Merry Christmas!!!

Here are a few highlights from Christmas morning.

234th Marine Corps Birthday Ball

On Saturday we celebrated the Marine Corps birthday. Tom and I went to the SD Bayfront Hilton this year. I've lost track, but I believe I've attended at least 15 birthday balls so far. This one was pretty high up on my list. Tom surprised me with a special ride to the ball. On the way there we stopped along the bay for some pictures.

This is a statue of the famous sailor and nurse kissing. Tom and I did our own version.

This is a 1929 Durante. Beautiful, isn't it?

We were sure dropped off in style.

This is the owner of the car and also our chauffeur.

I couldn't miss posting at least one photo from the ceremony. This is when they wheel in the gigantic birthday cake. Happy Birthday, Marines!

Fall Fun

Even though we don't get to experience the leaves changing beautiful colors or the brisk fall temperatures (notice I'm sporting a tank top at the end of October!), fall activities are in full swing in Southern California. One of those activities is a trip to Bates Nut Farm for some pumpkin pickin' fun.

Kelly begins the search for the best pumpkin.

Hmm, maybe this one is better?

She finally found one, and then designated Tom as the official pumpkin taxi. The other pumpkin taxi is our good friend, Rob.

Halloween

Kelly was Robin Hood this year. We put her costume together with things around the house, except the green cape, which we bought at a thrift store. With Tom's help, I sewed the tunic that she's wearing underneath.

Flower Child

Tom's Birthday Party

Tom's birthday was on Saturday, and we had a party for him. It was such a blessing to be surrounded by our church body, especially since we don't have any family close by. It was a fun day of food and fellowship.

Our friends, Brian and Michelle hosted the party at their place. They decorated it so cute. The papers clipped to the bushes had sheet music printed on them.

The yummy food

We had meatballs, lasagna, cold cuts and fruit.

The cake Mandi baked and decorated. It's a little plain, but still tasted good.

"Happy Birthday, dear Tom"

Some of Tom's buddies.

Tom showing off his birthday present from Mandi, the Amazon Kindle.

Poets' Tea

Last week the third, fourth and fifth graders from Kelly's school recited poems they either wrote or memorized. The students were split into groups so they had to recite them three times. Kelly decided to memorize "Sick" by Shel Silverstein. She did a fantastic job!

Kelly recited her poem.

Then she dashed back to the line as soon as she was done.

Happy Birthday, Summer!

Every September 11th is a special day for us. Our first daughter, Summer Lynn was born prematurely. It was too soon, and so she went to be with the Lord. She would have turned 11 on this day. We look forward to the day we see Summer again in heaven.

Every year we celebrate with cake and ice cream. This year 9/11 fell on a Friday, so we had our Friday night crew over to help celebrate.

The kids enjoyed blowing out the candles in Summer's honor.

It was back on July 20th that Henry came to live with us, and boy, has he changed. He's gained lots of weight and has a lot more hair.  The first picture is the day when we first got him. The last 2 pictures are from tonight.  He just got a bath and had a good brushing. Isn't he so cute?!?

Last week we visited Seaworld.  Thanks to the "Here's to the Heroes" program, our whole family was able to get in for free.  Since our admission was free, we decided to take Kelly's best buddies, Emma and Annie along.  There were so many things to see and do.  Tom and I were pooped by the end of the day, but the girls were still going strong.  It really was a great time, and we managed not to lose anyone.

We ate lunch as soon as we got into the park at the Budweiser Pavilion.

Kelly and Emma really wanted to ride Journey to Atlantis, but Kelly was worried she'd get too wet, so I, being the brave soul that I am, offered to take Emma.  I rode it once and won't ride it again.  I just don't like those big drops.

This was right after the first drop.  I was hoping that was the only one, but there were more to come-SCARY!! Oh, and we didn't get very wet since we sat in the back.

(note-no specific reason this is underlined, but I can't figure out how to get rid of it, sorry)

The girls pretended to be polar bears at the Wild Arctic.

The girls enjoyed their Dippin Dots ice cream-yummy!

Kelly loved feeding the bat rays.  We do this every time we visit Sea World.

This was a fun picture of the dolphin jumping.

Kelly and Emma did end up riding Journey to Atlantis-twice.  This last time they talked us into letting them go right before we were going to leave the park.

First Day of School

We just finished our first week of homeschool.  It was a light one due to the fact that Tom had this week off.  On Wednesday it was back to class for Kelly.  She had her first day of workshop. 

Fun at the VanderKarrs

On Wednesday we hung out with our friends, the VanderKarrs. We were also reunited with the Fess family, who were visiting from Idaho. We all attended Living Hope (our church) together. It was great spending time together and catching up.

Here's some of the brood. There were about 13 kids altogether!

Always fun stuff to do at the VanderKarr house.

"The Famous Water Slide" Notice Casey hanging from the slide? He always was fearless.

Wedding Pics

Saturday we celebrated the marriage of our friend, Rosie from church.  Here are a few pics.

Kelly wore her pretty dress and old-fashioned hat.

Tom played the violin while the guests arrived.

He also played his flute while the couple took communion.

Our Family

Thursday was our first visit to the beach all summer.  The weather was just perfect and the water refreshing.  Made me wonder why we don't go more often.

I had to make Kelly pose for a picture of us together since I'm usually the one behind the camera.

Kelly loves to boogie board.....

...and jump the waves with her friend, Emma.

A picture perfect day!