Trim Up the Tree!

This year we got a real tree since we no longer have the cats.  Ally has been waiting.  She, Bree, and I picked it up and somehow got it home and set up.  We decorated it later.  It's like pulling teeth to get Amy and Ally to help decorate now, and they don't like it when I put Christmas music on either... sigh.  I was never like that!  Too many more important things to take up time, I guess... like boys.  Ew.

We have a lot of old special ornaments like the one I have with the letter inside that wrote Santa when I was nine years old and it was published in the local paper.  And the ones the kids made in school.  We have one from when Amy was four years old, and it is made of some sort of dough.  I don't know how it made it this far, but it is as hard as a rock!  Ha!

Guess I will have to wait for grandkids to bring back some of the holiday spirit.  And according to Amy that's going to have to be up to Ally years later.

It's been warm, warm here.  We just had a rain storm move in and out though... I guess that was winter.

This is the only snowman we will see this year... ha!

Ally is camping for several days with some friends... they are probably freezing in the mountains, but she still have phone reception and she said they're having fun.

Love Is In The Air!

Amy became engaged to Dylan today...

They had been planning to get married for awhile and were just waiting on the ring and the official engagement.

The date has been set for February 10, and I did the invitations to save money.  All the invites and RSVP cards for $35.00 -- not bad!

Looking forward to it... it will be a small wedding and will be down by the water.

We added him to our family Christmas pic!  Chris has a guy to take his side, finally!

Our Home Away from Home

We took off for Sedona again for Thanksgiving.  It's become somewhat of a tradition to go there each fall to spend the holiday with my best friend.  They were in France this year during part of our trip, so we held down the fort at their house for a few days before they arrived.

Me and my BFF!

Our friends Al and Laura own the Red Rock Magic Trolley!

This has to be one of the most gorgeous places on earth.  LOVE IT HERE!

Chris had his birthday celebration here... last year before 50!  I got him a helicopter tour and surprised Ally at the last minute with a ride too.  She was so excited.

We also went ATVing which Ally had been planning for some time.  You have to be 18 to drive, so she had been waiting a few years for that.  The weather could not have been better.  It was in the 60's all week.  Last time we went ATVing it was freezing cold and snowing on us!

A really great trip -- one of the best ever.

Is it Fall, or Isn't it?

Fall is definitely strange here in Southern California -- if you were born anywhere with REAL weather.  It can go from being in the low 40's to the high 90's very quickly.  Which usually results in the family getting sick.  Ally hasn't caught anything, but the rest of us have colds, sore throats, and so on.  Chris had to go to the doctor today to make sure he didn't have bronchitis or pneumonia.  He doesn't, so they gave him prescription cough syrup with codeine -- so hopefully he can get some uninterrupted sleep.  He's been missing a lot of work lately.  Happy we all got the bug now, though, since we are getting ready for Thanksgiving vacation.

Sore throats are the worst...

Cold, hot, cold, hot...

We were at the chargers game and got to hold up a white sign in the end zone -- helped make this... Happy Veteran's Day to us!

The Great Pumpkin

Of course, watched the great classic on Halloween!

I relaxed and handed out full sized candy bars.  Had about 50 treaters probably.

We carved pumpkins.  Bree was going to, but was sick, so I carved hers into some flames.

And, of course, roasted seeds.  This year I made some spicy seeds with cayenne pepper for the girls.  They said they were good, but too spicy for me!

 

The girls dressed up like characters from Adventure Time.

Friend to Friend

I love Facebook -- it helps us keep in touch with friends all over the world.

Our volleyball friend from Brazil contacted us as he was passing through the US, and we were able to hook up with friends for lunch down on the water.  Ally hung out longer and did some touristy things like visited La Jolla and toured the USS Midway.

On another note -- I love jelly and jam, but I'm not into the whole canning thing involving boiling jars, etc.  But I found this freezer jam recipe on Pinterest... no cooking and so easy!  I made raspberry -- it has way less sugar than regular jam so it's a bit more tart and not as firm.  Loved it though!

Getting ready for Halloween.  Several people have posted this little cutie to my wall!  I could drink her up!

So long teenagers...

This is the last year of having a teenager in the house!  I'm actually looking forward to it.  Ally just turned 19.  I have no problem saying good bye to drama and hello to my children being adults!

We had lunch at Red Lobster to celebrate.

Ally, Bree, and I enjoyed The Wizard of Oz, remastered and in 3D.

Amy is enjoying working at her salon.  You get a little shoulder massage with a haircut.  Chris says, "Ahhhhh."

I got a pedicure and it was wonderful.

Fall is in the air.  We have had some cooler temperatures lately.  Had some hot days, too, but nothing like the long hot summer of last year where for six weeks most of the days were over 100 degrees.  Ew!

Beautiful Ohio

I took unexpected trip home to attend the funeral of my "Aunt" Frances... who is really my cousin, but we always called her "Aunt."  I will miss her.  I drove cross country with her and my mom two times, and she also came to visit California a few times.  We have some good memories of trips to Mexico, San Juan Capistrano, and hot air ballooning.  Good times...

Even though the trip to Ohio was for that reason, it was certainly good to see all my relatives and especially my two sisters.  My sister, Kathy, also known as Martha Stewart to me, has chickens, and I even collected the eggs from the coop.  Not bad for this citified girl...

Also loved seeing my niece, Cassie, who now attends Ohio State.  Due to family circumstances, I didn't get to see her much or have much of a relationship with her while she was growing up.  I am looking forward to changing that now that she is in college and I can have full access!

Of course, no trip to the Midwest would be complete without buying some sort of Ohio State wear, and visiting Cracker Barrel for good food and good shopping!

And on a plus note -- it was not freezing while I was there, either!

Drink and Be Merry!

Well, I don't really drink, but I do drink these!  Actually this is one I made myself.  At four bucks a pop, I can't frequent Starbucks like I would like to.  But I do know how to make a lot of the good stuff and even better!

My friend Thelma introduced me to this suspension bridge in San Diego.  We stopped by here after kayaking at Mission Bay.  Love this bridge!  It spans a canyon near the end of Spruce Street.

Amy is enjoying her new job at Native Dreams Salon.  She cut Ally's hair into an A-line cut.  Quite a good job if I do say so myself.  But so short!  Ally thinks so too and is going to grow it back out.

We didn't have quite the hot summer that we had last year, thank goodness.  Ready for fall!

On A Mission

On hot days we like to head down to Mission Bay for some paddle boarding and kayaking.

I like the Bay because the wind and waves are calmer and I'm not gonna run into a whale or big shark (hopefully)... mostly sea lions and birds.  Hope to see some dolphins some time too.

This is one of my favorite things to do.  The sea lions are so close... last time we went they were feeding and scooping up fish all around us.  Plus when it's close to a hundred degrees in Lakeside, it's more like 75 or 80 on the water.  After falling off a paddle board thanks to Ally's friend knocking me in, I choose the kayak!