Alana had her 23rd birthday and we celebrated it with a Belle birthday cake, in addition to chocolate chip cheese cake. Gavin and Ellie helped Alana to blow out the candles.
Ethan helped to destroy the cake but he totally enjoyed it.
This is Gavin and Coco's favorite lunch.
What's better on a hot day than a vanilla shake. . .Gavin can hardly wait until Uncle comes back from Argentina so that they can go to In and Out Burger together.
The heat wave here in So Cal prompted us to pack up the kids and head for Bolsa Chica Beach. The kids loved playing in the sand and having a picnic lunch.
Ellie and Gavin loved digging in the sand and watching the waves come up and fill the hole in.
Thanks, Stephanie, for helping with the little kids around the water.
Coco found a chair just her size and all she wanted to do was to relax.
Coco and Ethan decided they needed to do some more relaxing in the beach chairs.
We started out the day on the 4th of July with the kids making chocolate chip cookies (and tasting the dough to make sure that it was good enough).
Ellie and Gavin watched the fireworks from Grammie and Grampie's deck while drinking root beer floats on July 4th - a real family tradition after all the years.
We had a barbeque at Stogners with a bunch of the neighbors. Little Buddy was pretty excited to see some of the fireworks.
There were many fireworks that were shot off in the cul-de-sac.
Ellie and her mom were watching the fireworks on the street.
Mom and Dad went up to the Morro Bay House for a week. . .the problem was nobody was around to celebrate Mom's birthday. So Brad and I decided to drive up and surprise Mom. She and Dad were having Happy Hour at Tidelands Park when we arrived with the World Cup Special of 20 pieces of Kentucky Fried Chicken - wasn't sure whether she was happier to see the chicken or us.
The next day, on her actual birthday, we went to the family favorite restaurant, F. McLintocks, where the waiter poured water, blindfolded, on top of Mom's head. . .he didn't even spill too much.
We were so glad when Sue was able to join us for the evening at McLintocks. It was great to see her and to catch up on all the other Ferguson activities. We had a fun evening celebrating Mom's birthday. Thanks for a fabulous evening, Mom, and Happy Birthday!
Right after Allison's graduation, we took a family vacation to the North Shore of Oahu. The weather was just beautiful and we were able to do some of our favorite activities there too. Something we all enjoy doing is having a picnic dinner at Sunset Beach. Cousin Tat was able to join us here for dinner and we were able to spend a good amount of time with her during our vacation. Thanks for showing us so many great places, Tat!
Of course, no trip to the North Shore is complete without numerous trips to Matsumoto's Shave Ice in Hale'iwa. Always a treat!
We decided to take a quick trip to the Big Island. We drove to Hawaii Volcano National Park and stayed at the Kilaeua Military Camp. Driving on the Crater Rim Road was so interesting to see where the road just ends because of the lava flow in 2002. We all found the Big Island so unique.
The view across Turtle Bay is always so lovely. What a relaxing vacation! Hawaii is just a gorgeous state. We have such great memories!
On the last day, the girls decided to go skydiving. Something they have all wanted to do. It was located at Dillingham Airfield on Kaena Point. The girls all had huge smiles on their faces once they landed. What a great experience!
Alana's job this summer after the first year of law school is doing an internship for a law firm in downtown LA. Her office is on the 11th floor and overlooks the 110 Freeway, and when it is not foggy out during June Gloom, she sees the Hollywood sign in the Hollywood Hills.
Clearly, it wasn't rush hour outside Alana's office window on the 110 Freeway
Here Alana is preparing for a meeting in one of the board rooms at the firm.
Gavin's job this summer is to have fun and learn a lot. We went for a walk on the bike trail yesterday and there was a man that was exercising his horse and he let Gavin ride it with him.
This Spring, our family celebrated 2 graduations. On June 12, Allison graduated from Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo with a degree in Landscape Architecture. We were so grateful for all of the family members that were able to attend this ceremony, considering the busy weekend that it was. Now the real challenge. . . finding a job! Good luck, Allison!
Just a week earlier on June 6, Ne graduated from medical school at Loyola of Chicago. It was a fun weekend filled with many memories of her 4 years at medical school. Ne has already started the next phase of her training by moving to Martinez, CA for her residency. Needless to say, Ne is very pleased to be back out in California!
Gavin and Elise are enjoying riding the small plastic trucks around on the driveway. Gavin has figured out that with the slope of the driveway, he can use gravity to fly down the slope.
Elise hasn't quite figured out what to do except to sit on the car and smile.
Today was the groundbreaking for the Gold Line Light Rail extension that will go out to Azusa, through Arcadia, Monrovia and Duarte. The kids came for the big ceremony, where there were members of Congress and many mayors from the foothill areas, as well as numerous television stations covering the story. Additionally a nice lunch was served at the park and there were children's activities with face-painting and crafts.
There was a big bulldozer for the groundbreaking that the kids enjoyed climbing on.
Gavin and Elise enjoyed eating the fruit popsicles after lunch.
Elder Evan Finlay is shown here with a family that he and his companion are teaching in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It is winter down there so Evan is dressed warmly. Keep up the good work Evan.
Both Megster and Alana made cakes for Grampie's 85th Birthday, which happened to be the same day as Father's Day. Ellie helped Grampie blow out the candles on his birthday. There were 13 of us that got together to celebrate with Grampie on his big day, as well as James, Brad and Jim's Father's Day here in Duarte.
Ethan, Fums, totally enjoyed his piece of cake and ended up wearing most of it. He also particularly enjoyed eating his corn-on-the-cob. Happy Father's Day to all those great fathers that have made our lives better.
The 3rd and final Ian and Annie reception was held at Grammie and Grampie's house. The food was excellent, thanks to Lisa, Beth and Craig (with great desserts by Meg, Megster and Shauna). The venue was beautiful, we had great weather, and had many wonderful friends and family in attendance.
Chris, a good friend, came and decorated the backyard with much-needed lighting. It made for a lovely evening.
Beth and Lisa are shown here with some of the delicious food they prepared. We are so grateful for all the help from family and friends. It was a wonderful evening and we are appreciative of all the people that traveled so far to get here.
Immediately following the reception, we traveled to Morro Bay for cousin Allison's graduation from Cal Poly SLO in landscape architecture. It was a packed house but we had a lot of fun.
Also right after graduation, we all went to Tidelands Park and presented Mom and Dad with the bronze plaque that we all got for them for their 60th wedding anniversary.
For Gavin's birthday this year, he wanted to have his cousins come over and swim in the spa.
Megan made a Thomas the Train cake for him, and put Toby, the square train car, on the track made of pretzels and red licorice.
Megan made Gavin's favorite dinner and we enjoyed it out by the pool.
Ethan, aka Fums, totally got into eating the chocolate cake and was covered with frosting.
Ellie, Stephanie and Elise helped Gavin open some of his presents. Gavin also got a call from a real train conductor on Amtrak that yelled for him "All Aboard. .. ." He loved hearing that on the phone.
Great grandma and grandpa from Ohio brought him some Thomas gifts and also a replica of an old Goodyear delivery truck.
What is a birthday without pushing your cousin around the house on his riding truck? Ethan liked the ride but held on for dear life.
