Ezra Update.....

Ezra is 16 months old and quite the character. He's loves to climb and can now get up on chairs all by himself....which is great, except he needs to keep his butt down and stop standing up in the chair. I'm pretty sure he's going to be getting hurt real soon.

Note the fashion statement.....the shades are a new addition....and he owns lots of camo

And he still has those crystal clear blue eyes!

Silly Stuff in Simi

As we're getting on the bike to go meet the others, Dave hears something hit the garage floor, but doesn't check it out. We get to Starbuck's and he thinks his vision is blurred so he decides to clean them. Well, the lens is gone and then he figures out his lens fell out in the garage. But he doesn't want to go home because it will hold things up, and when you make an AIS time, NO ONE WANTS TO BE THE ONE TO MESS IT UP! Especially Dave. So he figures he'll just wear his old pair. He goes to put them on, and that's when he realizes that the screw has fallen out and he can't wear the extra pair. Fortunately the lens that fell out is in his better eye. He puts the sunglasses over the glasses and just soldiers on. While in Simi Valley we purchased one of those eyeglass repair kits, but we're just not able to get it to work (old eyes and big fingers). So off we go to Lenscrafters, which is really close by. They fixed it in a couple of minutes, for free! Yea for Lenscrafters.

So now for the next silly thing.....Dave's iPhone wouldn't charge. And he is tethered to that electronic leash. We brought my charge cord, that didn't seem to work on his phone. We tried Donna's charging pad, and that didn't work. We Googled, thinking that the difference could be the 4 v 3GS v 3. When finished with the glasses, we stopped at the Apple store down the way in the mall. We spoke with the very young "small component specialist" and then another employee. We are definitely the oldest people in this store, they are humoring us.....we then decided to just use the display charger and it worked! The final answer was that Dave's case must have gotten in the way and the connection just wasn't good enough. While we're standing around charging, we did get a whole lot of attention.....but everyone was great.

Here's Dave slumming it on my phone

Dave charging his phone on the display

Family BBQ

Saturday night we have a delicious dinner, courtesy of Teresa and her brother, and the rest of the family. The food was great and the fellowship was even better. Here are some photos.

Reagan Library

We left Pleasanton on Good Friday at 7 am, riding south to Simi Valley. It was great being on the bike again. The winter was long, cold, and wet. And oh yeah, tax season in there too.

Here we are on Saturday morning. Please note the wide angle...new camera!

Here's Pete making a movie. He's looking in to a screen and reading a play by play of a baseball game. When he was finished, we walked over to another screen and watched. It's much harder to do than it sounds.

We started the tour by watching a very short video of what was going on and it was shocking....30 years later and we're in the same situation. High gas prices (although we don't have gas lines, yet), high unemployment, out of control government spending, Middle East turmoil (remember the attach in Beirut?)

This museum is very interactive, an adult discovery museum. You can stand at this podium and see how a TelePromtR works.

Pete being Pete, a big ham.

Bret being cool

This is an exact replica of the Oval Office, many of the items are the real thing

Awesome view...Fabulous location

They have really done an outstanding job on this exhibit. Air Force One is surprisingly stark.

Even the Lincoln looked simple

We spent hours in the museum and had a great time. It is surprising how much happened during the 8 years of the Reagan Presidency. We miss him.

New Camera!

My camera saga has been going on since September (and big apologies to all of you who have endured the whining). As an update to all of you who have not been privy to the painful details, I misplaced my camera after a Harley ride to Reno. I was pretty sure I didn't leave it in Reno, and I sort of remembered putting it somewhere odd that I hoped I would remember, but we could not find it. I was beginning to think that I was really losing my mind (this is not the only evidence of that) or at the very least a poor steward of my possessions. And I REALLY LIKED this camera. It was compact, took decent photos, and I had owned it less than a year. After a few months of rummaging through the house, talking about it to everyone who noticed I was no longer taking photos, and getting really close to whining about the whole thing, I bought a camera at Costco. It was a Sony Cybershot, just like the old one, but they did something really awful when the updated the model. I REALLY DISLIKED that camera, and did not hesitate to tell anyone and everyone. The big thing is that the shutter speed was so awful that I couldn't get one decent shot of my grandson. And anyone who knows me, knows that photos of Ezra are really important.

I have been toying with the idea of jumping up to a DSLR, but I've been concerned that I wouldn't learn how to use it, or wouldn't carry it around since it is much larger than a point and shoot. But on Thursday I finally purchased a new camera, a Nikon 3100. I figured I had better purchase it before our four day ride to SoCal, since one of our friends is a big camera person and also owns a Nikon.....I was looking forward to personal lessons.

I readily admit that I am still concerned about the size, since I can't just slip it in my purse. But it takes really great photos. I'm loving the increased capabilities. There was that one time that I didn't turn it on though, and I still need one of those things to hold the lens cap when I remember to take it off.

I will be posting photos of our recent trip.....as soon as I learn how to transfer the photos on to this computer. Oh, and when we pulled out the Harley bags to pack for the trip.....wait for it.....we FOUND THE OLD CAMERA!

Pink or Blue?

So this is how it all came about.......

Jessica and Wills dropped off Ezra while they went for the ultrasound. They told the tech that they didn't want him to tell them the gender right now, but would he please fill out the card they made and then put it in the envelope and seal it. He said this is the first time anyone had asked him to do this, but he thought it was pretty cool. He even double wrapped it with paper so no one could peek. Then he added a few of the photos for good measure, as if anyone can really tell a darn thing in those fuzzy photos.

Ezra was picked up and we were handed the envelope. We're feeling a little like Mission Impossible spies. The pressure was really mounting. I was afraid to speak to anyone that I might make a mistake and spill the beans.

Off we went to the Mall. When we parked and shut the car off, we opened the envelope and were just shocked to see it there before us. Grandson or Granddaughter?

We started off at Nordstrom's (I have free money there, it's my favorite) but were bitterly disappointed that nothing jumped out and shouted "buy me". So we went to Janie and Jack, or whatever that little shop is called. We found some things, but it wasn't totally for sure "it". Then I dragged Dave to Macy's (I have gift cards and coupons there, but who doesn't? They practically pay you to shop there) and again, nothing great. Lots to look at, but nothing grand. It all kind of looks a like. So back to the little shop that I did not have coupons, gift cards, or free money for, and we made our purchase. The clerk said she's done this before and was very helpful. She even tried to show us how to read the photos. Which we still can't figure out. And I just couldn't keep from buying something for Ezra too. I can now see why so many of my friends just don't buy anything. When you try to be equal, it costs a lot of money!

Anyway, back to the original question......pink or blue? girl or boy?

This is the answer without flash


And this is the answer with flash


Well.....looks like Ezra will be passing down his stuff to his little brother. Names are being hashed out right now....lots of discussion and worlds apart. I know it will turn out perfect!

Another Baby Shower!

One of the many things that I LOVE about my church family is how we celebrate life's events. One of the ways we do this is with Baby Showers. Everyone is invited.....all ages. Two things to note....I HATE the photos from my camera but they're all I have......so I apologize to everyone in advance, please don't demand that I remove the photo of you. and I LOVE the multi-generational celebrations I do realize that I have no photos of the brand new baby and her mama...or grandma...oops.

Monday Afternoon With My Ladies

Most Monday afternoons I spend with a bunch of ladies doing some sort of crafting. These are mostly paper crafting, scrapbooking or card making, but sometimes we step outside of our box and learn some new things. This is one time that we learned something new.....making a photo frame!

We learned a bunch of new techniques and had fun! And as always, there were lots of snacks :)