San Jaun Capistrano

We used our midweek no school day to it's fullest.
We started the day in San Juan Capistrano touring the beautiful mission.

The mission provides little listening devices that tell the story of the mission as you walk around. The kids enjoyed the story.

On of the favorite parts of the mission is the beautiful koi filled fountains.

The gardens here are so beautiful. It is like walking through the Secret Garden. We can see why this Mission is called the Jewel of the Missions.

Dana Point

Dana Point Tide PoolsWe had the beach all to our selves for awhile it was wonderful.

Torie and Tara brought kites for everyone to fly. It was just the right amount of wind for great kite flying.

The water was COLD but that didn't stop the kids from playing around in the surf.

We found such cool stuff in the tide pools. They found sea anemones, hermit crabs, and even a couple of star fish.

Tanner and Emily had fun filling and dumping the buckets and throwing rocks.

We found this beautiful star fish about the size of a dinner plate.

Emily Runs!

Emily is getting so much better. She improves every day. She moved from crawling to cruising to walking in about two weeks. She has had a limp for the week after that but now seems to be even losing that. She is now running and trying to go fast! She will say "Look, I running!"

Emily and the boys running!

March Fun

March FunThis is how we get Emily and Davin to clean their ears. We make it a silly game.

Just when we thought we were getting to spring it snowed again. No one else went outside today but since Emily is finally feeling herself again she asked to go out and play in the snow. She only lasted a few minutes before it started to hail but she had fun.

The boys have really enjoyed the warm sunny days. They were outside playing with friends from the neighborhood every day this week. Carter and friends dress up and pretend to sword fight. Davin and friends built a catapult with wood and rocks. They launched pinecones as high as the phone lines. It was semi dangerous and really cool!

Hey-Do you know why I am smiling so big?

I got my cast off . Hooray!!!Grandma had the idea to make my cast into a center piece on the table.

I had a busy first day without my cast on. I sat on the kitchen stool and kicked my feet as I ate. Grandma and Mom kept noticing all the little things Emily was doing today that she hasn't done in so long. It was like having a little baby and noting all the milestones.

Emily had a plan for her first day without her cast. She wanted to have pink cupcakes with pink frosting and a cherry on top. So here we are frosting the cupcakes. They were yummy!

We had a small party with a few friends and even got balloons to celebrate.

The first thing people are asking is if Emily is walking. No, not for awhile. She just doesn't have the strength yet. She was able to stand for a couple of minutes on the couch with Grandma's support. Grandma has been so wonderful to stay with us for so long and help take care of Emily. We could not have done the last several weeks without her.

The boys and Grandpa had fun moving the snow on the back deck and making it into an igloo.

It has been such a happy weekend for all of us. Thank you for everyone that has expressed concern for us and helped us out in lots of little ways.

Emily Update

Emily has had a happy week. She got a cool chair from a friend that lets her sit up and keeps her much happier. She has learned how to get around on her tummy and will lay and play puzzles or color. She fell in love with Love a Lot Care Bear from the Care Bear movies. Grandma found her a Love a Lot on ebay and we got it today. She LOVES it. We believe that Emily will be getting her cast off this week.
Dad-Thank you from all the women here. We loved the roses and they lasted for a long time.

Snow-Snow-Snow
Over the last couple of weeks we have said the words ..."Is it every going to stop snowing?". We have had storm after storm loading snow on the mountain. We are running out of places to pile it up.I snapped this picture on the way to work on a morning. As much as the snow can get us down it is the views like this that make up for it.

The hills look so amazing right after the snow. The dead trees look so beautiful covered with snow. They look lacey.

Here is Davin standing on the back porch. We hadn't shoveled it since the storms started. Last night Dad shoveled a dog run for Charlie. We had Davin stand in it so you can see how high it got.Somewhere under there is patio furniture!
We hope we get some sunny days for a while now.