's belly button.

Christmas Again

My side of the family decided to wait until Katie came for a visit to celebrate Christmas together. We were excited that Dad, Jerry, Joyce, Allan and Mike, with extended family members could be here. We planned for a big meal, gifts, and a fun time. Then we had brownouts and power failures the night before, so it was difficult to dust and iron table cloths. The next morning, PG&E turned the power off completely. Conner had his bath by flashlight. The turkey went to one neighbor's oven, and other dishes were cooked next door. Eventually PG&E hooked up a temporary connection to the neighbor's house. In spite of it all, we had a great time together, as usual.




It was great to see everyone again!!!! Ha Ha Ha


Mike, Lauren and Kristin bought a Spiderman tent for Luke and Daniel. Everybody enjoyed that!



With so many new books, we just had to take a few pictures. Click to enlarge and see all the smiles!





A few days later, Conner went on an outing in Grandpa's truck.



At the park, Conner enjoyed telling us when to "Go!"

New Year's Day

We started the new year with a couple coats of paint in the laundry room. Before painting, I asked Nina what she thought of the color. She said she liked it, but wanted to make sure we knew that a dark color would make the room look smaller. Larry quickly said, " Good, it will seem like you're getting to the bathroom faster! "

Christmas Pictures

Our Christmas Eve started with a SKYPE call to Katie, Jake and Conner. Here Conner is playing with a new toy cell phone



I opened a gift that thrilled me. It was a 2008 calendar which Katie had made. Each month contained pictures of Conner which had been taken in that month of 2007. Katie has mastered the art of "scrapbooking."



Katie made these aprons for us.



Nina made cookies for the kids to decorate. Daniel is ready to decorate some for Santa.



Ellie is ready to go to church.



I have always loved watching children sing in church, so this was a special treat.



I took this picture of Ellie wearing her new backpack, and noticed later that she was eating a candy cane and there were candy canes on her shirt. Click to enlarge.



They frequently play "fireman" so were thrilled with the new rain boots.



It took over 4 hours to open gifts, as they had to try everything out. (That didn't include the SKYPE gift opening, or the huge exchange with Willi and Mary.)How many gifts can you use at once? Spiderman cape, knee pads from the spiderman skates, a new Bronco t-shirt, and let's not forget the shoes, purse, necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets.



Trust me, this was not the only jump of the day!



>Luke and Daniel continued opening gifts in their capes.



>Ellie loved all the accessories.



>She was so fun to watch.


Are you clicking on the pictures to enlarge? They look so much better when they are big.



I bought this shirt when I was in Colorado visiting Katie. I knew Daniel would look good in it, and Eric and Nina would be surprised.



This was one of MANY books under the tree.

It was very, very fun sharing the holiday with children.

Warm Welcome

Jeff called us on Sunday and said he'd been assigned a flight to the United States on Tuesday, and Kitty would be hitching a ride. Larry bought a plane ticket, Eric and Nina bundled the family into the truck, drove for around 14 hours (?) and made it to Spokane, Washington for a brief visit. There were more pictures, and more kids, but Daniel seemed to be the main child participant in the snowball "fight." I just wanted to post a few fun pictures now, and am sure Nina will put some more up on her blog.







"How to Make a Snowball" lesson from Uncle Jeff








Click on the picture for an up close look at all the fun.







Kitty had fun with the kids also..... I think!





Come back again!