First Snow

So It snowed.....so fun! It was the friday and saturday after thanksgiving and it made all of our guests at the Inn very happy! (happy guests = happy innkeepers) The boys spent the morning playing in the snow in their snow suits and Josh had to go plow. I think it must be some sort of man thing but apparently plowing is super fun and people like to just stand and watch Josh plow.....fun times had by all. Anyway I guess we are expecting more snow tonight! I think Joel would be so excited to have a "snow day" from school.

U2

As a very generous Birthday gift to Josh, Jared bought 4 tickets to the U2 concert at the Rose bowl. I didn't go but I heard it was awesome and Josh was beyond thrilled! 4 siblings at a U2 concert is that some sort of "ahhh how cute" moment.
Pretty awesome stage! Apparently U2 knows how to put on a good show.

Did I really just do that?

Uh.....I went to Africa. Holy Cow! I went with Joel and Chris (Josh's Parents) to visit Jared (Josh's brother).....It was amazing. This is me with Josh's parents, Jared and Jolly the Country Director of Invisble Children. Jared works for Invisible Children as their director of programs, wow. He lives in Gulu, in northern Uganda.
Here Jared and Chris eat some Ugandan "fast food" roasted corn and roasted banana that they sell on the side of the road. All you have to do is pull over and they run up to your car.....just like America....almost.

Yep, a Giraffe

A picture of me on a boat safari with Hippo's in the background. There are lots of Hippo's in Uganda.....like, more hippo's than I knew existed in the whole world....
Me by the Nile.....before going white water rafting.....for real....the Nile. (yeah, moses, pharoah - woah) I had a good time, but I missed Josh and the kids terribly. (Thanks mom and dad for coming to help Josh out). In some ways Africa was exactly like I thought it might be but I learned a few things for sure. In Northern Uganda people are gracious, trusting and hospitable - we felt so welcome. Thanks Josh....for making me go.

Out of touch

So much has happened since I last posted. Since school started our "small group" started up again. We have 6 high schoolers that we hang out with every Wednesday night. Here we are after an exciting round of "The Flour Game."
We had a visit in Mid September from Doug, Ali, Chase and Cameron. Thanks for making the trek!
With all of the new pencils and backpacks Fall officially arrived and in Idyllwild that means ripe apples and lots of yellow trees. Autumn is definitely my favorite season here. The air is cool and crisp, the garden is bountiful and the leaves change! Here Josh is peeling apples to make dried apples but we also made apple butter.
Joel played soccer again. This year he was a bobcat and wow - the bobcats are good. Joel thrives at playing goalie and all of the kids on his team are so fun and they have a great time. Josh was also a coach this time and Seth.....well he thinks he's on the team.....
And last but not least, miss Abigail....her hair is growing - and is a little hard to manage. She talks but only if she wants to, not if you ask her to. And she is walking - but still crawls and scoots sometimes. She only takes one nap....and loves all things "girly".

Fresno

Last weekend we were in Fresno with my parents and brothers. There was a Bob the Builder exhibit at a local museum. The kids thought it was awesome. But as you can see Seth was a little wary of the "real" Bob the builder.
But Seth who want's to be just like Dad (super handy) decided to fix the broken sink - and of course he needed his tool belt.

At my parents house with 6 boys (not including the adults) a lot of wrestling occurs.
So somehow we accomplished a family picture, not everyone is smiling - but at least no one is crying!

Yeah kids!!

Sorry Abbey

Summer is busy for us.....Family visiting, the inn has very high occupancy - yet all our staff takes vacations, we of course also want to take vacation, two of the kids have birthdays and I prefer spending my time outside on the hammock or in the garden rather than at the computer.....so poor Abbey did not get a blog post about her very important first birthday! She truly is our princess with two nights in shining armor that love on her - maybe a little too much. She is happy and healthy, with only two teeth, loves to sleep and eating melon gives her a rash (we think.) She talks a ton and is on her way to having as much hair as her mom. She loves her blankie and her pacifier and her new favorite toy is the glowworm she got for her birthday (thanks suzanne). She would rather "scoot" on her bottom than crawl and she will probably be walking soon. It all happened too fast Abbey - Happy Birthday (ps this picture is actually Abbey's passport photo - she has already applied for her first passport, a world traveler at a young age.)
Abbey riding her little horsey bike on our deck.
All three kids on the trampoline....only Joel was listening when I said look at the camera and smile.
This is what Abbey looks like after scooting on the trampoline for a minute or two.

Seth is 3....no way!

Well, these pictures ended up on here in reverse order.....I guess I'm out of blogging practice. We had a little carnival for Seth's 3rd birthday - it was so much fun - kids playing carnival style games, and we even borrowed a cotton candy machine - awesome!
Seth blowing out the candles - I'm not sure how it's possible but they say he is 3 years old.
Here is Seth racing Sami to squirt the candles out!
Of course we bobbed for apples and Sarah (what a good sport) had to demonstrate for the kids because they didn't really believe you were supposed to get the apple with your teeth.
Here's my three clowns!

Nani and Papa

After 6 great weeks we had a tearful send off for Nani and Papa! Thanks for many great memories including the zoo, Hume Lake, dancing at the concerts in the park and jumping on the trampoline. We love you and I guess.....we'll see you in April!
(All of us at Hume Lake......breakfast at inspiration point)
Another Hume lake photo.....Here's Josh and Dawn by the lake with "Jared" - since he couldn't be there in person he was there in "mini"

Oh Sarah

These are our totally awesome friends Josh and Sarah Tate - Sarah is currently 7 days past her due date with Baby #4 (collective sigh).......Let's all say a prayer for them!! Can't wait to meet the little man!

Family Camp

I've been going to Family Camp at Redwood Christian park since I was 7 (minus a few years while in college) and we go as a family - my parents go as well. Its a week long camp, with a million activies, fun friends, family bonding and excellent teaching. You can do as much or as little as you like - it's awesome. Here is Seth enjoying a most delicious ice cream cone.
There was a Pinewood derby and because the theme was Jamacan it was really a "bobsled derby." You can see our bobsled below. Here is Joel waiting for it to begin.

The pool was the afternoon activity that the kids begged for! Joel really came out of his shell and wanted to "swim" Though in this picture he has a death grip on the raft he really did splash and play and have a good time. And Abbey liked the water too. Our Vacation was restful, full of fun family times with Nani and Papa and everything we could have asked for.

Preschool "show"

Joel and Seth's preschool had their end of the year show and wow.....now I have a kindergartener.......I'm not old enough to have kids in school! But it was wonderful they sang songs and did sign language and Joel said he wants to be a pilot and fly planes when he grows up. Joel had his kindergarten physical this week and he told the doctor the same thing. Cool.
They were all "princes and princesses" - it was amazingly cute!

I'm adorable

Is there really anything left to say?

Funcle Jared

Last week Jared returned to Uganda for at least 6 months so we went to San Diego for a day to be with him. We went to his office and met his co-workers and friends, went to the zoo and then had an amazing dinner! Bye Jared - see ya soon.
Joel and Seth in Jared's office Chair!

Go Pirates

Well the Pirates are doing great and Tball is awesome is you just need a break from the serious life. If they hit the ball, they usually forget to run to first base and then all the infield players are running to get the ball and they all end up in huge heap......then if they actually start running to first base......sometimes they don't stop at the base they just keep running - where ever they want.
Joel loves it. He hits the ball well and tries hard. In our league the teams always tie......which if you are 5 is just as good as winning. Happy Day!
All the kids are super funny. Garrett (also looking at the camera) is crazy, so much energy, I think his mom puts monster in with his lunch.

Yeah I did it.

Over the years I have accumulated several potted iris's. (usually gifts from my dad who has 10 green thumbs) I cut them back in the fall and water them in the spring and they always grow several feet high but rarely do I get a bloom.....bad soil? who knows. But not yesterday, a beautiful purple Iris opened - happy mothers day to me!

Great Gifts

As part of a baby shower gift I got this little tiny vase. And the gift giver said it's for the little flowers that your precious children are bound to bring home and you don't really know what to do with. Well spring in Idyllwild has made it very handy and the boys are so excited to see their flowers in a vase on the table. Thanks Lynne Leih

Beautiful April day

The boys wanted a picnic today so we went to the Idyllwild Nature Center and did their 1/2 mile loop nature trail and ate a picnic. It was perfect "boy sized" hike (Joel loves to hike, seth does not) and Abbey rode in the backpack. It was sunny and about 65 degrees - so nice!
Abbey who we call "gremlin" because of her bad attitude lately - which is probably related to teething.......really loved riding in the backpack - she was all smiles at least for about and hour.

What IS that??

We have a friend named Ben and he has a pet grooming and boarding business (which I guess makes him and animal lover) one day he found a newborn squirrel that had fallen out of a tree. He's been feeding it from a dropper for 5 weeks.....and he brought it over for the boys to see. It is just starting to walk and it's eyes are open.
Her name is Bridget. She was cute but I prefer domesticated animals like dogs!

Uh....is it april?

Last night it snowed....really, no joke! It was pretty giant snowflakes, but I'm ready for spring.
We have a community easter egg hunt in our town and here we are....in the snow ready for the hunt. Abbey stayed home with uncle Jared. They have separate area's for each age group and they start 10 minutes apart. Seth "hunted" in the 0-3 age group and Joel was with the 4-6 year olds. Seth found the "golden egg" in his section and so he got a big basket full of candy and toys.
As you can see, Seth wasn't too excited about the cold weather and Josh is imitating him.
Has anyone else ever picked up easter eggs in the snow? Its definitely different.

Joel is a pro, and he had a great time. Though both were ready to go home by the time it was over because it was so cold.