Celebrating Six Years

Darling first grand-daughter had a birthday party today.  Her real birthday is next week.  It seems that when you are small, the birthday party is counted as the real birthday no matter if it is before or after the anniversary of the actual day you were born.  

A Jumpy House filled the entire front yard and there was plenty of food, decorations, and games to keep everyone active and happy.  Counting adults who came and stayed, there were over 20 people milling about.  The weather didn't always co-operate and off and on we had to let down the Jumpy House.  The biggest hit of the day was face-painting and the pinata that refused to break.  Finally, the adults moved in and gave it a good rip so the contents would come spilling out.  Everything was planned for outside but at cake time, the drizzle came back so we moved the folding table inside and managed to feed cake to hungry 5-6 year olds.  Amazingly no drinks spilled.  

The typical toothless grin of a six-year old.

Who can resist a kids birthday party?  The kids had a great time.  DGD declared it "the best birthday ever" (well, since last year's party) and the adults and grand-parents are exhausted. 

Aquarium = Quilt Inspiration

We just got back from a trip to Monterey.  We had great weather, cool but sunny.  Even with a stop in Santa Cruz at Natural Bridges State Beach/Park, we were able to be in Monterey by 2:00 p.m.  We walked down to the wharf and back, an easy stroll from where we were staying.  

Natural Bridges State Beach - Santa Cruz, Califronia

The shorebirds did such a nice job of posing

 

 

 

Looking down from the wharf area in Monterey, California

 The next day we headed over to Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We hadn't been there in probably 25 years.  Since we were last there, a whole new wing had been added.  The whole aquarium was amazing but we especially enjoyed the jellies and the seahorses.  Inspiration abounds in an aquarium. 

Just one of many beautiful sea animals

The colors alone scream "quilt"

This is a seahorse that camouflages itself to look like seaweed.

 

 On the way home we took a short detour through San Juan Batista.  It is a quaint little town and is home to one of the California Missions.  Once upon a time, I thought that a neat goal would be to visit all the California Missions.  I figure that I've seen more than half of them but not all of them.  Again, we had lovely sunshine.....perfect for pictures. 

Classic picture of a California Mission

It Snowed. It Blowed....An Adventure in Soda Springs, CA

What fun it all seemed when we were making plans to go to the snow after Christmas with Jon, Lissa and the DGDs.  We had such fun last year in Tahoe for Jon's birthday.  So........on Monday we packed the snow gear and the food,  bundled up and headed north on I-80 to Soda Springs where a lovely cabin awaited the 6 of us.  Unfortunately, Jim and I got off to a late start and after a stop to buy "insurance" (read - CHAINS), we finally arrived in Soda Springs but after dark.  What did we do before cell phones?  It took a call to Lissa who had to come and get us and lead us to find the cabin.  Otherwise, we'd still be driving around in circles.

So there we were.  Enjoying a warm fireplace and exuberant little girls.  We all turned in early so we'd be ready for snow fun the next day.  And here we are having fun, fun, fun.

That night we were tired.  We watched the original Toy Story with the girls and then everyone turned in early.  We woke up to find our cars buried under at least 15" of snow.  So this is the next days activity.

A great time was had by all.  The girls sledded and made snow caves.  The adults shoveled out the cars.  It took all day and a neighbor's help to get the cars out of the driveway so the snow plow guy could clear the driveway.  We went to bed praying that it would not snow overnight.  It didn't.  We packed up quickly the next morning and headed home.  We're actually thinking of doing this again in March.  We'll see.......

Home For Christmas

We'll be home for Christmas.  That's the way I like it.  We seem to be establishing new traditions as Jon's family creates their celebrations.  That's fine by me.  But I still like to decorate a little.  We haven't had a tree for three years and that is also fine by me.  So here is my mantle filled with Santas from my mother and some of my own.  

 The table is ready for visitors.  First guests will come for tea on Tuesday. Thanks to dear friend La Donna who gave me a lovely holiday tea set.

 

One of my favorite Christmas decorations.  This nativity set was brought back from Mexico for us from my dear in-laws.  They are actually signed pieces by a known artist.  We've had this set for about 30 years.  I always think of Jean and Roy when I put it out.  It is so simple and beautiful.

Thankful To Be A Grand Person

 

Thanks to this little girl, I became a grand-person (also known as Nahn Nahn) in February 2005.  She is now in kindergarten.  She attends an IB Spanish Bilingual School where she is honing her Spanish language skills.  Thanks to Mom and Dad, she's been immersed in Spanish since she was a baby.  And Mom and Dad are not of Latin descent.  They just wanted their kids to be fluent in a second language. 

Back to this picture.  This is GrandPerson's Day at Makayla's school.  We were invited for treats and to help with a special book making project.  Pop Pop was there, too.  He was taking the pictures.

Then in November 2006, along came this dear little one.  As you can see, she has a fashion sense that is definitely hers alone.  What you don't see are the cowboy boots that finished off the ensemble. Doesn't her name, Violet, just fit her perfectly?

 And here we are............The Sorenson girls. The taller one on the right is the darlingest dauhter in law a mother of sons could ask for (also known as Lissa).  We love each other desperately.  We play, chat, shop, and have as much fun together as we can.  We love being "the girls" of the family.  And we love our guys Pop Pop (the other grand-person) and Daddy (also known as Jon, son of Pop Pop and Nahn Nahn). 

Let's Try Another One (or two)

Isn't the monastery at Melk lovely?  That day was so glorious that it would have been hard to take a bad picture of it.  So let's move on down the Danube.  Next up......Vienna, Austria. 

The cathedral in Vienna is undergoing restoration.  Actually almost every cathedral, church, chapel, etc. we saw was undergoing some sort of restoration.  Years of pollution (and sometimes neglect) have taken their toll.  Vienna's clever way of dealing with it is to put up canvases that hide the work that is being done behind.  On the canvas to the right, you see a photograph of what it is supposed to look like without scaffolding.  

 Yeah!  The second picture uploaded.  One cannot go to Vienna without a visit to a coffee house.  Demel is one of the oldest and well known.  Besides enjoying our decadent coffee, we were able to buy candied violets for darling grand-daughter, Violet.....how appropriate.   

One, Just One Photo

Blogger and I don't get along when it comes to including pictures in my blogs.  I don't think it is Blogger's fault.  I think it is the fault of my server.  The slowness and the glitches  (having to constantly restart the router) don't inspire me to blog.  So today I am not going to "upset" my computer.  I am going to pick out one picture from our recent trip to Eastern Europe and write a little about it.  That's it.  Only one for now. 

The Monastery at Melk, Austria

     

There was so much to see....so much contrast in geography and buildings.  This monastery was among my favorite sites.  It's a living breathing working place with a high school for 900 students who commute.  It's chapel was over the top Baroque but here and there were examples of modern art.  From the terrace you could see the lovely little town of Melk.  We had beautiful weather for our visit and we enjoyed a leisurely walk down from the monastery back to our ship.