Lindsay's Leaving California

Today's the day that my adopted daughter, Lindsay, leaves California. She's on to her next adventure, moving back with her family in Colorado. She has a dream job that she's starting in January. Her dad and brother drove a pickup truck to Dublin, CA where they rented a U-Haul, filled it full of her stuff, and are now driving back to Fruta, CO....home of Mike the Headless Chicken, but I digress.

I'll miss Lindsay's sparkle, Jessica and William will miss their sister, Ezra will miss his Aunt Lulu. She has become such a huge part of our family and it hurts that she's so far away. But we'll all tough it out because she's on to a great situation with people who love her (they after all had her first :))

We can still text! The first text on my new iPhone was to Lindsay!

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

Gifts from Mama Judy (aka Ooma), she wrote the words for each shape on the puzzle pieces

A hooded towel for Ezra, also worn by William, Ezra's daddy

A book about the birth of Baby Jesus, recorded by Great Grandpa Watters, very cool and Ezra really likes it
You may notice that the Swensons are sporting red PJs, this is their Christmas gift from us. We went way out of tradition and opened some gifts last night...BEFORE Christmas! That is so far out there for the Arterburns, Jessica could not believe it...she was in shock. But then you just need to mix it up sometimes. The theme was PJ's for all the kids, even Lindsay.

Then we had breakfast and a game of Rummikub, won by William....but Edie did actually go out first on a round..for the very first time EVER...Merry Christmas to her!

Uncle Bret & Auntie Donna do it again!

Electronic Drumsticks! Battery operated and noisy. There's an on/off switch and various buttons to change the sounds. One sounds like light sabers, or what I imagine light sabers sound like since I've never actually seen a real light saber. This is a HUGE hit with Ezra and all the "grown ups". Well done Uncle Bret and Auntie Donna, I barely wait to see what you come up with next year :)

Cioppino Night

Our family tradition for Christmas Eve is to have cioppino, fish stew. People think this is Italian, but it really started in San Francisco. It smells heavenly (unless your Donna and Bret who will not eat fish, except for tuna) and is really easy to prepare. It's hot and filling and just a wonderful meal. Oh, and I finally found a red checked tablecloth...but couldn't get my hands on those tacky plastic bibs this year.

Christmas Eve, this is the time when it's basically all over, the crazy part. The stores are closed and there are no more deliveries. You either have it or you don't..it is what it is. You can take a deep breath, let go, and just enjoy the moments....my favorite part.

Another Birthday Party

Everyone in my family has a December birthday. Well except for my sister. But her birthday is November 16th and that's close enough. Basically from November 16th through December 29th we had a big event at least once a week. My mom says they planned it that way to get it all over with at one time of year. She readily admits they were young and dumb.

Here's my mom at her 83rd surprise birthday party

A very tasty cake my sister purchased at Costco. Deep, rich, dark chocolate frosting on a chocolate cake

Mom dancing with one of her son-in-laws. The photo with the other one, Dave, didn't turn out. I could now go on a rampage about my camera problems, but I brought it all on myself so I do not expect any sympathy.

Mom with her son

Mom with one of her grandsons, Shayne

Mom with one of her great grandsons, Owen. Ezra wasn't there, his parents didn't feel too well

Jorel checking the Raiders' score, they won...beating the donkeys

Annika and Jorel (the other grandson that didn't dance with his grandma)

A Boy Needs a Tonka Truck

Jessica kept this celebration low key. It's tough having a December birthday. But then you should think about this back in March! Ezra is feeling okay, just a bit snarkly. Plus his mom washed his bed linens along with their clothes in regular detergent, so his soft sensitive skin has a bit of a rash on his face. Oh well, the party must go on........

Obligatory 1 year old with a cup cake to smear all over his cute face

This gift is from Auntie Lulu and Auntie Meggs. We were concerned when the box was opened and we saw those colors. Auntie Lulu is a huge fan of the donkeys, and those are Denver colors! That could be why Ezra was not a big fan of this terry poncho..he just didn't get how cute it is...perhaps this summer when he gets out of the pool he'll appreciate it.

And here it is, every little boy needs one of these. The big boys were so excited that he got one! Thanks Uncle Bret and Auntie Donna!

Ezra's loving this!

Ezra's First Birthday

Jessica bought this really cute birthday crown for Ezra...isn't he cute? His mom's cute too.

Grandma gets to hold the birthday boy to try to get a good photo with the crown.

Auntie Meggs and Auntie Lulu making the margaritas (not for the birthday boy)

Great Granny giving birthday wishes

Happy Birthday to Ezra!

One year ago today Ezra was born and we became grandparents. My sister-in-law, Andrea, says that you love your children but you fall in love with your grandchildren. I always heard that grandchildren are your reward for not killing your children. We had so many members of the grandparent club go on and on about how wonderful this would be. We were very polite and said oh yes, we can hardly wait.

By nature we are not ooey gooey people and just could not see this sudden transformation happening to us. Or it could be that Jessica had just been laid off from her teaching job and William still had a year to go to graduate. We think that gainful employment is a good thing, especially when growing a family. Unemployment and a part-time job did cause us to scale back our excitement.

However, God's plan seems to have worked out just fine. Oh, and we have become those grandparents. You know the type...the ones that talk endlessly about their grandchildren....the world revolves around the little guy.....well, that's us. And we are not ashamed to admit it. In fact, we'll admit it openly...just so we can tell you how stinkin' cute he is.

We are blessed to live so close and we get to see him a couple three times a week. I have the hand prints on my windows (and you know how I get about clean windows) and walls to prove it. And every time we see him, and I swear this is true, he gets even cuter. And we love him more every day, how is that possible?

Oh, and we think his parents are pretty spectacular too...they do a wonderful job parenting our precious Ezra.

Christmas Cards are In the Mail!

Yeah! Now let the fun begin!

Look What I Made!

Jessica is very much in to crafts and she found this project on a website and made one for her home. It is beautiful and I was coveting, so she helped me make this one. The total cost is less than $15. It takes a lot of ornaments, almost 50, a glue gun, and a cheap wire hanger, and I should be attaching a bow.

New Frontiers

Ezra had a sleep over with us last night. Which we were so excited for, we were missing him! But we now realize that we're on to an entirely new frontier with his development. He's become quite the explorer and a bit independent.

He now has his Bumbo on the floor...he is way too big to have it on the table any longer, and way too active to have it sit on the chair...he was leaning way over and had several instances where he went flying only to be saved from a face plant. So now I put it on the floor...which means I'm on the floor with him...good thing I can still get down on the floor, or more importantly, get back up.

He loves to feed himself and it is not a pretty picture...for him or for the floor. Oddly enough it does get in to his mouth...but I did have to stop him from gnawing and sucking on the peel.

See I told you....not pretty

And this is really scary because he climbs up on this by getting both of his little feet on the bottom drawer and hanging on....if he should reach out for the controls that we put up here (so he can't reach them) he'll fall back for sure...on the rug, but I'm sure he would be crying.
His parents dropped him off around 3:30 pm and we played with him until he fell asleep at close to 7 pm...we were all exhausted.

More Ezra!

He's mobile and he now realizes that if there's a knob.......something is getting opened!

Cornerstone Ladies' Christmas Dinner

This is the second year I hosted a table at this dinner. As a hostess you're given a table of eight that must be furnished with plates, glasses (for water and coffee), flatware, napkins, and then anything else to decorate. The tables have a Christmas theme. Last year I went totally non-Christmas, so this year I went with Grinch. My dear friend, Diane, thought this would be fun. She may have been calling me a Grinch, not sure. The theme is that Grinch tries to steal Christmas but we have him caged so Christmas will go on.

Here I am with Diane and my daughters

Lindsay and Jessica looking cute

Teresa, me, and Erika

Susan (she's retired from the CIA, she could tell you what she did there but then she'd have to kill you), Erika, and Diane

Me and Dana