December already!

Wow, can't believe it is December.

We had a great Halloween and Thanksgiving. Halloween was all Star Wars/Clone Wars (as I do reside in Boyland...a strange place, I will admit). Thanksgiving was turkey-filled and fun. Dad got out the slide projector and we looked at old pictures - our house in Tustin (with the awesome pool and yard), and even some from New Jersey. The kids got a kick out of that and it was fun to remember things I had forgotten. Then we had a scrabble tournament. Of course Dad and Mom won. (And I will admit that scrabble is a bit quiet and whispery - not quite as social as some other games. But it was Andrew's idea and we used the lazy susan to turn to board, so all had fun.)

Now we are getting ready for Christmas! We will celebrate California style first, then head to the wintery north (MN and Chicago) on Christmas morning. We are all looking forward to some snow and the boys first glimpse of Wrigley Field. Of course, we will just stand out front, look around and take a few photos. Watching a real game with have to happen some other time. But they are excited anyway!

Andrew Popping into Frame

Another family project: (this time spoofing a Saturday Night Live bit)

Dude

A family project: (and a spoof on the Dude commercials for Bud Light - though ours is for all ages...)

We're still here!

Okay so the last post was in June and it covered an event in January. And that didn't even tell the whole story... so my apologies to anyone who actually reads this. More current info is usually available on Facebook anyway. But I don't like to leave things unfinished, so I will try harder to keep this updated!

So Spring flew by - we had a stay-cation for spring break. There is plenty to do in San Diego! The tour of Petco Park (home of the Padres) was probably the highlight. Then Andrew finished third grade and Zach finished pre-school. We had a great summer - some of the usual fun (The Fair, Kids Games and the Oregon camping trip) plus some Comic Con thrown in for good measure. We also had a visit from Doug's parents, which was super fun; just hanging out, watching Wimbeldon, playing some tennis, hiking, biking etc.

Then school started - 4th and Kindergarten. Finally at the same school and on the same schedule! Hooray! Zach has the same teacher Andrew had for K and Andrew got a terrific teacher too. (lots more homework, though...). Zach joined the choir at church and Andrew is in Quest, the pre-teen youth group. (last week they took a double decker bus to the beach for a bonfire, singing and a talk...so fun) So we are busy.

There is a brief update!

Zach is 5!

We had a great time celebrating Zach's birthday this year.

Here is the day of celebration: (Notice the favorite food of blueberries...and Elmo birthday banner that he has requested every year so far) (he may change that tradition by his 15th birthday...)

Then we also had a party with friends and family, complete with bounce house (with slide), cupcake cake, personalized frisbee party favors, and lots of fun!

Still the best of friends...

Captain Peg Leg Braid Beard

Zach had three birthday celebrations this year! For one, Renee designed a pirate party for the three of them. She always knows what they like!


Here is Zach quoting lines from his favorite pirate book How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon.

The foot.....

So, snowboarding is fun, right? Except when you end up on a stretcher behind a snowmobile.....

A January day at Snow Summit ended up as half a day in the First Aid station, then a trip to the ER and multiple trips to the orthopedist. We are still not sure how it actually happened, but Doug broke a bone on the side of his left foot. He was in a cast for two months...

then a walking boot, then walking shoe. He is finally back in regular shoes, but still not running or lifting any weight. He has avoided physical therapy, but it has taken a long time to heal. The next x-ray is on Thursday and we are hopeful he will be cleared to be more active. It has been excruciating for him to miss out on Ultimate for 6 months!

But Snow Summit gave him a free lift ticket for next year ....

What's the latest?

So, I am way behind again... that seems to be a pattern, unfortunately. (Distracted by Dr Who and knitting class)

I need to write about:
- Doug's broken foot (snowboarding - but getting better. xray on Thursday),
- Zach's birthday (very fun with lots of jumping),
- Mexico (a day trip to make breakfast for kids living in the dump),
- a NASCAR day (rainy, but still fun for the boys),
- the beginning of baseball season (Go Lugnuts!)
- And Easter

But it is Spring Break at the moment. Tomorrow we are going to take a backstage tour of Petco Park! So more photos and an update will be coming soon! Meanwhile - here is a photo from Easter.

Our fake snow

So, this may seem a bit silly to those friends and family members that have "real" winter. But we enjoyed some sledding this winter too! At the Wild Animal Park. On a very small hill. After waiting in line. And I couldn't find the gloves, so the boys had socks on their hands. Pretty pathetic, I know.

But they loved it!


Here they are in action:

Family

Christmas goodies

This year we made a gingerbread train together. Nana has a cake mold for the engine and cars, so she made it ahead of time and brought lots of sugary decorations. Aunt Jeannette led the train team - it was lots of fun!

My big food project was making a Swedish Tea Ring at Doug's request. Doug remembers his mom making one almost every Christmas. Not at all sure that I can live up to that memory, I decided to try it anyway. Here is the uncooked version: looks like a ring, right?


Well, I call the finished version a Swedish Tea Pillow....

Doug said that it tasted the same, but looked really different. I don't have a lot of experience with real breads (you know, kneading and yeast and all that), and I don't have a pizza pan to help keep the shape. And the frosting was really runny. But at least it tasted good! We'll see if I practice the Tea Pillow again next year....

Andrew turns 3 x 3

Andrew turned 9 on Christmas Eve. We had the rock climbing party at 8.5, so this was a small family celebration.

One thing he really liked was the Cubs gear from Renee! (goes with the Bears jersey)

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Christmas Decorating!

A few years ago, Doug convinced me that a fake tree was the right choice for our family.

I grew up enjoying the tradition of going with my dad to pick out the biggest real tree we could convince my mom to get - so it seemed like a huge betrayal of all things Christmas. What about the rich, outdoorsy smell of the fresh pine boughs? What about the scratchy branches and slightly tilted tree (despite the adjusting and turning and cutting off the bottom)? What about having to fill in the empty spots with extra ornaments and having one side that definitely went in the back? What about crawling under the tree every day to see how much water it needed (or finding out too late that it needed more - the signal of dropping all its needles was never clear enough.)

Plastic just seemed so ..... plastic.

But... maybe I have lost some Christmas spirit. Maybe I have given into the instant gratification culture. Or maybe I just like my Christmas with a little less work these days. I must admit the joys of a pre - lit tree are extensive. It always took forever to get the lights on, and that could only happen after the strands had been untangled (because I only managed to store one or two correctly the year before, tossing the rest into the box willy-nilly with a tired, oh well). Now the tree comes out of the attic in three pieces, goes together like a large simple puzzle, gets some branch fluffing and is plugged in. Ta Dah!

We have much more time to put on all the ornaments, from hand made snowmen to the golden Wright Flyer and space shuttle the boys chose in DC last year. More time to have hot cocoa and watch Food Network Christmas specials. More time to set up the Nativity set and talk about what our favorite Christmas carols mean. I have found Christmas songs one of the best ways to begin discussions of faith - Hark the Herald Angles Sing is one of Andrew's favorites and clearly lays out the gospel.

And it is still exciting to put the star on top:

Thanksgiving 2007

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Nana and Papa's house with Aunt Jeannette and our friend Elizabeth (who generously opened her home to us during the recent fires).

Mom and Dad's house renovations weren't done yet, but the kitchen was functional and worked great! (though Papa did need to look up the manual for the oven on the internet, and I had to bring my meat thermometer because theirs was still in a box.) The boys loved making crescent rolls (a perennial favorite) with Aunt Jeannette.


After dinner Andrew and Aunt Jeannette played Scrabble and Zach and Andrew played a game of giant Pick Up Sticks with Dad. (that was very loud on the new tile floor!) Then there was the pie...


We were thankful for the yummy food and the good time together!

I need some good titles...

So this is clearly not a creative writing blog - pure autobiography...if I wait to be inspired to be clever, it will be 2009 before I post again, so ...nothing fancy. But great photos, right? :-)

In November my cousin Kristen got married so we drove up to Sacramento for the festivities. We had some time in old Scramento where we found at least 5 candy shops within three square blocks! So of course we had to sample - here is Andrew's "jawlipop" I am not sure he ever finished it, but he did get to the center, many rainbow layers later.


Here we are with my sister at the reception. It was in a beautiful winery outside of Sacramento. Poor Zach was just exhausted - he rarely wants to miss the action, but he couldn't keep his eyes open. We took turns holding him and then took him back to the hotel.

The wedding was just beautiful and we all love Alex. There were some interesting adventures that evening, including a tipsy limo driver getting the limo stuck in the mud, the bride and groom riding back to the hotel in the truck of reception venue employees, and... the groom's pants catching on fire. Yes, they pretty much melted. He was not in them at the time, but the happy couple did have to air out the hotel room for a few hours - rental tux polyester doesn't smell so good! But they were laughing the next morning. They honeymooned in Africa - a dream trip.

2007 recap continues

Okay, I will get caught up one of these days... maybe even today!

So here is the first day of school for most of the Summerhill Gang - it is very fun to have great neighbors!


Halloween brought us a meerkat (recognize the costume?) and an American Indian. (his favorite was the real mohawk....and yes, it was mostly warm enough to be shirtless for trick or treating. Or at least he wouldn't admit to needing a jacket.) We projected It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown onto the garage door and had a firepit in the driveway for trick or treating. We were a very popular house! It has proven to be a great night to spend time with the neighbors!



And we went on the All Church Retreat at Forest Home (a great camp in the San Bernadino mountains). This is mini golf with some of the kids of our small group. (notice that Andrew still has his mohawk...)

What we did on Summer vacation (part 3)

Oregon for GG's 101st Birthday!

We picked blackberries...

... rode bikes, played cards, read good books, stayed up late, slept in tents, ate birthday cake, played disc golf, and climbed trees.


It is such a great time to spend with family. Andrew and cousin Hayley and I took a great bike ride along the Rogue River bike path. This year the boys had their own tent right next to ours (independence for them and more room for us!). And we we started most mornings with fresh Belgian waffles, whipped cream and blackberries right off the bush. So it really isn't roughing it - car camping with electricity. And Aunt Judy and Uncle Merle bring their trailer full of extra bikes, coffee maker, industrial waffle iron...next year we may have the kitchen sink!

What we did on summer vacation (part 1)

Petersons (and Princes and Martins) visit San Diego!

We went to the Padres game, Legoland, the beach, biking on Coronado, and the Zoo, with breaks for a round of disc golf, some tennis and lots of Wii! There are pictures at our Flickr site, but here is one of cousin David at the baseball game.

What we did on our summer vacation... (part 2)

Yosemite!
We hiked to the dry water falls...

Toured the Valley ...


Visited with family (60 people, 4 generations - the Esterline side of Christine's family)...

Stayed at the historic Wawona Hotel ...


And took lots of pictures of beautiful views!