Christmas 2 of 3

Our Christmas this year came in three parts. First one happened at Thanksgiving in CA with Eric's kids since they are going to Japan. Christmas part two was on Christmas day at Jennifer and Brian's house. Here's Chase "riding" on Jen's Great Dane, "King".

The family voted on having finger food for our meal, so here's Brian and Andrew working at the grill checking on the fruit kabobs. The menu also included shrimp, hot wings, crab quiche, three kinds of cookies and a yummy caramel/apple bars.

Chase enjoyed ripping open the presents and chewing on the paper.

Jennifer got books that were on her list.

"Just what I always wanted!!!!"

"More presents?"

(There were more gifts given, but my camera ran out of batteries. :-( so I'll have to get pics from Andrew & Jen.)

Kids just want to have fun!

So far, Molly hasn't minded if Chase tries to get close.

We celebrated Christmas with Eric's kids at Thanksgiving since they'll be in Japan in Dec.

Sarah is the climber in this family.

Noah and Jordan

Pizza with the kids

We arrived in Oceanside for our Thanksgiving visit on Wednesday which gave us a chance to take 4 of the grandkids out for pizza while Eric & Sachiko went out for dinner and a movie. Our philosophy is to let the kids order what they want. Herm and I got vegetarian (shown above), Maya wanted mac & cheese, Sarah got chicken tenders, Jordan wanted Hawaiian and Noah wanted Gouda cheese pizza. While I don't think the cheese pizza was Gouda, J & N shared theirs with half cheese and half Hawaiian.

Note the cheese as Noah lifts his piece off the pan. It was very good!

Love self-serve frozen yogurt!!!!

When we were in CA in September, we were introduced to self-serve frozen yogurt. It's everywhere and lots of fun for the whole family. There are lots of different franchises, but they pretty much all operate in the same way. First you pick out a cup (two sizes), then you put in the yogurt.

Next, you decide what kind of toppings you want.

Then you weigh the concoction you made and pay 39 cents per oz.

Here's what our family came up with. I had pumpkin spice with brown sugar glazed pecans.

Noah, Jordan & Maya are enjoying their yogurt along with Sachiko and I. Molly is under the table waiting to lick out the containers. Herm is taking the picture, and Sarah was along, too, but is not in this shot.

My car, "Cherry"

After Herm had purchased his Honda Goldwing, I told him when we bought a new vehicle, I wanted to be the one to pick it out. So when the "Cash for Clunkers" deal came out, we decided to trade in our 1980's Ford Ranger pickup for a new car. One of my most favorite cars that we have owned was a Nissan Sentra, so I knew that would be one to consider this time around. My dad was a "Chevy" man, so I felt I should at least look at them, plus I went to the Honda dealership. But I really liked the 09 Sentra, so we bought this one. My 3-year-old preschool class nicknamed it "Cherry". While in CA for Thanksgiving, I had the grandkids down there pose in it.

Thanksgiving 09

Herm & I drove down to Oceanside, CA to celebrate with California family.
Eric got the job of carving the turkey.

The rest of us enjoyed the eating part.

In Salem, Chase celebrates his first Thanksgiving.
Besides turkey and mashed potatoes,
he got to teeth on the turkey leg bone.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving in Salem on the Sunday before the holiday.

Family photos, 9-2009

A nice closeup of Private First Class Ellis

We had a beach party following Aidan's graduation at Del Mar Beach. It was a nice place, because there was a grassy area above the beach. Since it was an overcast day, only the kids went swimming and boogey boarding. We had delicious chicken and fixings, graduation cake and beverages. The whole time spent together will always be a wonderful memory. Thanks to our CA family who were wonderful hosts to the rest of us.

Our four kids (L to R): Andrew, Cyndi, Eric, Jennifer

Graduation, MCRD style

We went to Aidan's graduation in San Diego. It took place on Friday, September 18. There was a drill instructor telling us where we could walk, what we could and could not do.

There was some waiting, in the heat.

Aidan had to stand in the heat (he's in the middle row, second from the end).

There was a lot of good music played by the Marine band.

There were over 500 men involved, and they did a lot of marching.

And we all are very proud of him for accomplishing this
great milestone in the beginning of his
military career.

Summer, 2009

Sarah wanted to go on the fastest ride on the fair. Good
thing Grandpa likes them, too, because I don't.

Hiking with Andrew/Megan/Chase/Oliver (dog) and Eric/Maya/Noah/Sarah
Herm and I also tagged along with Molly

Jennifer with Krawl

Sarah, Eric, Noah

Grandpa, Chase, Maya

Grandma & Grandpa Time with Noah - 2009

Noah used his creativity to make an awesome scrapbook.

We picked blueberries in Dallas. They were small,
but that's the best kind for pancakes.

The Volcanoes baseball team is a favorite of Brian & Jen's, and they
love to share tickets with family.

The Dallas Aquatic Center is a great family swim center.

A ride on Grandpa's Honda Goldwing is always
a "must do" for our grandkids. Chase will have
to wait awhile til he can ride.

Noah helped Grandpa give a bath to Molly, our
border collie/australian shepherd mix.