Spring Happenings

Our spring has been a blast. We were excited to find a bird family living in our fort. That mama bird is working hard to feed 3 babies (Colette can relate). That scruffy little bird and her babies have been such wonderfully unexpected spring blessings to observe. Our family managed to avoid nearly all the bad viruses going around. In fact the only illness I can recall is Julian's ear infections. Typical middle child... he never complained until he couldn't hear because of all the fluid. He's feeling alot better now. In May our nephew "Big Nick" graduated from college. We are very proud of him and his bright future. Jeff started softball practice for our church's team. It's been a while since he's played on a team. We hope he doesn't injure himself to the point where he can no longer wrestle with the boys. Rachel is finally coming out of her "shell". She is much more comfortable with the Grandmas, babysitters and friends. She loves her ballet class and going to the beach (even on foggy days). Our family is looking forward to summer nights sans homework and deadlines. See you at the beach....

Photos are: The first baby bird hatching, Gabriel and Grandma Mary at Gabriel's poetry reading, Rachel at the local Memorial Day presentation, Julian and Grandma Jeannine showing off all his patches to his classmates, Julian and Ted (class mascot who got to come to our house for a visit)

Easter Fun!

Activities at our wonderful church... baskets at home then the big egg hunt at Grandma Jeannine's house. The two-headed lamb cake evolved from a first attempt gone wrong. Jeff found a beautiful baby garter snake (again) which the boys loved. Grandma and all the grandkids healthy and happy just the way we like it.

Our Trip to the Magic Kingdom

It had been 2+ years since our last visit. We waited until Rachel could recognize some of the characters and went to Disneyland last week. We had a lot of fun at California Adventure as well (we highly recommend the Chat with Crush Interactive show... it was a hoot). Rachel loved Small World and tried to talk to the small world kids "Hi, my name Rachel". Julian, our thrill seeker, was finally able to go on Space Mountain. In the pitch black I could hear him screaming, "This is awesome...". Gabriel belly laughed at the Golden Horseshoe lunchtime show. Those hillbilly guys are really funny. It was a good time.

Soccer Fun!

Spring soccer is just our speed... 1 game per week, 1 practice per week and a whole bunch of fun and team camaraderie. Our boys are enjoying the team spirit.

Rachel at Dance Class

Okay so she mostly just spins, jumps and runs around in circles. But we call it "ballet dancing". Enjoy this "live" performance...

Fearless Julian

When it started to get cold, everyone went back to the cabin except Julian. He had ski fever and kept skiing all afternoon with dad. His video is a little long but man was he proud of his skills. So enjoy the adrenaline rush as you watch our first time skiers.

The Boys Take to the Slopes

Three cheers for having a low center of gravity!! The boys had a fantastic time skiing. Hm mm. How did dad video tape them so much without running over other skiers? We'll never know. Not too shabby for a couple of boys from So Cal.

Here's To A New Era of Hope

This family is happy to see a new face in the White House. G. is especially aware of the physical similarities between himself and our new Prez. Our home is filled with hope for the potentially great changes our nation may go through. At the polls we were divided on our opinions about the future leader of our country. Now we see hope, change and a brightness among our friends and family. God bless this wonderful country and all who have the privilege to live here.

Merry Christmas from Our Home to Yours...

Make sure you have the volume turned up! Merry, merry Christmas to all!

Taking Our Little Nuts to the Nutcracker

The boys have been to 4 performances of the Nutcracker. This year's performance was by far the most special. Our babysitter, Julia, had several parts in the ballet. She was absolutely beautiful. Some of our international adoption friends also did a great job in the performance.

The boys were so inspired that they are participating (more marching than dancing) in a mini Nutcracker ballet. They said that they are playing the parts of the naughty boys at the party... how appropriate;)

A Time for Giving Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We took the kids on a bike ride at the beach, came home for naps then went to Aunt Julie's house for the big feast. We are so thankful for all our blessings... our family and friends, faith and good health. We truly have so many blessings and we are grateful for each and every one. Photos: Rachel looking like a "big girl" on the piano bench, Julian and cousin Jurgen at the table, Daddy and his girl, cousins on the couch, cousins on the couch II with Jeff jumping on for some Thanksgiving family togetherness... ha, ha.

Feast with Friends

The boys and Jeff continue to enjoy participating in YMCA Indian Guides. We had a wonderful picnic with our friends in the great outdoors. It was our first time ever to cook a turkey (yes, we remembered to remove the bag of giblets before we cooked the bird). The boys had a great time sloshing around in the river muck while Rachel made friends with a horse named "Toy with Me". The horse was gently feasting on clover so the owner let Rachel ride her a bit. Rachel and her friend Alek had their own "pow wow" on a big stump. It was a fun day for all.

Our Beautiful Ballerina

Rachel is taking her first ballet class. She mostly likes it. Sometimes she pitches a short-lived fit when she has other ideas about what she'd like to be doing. But when she settles down and dances, she's adorable. Sorry the photos are a little fuzzy. It's hard to keep a constantly moving ballerina in focus.

Happy Election Day 2008!

On the way to the bus stop Julian said, "I would vote for Barrack Obama". To which Rachel replied, "Vote rockin' mama". Whether you're voting for Barrack Obama, a rockin' mama or someone else... just get out there and vote!

Boo to you!!!!

The kids had a great time Trick or Treating and just hanging out with friends. Rachel was supposed to be a ladybug but she freaked out when Mommy tried to put the costume on her. Too stiff and scratchy. At the last minute a friend loaned us the perfect costume... Princess Leia. Now it's true that Rachel only cared that the costume was soft and easy to move around in. But Rachel's brothers thought her costume was awesome and boy were they surprised when she walked out in it (they were expecting a ladybug). So, now without further banter, I present you with Obi Wan, Jango Fett and Princess Leia... and may the Force be with you. (cue Star Wars theme music)At the post Halloween sale, we bought the boys ninja outfits. They wore them for 48 hours straight. Then mom made them take them off.

Trip to New Mexico

We had a wonderful time visiting Grandma Mary and Grandpa in Albuquerque. We took turns driving throughout the night to get there and coming home. The kids just slept. It was so much less stressful (although we were exhausted). No one arguing or asking us when we're going to get there.

Rachel enjoyed the grandparents' stairs and making cookies with Grandma. The boys liked golfing and all the fun "big city" stuff we did (museums, zoo, etc.). Grandma Mary is a docent at the Natural History Museum so it was fun visiting the museum with her as our guide. We also had the chance to ride the tram (gondola) 2 miles up the Sandia Mountains and the kids were thrilled to find patches of snow up top (Southern Calif. kids get very excited about any evidence of weather - other than sun).

We're looking forward to dressing up our little monsters for Halloween. Hope your fall is fun!

Our "Baby" Is 2 Years Old Today

During the past 2 weeks Rachel has really been blossoming. Here are some of the ways she's changed:

1) She seems to be whining less and talking more

2) She has become really confident in the swimming pool. Water used to freak her out. Now she's much better at ignoring other people's splashing.

3) She actually blows her nose when you hold up the tissue.

4) She says some of our dinner prayer with us.

5) She is willingly giving people hugs hello and good bye. It helps if they give her food. But sometimes she initiates this behavior on her own.

6) She is well on her way to being potty trained. She has had only 2 accidents since the 1st time Colette sat her on the potty. That's almost 6 days of M&M's. Rachel loves marching around the potty and singing the potty song after she goes. She asked to go potty in Target and Colette was amazed that Rachel had no problem sitting on the huge potty and going potty (no shy bladder here). So yes, we happily bought the 1 pound bag of M&M's.

7) Rachel spends on average about 1 hour/day drawing. We give her crayons or washable markers at her plastic table and she draws "noodles". She does switch hands holding the crayon. But she loves drawing her "noodles".

Oh, and on the not so good part of growing up... she has hit the terrible twos. She answers "no" to every question. Our boys didn't have issues with saying "no" too much. So this is new to us. We foresee many future battles "No's vs. Yes's".

Wow, our little baby has grown up so fast. We try to slow her down but sometimes she just knows it's her time to go forward and grow up. Sniff, sniff. In some ways we're sad she's lost some of her baby ways. On the other hand we enjoy seeing her face light up when she discovers something new or makes a new personal achievement.

It's time for Jeff to start wearing his t-shirt that reads "You can't scare me. I have a 2 year old."

The Queen On Her Throne

Rachel has always been fascinated with potty procedures in the house. Today she is home with a cold and it's a pretty hot day. So Colette left Rachel naked and introduced her to the potty chair. They read lots of books about using the potty and Colette told Rachel she could have 3 M&Ms if she went poo poo in the potty. Rachel sat on the potty many times and then finally went pee pee. Then Rachel ate lots and lots of her favorite fruit, cantaloupe, and sat on her potty while she watched The Wiggles. A couple of minutes later she came running into the computer room yelling, " Wook, wook. Poo poo in potty". Colette wasn't even in the room for the big event. Rachel had done it herself. In 8 days she'll turn 2 years old. Seems awfully young to potty train. We'll see if it's just a fluke or if we should invest in the 1 pound bag of M&Ms.

Our "fish"

Here are some photos of our "fish" snorkeling in La Jolla Cove and swimming in San Diego. Notice the orange Garabaldi near Julian's leg. It is the official marine state fish of California and is protected in California coastal waters.

The sun sets on summer...

Here are some fun images of our summer... enjoy.

Preparing to hit a "home run" at Coach Pitch Baseball.
Silly times at the local harbor.

Petting a new friend at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We told the kids that one of the zoo keeper's trucks got stuck in the mud. Here they are trying to pull the truck out of the mud.
Darth Vader and R2-D2 made of Legos? Our boys had found the best of both worlds at Lego Land.

Off to Zoo Camp at the Santa Barbara zoo.