Aberrant Prose

Quips and Quotes
from Grandma Susie, Part 1

Tim, Kathy, and Rylan enjoyed the end of Rylan’s spring break by going skiing. They spent Thursday and Friday night up in the mountains. This meant the girls were able to spend some extra time at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Below is how one of our two days with them unfolded (yesterday). As you will see, and this is often typical, many activities with the girls are spur of the moment, random acts of fun. Pictures follow.

Since we had Aubrey and Sierra two breakfasts in a row, we made waffles on day two. The girls gobbled them up. They really enjoyed them, maybe even more than my pancakes (really?).

After some free play with drawing and stickers in the rec room followed by a few scuffles over who should have what, I reminded them when they asked for a bath last night (right at the moment I announced it was bedtime) I had told them they could have one today instead. Off they ran. They get so excited about a bath (especially Sierra) they practically have their clothes all removed before they hit the bathroom door.

After their bath, they dressed in some unusual choices for clothing. When Kathy arrived Thursday evening with the girls, she brought two full bags of clothes telling me, "I packed way more clothes than they need”—nope, not so. The two girls were on a clothes-changing frenzy this visit. There were not very many clean clothes to send back home. Not only did they pick out clothes from their bags, they even went through the drawers in the kid dresser in the entryway. Whenever Aubrey decided to change, Sierra had to follow suit.

Once bathed, Aubrey chose to wear one of Rylan's pajama tops telling me, “Because I like the monkey on the front.” (The monkey is a Paul Frank creation, an absolute favorite of Rylan’s.) Sierra decided to wear a hat from the dresser, one she wore as a baby (not sure why that hat was even in the dresser). Oh and last night Aubrey decided to wear her new butterfly dress to bed telling me she’s decided it is now a nightgown.

Once dressed, Aubrey HAD to go check out the craft drawers (of which there are many, all filled with treasures from Great Grandma Jean) to discover what new treasure she’d find. She settled on the bell drawer. Sierra was right behind her. I pulled the drawer out and let the girls go through them choosing all the ones they liked (which pretty much emptied the drawer). I then had them bag all the bells and other treasures they chose (like key chains and related items) so as to keep their collections separate and to keep them from being scattered all over the house. Aubrey decided she should put hers high up in her bedroom (I am sure the idea was to keep them away from Sierra). Sierra decided hers should go high up too (in the same bedroom).

While in the back bedroom I spotted the stepping-stones I made for Rylan and Aubrey once upon a time (bunches of circles cut out from a variety of fabric pieces). I told them I would make an obstacle course with the circles but this time I announced they were lily pads. After laying out all the circles, the girls ran around jumping from lily pad to lily pad, hollering “ribbit, ribbit.” Their feet kept kicking the circles into crumpled messes. I immediately let my head swim away to a fabulous sewing project: stuffed dark green pillows in the shape of lily pads! After all, I have tons of stuffing. Being stuffed, they would lay much flatter, better than a loose piece of fabric. Sierra loves being a frog so why not? Yes, I will do this—when I am a younger grandma (in my next life).

The frog hopping activity lasted but a short while. Not too much lasts very long with a 2 and 3 year old. The girls suddenly decided the lily pads were *garbage.* They ran around picking up the *garbage* and threw it all into a pile. Part of the obstacle course was a cushion from our patio lounge. Aubrey decided this made a good bed to place on top of the garbage pile (don't ask me where this logic came from). But wait, one bed, two girls. That wouldn’t work. Off I ran to secure a second patio cushion before Sierra landed on top of Aubrey to take a pretend nap in the *bed.* Thank goodness I have two patio lounge cushions and thank goodness too, they are both green. While grabbing the second cushion I saw the 3 long, five-foot pillows I bought eons ago. I grabbed those too. I tossed them into the garbage pile announcing I had found some logs for them to use hoping they would accept the idea logs are okay to go in the mix along with beds and garbage. They decided the logs made their beds even better; they made them higher!

Soon they tired of the lily pad, garbage, and bed game. Okay, Grandma had another idea. Let's put boots on and go play in the rain. Aubrey and Sierra agreed this was a terrific idea. They even wanted to wear the rain hats I bought them when I recently went shopping at Michael's. They looked like little dolls in them. Another photo op! As if there wasn't enough rain coming down, Sierra remembered the squirt bottle fun they have when playing on the patio. I dug up two squirt bottles and off they went squirting everything they thought wasn't wet enough.

This was yet another short-lived activity and they were soon ready to come back inside. True, they were quite wet since the rain was serious about falling the entire time they were out.

Back inside, Aubrey remembered the bells so off she ran to the back bedroom to collect them and to hide under the piano bench, which she decided was her very own fort. Of course Sierra, after collecting her bells too, wanted to do the same. I could see a big disagreement on the horizon. There wasn't room for both girls under the bench and obviously Aubrey wanted the space all to herself. To the rescue—two card tables. I quickly hauled them out telling the girls they could each have their own fort. Again, good thing we have two! I threw blankets and sheets over the top of each to keep the girls nicely separated and to keep Sierra from taking Aubrey's bells (usually an innocent action on her part). The girls decided their forts were really tents and gleefully climbed inside to dump out and ring all their bells. Hearing the bells and looking at the two square tents, my imagination conjured up two nomads in tents on the desert.

Sierra then decided her tent really WAS a card table. She pulled the blankets from the table and ran off to haul out a board game from our game cupboard. As it is with all board games and Sierra, she pulls them out, dumps all the contents, sometimes pretends to play (actually she believes she really is playing), then, within minutes, gathers everything up and puts the game away (yes, she is very good about putting games away). She pulled out a puzzle after that and I was the one who finished putting it together because it is a puzzle I bought back when Chris was little and I wanted to relive a little of my past. In the meantime Sierra ran off to join Aubrey in Grandpa's lap to listen to the books we all picked up from the library on Friday. And thus he became the girls’ go to grandparent till Kathy arrived.

As much fun as all this was, I was one worn out Grandma. I always get so carried away with the grandkids; I never know where our play will lead or when to quit. Thanks Grandpa for taking over.

A sidebar about the girls:

Every time we see Sierra she surprises us with something new she is doing, saying or has learned. Today she was sitting with Grandpa out in the rec room with a game that included a die with letters on it. Each time Grandpa rolled an S, M, A or R she would tell him that S is me (Sierra), M is Mommy, A is Aubrey and R is Rylan.

Friday, when we told the girls we were going to the library, Sierra said, "I am so excited!" When we arrived at the library and she was running up the sidewalk to go inside, she again said, "I am so excited!" This is new. We have never heard her say this before.

Aubrey is really growing up. She is becoming more and more patient and understanding. When she is in the right frame of mind, she can be so compassionate and sweet with her sister. What is really astonishing about her lately is how, out of the blue, she will bring up something she has done long ago in the past, sometimes as far back to the time when she was Sierra’s age or younger!

3 Days, 3 Kids, 3 Dogs

Written January 2, 2012

Friday morning Rylan, Aubrey, Sierra, and their dog, Sadie, arrived at our house. They were here until last night while Kathy and Tim went to Cambria for the weekend to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Even with Friday being a rainy day, even with Sadie here when originally she was going to stay home with a neighbor looking in on her until she showed signs of needing special attention, even with Robert and I coming down with colds right after Christmas (albeit mild ones), even with 1and 1/2-year-old Sierra in potty training, and even with Chris' plans to take Rylan home Friday night for a day being thwarted because Chris caught a bad cold, everything went smoothly!

Yes, we took advantage of easy ways to keep kids entertained. When we didn't plant them in front of the TV to watch Dora, Diego or the Littles, we read lots of books (this, by far, is one of their most favorite activities, even Sierra's). Actually Robert read them lots of books. My throat was too scratchy and dry to read much. We also brought up talking picture books on the Internet from Tumblebooks through the Napa County Library. Their favorite Tumblebook was "50 Below Zero." After wanting to hear this story several times, they kept repeating the line, "This house is going CRRAAAZY" from the story. To understand (and enjoy), you will have to listen to the story.*

And for Rylan, there was the arcade from the pool house that Robert moved into the house especially for him. Rylan (and Robert) played game after game of Penguins. Not even ice cream would draw Rylan away!

In the long run, this gave us more energy to entertain the kids in more interactive ways. There were treasure hunts in the house and in the woods in the back of our field. There was an outing to Alston Park to exercise the dogs (and the kids), which included rock arranging. There was a six-chair, many blanketed fort that sprung up in the living room.

The kids came up with their own activities too: Play-Doh cakes, stickers, dolls, Play Family, and the ever-popular board games from our well-stocked game cupboard. They had a book fair resulting in every kid book in our house in a pile in the middle of our living room floor! They said the books were being donated to a school and other organizations. They built paths in the office to walk on, followed by mazes for their Zu Zu pets from the interlockable wall pieces Uncle Chris made for them.

And I am happy to say, over the entire three days, there were no kid toys destroyed by dogs and there was very little crying and fighting amongst the kids.

Meal Menus: We kept these simple­­ and easy; we stuck with kid friendly ones. Besides pancakes and waffles for breakfast (their two favorites), we served hamburgers, fish sticks, pizza, Kraft macaroni & cheese, quesadillas, and spaghetti. There was a little ice cream included in there somewhere too.

New Year's Eve: After dinner I told the kids they could have the celebration kits I made for them once they had a bath, put on their pajamas and brushed their teeth. Each kit included a hat, poppers, necklace, noisemakers, serpentines, and bubbles for blowing. We had three very cooperative, excited kids to welcome the New Year in at our house (3 hours early, East Coast Time).

Yes, it was a good weekend. The kid hugs and smiles and laughter and play from this weekend are now a part of the many memories we are creating and cherishing with our grandchildren. And, Sierra telling me, for the first time, "I wub you Grandma," was precious!

*If you go through the Napa County Library site, you don't have to sign into the Tumblebooks site.

Digging out my roots

At last, my Ancestry Family Tree Maker software arrived! It only took a month to show up in my mailbox. For some reason the first disk never made it so last week I had to request a second one.

I was certain I could just slip the disk into my laptop, install the software, and open up the GEDCOM files I created back in 1997 and be off and running. Nope. It wasn’t THAT easy. I had waited too long to resume my genealogy quest.

One of the reasons I stopped updating my genealogy files is the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) genealogy program I purchased for the Macintosh stopped being supported by LDS. I have wanted to buy a good genealogy program since and decided Family Tree Maker from Ancestry.com was the one. Except, up until just a few months ago, it was only available for PCs. With Christmas cash received from my Mom and the software going on sale in February, I purchased the Mac version!

When I tried to import my 1997 files, Tree Maker barked at me and told me I gotta have 5.5 GEDCOM files! What! Off I went to Google. I found a freeware program claiming it would work. Still didn’t work. Off I went to Google again trying other keywords. This time I was directed to the LDS site by someone who said the LDS Personal Ancestry File (PAF) genealogy software (version 5) would work on my old files. I was surprised and pleased to discover the LDS PAF software is now free! Of course it only runs on a PC.

I kicked Robert off his PC (no Empire playing for him) and installed the software. It wouldn’t open my GEDCOM files either! Did I really wait too long? Plan B: Fire up the Macintosh with Classic OS on it and find the original files that have never been moved to an OSX environment.

That worked! Well, at least it worked in that the files were read into the new LDS PAF program. When I sent the files to my laptop to import them into Tree Maker, I was given the same noise: I gotta have 5.5 GEDCOM files! Didn’t I just download the most current software from LDS? I checked and the version I had downloaded was only 5.2! Was Tree Maker not playing nicely?

Because that someone said they had gotten it to work I was determined. Back to Google and this time I typed in the keywords: “Personal Ancestral file 5.5 Download” and was taken to an entirely different page on the LDS site where it talks about the PAF Companion 5.4 for $8.25. Yet, to the right it listed other options and one was a link to download PAF 5.5. No cost. I went for it, installed it on the PC only to discover it really is just the companion program to generate reports and charts and there is no way to export anything directly from it. Phooey!

BUT…it linked back to the original PAF program I had installed earlier so I followed the link and tried exporting my data again. This time the export panel came up with a whole list of options; one of them was to export as a 5.5 GEDCOM! I sent the newly created GEDCOM files to my laptop and THIS TIME Tree Maker happily imported them!

WHEW!

I am quite certain the first time I did an export I was not given all the options and that it took the companion program to make them appear but I guess I will never know unless I de-install and start over. No thank you. After installing the PAF Companion I found out the $8.25 is for an expanded version of the companion program; what I downloaded was a basic version, apparently that is all I needed.

Thanks to the Internet, keeping old computers, and some digging around I only had to invest a little time to get all the data back Mom and I spent so much time inputting years ago!

I will now put my shovel away. My roots are unburied; I can replant and start growing my tree again!

~~~~~~~

Follow my progress on www.connectingtrails.com

Imagine!

I never imagined I would ever, ever put Dakota in a horse show. Last night, after countless practice sessions (one at the horse stables in American Canyon) to learn a dance number along with nine other teams of owners and their dogs, I did!

Considering Dakota is basically a timid dog she did quite well! True, when we ran into the arena last night to a crowd of over 700 people and the smell of horses and music blaring, she wasn’t sure what was going on and could have balked on me. Instead, when we all entered the arena, she started running full speed toward the audience (thankfully not the opposite way) so fast I almost tripped over her as I held her snug against my side trying to keep her in heel position. Happily when we stopped to wait for the music for our number to start she clicked into dance mode and followed most of the dance steps.

The crowd loved us. They clapped in time to the music and applauded with loud cheers when we finished and as we exited through the curtain at the back of the arena.

When Vange Leonis, the organizer of our line dance, announced over a month ago she was looking for dog teams to perform for the horse show in Auburn I decided it would be good for both Dakota and I. Dakota needs more exposure to help with her shyness. Although Paris is the one actually enrolled in dog dancing classes, Dakota is much more calm. Paris may well have fallen apart if asked to perform in a horse arena. Plus Dakota will at least listen and obey commands and not sniff the ground like Paris does.

The name of the horse show event was “Imagine…Dancing Horses.” (www.imaginedancinghorses.com) Our number was the second to last of the entire show of about twenty different numbers. While our group waited for our turn to perform, we had the opportunity to watch the show from the sidelines and what a show it was! The costuming and glitz was astounding, watching the horses prancing and dancing to music was awesome.

It turned out to be a very late night (home at 12:15 a.m.). I was so worn out this morning I slept an hour and a half later than usual. Dakota is quite tuckered this morning too! She is sleeping on the sofa next to me as I write. Normally she is out in the field chasing chickens.

There were so many great images I wanted to capture in full detail but didn’t take my good camera since I knew I would have my hands full carrying a crate, water, food, a folding chair and handling a dog. However I had my iPhone with me so did capture the few low quality images below of my exciting horse show experience.

All in all I had a good time. I enjoyed the beautiful, grassy countryside of the horse ranches where the show was held. I enjoyed the fair atmosphere of the event, the food courts with their homemade ice cream sandwiches, Polish dogs, ices, and hamburgers, and seeing all the beautiful show horses as they stomped in their stalls and stood in the grass waiting for their turn to perform. This is definitely an event I want to attend again!

Definite signs

The day after having the Pines here for three days (in transition between one vacation home to another) there are scooters in the entryway, toddler chairs in the living room, sippy cups and bottles on the counter, kiddy Halloween socks left sitting on the half wall, child seats in our car, toys atop the toy cabinet, a high chair in the dining room…all confirming the kids have actually arrived in Northern California and that life for us is changing and will be moving forward in a new and exciting direction!

Total surprise

Robert’s 60th SURPRISE birthday party last night totally blew him away! He had absolutely no idea. The surprise was pulled off seamlessly. No one tipped their hat or accidentally dropped a clue.

Well almost. There was only one clue but Robert missed it. He happened to be at his Mom’s house when the invitation for the party arrived for her. He picked up the mail to bring it in (which he NEVER does) and the invitation was on top. Kim saw him and grabbed the mail from him quickly telling him he couldn’t have it. He spotted the invitation and did wonder but as soon as he was home again he totally forgot about it.

When we drove into the driveway at 5:45 last night, after a day out on a wine tour as a gift from Kathy and Tim for his 60th, Robert was ready to just take it easy and watch TV. He told me, “I’m not cooking tonight; it’s my birthday. You are on your own for dinner.” He unlocked the front door, walked in and saw the dining room table out of place and asked, “Why is the table moved…” when suddenly everyone standing in the living room yelled “Surprise.” He about fell over, he backed up and opened his mouth wide in total shock. Then everyone came streaming out of the living room to give him hugs and to wish him a happy 60th. He was overwhelmed by all the familiar faces, many of them he had not seen for a while.

He had no idea everyone was here when we pulled into the driveway because the house was dark; there was not a single car in sight. The arrival of guests was very well organized; everyone had been directed to park their cars in the field. Guests were quietly gathered waiting in the living room ducking down so they wouldn’t be spotted through the windows. The only clue something was amiss was the Mazda not parked in the driveway to the field. Robert did not notice it was missing. After all he had been drinking wine all day!

Even I was blown away with how great everything looked and what an amazing job everyone had done getting everything ready while we were away. Most amazing was Kathy. She was the driving force behind Robert’s surprise party. She sent out save the date cards, sent out the invitations, requested photos and messages for a book she designed for him. She hired a caller and a band for hoedown dancing and she asked family for help with the dinner menu and getting our house ready by cleaning up and moving things out of the way for square dancing on the patio, picking up rental tables and chairs and decorating.

The theme for the party was country; tables were decorated in red checker tablecloths and old fashioned, lantern candleholder centerpieces. Colorful cowboy hats were hung on the backs of chairs. The dance area was accented with bales of hay and tiny, white sparking lights.

The square dancing was a hit. The caller did a wonderful job teaching dance numbers accommodating the wide variety of ages—from two-years-old to 88!

This party was truly one of the best family events ever! Thank you Kathy! Thank you Tim, Chris, Gary, Fely, Kim, Jean, Nicole, and everyone who made this day truly an extraordinary one!

Photos

Robert’s Memory Book (a draft version—check back later for a final version)

Our homeless kids

Six weeks ago Tim and Kathy put their house on the market. Three weeks later the house sold and three weeks after that escrow closed. They turned the keys over to the new owners on Wednesday.

Robert and I drove down last Sunday to be part of the moving-out event. We returned Wednesday night with a rental truck full of the overflow that didn’t fit into their PODS unit.

Although lots of packing and readiness for the move had already started by the time we arrived, Tuesday was THE official moving day wherein the majority of their household was moved into the PODS unit, into the rental truck or set aside to be temporarily stored at a neighbor’s house and for packing into their SUV for a road trip.

What a crazy, busy, and wild day Tuesday turned out to be!

Kathy left early with the kids first dropping Aubrey off at her care provider then taking Rylan to the doctor with her so he could see an ultrasound of his new baby sister or brother then dropping him off at preschool. As Kathy and the kids were leaving Robert and I hauled all the refrigerator and freezer items she had already packed into two coolers to a neighbor’s freezer and refrigerator.

At 9:30 Tim’s Dad, Dennis, showed up to help. He willingly helped wherever and whenever he could; like packing a lot of the smaller items, running out for drinks for everyone and buying 2x4s to secure items in the PODS unit.

Movers arrived late morning after stopping at Kathy and Tim's office to pick up furniture and other items to bring back to the house to pack into the PODS unit. They then immediately went to work transporting the washer, dryer, beds, bureaus, chairs, and large, heavy boxes into the unit.

When Tim went to move their Ficus Benjamina tree, he discovered a large rusty, brown spot on the rug where roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and into the rug. Somehow Tim found someone to come out ON Tuesday to repair it (seamlessly and perfectly) by installing a matching section of carpet Tim and Kathy happened to have on hand!

At 12:30 Tim and Kathy's real estate agent and the buyer’s agent showed up with the new homeowners for a walk through. While the new owners were at the house, a floor salesman arrived to meet with them to go over wood samples to install new flooring in the living room.

As if that wasn’t enough activity, a roofer arrived to make repairs to the roof!

Later Tim hauled the coffee table off to a neighbor's house. The night before he and a friend had hauled their sectional down the street to another neighbor's house. A second sofa set Tim and Kathy no longer wanted, was claimed by the movers.

Early afternoon, when it became obvious everything would not fit into the PODS unit and Tim about to order a second one, we came up with renting a moving truck instead, saving Tim and Kathy up to a thousand dollars. Kathy and Robert picked up the truck. Afterwards Kathy headed to the office to pick up more things to bring back to pack into the rental truck.

It worked out good to put the refrigerator into the rental truck to bring back to our house and plug in. Otherwise it would have gone into the PODS unit where it would have sat for a couple of months or more.

Tuesday night everything was essentially done. All that was left to do was to move items to the neighbor’s garage Wednesday morning, all of which will go to a furnished beach house in Orange County Tim and Kathy will rent mid-August. Once moved in, they will stay there for a couple of months before relocating to Sonoma. Since the sale of their house happened so fast, they decided it would work better to stay in Orange County a while longer to ease out of child care, preschool and client arrangements.

Robert and I turned the rental truck in this morning. We were able to easily unload everything yesterday with Gary, Kim and Fely’s help. (Thank you guys!) The next chapter in Tim and Kathy’s move will be securing the Sonoma house they put an offer on in June. Since it is a short sale it could still be several months. In the meantime they are essentially homeless.

PHOTOS

Spring Break Garbage Can Madness

Robert and I woke at one o’clock this morning to a clatter in the road—actually more like the sound of thundering wheels pounding on pavement. I thought it was thunder. Dakota and Paris bolted out of bed and headed to the door to furiously bark at the racket. Robert too reluctantly got up to see what the ruckus was about. Although too dark to see anything he had a pretty good idea.

On our drive to the park for our daily walk we immediately saw one of our garbage cans missing. No surprise. Six houses down the road we spotted it tipped over on its side having burped its contents all over the road. Ours wasn’t the only one rolled off during the night. Others were tipped and tilted pell-mell, their contents also spewed on the road and in neighbors’ yards.

Back from our walk Robert dropped me off to rescue our can and to pick up all of our trash: pieces of junk mail, empty toilet paper rolls, asparagus stems, tissues, dirty paper towels, dental floss, empty food containers, grimy lids, yucky cans. Just as I finished this unpleasant task and headed back home pulling our can behind me the garbage truck came barreling down the road. I stopped and faced our garbage can toward the road hoping the truck would stop to pick it up and empty it. When the truck reached me the driver stopped and leaned out of his seat toward me as if to tell me he wasn’t about to pick it up because how was he to know I was a legitimate garbage customer.

Instead he told me he was out on the road at six this morning and there was trash scattered up and down the road, it was everywhere and it was a mess! He continued to tell me how every year during spring break this same thing happens. “EVERY year,” he lamented. Neither of us had any idea how it had all gotten picked up. I am guessing commuters were up early to face garbage detail, an unpleasant disruption, before heading into the city. The truck driver then kindly picked up my garbage can and emptied it into his truck.

Picking up garbage on the road early in the morning in 35 degree weather risking my life as cars zipped by within inches was certainly not an ideal way to start my day.

Facebook bitten

Just a few days after writing my last blog I became a facebook user (thanks to Kathy). This may well be why I am not blogging as often now. That and my continuing battle with piriformis syndrome. It is hard for me to write a lot when I can’t sit at my computer for very long.

I admit I am quite addicted to facebook. It’s easy to get drawn into it between activities. While I am waiting for a job to print, or a file to upload, an email to be answered, a phone call to be returned, I jump over to facebook to read what people have just posted and for entertainment.

When I first joined I didn’t expect I would get into or be interested in all the games and questionnaires associated with facebook. Now I am sending Easter eggs, cultivating a farm, discovering Olivia is the name I should have been given, Redding is the town where I ought to live (unless I move out of state then it is Seattle), the breed of dog that best describes me is a Cattle Dog (!), and my real age is 46.

Of course what I like about facebook is how little writing is required, just snippets to share what is going on in my life.

Better yet I enjoy seeing the photos people post and discovering what is going on in their lives. I found out a niece of mine has a dozen horses, another niece is now a doctor, yet another niece just got a new puppy, my sister graduated from Clatsop Community College, a first cousin of mine now has a new job and her husband went skydiving on his birthday.

Another nice aspect of facebook is there is no wading through a lot of spam associated with email. Plus attachments don’t bog down incoming email. Messages, photos and videos can be shared by posting them directly on facebook. And sharing with lots of people doesn’t mean sending lots of emails (good for not bogging down the internet especially when there are attachments involved). Best of all people respond! Often when I email people they don’t (most likely because my email gets blocked by a spam filter).

After a month and a half I am still enjoying the facebook connection, which leads me to wonder: Have I now moved from blogging to facebooking? And what’s next? Twittering?

Looking back, looking forward

Forty-five days into the New Year and at last—here is my look back on 2008, a summary of what our year was like, what we did, where we went, experiences we had and all that jazz. This is also a look into what the future holds, even beyond 2009.

Considering Kathy and Tim live over 400 miles away, we were able to see a lot of them and their little ones, Rylan and Aubrey, in 2008.

After Kathy and Tim’s announcement Christmas of 2007 to tell us a little girl was on the way, Robert and I began to make plans to head to Southern California to help convert their office into a nursery for Aubrey’s arrival. We made our trip late February, early March. While Robert and Tim converted the office by building a wall, a closet and adding a door, Kathy, Rylan and I worked on perfecting butterflies and dragonflies to paint on the walls of the new nursery.

Our trip wasn’t just about the nursery. Before the remodel we rendezvoused with the Pines to spend a few days in the mountains at their cabin. Robert and Tim skied three days. I skied one day. That was enough for me.

In May Robert and I returned to Southern California to welcome Aubrey into the world. We saw and held her within hours of her arrival!

Aubrey was a much easier baby right from the start. Of course we were all more relaxed this second time around. Kathy and Tim were not nearly as weary as they were when Rylan arrived.

We stayed a week to help. We also dedicated one full day to enjoy Knott’s Berry Farm with Rylan. Another day we took him on a shopping trip for Matchbox cars then treated him (and us) to ice cream.

The next time we saw the Pines was in July. They drove up to meet us at Chris’ house which worked out to be a convenient rendezvous in that we rented an RV in the Sacramento area. We left our cars at Chris’ then drove the RV up to Oregon, camping along the way. Our destination was the Ellingson Ranch in Mapleton where the 2008 annual PEAR* Affair was hosted by the Ellingsons. The Ellingson event was in honor of 100 years the ranch has been in the family.

What a gala event that reunion turned out to be! There were five days of games and outings galore and meals served in a huge pole barn. There was Contra dancing and a day of canoeing and boating on a lake. Over 130 people attended!

The RV worked out very nicely. The Pines basically used it for their home base once we arrived at the Ranch. There were even hook-ups available! Robert and I put up a tent nearby to use as our home base. Both Sadie (the Pines’ dog) and Paris (our dog) had an absolute grand time running all over the acres of field nestled in the midst of deep, green forest. Dakota, our younger dog, missed out on all the fun. We chose to leave her in California at Chris’ house.

In October Kathy hopped on a plane with Rylan and Aubrey to fly to Napa to spend a week relaxing in the country. What a special treat for us! Kathy too, it was an opportunity for her to unwind while she enjoyed extra hands to take care of and entertain her little ones.

For Thanksgiving, Robert, Chris, and I drove south to spend a few days with the Pines. Paris and Dakota stayed in a kennel. Chris’ dog, Seven, enjoyed coming along to play with Sadie. Taking his car, Chris drove the entire way down and back—very much appreciated by Robert and I! Tim and Kathy fixed a special Thanksgiving dinner for all of us. Before heading home we helped Tim, Kathy, and Rylan put up their outdoor Christmas lights and decorations.

In December all the Pines (including Sadie) drove up to Northern California to spend a week at our house to celebrate Christmas. Nothing compares to having little ones around in the midst of Christmastime cheer.

Of course our year wasn’t just about seeing our kids and grandkids.

In March and April Robert built an agility course in our field.

In June there was a baby shower for Gary’s wife, Fely. Gary (Robert’s brother) and Fely welcomed a real cutie, Briana, into the world on August 7, 2008. Briana is Robert’s Mom’s 7th grandchild, born 18 years after her 6th grandchild!

On the Fourth of July we enjoyed Chris’ annual barbecue and fireworks show at his house.

In August we had a pool party. This is noteworthy because it had been two years since our last one.

In September I hopped on a plane to fly north to celebrate my Mom’s 80th birthday. There were Kewpie decorations to make, party items and food to shop for, special photos to organize for display, tea pots and cups to unpack, silver to polish, a cake to pick up—all resulting in a very delightful birthday party at the Sons of Norway hall reserved ahead of time by my Mom. My sisters, Donna and Bonnie, showed up early to bring a variety of special dishes, flowers for centerpieces and to help with setup. Bonnie’s daughter, Nissa, and her husband, Tristan, also were a big help decorating the hall for the party!

In October Chris built a shed in his yard with Robert’s help.

And that is pretty much how 2008 played out.

Looking ahead to 2009: we will be downsizing our business giving us more time to enjoy our family. I will be drawing social security. I will write more, sew more, and walk more.

Looking beyond 2009, after we have totally disbanded our business, I visualize missions overseas, illustrating children’s’ books, volunteering in schools, competing in agility and rally trials, going on cruises, writing books, running long distance foot races, and/or teaching computer graphics—and of course spending lots of time with our kids and grandkids.

*PEAR: Puckett Ellingson Annual Reunion aka Puckett Ellingson And Relations