Holidays and Happenings

Photos: Gabriel participating in a holiday skit at the Olivas Adobe, Rachel and Grandpa in the park, Rachel being a big girl on her bike, Rachel reading with Grandma Mary, the kids and Santa... Gabriel was quite nervous and so serious about talking with Santa.

Awesome Autumn!

Photos: Gabriel at cotillion, Rachel picking out a pumpkin and carving it with dad, Halloween with a genie, ninja and vampire, the family at Refugio State Beach, the boys with mom on a behind the scenes tour of the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, boys feeding the Lorokeets, dad and kids petting the sharks and rays.

Good Times at the County Fair

Food, fun, friends and fair ribbons.

Beach Fun!

It was a great day at the beach. The boys found 2 inch sandcrabs and Rachel made lots of "noodle soup".

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.