It's Been a LONG Six Months!

Today was a great day! Sweet Lois was told by her wonderful surgeon that she no longer needs monthy x-rays of her femur break. That is particularly good news since the hospital where all the appointments occured was 30 minutes away, the parking was challenging, and the x-ray table was extremely uncomfortable for "Motma." Hooray for Lois she is on the mend!

Happy Halloween!

Saturday Close-ups

The Birthday Boy

Father's Day Visit with Baby Nolan

Proud parents Steve (Chris' brother) and Mitzi holding their 1 month old Nolan at our home on Father's Day.

Motma gets a turn with Nolan.

Nolan on his Daddy's shoulder.

The New Attraction

Recently Motma bought a walker to help her get around now that Sean is not in his stroller as often... Tonight the boys got a little ride from their Motma...



Definitely better than Disneyland!

Dear Friends

Last week one of my dad's best friends, Ted, came to visit us with his son Tim. We had a wonderful visit! We hadn't seen them for almost 3 years.
Motma and Ted getting ready to say goodbye.

Chris, Ted, and I...This one is significant because Ted is the priest who performed our wedding 10 years ago. I will post the 1998 version on our actual anniversary- if I can get it into the computer...

Sean took the opportunity to pull as many leaves off the tree as possible and give them to our visitors! At least he is hospitable.

Tim is in this one with the gang.

"Dad, BIG ROCK!"

Connor wanted to climb all the rocks he could. This was on the way down the trail from Yosemite Falls. Luckily we went the weekend before Memorial Weekend and had HOT weather and light crowds. As a result the mist from the falls felt awesome and we were soaking wet just minutes before this picture was taken.

A lookout on the way to Glacier Point. We could see Vernal and Nevada Falls from this spot.


The Ahwanee Hotel lobby with two little munchkins running around. Loie took us to lunch there on Saturday and brunch on Sunday (yes we are spoiled)! It was beautiful. Lolo had been there in 1968, and this was her first time back!

Sean and me at Glacier Point aka "BIG ROCK"

Upon seeing El Capitan and Half Dome, Sean shouted from his car seat, "Dad, BIG ROCK!" That was my favorite line of the weekend.

Yosemite Weekend

Connor loved being "surrounded by wilderness" all weekend ...

Connor and Dad and the base of the Giant Sequoia near the park entrance.

Lois and Jul on the chair carved from a tree trunk. The armrests were the perfect height for Lolo's arm's!

Connor could fit through this tree!

Jul and Lois nearing the end of our beautiful hike.

Mornings with Motma

The first stop in the mornings is often Motma's room. She has a TV and is very accomodating. She knows the channel number for all three PBS stations, and she is not afraid to use them...Oh, yeah and stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes are welcome as well. (Motma asked not to be photographed, but she is in bed, too).

Motma's Home!

Here she is after being home only 1 day with "the best medicine" (aka Connor and Sean).

After having to try different bottle drinking posts, Sean has resumed his favorite spot for drinking milk.

Motma Lois is Coming Home

I just got word that Lolo will be ready to be picked up around noon today! She sounds great on the phone and is happy to be feeling bettter! The prayers worked. Thanks!

Motma Lois

I usually reserve this blog for happy goings on around our house, but today I am using it as a broadcasting system. Lois has been under the weather for the past month or so due to sinus infection, out of whack medicine regimes, and low potassium and B12 levels. Last night about 8pm, we had to call for an ambulance to transport her to the nearest ER. She was becoming extremely dehydrated due to nausea,etc. that we now know was a side effect of the powerful antibiotic she had been given by the doctor about 9 days ago. After a 2 hour wait in the ER, the care was top notch and she was feeling better in no time. Her EKGs "changed" over the course of the electrolyte replacement, which resulted in the doctor's decision to transfer her to our nearest Kaiser facility about 35 minutes from home.
Please feel free to pray or let anyone else who knows our Lois know that she is a bit fragile right now. Sorry to use the blog this way, but the thought of calling everyone made me fall apart. Thanks for your love and support.

The Family Band

Sorry for all the posts, but our internet was down for a few days, then iphoto was acting weird...Anyway about the family band. Connor loves the fireplace in our new house because it has a small spotlight over it that is meant to shed light on whatever picure is hanging over the fireplace. For Connor it is his stage and spotlight, so he is constantly inviting us to see his "routines," "shows" or "performances." Recently, I have been trying to provide him with some props and get everyone involved, so I gave him the bin of rhythm instruments, made him band leader, and here is what happened...


Connor on keyboard

Motma on drums

Daddy and Sean on bells and ladybug insturment

Let me say that everyone reading this should be very pleased there is no sound to accompany the pictures.

Sean's First Haircut

Today Sean got his first haircut. His little blonde locks were getting in his eyes, so Motma took action. I was ill prepared (no little first curl box) since Connor's hair grew in between 18 and 24 months, but I saved the hair and took pictures! Motma cut the front little wisps, too, but I hadn't thought about the camera at that point. So here are some of the back.


Who is that handsome baby?

Tahoe at the End of Summer

A high school friend of my mom let us use her darling cabin in the woods near Lake Tahoe... We had a great time! The first night after a long day of travel the boys needed some family room action/play to expend all their energy! Sean's smile exudes his happiness at being out of airplanes and cars.

Connor put his dad's socks on and climbed onto his shoulders. Chris quickly got Sean in place for a photo!

Sean seems to be relaxing (finally) on my lap with Motma nearby.

Connor and Sean just being brothers.

Visiting Balboa Island

Over Labor Day weekend we visited a dear friend of my mom's on Balboa Island in Newport Beach. Beautiful spot. Connor played on the beach and swam almost the whole time!

Sean loved the water table on the back porch! We sat at there (about 10 feet from the water) and enjoyed the view of the bay.

Here's Motma in her new outfit!

Concentration at the water table...

Connor went way out in the water to fill the buckets for his never ending sand castle building endeavors.