Sunday, December 20, 2009

I "AM" Thankful...perhaps a little delinquent.

November really got away from me, but I wanted to document some of our family fun this past Thanksgiving. Having “grown-up” children is an adjustment - especially when they live all over the USA! We are learning to share & we love having them come visit. The week of Thanksgiving was full of family in & out. We are grateful to have spent a little time with 7/10 of the kids. Jill & her girls came back with us from our trip to Gina’s & Disneyland, Ty came home from BYU-Idaho, the Petersens came & hung out for a couple of days, Ben & Dara came (early & left the day before Thanksgiving because Ben had to work), the Middletons came to play before they went out of town (although I guess I didn't have my camera out that day?), & Coley & her friend Rob came for dinner & games.

Jill enjoying the kids ATV…



Ben sharing his talents (making a wall hanging for Cindi’s boys).



A little help from Dara & Jill…



The finished project…



Sharing jigglers…



Turkeys…



Loving the babies…



Capturing the moment…



Cousin fun…



Sibling fun…




Gamers…



TV time with G’pa…



Black Friday, aka Crazy Lady Shopping...



Black Friday Bargains...



Serious Hot Chocolate!



Our newest blessing - Donovan Paul Deceuster, Nov 29th, 7.75 lbs, 19.75 inches.



Precious moments...so fresh from heaven!



Just a few of our blessings...hope your Thanksgiving was memorable!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Early Monday morning, Dec 7th, we woke up to NO POWER & this…



Yes, that is our hot tub & this is our outdoor kitchen…barbeque anyone?



Remember my beautiful backyard?



Well, this is what it looked like Monday at 7:00am!



…my apricot tree…



…looking up the driveway…



…from the front gate…



We have close to a dozen fallen branches all over the property – here are 4 limbs down off this gorgeous old oak alone! (Yes, this is the middle of our volleyball court!)



This branch (close up) bounced off the roof of the house (Luckily, no damages to the roof!) – you can’t tell, but the fallen branch in the back ground took out the back side of my garden!



My water feature is more of an ice rink…




We are somewhat confused – we were told that it never snows in Coloma! After all, we are only 750 ft above sea level in our little valley. The neighbors say it hasn’t snowed like this in some 30 years! Tell me again about global warming?



Rafting anyone? Meet us at Henningson Park in Lotus…



This is what we saw on our way out of the valley Monday…





…the power lines weave in & out of all the beautiful trees in our area. Coloma has been without power since early Monday morning! (I’ve been at my mom’s in Bakersfield & Paul was in San Jose working a couple of days.) Our neighbor called this evening to let us know that we’ve got power again…after almost 5 days! However, another storm is passing through tonight! As beautiful as the snow is,I'm glad I wasn’t there freezing without power!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Where Did November Go???

Well…November came & went much too quickly! Now the Holidays are in full swing; meanwhile, I am on the train headed to visit my mommy so I thought I would take advantage of the train ride & “catch” up on my bloggity blog.

Well, we weren’t home too long from our Fall Colors Tour before we headed on down to visit the Deceusters & help Gina get ready for her new little guy to arrive in December. We washed & sorted all the baby clothes & it really got us all excited to meet him! We also got to spend a little time with Luke & Alana. We went to Scooter’s Jungle again but I was so busy playing, I forgot to take photos! Luke is really reading well & he read several books to G’pa Paul, but when I finally got my camera out, Luke couldn’t be found for a quick little photo op! Alana helped me put together a puzzle & we painted…



We made silly faces at the camera…




& Alana put on a “dance concert” for me. (She is quite the little entertainer these days!)…



Next, we met the Holyoaks in “Didneyland” to help them celebrate Macy’s 3rd Birthday. It was fun to see the “Happiest Place on Earth” through the eyes of a little princess.



Macy wore her Snow White dress both days & her Birthday Button. She loved the attention from everyone wishing her “Happy Birthday, Princess!”



We ate at Ariel’s Grotto where we saw ALL of the princesses & even got their autographs! It was a “dream come true” birthday for the little princess!



And the “princess in training” took notes!!!



Jill & the girls came home to the Riverhouse with us for Thanksgiving; however on the way home, we made a quick stop for an early Thanksgiving dinner with our Bakersfield family. (Thanks Carrie & Soch!)



Of course we took the opportunity to snap an updated 4 generation picture…



“Over the river & through the woods,” to the Riverhouse we went…(However, I haven’t downloaded those pictures yet so stay tuned for more Thanksgiving fun!)