Caterina Yvonne

Growing nicely. We are excited to meet her.

CHRISTMAS

Well I managed to get it all done. I decorated the house on the 24th so I can enjoy it for a little while anyway. We spent Christmas Eve with my sister Janell at her house. Then Christmas morning Jill, James and Janell came over to the house to open gifts and have breakfast. It was nice. In the afternoon we went to Pat and Terri's house for dinner then back to Janell's to play dominoes with Janell, Jill and James. It was a nice relaxing day. It snowed on our way to Janell's house Christmas evening. The first time it snowed here on Christmas that I can remember.
Hope everyone's Christmas was as nice as ours.

Christmas

Well I finally feel like I am getting somewhere. Shopping is done, wrapping is done, family picture taken and cards sent (they will be late but I got them out : ) ). I still didn't do much decorating maybe today.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

CATCH UP

Well a lot has happened since I last posted.
Nicole turned twenty on Dec. 3 I don't have pictures on my camera but if I can get my great husband to down load his pictures and send me one I can post on here.HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE AND JANELL!

David was the lead in his High School play Lil' Abner he did a great job. How fun for his senior year!












Bekki, Janell, Terri, Mary, Lisa, Irina and I went to a Taste of Home cooking demo at the fair grounds. It was alot of fun and Bekki has been experimenting with cooking. She is trying to make us all fatter then we already are! Sorry the picture is sideways. I have a new Mac computer and am having a little trouble learning it. Not so good a photo of me but all we have.




David and Dave were in a car accident on Phelan Road back on Veteran's day. They and two of David's friends from church were on there way to hike Baden Powell. A Van pulled out in front of them and totaled David's little Bronco. They were all pretty sore for the first week or two. Dave's shoulder strap wasn't working and he hit the dash so he is still have a problem with focusing one eye. I don't know who was leaning in the truck, she was a bystander.

On a lighter note...
As you see from the previous post I am going to have a granddaughter in April or whenever she feels she is ready. Here is a picture of Jill with her cute little belly!

I had surgery to remove my gallbladder two days before Thanksgiving. Everything went good and I am pretty much back to normal but way behind on Christmas preperations. I still don't even have my cards they are somewhere in my decorations which I still don't have done either.
Yesterday due to our wonderful Southern California snow storm (and work being cancelled) I did get my wrapping done. To bad my shopping isn't done. I have got to put a fire under it now and get done. The christmas cards when I do find them sadly will not have pictures this year yet another thing we haven't found time for. (sigh)
Speaking of snow...
We had about 15 inches at our house how fun. The dog's didn't seem to mind it but the cat is not impressed. The picture of the tape measure was mid afternoon. The 15 inches was later that evening didn't get a picture.
Have a great holiday.

Granddaughter

Well "Fealy" girls it looks like you were right. Jill is having a girl they are told.
So fun getting to dress a little girl. This is exciting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEKKI

Bekki turned 24 yesterday. Happy Birthday.

My Grandbaby

Here is the first picture of my Grandchild. I actually could make things out in this picture.

I have been tagged

Tag I am it

Bekki tagged me
5 unspectacular things about me

1. I work for the school district
2. I own a Basset Hound
3. My hair is brown and gray
4. I like chocolate
5. I hate to exercise

I tag Robin, Dave, Nicole, Misty
I don't know how to link so you can find them in my favorites

terms & conditions:
1. link the person who tagged you
2. mention the rules on your blog
3. list 6 unspectacular things about you
4. tag 6 other bloggers

Trip to Utah

Well last week we made a spur of the moment trip to Utah. We visited Zion, Bryce, and Capital Reef National Parks. Had a good time but not enough time to properly explore each park.
I guess that means we will have to take another trip. We were within an hour and a half of Arches National Park. I would like to visit that park and Canyon Lands also. It is a beautiful state. I will post a slide show later.

LABOR DAY

Because we slept late and were not prepared to go anywhere
we ended up staying home and barbecuing.

Bekki, Nicole and David were here and Jill and
James came over after house shopping.
We made home made ice cream and everything
tasted real good. Of course Bekki and David ate
at Del Taco after sign language practice so they
missed out.
After dinner we all decided to go out shooting at a local
gun club. Some of the men Dave works with are
Member's of the gun club and took us out.
We had a good time. I only shot the hand gun twice and
the small rifle, it really isn't my thing. But it was a fun
outing with everyone.
Here are the pictures I took.
I like the picture I got of David with the fire coming
out.

HOW OLD IS YOUR BRAIN

This is an interesting little game I got off of someone else's blog . I scored 29 the first time I tried it

Read this carefully because the instructions on the site are in Chinese;

Procedure of Flash Fabrica Game:

1. Touch ’start’
2. Wait for the countdown to finish, i.e.: 3, 2, 1.
3. Memorize the number’s position on the screen and their numerical order, then click the circle from the smallest number to the biggest number. This sequence will repeat ~ 10 times until the game ends.
4. At the end of game, the computer will tell you how old your brain is in Years

.
Good luck !!
http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.h

GRANDMA

Well I am going to be a Grandma around April or so.
Dave says he isn't going to be a real hands on Grandfather
but we will just have to wait and see. I do have to admit that
he wasn't a real hands on Daddy but I think age and the
fact that it is a grandchild might change things.

ONE OF THE YOUNGEST PREACHERS

The server this is on is temporarily down. Hopefully this will be back in a few days.

BACK TO THE GRIND

Well that summer seemed really short. Today was my first day back to work. I didn't get hardly anything done that I had planned.

I did get to go on a great vacation though.

With the death of my nephew Robert we took over the project house that he had bought for his mom. My family and I have been working to get the house together and it is just about done. Much more work to do as far as my sister is concerned, lawyers and such but that will all come together.

As far as my own house goes all I got down was painting in the bathroom and getting the doors to the cabinet in the bathroom installed. I also got a cushion down for my cedar chest and curtains hung in the living room. Thankfully I got at least that done. I guess when you own a home the work never ends.

I am classic music. What are you

I really don't think this fits. I don't have an appreciation for art and it definitely doesn't make me cry.

You Are Classical Music

You are a somewhat serious person who enjoys studying subjects deeply. Art of all kinds interests you, and a good piece of art can really effect you emotionally. You are inspired by human achievement, and you appreciate work that takes years to accomplish. For you, the finer things in life are not about snobbery - they're about quality.

What Kind of Music Are You?

MEAN LOOK

I don't know what I was thinking but it sure doesn't look good for Dave.
Seriously I wasn't mad but I need to watch the way I look at people,
I could get into real trouble. Sometimes you just don't realize the looks
you can give someone without meaning to.

UNIQUE SIGN LANGUAGE VIDEO

WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG THEY STEP ON YOUR TOES AND WHEN THEY ARE OLDER THEY STEP ON YOUR HEART

I just read a bulletin on myspace from one of my children and I must say I am disappointed.
I pray that she will give herself fully to the one that can ease the pain in her heart. I am at a loss as how to help her except through prayer.

ALASKAN ADVENTURE COMPLETE

These are pictures from our trip. Sorry they are not labeled. We had a blast. Overate but thankfully I only gained four pounds not bad considering the average weight gain is eight to ten pounds. We got home yesterday about 1:30 in the afternoon. We drove straight through from Vancouver, Canada. Rough trip at our age we should of stopped and spent the night somewhere.
On the cruise up we visited Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Seward. We also cruised College Fjourd, and Glacier Bay. On the cruise back we visited the same places except instead of Skagway we visited Haines. They are cute little "quaint" towns. Very pretty countryside, you expect to see a bear come running out of the forest at any moment and run down the streets. The cruise ship we were on was small in comparison to other ships. That is why it didn't have food places all over. You could get food though anytime because there was room service available 24 hours a day. In the slide show I have pictures of the late night dessert extravaganza . Dave and I only sampled a little bit because the lines were to big. Looked yummy though. The food gets to your stomach eventually because it is so much and mostly gourmet. There is also a picture of a bear cub in the tree and a porcupine in a tree. Hard to make out but the best I could get. I believe there is a picture of a whale spouting in there too. There is also a picture of our friends the Mills and a picture of there son and his wife. We stayed with the Mills on our way to Vancouver and had lunch with them on our way home. We had a nice visit but to short.

Ketchikan

We are in Ketchikan at a coffee shop. It is raining and cold but very pretty. Having a great time.
Doing shopping and looking today maybe an excursion on our way home.

At sea

Life boat drill

Leaving Canada

We are having a good time. Relaxing. It is a little different then I thought. Food is not as accesable as other cruises I guess. That is a good thing though. Tomorrow we will be in Ketchikan I think.
Don't know how often I will post internet usage is expensive. I am sitting here looking out to sea. I see a few islands out there. Having trouble loading pictures I will try later.

ALASKAN ADVENTURE

Well we are in Vancouver, B.C. and tomorrow we will board our cruise to Alaska, what an adventure. I will try to keep this blog updated while we are away maybe even post pictures if I am able. We left Thursday and drove up. The drive was great but long. We stayed in Washington with some friends of ours and had a good visit.One thing that is unusual about Washington and Canada for us Californians is the time it gets dark. It gets dark about 10:30 pm or so and starts getting light around 4:00 am. Right now here in Vancouver it is 9:00 o'clock pm and still very light. The sun isn't even on the horizon yet. Strange for me. Washington is a beautiful state. We didn't get to see much except for while driving since we were kind of focused on getting here. Maybe on the way home we will be able to see more although we are on a time table to get home also. Vancouver is a pretty city also. I love the homes I have seen. Very "cute" for lack of a better word. It looks like there is a lot to do here also but we don't have time. Tonight we saw, but didn't stop, a street Jazz festival, a Chinese outside market, a cirque-du-soleil show and much more to do.

MOUNTAIN TORTURE OH I MEAN CLIMBING

It has been awhile since I posted but I have been occupied with lots of things. Some good and some not so good. I have been helping my sister with her remodel because she is under a deadline(just a few times), went to work with my husband once to help him before vacation, last weekend we helped on my older sisters house, and was occupied at the hospital last week with my nephews injury and subsequent death. Very sad please pray for his wife Jill and two sons, Liam and Alex. Also for his Dad, Mom, Sister, Step Mom and extended family.
Now on to my TORTURE. I told my husband I would try to climb Mount Baden Powell with him and we decided a week ago today was a good day to try. We got up at 5:00 got to the mountain about 6:30 and started up about 7:00 or so. I was so out of breath and dizzy in the first half mile that I thought I was going to have to quit by I plugged on and decided to at least make it to the spring which is about one and a half to two miles up when we got there I caught a second wind and decided to give it a try and part way up regretted that decision but none the less I kept going and made it to the top. We stayed up there for about thirty minutes and started back down. I thought no problem hard part is done. Ha. Going down uses different muscles not to mention my fall on slippery snow that left a knot and bruise on my left upper thigh. When I was close to being down I started trembling and knew if I didn't get down now I wouldn't get down myself so I started to jog down probably the last three fourths or half mile. All in all I did eight and a half miles. Not bad for being out of shape. I have been sore though for the last week just starting to get over it

Just starting out still fresh.

At the top near the monument

Me at the top.

Dave at the top.

Almost done literally and physically

TAG

Bekki tagged me.

FIVE RANDOM OR WEIRD FACTS ABOUT ME

#1. I can only chew one kind of gum or I swallow it.

#2. Nothing holds my interest for very long. For example crafts, hobbies, etc.

#3. I love to help people with their math problems. Lately I have been tutoring a few people and I actually have fun doing the math.

#4. I have always wanted to learn to play the piano. But guess what it doesn't hold my interest when I try even though I still want to learn.

#5. I love to read.

ANGELS CAME TO VISIT?

I THINK I SAW ANOTHER SIDE TO THEM!

SISTERS

SISTERS?

I MUST SAY THE SISTERS BELOW ARE MUCH BETTER LOOKING THEN THE THREE ABOVE.