Are you missing Ezra?

Now I'm learning how difficult it is to make sure there are NO favorites. Being the mom of an only child, that was not something I needed to learn. But now that I have two wonderful grandsons, I must not show favorites. So here are some photos of Ezra, just to show that he in fact is still around.......

Do you notice the band-aid? Ezra is in that phase where he LOVES band-aids. Why do they all seem to go through that stage? Is it because we give them so much attention when they suffer an owie?

He's ready for his photo shoot.....he LOVES "goggles", that's what he calls glasses or swim goggles. I think it's because he sees grown-ups wearing sunglasses.

Oh yeah, I give him a bottle with juice. G-Pa even puts ice cubes in it. He LOVES the cold on his teeth and gums...that's why we started doing this....much to the chagrin of him mama. I also didn't like that he flung his sippee cup on my wood floors, etc.

He's so cute!

2011 Street Vibrations

There's a bike rally in Reno, Nevada every year on the third weekend of September. This could be the very last good weekend to ride in the Sierras. Often times the passes are closed by the end of September. You can have a couple days of HOT weather, and then it snows.

So in case you've forgotten, let me remind you that I am NOT a morning person....I do not like to get out of bed....especially when it is dark outside. I have unfortunately married a person that LOVES to get up early. He thinks that it is the very best time of the day, early am, and that if you "sleep in" (his definition is after 6 am) you have wasted the very best part of the day. It is God's sense of humor that we've matched up. I've tried to change and enjoy the early am, but it is just not to be. And somehow I am in the minority with our riding buddies......they too like to get started early. We met up at the local gas station at 6 am!!!!!! Only to ride 20 miles to a Starbucks to meet up with three of our friends....that are also early morning people. I really need to get some new friends.....that like to sleep in.

Once we got out of the Bay Area commute territory, we were able to breathe and enjoy the scenery. The foothills are all dried out, but there are parts of the ride that are just plain beautiful. We go all over this country to ride, the best parts are right in our own neighborhood.

I uploaded the photos in no particular order, so here we go with photos of Lake Tahoe....you can see the big paddle wheel boat in Emerald Bay
Riding home we followed water along the road. Why is it that a river/creek is just so marvelous to watch?
On Saturday we went through Sierra City and happened upon a Hot Rod show. We had a very good lunch too.

This is just one of the MANY old cars....and the people watching is good too

Rick shows off one of the shirts he purchased. This is odd because it has bullet holes and dripping blood, not his usual style

Our good friends, Scotty and Margaret

My extremely handsome husband

We stopped on the way home at Mosquito Lake, just over Ebbetts Pass

Dave and me

We finally met up with our long-time friends and riding buddies, Bret and Donna, just in time to ride home on Sunday...here's Bret

Here's Donna.....really....it is Donna

We stayed at a B&B, which we are NOT big fans of....not this one, we did like this one, but in general we do not like to stay at B&Bs. We feel like we're staying at a distant relatives and they've wedged us in.....the rooms are generally small, or at least oddly configured, and there's little privacy and we're forced to be pleasant when we just want to be left alone. Not that we can't hang, but we just want to relax. And we feel like we need to eat the breakfast since we paid for it....but we like to get started early (at least one of us likes to get started early) and we like good old fashioned hearty American breakfasts, not foo foo stuff. Even so, this was tasty. Each morning they served some fruit thing, then you had a sweet bread and a delicious quiche.

If you have to stay at a B&B, this is the one to stay at.....it's along the Lake on the West side and the owners are fabulous

This is the view right across the road from the B&B. They have their own dock and pier across the road, which we used to have dinner on one night. We also watched the Lake Tahoe Marathon pass by on Sunday am

Here's our group shot in front of the Cheney House. This is a reunion photo, since we all went on the ride last year to Sturgis

We love riding around the Lake Tahoe area....well except when we get stuck behind the big buses that they used to drop off the runners. I think this area is the most beautiful area I've seen. I'll keep coming up each year, just to ride around the Lake. I am not a fan of bike rallies, and I think Reno is a sorry town, and the ride to Virginia City during the rally is a freak show of humanity. Dave and I sat down and asked ourselves how in the world we ended up in the middle of this again. We decided that we wouldn't do that again.....but then Bret reminded us we said that last year. We just like to ride and we really enjoy riding with this group of people. Somehow it just all works out.......

Arterburn Traditions

A big thing for us is washing our cars. Dave and I would wash our cars together every weekend when we were first together. After Jessica was born, we still washed our cars together which meant there were plenty of photo ops with that sweet adorable little girl covered in bubbles. Now we mostly pay someone else to wash our cars, especially since moving where the water is so hard it comes out of the faucet in chunks. I know you think I'm making that up, but it is horrible.

I ended up with Ezra this last weekend. He was pretty upset that grandpa and the motorcycle were not in the garage. The car needed washing, and I couldn't see driving across town and trying to watch Ezra while the car got washed. Plus I wasn't feeling good about him seeing others doing these tasks.....so I decided we'd do this together. Yeah, about that........

Here he is cleaning up after he was covered in dirt from digging in the yard

Isn't this just the cutest little guy? I LOVE him!

Theo Update

Here's the latest on grandson #2, Theo. He is the sweetest, healthiest looking baby. I can't help comparing him to his older brother Ezra, I'm going to need to break that bad habit. Anyway, Ezra had a traumatic entry in to the world, Theo was a breeze. So it's only natural that Theo has a more robust look and feeling about him. We've mostly been spending time with Ezra so his folks can adjust to the newest addition. He was kindly brought over for a visit so we could love on him, and Ezra too.

One thing that is VERY different from his older brother, this little guy has a set of lungs. Funny thing is that today when I was out back hanging laundry, there was a a bunch of birds of prey flying around screeching....yeah, Theo sounds a lot like that when he's hungry. I taught Ezra how to cover his ears today, I'm sure he's going to need that trick. I'm pretty sure Theo won't be as easy to take out in confined public places as Ezra was....just saying.

The Second is Totally Different

I have barely seen Theo. I've held him two times for a nanosecond. I'm mostly taking Ezra to my home so Jessica, William, and Theo can sleep and carry on. Everyone asks me how Ezra is liking his new brother, well.....I don't think he realizes what is going on. Oh, and Ezra is just beginning to get that two year old "NO" thing going on....not too much, but he is not as totally agreeable as he once was. I have had to physically move him to where he should be....not that he's being mean, he's just testing all of us. Well, I've been through this before, with his mother, and he is NOTHING like his mother....oh, and I'm not like I was either :) And I did figure that if he was really not compliant, I could take him home to his mother! But he is just the cutest thing, and I totally LOVE this little guy. I'm sure I'll feel that way about Theo.....if only I spent some time with the little guy!

Dave went for an all day ride, 460 miles. I stayed home to scrapbook. Well, until my daughter called, sounding completely exhausted, and asked if I would come pick up my grandson. Of course I said yes! My whole day was de-railed. I spent the entire day with a 21 month old....I'm exhausted. But I'd rather spend the day with the real thing than simply scrapbooking the lad!

Theophilus Zev Swenson

Theo was born at home on September 1st at 2:59 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long. His mama is doing just fine. The rest of us are doing okay too. We're all tired though :)

He's Here!

I seriously wondered how I would feel about the second grandson. I LOVE Ezra so much that I didn't know how I would feel about the second one. I'm totally in LOVE with the new one too. Isn't it wonderful that God makes us so that we can LOVE more than we even think possible? I was concerned that Ezra would feel shorted when the new guy came along. Well, Ezra knows something has changed, but doesn't know what to make of it. I told Dave that I needed to show Ezra some extra special attention since this is going to be so traumatic for him. Dave's response? "More? How is that possible?"

Here are some photos from today, a momentous occasion, the arrival of Boy! The grandson to be named later!

This is how Boy's father experienced child birth

This is how Boy's mother experienced child birth

This is how Boy's G.Pa experienced child birth, post-partum

This is how Boy's G.Ma experienced child birth, post-partum

I just didn't know how it could get any better than the first time.....now I know. This is the most fabulous event possible...especially when I'm not the one giving birth! J is a total natural, and W is getting pretty good at it too. They make wonderfully, fabulous babies, with the help of God.....good work W, J & God!

It's Showtime!!!!!

This is Jessica at 40 weeks...which means Boy is arriving at anytime. In fact, her water broke at 11:30 so it could be anytime!!!!!!!! We have Ezra....and he knows something is going on....he's very amped up....but we put him down for a nap any way. Stay tuned!