Bob the Builder

Happy Halloween!

Tractors!

 Our son LOVES tractors and trucks (what little boy doesn't?). This fall he was able to have a lot of dreams come true as he got to "drive" many of his favorites.

 

We had a church camp-out at a farm with a lot of old equipment. The following morning we went exploring and he got to drive a fork lift! (You can just see the grin on his face.)

 We also found an old tractor that he got to "drive."

 This fall my cousin got married and it was very important to her to make sure there were fun things for the children to do at her celebration. They pulled a few strings and got a local fire truck to come out. Words can't describe how thrilled our son was to drive a FIRE TRUCK! (Of course, now he can't understand why he doesn't get to drive all fire trucks he sees.)

 Riding Go-Carts at my Uncle's house.

And another tractor. The excitement never ends. :)

My Grandpa

(I started this some time ago but just realized I never posted it. I feel so bad. I guess better late than never...)

My (Jamie's) grandpa passed away at the beginning of September. He had been sick for quite some time, but I kept hoping for a miracle and that he would recover, but at the end he was so miserable and ready to be done it's hard to complain that he's gone. I sure miss him, but am thankful for the peace I have knowing that because Christ was resurrected we will all be resurrected one day and I will get to see him again. And, as I told my Grandma, he will even be able to hear us. :) He was in the infantry during World War II and his hearing suffered significantly. I'm thankful for the time I've had to look back on my memories with him. Here are a few of my favorite:

In 2001 I got to go to Europe for my first time with my parents and grandparents. We spent two weeks traveling and seeing the sights. One I'll never forget was in southern France. My grandpa was part of the southern invasion during World War II (most histories focus on the northern invasion at Normandy), but he was part of the southern invasion that was to distract the Germans. We got to go to Saint Raphael and found the monument to his division and the street named after him (36th Infantry Division of Texas). He told us stories of the invasion and fighting to gain control of a nearby bridge/tunnel. My mom and I walked over and an older French woman stopped us. In broken French she asked if my Grandpa was part of the invasion. When I told her yes, she responded, "Please tell him thank you." That story still brings tears to my eyes as I think of what those people suffered and how proud I am of both my grandpas that they fought in the war to free people they didn't even know.

(At the time, my mom had been learning French and was working to translate the monument into French for my Grandpa. I walked around to the other side and it was in English - she was doing a great job! :) We all had a good laugh about that.)

Our recent move to California brought us close enough to my grandparents that I was able to visit them at least once a month. I enjoyed the time with them and my son really liked getting away for the day. Once when I talked to my Grandma over the phone she told me that Grandpa had been asking when my son would come visit (I wanted to tease that he wasn't intersted in seeing me, just his great-grandson). He sure loved his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

When we first moved to California and visiting my grandparents regularly, I would enjoy the break because my Grandma would make us lunch, but as my Grandpa got sicker I started taking lunch to them. One time she wheeled my Grandpa to the table in his wheelchair and he was obviously not feeling well. My son called out in a loud voice, "Hi Grandpa!" The surprised smile on my Grandpa's face was precious! Our son has a special talent of bringing smiles to others faces.

Jewelry Making!

 Last Mother's Day I found a blog about making a turquoise necklace and knew my mother-in-law would love it, but also knew I did not have time to take something like that on. But I did make time to make necklaces for Christmas. I really enjoyed it! Here are my success pictures!

 This was designed so that she could wear just one, or layer all three. However, I made a big mistake and used magnetic clasps. I read that you shouldn't buy the cheap ones because jewelry may fall off. Well, these were strong - way too strong! They're practically impossible to get apart. I guess I'll be replacing those. :) Won't be making that mistake again!

 Chris picked these shells out for his grandma.

 (For whatever reason, my camera had a terrible time trying to focus on these. Chris picked these out too.)

 

For my Grandma. I was so proud because I designed and made each little bead set, connecting them with chain.

 

This was for my mom. So easy because I bought the beads already chained this way.

Merry Christmas!

I know I'm woefully behind in posting this fall. It's been busy. :) Hopefully I can make time after the holidays, but I wanted to share this awesome story about our son.

We haven't put any presents under our Christmas tree because we don't think they would stay wrapped for long with a three year old in the house. :) Our son knows he has a large gift from his grandparents because it is sitting in our room and he looks for it every morning. However, I didn't realize how "in the dark" he is about the rest of his gifts until this morning. He saw a gift sitting on the dresser and asked, "Is that for me?" I explained yes, his grandparents sent it. He gleefully replied, "I have two presents!" Wow is he going to be surprised on Christmas morning!! Oh, the innocence of youth.

Merry Christmas!

http://www.mormon.org/christmas
(This is one of my favorite Christmas videos this year.)

Rainy Day

We've been in a serious drought lately and I think our son has forgotten what rain looks like. (Ironically, they say the drought has been going on for 3 years, but I distinctly remember last year we had so much rain they were asking us what our plan was if the levy by the river broke. Silly people who can't build reservoirs!) We finally got rain yesterday morning! At breakfast my son asked if he could go play in the rain. I have a natural aversion to getting wet (we'll blame my dad for all of the practical jokes involving water when I was growing up), but remembered the fun I had playing in the rain growing up and decided I should definitely let him enjoy the rain while it lasted. We all changed clothes and he had a wonderful time dancing in the rain. Ironically, you can't see the rain in any of the pictures. :( But trust me, it was raining (a California rain does not even compare to a Louisiana rain). :)

Whole Wheat Bread!

For Mother's Day I got my wheat grinder I've been saving up for for ages. My old one was a hand-me-down and got flour everywhere (not to mention it was super bulky and heavy and I had to keep it in the garage with the spiders - yuck!), but I'm always happy to get free appliances. I've been using white whole wheat flour much more now. I had success with a 100% whole what recipe in my bread machine, but it was pretty dense. However, the last time we were in Utah I finally found some Vital Wheat Gluten (I've been looking for it here in California with no luck) and even Dough Enhancer (that I've been hunting for for ages!). I was so excited to try these out when we got home and the bread was AMAZING! I could not believe it was whole wheat! I've been using it with my other favorite bread recipes that previously failed when I tried to use all whole wheat and they're wonderful. My only problem is that the next time we're in Utah I'm going to have to stock up! :) But my brother's getting married in less than a month so my opportunity is coming.

(Some people only use their bread machine to make the dough and then bake it in the oven, but the demands of being in my kitchen at the right times to make that happen... Hah! We just trim off the tough crust.)