The Reason

For our wedding, David gave me a beautiful hand made Santa Claus. It was an old style Father Christmas with a hand sculpted face, wool clothing, and intricate details. I fell in love. That was the first of a very large collection of Santa figurines. One Christmas, I realized that I had many Santas in my house, but I only had one nativity set. That started me thinking about what Christmas was really about and whether my house reflected the true meaning of Christmas.

That year I stopped collecting Santas and started collecting Nativities. I love setting them out each Christmas. They help me remember that Christmas is only special because of Jesus Christ, and his love for each one of us. Jesus is the reason for the season. I have a variety of Nativity sets. Some are valuable, others are sentimental, but all are special to me. I hope you enjoy viewing them.

When you're done, you can check out more nativities in the Nativity Parade over at crapivemade.com




This is a beautiful Gorham Crystal Nativity. This was the first really nice nativity that David bought for me. The angels aren't part of the set, but I like how the mother of pearl looks with the crystal.



I carved this nativity out of a goose egg. At one point I was really into egg carving and made many for assorted family members. They are extremely fragile, and as far as I know, this is one of only two that still survive. This one is less intricate than most of my other eggs. I got tired of hearing that yet another egg was broken, and decided to try for a more sturdy design. When we moved this summer, I wrapped it in a huge ball of toilet paper, put it in a hard case filled with peanuts, and watched over it personally during the drive. No moving van for this puppy. My efforts paid off, and it's still in one piece.




This is the back of the same egg.



This is a puzzle nativity set. This is actually a replacement of the original. Many years ago my uncle made sets for my mom, sister and I. We spent the whole Christmas holiday painting our sets very elaborately. I loved mine. Then one year I loaned it to a friend, who forgot to give it back, and then moved away. Oops. So, I borrowed my mom's, took a pattern off of it, and cut out another with the scroll saw. Unfortunately, I've never gotten around to finishing the paint on this new set. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.



I made this set from felt at a church craft activity. Well, I started it there, but didn't finish it until much later. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. I especially love the camel and the sheep.



This is just a cheap set that I bought at an after Christmas sale, but the figures are really quite pretty. I like the angel.



This set was a gift from my good friend Sue.



I love this snowman nativity because of how I got it. The first year that I decided I wanted to start collecting nativity sets, we were very poor. We decided to only buy presents for the kids, and not for each other. Then David, sweet man that he is, saw this nativity set at the dollar store and decided to splurge. Each figure was a dollar, so the whole set was $7. It was my second nativity set.



This maybe isn't technically a nativity set, but I love it. It is my favorite Christmas picture. I love how sweet the family looks, and how loving Mary and Joseph look. It was given to us by David's dad.



This is one of my two favorite nativities. It is made from a shoe box, clothes pins and fabric scraps. The gifts of the Wise Men are made from candy wrappers. My daughter, Mariasha made it as a gift for me without any help when she was about 11 years old.



This is the first nativity I ever owned. I made it at a church craft night the year I got married.



This snow globe was a gift from my son, Kallai. I love the simplicity of the figures.



I purchased this one so the kids would have a nativity they could touch without getting in trouble.


This set was purchased for me by my daughter Mariasha, using money she earned from her first job as a teenager. It was quite expensive, but she assured me that she got a good employee discount. This is one of the most beautiful nativities that I own. I love the graceful lines and simplicity of it.



This is a favorite of mine because it is so unusual. The figures stand about two feet tall and are made from painted sheet metal.



This nativity is from Jerusalem and is carved from olive wood.



It's fun to see all the different types of nativities that are out there. This nativity was hand carved in Ecuador, and was given to us by David's mom while she served a church mission there.



This one is Japanese, though I don't think it was actually created in Japan. I love the strange animals. The sheep look like little amoebas, and the large animals look like cow/sheep/camel/elephant mixes. I have yet to figure out who all the people are. There seem to be several children, maybe shepherd boys?



Here is another nativity that was a gift from one of my children.



This beautiful stained glass nativity was passed down to David from his Grandma Marge



This nativity is a music box that one of my children gave to me as a Christmas present.



David's dad gave us this nativity, a Thomas Kincade music box nativity. It is beautiful.



All of these nativities were given to me at various times by my children. They love adding to my collection.



This is the other of my two favorite sets. My daughter, Taliah made it for me out of clay as a school project when she was in second or third grade. My favorite part is the angel. She is the figure on the right with her wings outstretched and her mouth open, singing. You can't see it in the picture, but baby Jesus is grinning from ear to ear.



This metal nativity is a favorite of mine. I usually leave it out all year. I love how elegant the shape of it is.



I made this nativity at a church craft night. Made of glass block and stickers, I think it's cute.



This is a Fontanini Nativity set from Italy. It was a birthday gift from David. I think the bagpipe player is hilarious. Did they even have bagpipes in Bethlehem?



David and I found this nativity in Puerto Rico. Apparently, there is a festival and parade celebrating the three wise men on January 6 every year in Puerto Rico. The pictures are etched into thin metal sheets and then painted.

Well that's it, 30 nativity sets, if you count the magnetic one on the fridge. I can't wait to see if I get a new one this year. Have a great Christmas!

And miles to go before I sleep...

I got a new car recently. I love it! It's a Kia Sorrento. It has all kinds of cool features. My favorite is the built in bluetooth, so I can talk on the phone without holding it or wearing something in my ear. The main reason I got it was because my old car, my beloved Ford Explorer a.k.a. Beau, just didn't get good enough gas mileage. On a good day, he was eking out 15 mpg. Back in Utah it didn't really matter because I worked 2 blocks away from home, went to church 1 mile away from home, and the kids rode buses to school. Now, however, everything is far, far away. So I had to say goodbye to my Beau, and get my new car, which hasn't been named yet. She can do 24 mpg if I'm careful.

I've had her about a month, and I am shocked by the amount of miles she's racked up already. As of yesterday, 1890. In one month! Holy cow! I knew I was driving a lot, but that's a little ridiculous. So I sat down and figured out my mileage.

Here's my current driving schedule.
In the morning David drives Jordan to early morning seminary, 17 miles round trip. I don't actually drive that, but David usually takes my car.

In the morning I drop Kallai, then Taliah off at school, then drive to work, 19 miles one way.
After work, I drive home, 16 miles one way.
When the kids get out of school, I pick up Kallai, then Jordan, then return home, 21 miles round trip.

That's 73 miles per day, and that's not counting driving to Young Mens on Wednesday, or any shopping trips or things like that.

So now the question I am asking myself is, "Can I cut back?" I must be able to cut back. So here's my first bright idea. I just won't go home after work. I will go to the library, the store, do errands, visit friends, etc. until my kids get out of school. That will save me 18 miles per day and 360 miles per month. So it looks like I will be spending some extra time at the library. You may hear a lot more from me on my blog in the near future, as I will have a great deal of uninterrupted computer time. Maybe I will start doing genealogy or something. I guess we'll see.

Grandparents

It's still really odd to be a Grandma. Don't get me wrong. It's so fun to have a grandson, to hold him and love him. It is enjoyable to be able to help Mariasha as she calls to ask a myriad of questions about how to care for a baby. It was so amazing to be there for the birth. I love all of that. But when someone talks about me and says things like "You'll have to talk to Grandma," or "Grandma will spoil the baby rotton," and then people turn and look at me and I realize that I am "Grandma", that is really, really wierd. Oh well, Quinton is so cute, it's worth it. I love him and his family so much!

Thanksgiving fun

Mariasha, Jared and Quinton came to visit us for Thanksgiving. It was so fun to see them, and Quinton is getting so big! I loved holding him. We were supposed to go motorcycling with Teri and Mark, but when Mark went to get the trailer, he found out that the trailer park had closed several hours early on the day before Thanksgiving, and wouldn't be open again until the day after Thanksgiving. Instead, Teri's family came to our house and we had Thanksgiving dinner here. The kids had fun playing Just Dance on the Wii. It's a fun game that is good exercise too. You follow the dance moves on the tv screen, and hold the wii remote. The game can tell if you are dancing correctly or not.
The day after Thanksgiving Teri's family went camping, but we decided to stay home. We went to the zoo instead. We borrowed a stroller from my neighbor, Nuria, and headed down to Balboa Park. Before we went into the zoo, we stopped at picnic tables and had homemade sandwiches. There were several chipmunks that were hanging out in the trees and on the ground, and Taliah and Kallai had fun feeding them peanuts. The chipmunks weren't shy at all. After we got into the zoo, we took a bus tour around the park. The kids wanted to sit in the very front seat. We realized quickly that that is the worst place to sit. The bus driver would drive past each exhibit, so the people in the middle had the best view. The people in the front had to crane their heads around to see the animals behind them. Oh well. We made a special visit to the polar bears and elephants. We saw a lion who was lugging around a huge barrel in his mouth. We had a really cute picture taken, our first family picture with Quinton. We really enjoyed ourselves. After the zoo, Mariasha and Jared went to see the new Harry Potter 7 movie. I got to babysit Quinton. He is so adorable.
The next day Mariasha and Jared headed off to Disneyland. We had quite a commotion about it. They had made blankets for the Disney Give a Day Get a Day service opportunity, where you give a day of service and get a day at Disneyland. Unfortunately, they had forgotten to print out the tickets. Mariasha figured she could print them at my house, but when she tried, she found that the website had been shut down, and wasn't able to. I spent some time trying to figure out a phone number to call to ask about it. Disneyland is a difficult place to get on the phone. I finally got the number of the Orlando headquarters, but they were closed for the weekend. We finally talked to my Sis in law Julane, who had had the same problem. She had found out that you just had to take your id to the park and they would look it up. Next problem, Mariasha had changed her name since getting married, and her certificate showed her maiden name. She was supposed to have brought her marriage license, to prove the name change. She forgot. Luckily I happened to remember that I had kept a copy for genealogy. Well after much anxiety, they were able to go and get in just fine. It was fun to be able to spend the whole day with Quinton. This whole grandma thing is pretty cool. Kevin and Julane came down after Thanksgiving, and it was fun to catch up with them. They have an adorable new baby girl named Shaylee. Pretty soon she and Quinton will be playing together.
On Sunday Mariasha and Jared left for home early so they could have a few hours to relax at home, since Jared had to work on Monday. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. They got stuck in terrible weather. What should have been a 10 hour drive turned out to be a 15 hour drive. At least they made it home safe and sound.

In case you ever wanted to know...

A few random things about me. I saw this on a friends blog, and I thought some of the questions were fun. No one tagged me, and I'm not going to tag anyone else because I think chain letters are terribly annoying, but if you feel so inspired, it would be fun to hear your answers too.

1. Who is your hero? Why?
Growing up, I would have to say my dad. He could do no wrong. He knew everything, from politics to science to random interesting facts. As I look back now, I'm sure he made some of his knowledge up on the spot, but he spoke with such confidence that it had to be true. He could do anything, from building furniture to building/remodeling our house, from stitching up a cut to beautifully tooling leather, from flying an airplane to riding a horse. , He always had time for me. He read stories to my sister and I, and continues to read stories to my kids. He took us camping, fishing, hiking, cliff jumping, on vacation to Disneyland, on vacation driving across half of Mexico, and so many other fun and exciting experiences. He was and still is amazing.

Now, however, my dad has to share his pedestal. My grown up hero would have to be my husband, David. David is amazing. He is very talented. He can do so many things, and when he does something, he always does it well. He finished our basement and landscaped our yard, both of which were done very beautifully and professionally. He is great at many different sports. He is an amazing artist and creates breathtaking works of art. But the main reason David is my hero is how well he takes care of me and the kids. He works long hours a work providing for us, and then he comes home and helps out around the house. He treats me like a queen. He is always worried about my comfort, but takes very little thought for his own. I am never in doubt that he loves me.

2. When you were a little tyke, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a teacher. What I would teach changed from time to time. As a young child, I wanted to be a first grade teacher. I wanted to be like my wonderful first grade teacher, Mrs. Lott. In Junior High and High School, I wanted to be a Home Ec. teacher. I wanted to teach kids how to sew.

3. What is one goal you currently have?
Well, this one isn't very big or consequential, but I would like to be able to find my way around North San Diego county without getting lost, without having to make multiple u-turns after having taken a wrong turn. I'd like to travel North on I-15 without accidentally taking the 78 interchange, not because I'm concentrating very hard on not taking it, but just because I know where I'm going, and it would be silly to even be caught in the wrong lane at that particular point on the freeway.

4. What life achievement are you most proud of?
Twenty years of a successful marriage. Marriage is tough, it's a lot of work, and in this age of disposable spouses, I think twenty years is quite an accomplishment. I am very proud of the fact that David and I are happier, more in love, and that the spark of romance is burning brighter now after 20 years than ever before in our marriage.

5. If you could do anything with your spare time, what would you do?
Do I have to pick just one thing? I have too many hobbies to pick just one. If money and school schedules and the like were no object, then I'd like to travel more. I'd like to see the world. Until the kids are up and out, however, my sights are set much lower. I'd like to have time to quilt more, to scrapbook more, to paint more, to cake decorate more. There are hundreds of different crafty things that I'd like to try my hand at, but there just aren't enough hours in the day.

6. What is your best physical feature?
I'm thinking my legs. I get lots of compliments on my calves especially. I inherited them from my mom. They are very muscular and defined, and I have skinny knees and ankles. At least that's what others tell me.

7. What is the most important thing your parents ever taught you by example?
So many things! First, with hard work and persistence I can do anything I want to, and if I do something, I should do it well. If I don't know how, I should put effort in, and learn how. Second, everything I have was given to me by God. I shouldn't be selfish with or prideful about what I have. I should always be grateful, and I should show that gratitude by serving God and those around me. Third, wonderful people come in many different packages. People that others might think are odd or eccentric often make the best, truest and most enjoyable friends.

8. Why do you think the Mormon church is true?
I believe that the Mormon church is the re-established original church of Jesus Christ that he organized while he was on the earth. I have many reasons why I believe it is true. They all come down to basically the same thing. I have received confirmation from God that it is. This has come in many different ways. I have received an answer to the direct questions "Is this church true?", "Is the Book of Mormon true?", and "Is Thomas S. Monson a prophet?". I have received direct answers to my prayers from God, inspiration and knowledge that I could not have known on my own that saved my marriage. I have received answers to my prayers while reading the Book of Mormon. Answers that are so specific, even down to the use of the same words that I used in my prayers, that there is no possible way that it could be a coincidence. I have received answers to my prayers while listening to speakers in church, in General Conference, in other church meetings, again that are breathtakingly specific and personally relevant. And finally, it just make sense to me. There is a God, who loves his children, who still speaks to them and guides them through modern day prophets.

1) What is one food you hated as a child, but as an adult you now enjoy?
I hated everything as a child, and love most everything now. Cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, mustard, saurkraut, brocoli, cantaloupe, bleu cheese, etc.

2) Favorite memory growing up?
Hanging out with my family. We did all kinds of things together: board games, hiking, river rafting, water skiing, running, reading, Dad reading the Sunday morning "Funnies" to us, etc. I really had an idyllic childhood.

3) Craziest thing you've ever done and/or seen happen?
Jump off a 63 foot cliff into the water on Mustang Ridge at Flaming Gorge with my dad and sister. I was probably 13. It took me about 30 minutes to get up the nerve to actually do it, but it was awesome!

4) If you could choose any super power, what would it be?
I always answer "fly" when asked this question. Why? I don't know, because it would be really cool. It always is when I can fly in my dreams, except when I get tangled up in power lines.

5) Favorite book, and why?
I adore so many books, it's so hard to choose. All I ask of a book is that it entertain me, and that it keep itself reasonably clean. I can't stand steamy romances or swear words in every other sentence. I'd have to say that my two favorite books are Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer and Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. Both made me laugh out loud, cry until my nose ran, and stay up well into the night to find out what happened next.

6) Why did you choose the major/degree/career that you did?
I always wanted to be a teacher, and I loved volunteering in my kids classes, so it seemed natural to work in a school helping kids.

8) Paper or plastic?
This problem is one that I have actually given serious consideration. Which is better? I don't know. Paper kills trees, plastic fills landfills and doesn't biodegrade. Plastic has nice convenient handles, paper doesn't squish the bread. Decisions, decisions. I guess the best answer would be to bring my own cloth bags, which I actually own. Some day I will be organized enough that I will actually remember to put them into the car before I go to the store, and then remember to take out of the car and into the store. Until that day though, I usually get a combination. Paper for eggs, chips and bread, plastic for everything else.

It's starting to feel like home

I've finally started getting some painting done. I just couldn't stand the flat white walls anymore. I don't know who came up with flat paint, but that person certainly didn't have children or pets. The color scheme is very bold, but I love it. I wasn't sure at first, but once we got the color on the walls, I realized why my husband is a very talented designer. He knows his color!

We painted the kitchen/family room and powder room in "Graham Cracker Crust. David decided that wasn't the right name at all, so he renamed it "Pumpkin Bisque". Jordan felt that neither name truly captured the color, so he named it "Caramel Syrup". The hallways and stairs are painted in "Burlap", but again, David and Jordan were unsatisfied, so David calls it "Golden Wheat" and Jordan calls it "Horseradish Mustard". I think it's pretty amusing that they can't be satisfied with the original names, but whatever makes them happy.

We bought an amazing ceiling fan for the family room. It has wooden blades that wrap around the light. I love it. It matches really well with the color and the sculptures in the family room.

I'm hoping to finish painting all of the public areas before Thanksgiving. I think it's doable, as long as my family is willing to eat cold cereal for dinner for a little while longer. Actually, I "hired" Jordan to help with the painting, because he needs money for his choir trip, and he doesn't have a job. He's been chauffering children, cooking dinner, and cleaning while I paint. It works out pretty well, although I'm guessing that Jordan is starting to think maybe he should just get a job. I only have 2 rooms left; the office, which will be painted in "Monks Cloth", a brown/green color, (David's and Jordan's names are still pending), and the TV room, who's color is yet to be decided. I'm thinking red. After that, we will just have bedrooms left. I love having color on my walls. It makes my home seem so much more inviting and personal.

A bundle of joy!

As promised, pictures of my adorable grandson, Quinton James.
He looks so small in his car seat!


Proud parents, Mariasha and Jared






Just born





He's a hefty little guy, 8lbs 8oz, 20.5 inches

What a pretty grandma! ;o)

He had to hang out on a Bilibed for a day.

Proud Grandpa! He's a sucker for babies.

Three generations

Five generations. Unfortunately, my parents headed out on their mission to Canada on the day before Quinton was born, so my dad couldn't be in the picture.

Headed home from the hospital. Such a cute baby!

Big News!

Well, I guess, it's really "Little News", about 8 1/2 pounds of news. My grandbaby has made his grand entrance. I am a grandma! I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it. People have asked me if I was going to come up with a different name like "Nana" or "Mema" because I felt to young to be a grandma. I've never liked any of the alternative names, but "grandma"? At 39? I wasn't sure. Then I saw him. Oh, he's beautiful! When I first laid eyes on him, my heart grew at least three times bigger. Now I'm so excited to be a grandma. I have introduced myself, "I'm grandma!" several times in the last 3 days. So my big news is that I'm a grandma. My "little news" is he's an adorable little boy named Quinton James. Pictures to follow!

Musings on my new life

It's taken me some time to get into the swing of things, so my blogging is way behind schedule. It's not completely my fault. When we arrived in California, my computer refused to turn on. Somehow it got killed in the move. No problem, because my computer guy (my bro in law Mark) lives close now, and the computer needed to be wiped and reformatted anyway. I just hadn't gotten it done yet, because my computer guy lived so far away. I sent my computer off with Mark and told him that he didn't need to retrieve my files first because I had carefully backed them up before the move to an external hard drive, which I had carefully packed and transported personally. Unfortunately, when I got the computer back, and plugged in the hard drive, it wouldn't even turn on. AAK! Fortunately, my genius bro in law had decided to retrieve the files anyway just in case. Disaster was averted! Then he fixed the hard drive, just for good measure.

My next excuse is that it took me a while to figure out where the camera cable and battery charger had been unpacked to. But now I've found them, so it's time to start blogging again.

Life is hectic, but good. I am currently driving about 1 1/2 hours per day and using 1/4 tank of gas per day. Yes, I have to fill up my 20 gallon tank almost twice a week. I am not used to this. I was spoiled with having work, school and church all less than a mile away. Not so anymore! Everything here is 15 minutes away. Church, school, shopping, baseball practice. Work is about 30 minutes away, but it's only 15 minutes beyond the kids school, so I like to tell myself it's only 15 minutes away. The upside is that the speed limits are really high. Most roads are 45-50 mph , and the freeways are 70, so it doesn't take as long as it could.

The kids have made friends and gotten involved in lots of stuff. Jordan is running cross country and is in the Madrigals choir at school. He hasn't gotten a job yet, but will need to soon to earn money for his choir trip to Florida. Kallai has taken up surfing, which he loves, and joined a baseball team. Taliah hasn't started anything so far, but has a couple of friends that she enjoys having play dates with.

I have started working at an elementary school as a Special Ed Assistant. I really enjoy it so far, but am still up in the air about what my duties really will be. The program is a new one. They have removed most special ed students from special ed classes and put them into mainstream classes, so the school is still figuring out how things will be working. Whatever I end up doing, I really enjoy working with the students. They are a great group of kids. I work with fifth graders. The teacher I am working with is great too, and we have quite a bit in common.

David is missing in action most of the time. He works very long hours, and has a stressful job. He made a business trip to Singapore and Shanghai recently, where he attended lots of meetings, and saw the inside of several offices and hotel rooms. Not much time for sightseeing, they really worked him hard. At least he has the weekends off, so we play hard every Saturday, and rest and recover on Sundays.

We try to spend lots of family time together on the weekends, playing and surfing at the beach and hanging out with my sister's family. I love the beach, and love that I can get there with very little effort. When I open my trunk, I usually see sand piling up in the corners from the beach toys. You might think that would upset me, but it makes me smile to see it. I love lazing around on the sand reading a book, watching the kids boogie board and surf, looking for critters in the rocks at low tide, building sand castles. I love smelling the ocean for several minutes before I actually see it. I love driving along the PCH, coming over a hill and catching glimpses of the blue water. I love walking along the pier at night. I almost feel like I live in "Vacationland" because we go to the beach so often.

Sometimes it's foggy in the morning as the "marine layer" reaches all the way inland to our house. At first I thought that meant the weather would be cold, but no, it's nice and warm, and foggy! Usually it burns off after a couple of hours. I do get cold in the afternoons when the sun starts to sink toward the horizon, and at the beach. The humidity really makes the air feel colder than I'm used to. I'm starting to remember to bring a jacket with me even when it's warm, just in case.

People here are really friendly. Random people start conversations with me all the time, from the guy in front of me in the grocery line asking my opinion of Prince William's wedding, to the woman competing with me for a job chatting about the best beaches in the area. People are always willing to chat. I've even caught myself starting conversations, which is quite out of character for me.

My ward is awesome! Everyone has been so welcoming. The kids were drawn into a circle of friends immediately. So were David and I. I think we attended about 8 parties during the first month that we were here. The people are very down to earth. There's no need to try to keep up with the Joneses. Everyone is happy to take you as you are. The crazy thing about the ward is how loud they are. In my Utah ward we often were chastized for being irreverent in Sacrament Meeting. Well, we were silent compared to my new ward. Everyone goes into the Chapel and walks around and visits. No one whispers, they talk right out loud, and sometimes get louder as they talk over the noise. When it's time to start the meeting, the Bishop will stand and say "Please take your seats so we can start." Sometimes he has to say it a couple of times, and raise his voice to be heard over the din. Once he gets their attention, everyone quiets right down. The people of the ward are mostly related. Brothers and sisters, parents and their grown children, cousins, etc. It seems like people like it so much here that they never leave. They just move around the corner, and stay. The nice thing though, is they aren't cliquey at all. They have known each other forever, but there is always room for another friend.

Choir practice made me laugh the other day. It lasted 15 minutes exactly. The choir director timed it. The altos weren't getting our line, and I asked if we could go over it. He consulted his watch and said, "We have 8 minutes left, I guess we have time." We ran through it once alone, and once with the whole choir, and then we moved on. I asked if we could go over the intro a few times, because we were really having a hard time picking out our first note, but time was up. We are singing it next week. This was the only practice, and we aren't meeting early to run through it. I wonder how we will sound.

David has been called into Young Mens, I've been called into Young Womens. In the last 2 weeks I said the prayer and gave a talk in Sacrament, Jordan and Kallai gave talks in Sacrament, and Taliah gave a talk in Primary. It's the month of the Dresens I guess.

Well, enough of my ramblings. We are doing well. Our new life has its challenge, but we are together, which is the important thing. I have had a few small bouts of home sickness, but I usually get over them quickly. I miss all of my old friends, but I'm enjoying this new adventure.

Time flies...

We've been having lots of fun this summer, but now it's time for school to start and we will have to hunker down and get to work. I'm pretty behind in my blogging, but I though I would share a few things that we have done at the end of summer.



Kallai received his First Class Badge. He actually earned it in Utah, but he didn't get his Board of Review taken care of until the day before we moved, so he received it in California. We have a great Scout Troop here, with very capable leaders. Kallai has gone on a couple camp outs, built bird houses, participated in service projects and had a lot of fun.



We went to the Oceanside Pier, which is a fun place to go at night. You can rent fishing poles and fish off the sides of the pier with glowsticks for bobbers. The first time we went people were catching fish left and right. You just had to stick your hook in the water, and within a minute or two you would catch a fish. The second time we went (and actually tried fishing), it wasn't quite that easy, but the kids each caught a fish or two. Then we went and had shakes at the restaurant at the end of the pier.




Kallai received a surf board for his birthday, and has had lots of fun with it. He has been able to get up on his feet, and has told me that surfing is the best thing he has done all summer. We spend almost every Saturday at the beach, and really enjoy our time there.




Of course I don't have a good pic of him surfing because I couldn't find my camera/charger until just recently, so all my good pics are on my sister's camera.

This weekend we hung out with my sister Teri's family, and my parents who were in town visiting. We went to Doheney State Beach, which is a good surfing beach, but it also has a very rocky bottom. When we got there, we found that the tide was out, and much of the rocks were exposed. We went hunting for crabs, and had lots of fun catching them. We found a shrimp, and lots of hermit crabs. It was fun to hold them and wait for them to come out of their shell to run away.

We have done many more things this summer, and eventually I will post them all. Hopefully! It's been an eventful summer, and I'm kind of sad that it's over.