Pre-Christmas Activities 2013

 I was so excited to have Casey, Jenna, Weston, Benson, Allison, and Dalton come to spend Christmas with me.  They arrived the Thursday before Christmas and we went to Killer Burger for dinner.

 After dinner we went to see the Christmas lights at the Portland Raceway.  Weston loved it so much they wanted to go back again the next night.

 Friday I let the kids decorate cookies and doughnuts.  They had a fun time.

 Benson hugging Allison when she cried.

 She didn't cry very long.

 That evening we went to Beaches for dinner.

 The evening ended with driving to some houses nicely decorated with lights.

 Saturday we hung out at my house all day and then went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.  The boys were so excited when Casey told them they could eat as much as they wanted.

 Allison was eating healthy.

 My pictures are a bit out of order - this was taken at Beaches.

 A view of the river at Beaches.

 Casey had a yummy smores dessert at Beaches.

 Saturday during the day the kids were playing.  

 They had fun on this horse that my neighbor gave me.

 They were entertained for hours with these sticker books.  Weston was so cute to put the sticker eyeballs on his eyes.  Benson quickly followed by putting one of his eye.

 Another cute shot of them playing together so well.

 Dalton was so good.  He slept a lot and I hardly knew he was even there.

Weston and Benson were having fun with my exercise bands and were successful in getting Casey to dress up with them.  I thought this made a cute picture.

Halloween 2013 - Roseville, California

Jenna with Weston, Benson and Allison!  They are all so cute!  I just had to post this picture too.

November 15, 2013 - Folsom, California

Jason sent this cute photo and I just wanted to post it!

Back to Grants Pass (10/6/13 to 10/7/13)

Randy's tooth got infected and we made another unexpected trip to Grants Pass for him to get an implant.  I spent most of the time helping Nate with an Employee Handbook and paperwork related to his Kids Dash association.  It was a nice to spend the time with Randy as we made the drive back and forth.

Sacramento in September (2013)

After having an amazing time in San Jose with Charity while I attended some training, she took me to Sacramento and I spent the weekend there.  (I lost my photos so I can't remember everything that we did.)

I always have a wonderful time visiting the family.  We arrived Friday late afternoon and I returned home that following Sunday evening.

Jenna made me a birthday breakfast that Sunday morning and gave me the cookbook that I love.  It was a delicious breakfast that she made.

We took the kids to a gymnastics place on Saturday and they had a fun time.  I also was able to see Paisley play in one of her soccer games.  It was so hot!  That was exciting for me to be there for her game.  She is a good soccer player.

Pennsylvania Trip with Charity - 8/27/13 to 9/3/13

Charity and I had a fun trip to Pennsylvania this fall.  She went early to visit friends in Washington, DC and then we met up when I arrived in Baltimore.  (I depend on my photos so I can remember what we did and I lost all my photos from our trip.  We'll see how good my memory is.....)  We stayed with my brother Gary most of the time and a couple of nights with my brother Dwain.

Wednesday - We spent the day with my brother Lance, his wife Irene, and my dad.  We went to a mill and I bought some flour.  We also went to visit my Aunt Fern in a rest home and Lance treated us to yummy milkshakes after.  That evening Irene made a wonderful and delicious dinner for the extended family.  I enjoyed spending some time with Lance's girls - Paige, Emma, Maggie, and Lindsay.

Thursday - We spent the day with Dwain and Ami.  Dwain needed to go to Annapolis, Maryland so we went along.  We visited on the way and then Dwain had meetings to go to.  While he was at meetings, we had a fabulous time seeing the shops (fudge was divine!) and having lunch at the pier.  After lunch we had a fun boat ride and tour of West Point.  It was really interesting.  I did see Lark and Mellie for a short time.

Friday - We made the trip to my favorite place - Philadelphia!  Gary, Charity and I drove down and had a blast.  It was the most fun on that trip.  We went to the Betsy Ross House, Quaker Church, Constitution Hall, Philadelphia Market (for Philly cheese steaks), etc.  It was really fun.  Venus, Candice, and Dylan met up with us later in the afternoon.

Then we drove to a hotel and spent the night in Philadelphia.  The next day we went to Lancaster and toured a pretzel factory and saw some of the sights there.  Gary got some homemade root beer and that was really good.  We got home that evening.

Sunday - We went to church and I saw my friend Louise that I grew up with.  She was my best friend so it was fun to see her.  It was nice to be at church and see Lance as the Bishop.  During the afternoon Lance took us to visit my Aunt Belva.  Belva gave me about 30 pictures of my family/ancestors so that was exciting.  We had a family dinner that evening.  Venus made waffles and Lance's family came over.  It was really fun.

Monday - Gary took us on dump truck rides and Lance brought bagels for breakfast.  I regret that I didn't get to see him to thank him in person or say good-bye.  The bagels were great.  Then we left along with my dad and Gary took us back to Baltimore to go home.  We had an evening flight so we stopped on the way to have an awesome seafood dinner.  Charity paid the big bill so that was more than generous of her.

It was a good trip and we enjoyed seeing family.  Charity hadn't been there since she was a teenager so it was really nice for my family to get to know her as an adult.

My Birthday 2013

I had a fun day in Grants Pass on my birthday this year!  My brother Randy arranged to have some dental work done the same day so I went with him and we stayed to have dinner with Nate, Misty and family to celebrate my birthday!  It was a wonderful day and I so appreciate Randy's thoughtfulness to give me such a wonderful gift - a trip to Grants Pass.

I regret that my computer got a virus and I lost all my photos from my birthday.  If any are recovered later, I will add them.

I remember that Nate and Misty gave me a cookbook that I was wanting.  I celebrated my birthday early in Sacramento and Jenna and Casey gave me another cookbook that I was wanting too.  Jason and Ashley gave me the best paper cutter and I can't believe how much I have been using it.  They also gave me a cookbook.  My mom gave me $25 and I am using that to go to dinner and a movie with girlfriends tomorrow night to celebrate New Year's.

I had a wonderful birthday and I am so blessed to be so loved by my family.

Week in Roseville (continued)

 Jenna is amazing.  She just had a baby and yet she was decorating for Christmas.  Allison was having fun playing in the box.

 The kids just loved putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree.

 I played with Benson and the train/tracks while Weston was at school one day.  We had a good time.

 Weston got two awards at school during the week while I was there.  I was so proud of him.

 Jenna is such a good, patient mom - reading to Allison, Benson and Weston.

 Benson, Weston and Allison spent alot of time coloring and drawing at the island in the kitchen.

Paisley picked out this hat for me to buy Dalton.  It was really cold so I was glad he had a hat to wear.  It was such a fun week.  I loved every minute of every day!

Heaven in Roseville, California - December 1 to 7, 2013

 I spent a week at Casey and Jenna's house to help with the new baby.  Well, mostly help with Weston, Benson, and Allison.  It was wonderful to be there and spend time with the family.  Casey had the week off work so I was thrilled to spend some time with him also.  Dalton above is sleeping and the kids were putting his toys on him.  It was so cute.

 Ashley was reading to Spencer and Benson.

 Weston and Allison - all smiles!

 Watching football - Dalton's first game!  Casey, Jason, Malcolm, Charity and Morris....

 Weston holding Dalton with Allison close by.  They just love their baby brother.

 Benson got a turn holding Dalton.

 Then I got to hold Dalton!  I just loved holding him.  He is the best baby!

 I made Benson's favorite meal - macaroni and cheese!

 Benson and Weston drawing.

 Allison loves to draw also.

 Weston can read!  I was impressed that Casey and Jenna both read with him.  Weston read me his story also.  It was thrilling for me to see him read by himself for the first time.

 I made Dalton this tied quilt so I had to take a picture of him with it.

 Benson sure loves Dalton.  This is a great picture of both of them.

 Allison and Dalton

Handsome little Dalton

When Jason came to pick me up to go to the airport, Benson wanted help wrapping a gift.  Benson was wrapping Mary, Joseph, and Jesus from the nativity for a present for himself.  He was just so cute.  It was hard to leave and come home.

Saturday After Thanksgiving - Roseville - 2013

 Ashley and Malcolm went along so I could take Weston, Benson, Paisley, Spencer, and Audrey to lunch at Chick-fila.  We wanted to give Jenna some time to rest without the kids around.

After lunch we got popcorn and went to see the new movie, "Frozen."  It was really good and we had a great time.  The kids were all perfect.

Nate and Misty stayed with Charity the prior night and then left for home that morning so they weren't able to join us.  We are so glad they came for the holiday though.