Thanks Jordana!

We were surprised to receive a package from Switzerland, addressed to Jordana (who went home on February 28!)  The package was mailed from Switzerland on December 17, and arrived here the end of March...now that's what I call a slow boat!  Too bad for Jordana...while the package was a little damaged, the Swiss chocolate inside was in perfect condition.  Jordana was very gracious to let us have the chocolate.  We really enjoyed it!

Thanks Jordana!

The Concert (or Visiting Your Cousin At Work Day)

Jordana, Lukas, Leif Jr. and Leif Sr.

Lukas' second-cousin Leif is in the band Jeremy C a m p, which regularly tours through California.  While Jordana was here I thought that a concert would be a fun activity, and she and Lukas had never been to a really big concert before (the arena seats 11,000).  We arranged to meet Leif before the concert and got the behind the scenes tour.  We were able to get seats right in front of the mixing boards, which according to Leif is the best spot in the house.  I think it was the best spot, but it also was probably the loudest spot (note to self; bring ear plugs next time).  I believe there were a total of eight bands and Jeremy C a m p was second to last.  We really enjoyed most of the bands, and I really liked the big and clean sound of Jeremy C a m p and MercyMe.  Did I mention it was really loud?  It was fun watching Leif work, and it was nice hanging out with him before and during the concert.

Leif hard at work

The tour bus

Jeremy C a m p

Let's try again!

At this rate, we'll never make 3000 posts!  I will blame it on our computer crashing again (we tried to get by with just fixing the last computer, but when it crashed the second time, we got a new computer), but I was also waiting for Tom to write blog posts for events I didn't attend.  He gave me permission to go ahead without him...but I hope he will document those events eventually!

So after three fun months with us, Jordana returned to Switzerland at the end of February.  Here the boys are with her before she left for the airport.  We had fun getting to know her and wish her the best as she continues her career!

 

Ok, it's time to go to a doctor's appointment, so I'll have to end this post and promise to be back soon with the next!

Snow Day!

This happened last month, but more snow has fallen in the meantime...and melted.  We made it to the mountains this year!  Here's the proof.

One of the first runs for our family:  Konrad and Natalie.

Jordana and I setting up the kids on the sleds.

Dominik was so funny!  He got spattered with a little flying snow on the first ride down, so on every ride that followed, he put his hands in front of his face to protect himself.

Time to rest and refuel!

Now after lunch it's so warm, no coat is really needed.  Dominik is helping me build a snowman.

Jordana built a snowman too!

Natalie loves posing with her friend.

And of course the snow fights...

I tried to get Natalie to make a snow angel by making shade for her from the bright sun...but she didn't quite get it.  And the snow was a little wet, so it was harder to push.

And more snow fights...

Dominik didn't quite get the snow angel concept.

 But he looks pretty angelic anyway!

Lukas sliding down a hill without a sled...it was pretty steep!

What a fun day!  So our California kids got a little snow play in this year.

A Day in The Old West, Civil War Style

Sitting a spell

On February 17 (I am playing catch-up, too) I took Lukas, Konrad and Jordana to Calico Ghost Town, in the Mojave Desert.  There was a special weekend of Civil War reenactors scheduled, so we packed up early and arrived just as things got started.  There were hundreds of people dressed in period clothes (both sides), including soldiers, ladies in their Sunday best, chaplains, gunslingers and a whole marching band.  We listened to people talk and tell stories as if we were living 150 years ago.  Lukas brushed up against a gunslinger, who almost drew on me until he saw that I was unarmed.  He gave me a stern warning to teach my son to not bump into people (he complimented Lukas later for good behavior). 

The ghost town itself has a lot to see, so we were somewhat overwhelmed as to what to look at first.  We checked out one of the mines, panned for "gold", helped the blacksmith, went to the Mystery House, climbed around the hills and watched a battle reenactment (the North lost the 11:30 am battle, but I think they rallied at the 2:30 pm battle).  After we ate lunch we explored the nearby desert (I love my van with its all-terrain tires).  While we were in a dry desert canyon, an extreme rock crawler gave us a great show.  He completed 95% of the 200' of dry waterfall and then broke down on the last obstacle.  I think he would have had better success if his passengers walked (he would have been 600 lbs lighter) and spotted him (acting as a extra set of eyes).  I had fun spotting him here and there.

We headed out and stopped off for some snow play just off the freeway, and made it home just after dinner time. 

The view of Calico from the hill.

One of the many parades that were held

Lukas helping out the very entertaining Amish blacksmith

The bottle house

Waiting for the battle to begin

It begins, conveniently, in an outdoor theater

The amazing rock crawler (there is a diesel truck somewhere in that mass of tubing and sheet metal)

About two minutes before he broke his transfer case

Tank monument in Barstow

A little snow play with a little snow

Big Boy!

I have so many pictures to share from the past two weeks (when our computer was down) but the first one I must share involves the story of a baby who became a big boy.  Dominik is potty trained!

We started training him during Christmas break, then Jordana helped when school started again. Now just over two months later, he tells us when he has to use the toilet and goes by himself and does EVERYTHING by himself except snap the button on his pants.   But we are so happy to have a Big Boy in the house and no babies!  And no more daytime diapers!

Now that I'm not changing diapers anymore, I don't know what to do with those plastic grocery bags...I guess I'll have to start taking my reusable grocery bags in, if I can remember!

Sea World

Did I mention we got Sea World passes?  Annual passes are not much more than the cost of one visit, so we got passes and have gone down a few times with Jordana while she's here.  Last week was a beautiful visit!  Great weather, light crowd, lots of fun!

I mentioned to Tom that Dominik hasn't had many pictures taken of him on our outings, so Tom made sure to take a lot of pictures of Dominik on this trip!  The kids always like to go up the Sky Tower first thing.  They call it "the double-decker doghnut."

We started to sit in the same section for the Shamu show as the last time...then I remembered that the sun shines in our faces there and we quickly moved.  Natalie enjoyed the show sooo much better this time!

 

 Left to right, Jordana, Natalie (in a poncho), Tom and Lukas (in a poncho).  They get very wet on this ride...apparently the couple in the raft with them were a little surprised at how WET  you do get!

Konrad is so photogenic!

Dominik, Jordana and Lukas enjoying the Pets Rule show.

We'll try to go down one more time before Jordana leaves...and then take a break from Sea World for a month or so!  It's a lot of fun, and especially when we go more than once, it's easier to plan our visit.

The Super Bowl--For the record

We usually go to Joan and Boyd's house for a fabulous Super Bowl party...except the years when we're sick (which seems to often happen in February at our home).  This was one of the years we missed because of sickness.  Thankfully I was the only one who came down with the flu, and I really only had it three days, but it definitely meant no social activities.  Tom was feeling poorly with something else, so we all stayed home.

But that left a lot of cookies that we had made especially for the party to be eaten (Jordana spent a lot of time decorating them).  Natalie says she will help!

 We had a picnic dinner in the living room.  Tom and I rooted for the Ravens (I often cheer on the underdog if I don't really care who wins) so Lukas decided he would cheer for them too.

 Touchdown Ravens!  I think shortly after this I pointed out to Lukas that he was actually wearing San Francisco colors, and he ran and changed his shirt.

It was a memorable Super Bowl...the boys (and we) had to be patient during the power outage, and there were several plays that rarely happen (Lukas is especially interested in things that are rare).  But hopefully next year we'll be healthy on Super Bowl Sunday and share the day with friends.

Juicy

Our orange tree has finally started producing.  I think we got 10 or 15 oranges from it this year, but then several friends gave us a bunch more oranges.  What to do with so many oranges?  Juice!  Jordana supervised Konrad and Dominik in washing the oranges and juicing them.  Yum!