We have started tearing down the interior walls on the first floor. Toby and I are struggling during the week to empty out the rooms before the weekend. There is so much stuff!
Everybody wanted in on the act. Even the kids. It is not often that Dad says it is OK to make holes in the walls.
Hi – here’s some of our faves from the latter half of last year.
Lucy, Max and friend Ben at Chuck E Cheese for Max’s 8th bday.
Max and cousins find his birthday treasure hunt bag of Legos.
Important signage at the minature horse farm in Solvang.
Ventura Harbor boat ride for Ya-ya’s 60th bday.
Mr. Soccer (truly, a great defensive player this year) with his biggest fan.
Gran and Don at cousin Chelsea’s beautiful November wedding.
Bride and Groom – Chelsea and Aaron
Thanksgiving Day – (phew!) – Mom saved my butt by cooking 2/3 of the food for our 20 guests.
Lucy and her great-grandmother Cena, who made this little dress 30 years ago for me – amazing!
Us four in our new upstairs digs. Thank heavens!
Max and Lucy acted as the waiter and waitress for the pancake breakfast that Matt made last Saturday, when Pop was here. After Lucy had served Pop his food, he thanked her, and asked her to come sit on his lap and give him a hug. She said very seriously, “Oh no Pop, that wouldn’t be respectable. I’m your waiter.”
Over the years we have experienced the heartbreak of friends and family moving away from sunny southern California. All those people made the decision after carefully weighing all their options. After many years (for some) of separation, I just wanted to give them a reminder of what they are missing.
Here is the local weather for some of the places that people have moved to :
Yikes!
Oh, just to make my point, below is the weekend forecast for Carp.
A couple of days ago I was in the Target returns line with the kids. When I arrived, there was no one behind me, but during the course of my transaction, about 9 people showed up. Of course, I had lots of returns, with about 5 receipts on the counter, and 4 different credit cards, trying to find each item either on the receipts or the cards, to get my money back. With one lady in the Returns department, and me and my mess on the counter, the natives behind me were getting restless. I was grateful to be done finally, and as I gathered my stuff and we left the area, Max said, “I wish I had a credit card!” All 9 in line busted out in laughter – and I retorted – “No, you don’t!”