Sledding, too!

We decided to go sledding, and around here, it is hard to go somewhere were everybody else ISN'T!!! We initially tried a hill off the side of the road, but in no time, many cars pulled up behind us (we were the first ones there) and since it was such a small hill, we decided to look elsewhere. We ended up finding a hill that was near the freeway, but couldn't be seen from it, so nobody else showed up! We had the hill all to ourselves! Kids and parents alike had a blast shooting down the hill!

When it came to lunch time, Karen laid out a few blankets on the snow, and between that and the tailgates, we had our own little picnic in the snow! It was just great!

It's SNOW fun!

We woke up the next morning to snow! The first flakes had started to fall while we were unpacking the night we arrived! We donned our snow stuff before we even had Karen's delicious breakfast (Dutch babies)....

Trent was already getting hot! It was not long before the whole jacket came off!

All the kids looked so cute in the trees laden with snow!

Byron....Morgan

Mariah.....

Jared....

A Cabin Retreat

Talbert and Karen invited us up to their family's cabin since it was a long weekend! It was great fun! The kids get along so well, and so look forward to being together! We drove up there and as we were unloading, the first snowflakes fell. The next morning we woke up to snow!When we first got there, the cabin was pretty cold! The kids liked watching their breath inside the cabin. Karen and I left the oven open after the pizza came out to warm up a bit!
Everybody huddled near a heater until the fire got going!PJ's, hot chocolate, good friends, and comic books....can life get any better?

We were wet when we came in after playing in the snow!
Morgan loves to write in her diary!
Go fish!

Reconnecting w/ an old friend

We had company for 2 nights last week! Her name is Anne, and we go "way back". Our parents used to correspond, and when I was 12, Anne's parents and older sister came to America to meet us. Then Anne and I met at conv. in 1987, and not again until she moved to our state and came for an afternoon a few years ago. At conv. this year, we saw each other again, and really connected! She had a class here, so came to visit us! It was great! We hope she comes back soon! She's a flight nurse, so the boys got a kick out of putting on her 5000 dollar helmet!


She loves animals......Chloe got to sleep on her bed both nights rather than in her kennel!

Missing: A Bottom Tooth!

Byron lost his first tooth the other day! We were sitting in a restaurant, and it started to bleed. It was close to being out, so I asked him if he wanted me to pull it. He very willingly opened his mouth to me. I got it right out, and then he said, Actually, Mom, I think it will hurt. I said, It's already out! He was amazed! It was very exciting. They gave us a little container to take it home in. He wished that they would come and sing "Happy Happy Birthday, From the Tooth Fairy" to him! (No, it' s not his birthday, but you know how they sing for you on your birthday). And alas, the tooth fairy that comes to this house is stingy....I hear from school, that a lot of kids get 20 bucks per tooth. Brother!!! My kids look at me with very quizzical expressions when I tell them I feel sorry for those kids for being so spoiled!

If you want to hear the ocean....

I never get tired of seeing or hearing the ocean. This video is just a little clip of the ocean....nothing else! :)

More Ocean Time

On the way back from the Redwoods, we stopped at the ocean again and stayed till 5. The kids had a great time again.
My sweet hubby.......

The Redwoods

Today we enjoyed walking thru a grove of redwoods. It was another sunny beautiful day, so we were glad as it is never sunny inside a grove of redwoods! We were able to take Chloe along on all the paved trails, so she got a good walk in as well. Jared especially was fascinated with the size of the trees.
Even though it was so dark in there that the pictures didn't really turn out, I thought it was so cute seeing the 3 boys walking together.

We really had fun going inside the hollow trees!
This one we could all fit in! You can hardly tell by this picture that we were inside a tree, but we were...

These are some of the roots of a tree.

Sand Dunes

The last beach we stopped at was the typical sandy beach with some pretty tall sand dunes. The day was getting cooler, but we played the longest here.....

Time at the ocean

We decided to have a little getaway and go to the ocean. We'll be here for 4 nights/5 days....we could not have picked a better day yesterday for time at the beach. It was sunny, and very little wind. We hardly needed a coat in the afternoon.

The beach here was small round pebbles...perfect for a picnic. It didn't hurt bare feet, but there was no problem with getting sand in the food! We stopped at several beaches, took little walks, and just thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.