Going to the Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday, we took a trip to Cal Poly Pomona and let the kids pick out their pumpkins. There were so many people but a whole lot more pumpkins in a field that seemed to go on forever. All four of the little kids had a great time. . .and I think their parents did also.
Ethan picked out his pumpkin right away.
Coco and Fums liked to ride them also.
At the end when everybody had picked out their pumpkins, we tried to get the kids to pose for a picture. . .Fums was enjoying playing with his way too much.
The girls went to work right away selecting their pumpkins. It was a great day and we got the best pumpkins ever. . .now for the carving and cooking the pumpkin for pies.

The Life of a Missionary

Evan just sent some pictures of his area in San Pedro. He loves the people there and is glad to be outside the city of Buenos Aires. He said he really likes this area as it is agrarian and he is able to see a lot of the countryside. This area along the Parana River is where the city people go to vacation. This is one of the many dirt (mud) roads that he traverses on a daily basis.
Evan's 20th birthday was spent in San Pedro. The Maru Family in the ward took him out for ice cream on his birthday. He is shown here with just the "2" candle because they didn't have "0" at the store. So he said that he figured it was the end of his 2nd decade of life.
On one of his preparation days, he went fishing with a member of the ward. They were fishing on the banks of the Parana River.
He caught the biggest fish of anyone that day. They don't use fishing poles there. . .just fishing line with lead weights on it.
Here is Evan with the Vega family and his new companion. Evan said that they went to their house for dinner and had pizza.

The Little Rascals

It's always a treat to have the grandchildren around. . .they really keep things hopping around here. The picture above is of Gavin and Brielle with their friends, Tyler and Jensen Chang, cooking marshmallows over the fire pit. They roasted hotdogs over the fire for dinner and then were going to watch the movie, Nightmare Before Christmas, on the outdoor movie screen - a real night time adventure.
Megan made chocolate chip cookie dough with the help of Gavin and Elise. They reaped the benefits when they got to lick the cookie paddles.
Gavin and Coco got up in the morning and watched a bit of Sesame Street. Coco's favorite stuffed animal is her gray kitty that she hauls with her everywhere.
Coco also likes to wear different people's shoes. Today she had on grandma's slippers and Gavin was right behind her trying to get them off of her.
Sometimes you just have to laugh. . .I looked out the front window and saw Gavin chasing B.J. the cat with my silver salad tongs. . .isn't that what silver salad tongs are for?

Phantom of the Opera

The perfect ending to Placement Break was seeing Phantom of the Opera with Steve. We were both very excited to see the show and were not disappointed. It was a spectacular performance; I especially liked the Phantom. Christine and the other lead actors did a great job acting, which we could really experience because our seats were only ten rows back! We, naturally, went to Miceli's for dinner. Steve had never been and it is a tradition when seeing a show at the Pantages. The atmosphere was great and the food was delicious. I had a wonderful time at home hanging out with my family, especially playing with nieces and nephews. It sure was difficult leaving home and getting back into the swing of school. Thanks to everyone for a fabulous time!

A Day on the Bay

We had the opportunity to view San Francisco Fleet Week from a great vantage point, the Coast Guard cutter TERN. As always it was a great show with a parade of ships through the bay and plenty of aircraft demonstrations. The Blue Angels put on an incredible show - always staying in such tight formation.

There were fly-bys from other groups that left us all in amazement.

The pilots perform such daring moves that you think they almost might run into each other but they are very well trained and it makes for a great show. Especially with the San Francisco skyline in the background.

We had beautiful, clear sunny weather and were really able to enjoy a favorite occasion.

CO Matt and Ian and Tom - friends of Jeannie from the CGA - joined us for a fantastic day on the bay!

Another Day at the Happiest Place on Earth

Since Alana was home from BYU for her placement break for the week, we thought we would do another day at Disneyland. The little kids love it and we had a fun time also. It helps to only go for about a 4-hour period because then the kids don't get tired (and it becomes the saddest place on earth.)
Ellie got to go on Space Mountain for the first time and Gavin, who wasn't quite tall enough yet, was telling us here that he wanted to go on Small World.
Ellie, Brad and Gavin are shown here in Pirates of the Caribbean (also known as Yo Ho).
Brad also got to hold the two little ones on Small World. . .this is always a favorite ride of the kids.
This is still one of Gavin's favorite rides. . .he particularly likes pointing out the different Disney characters.

The Week in So Cal

Gavin and Coco helped their Mom make some Magic Cookie Bars. . .there were a lot of chocolate chips missing in those cookies. Gavin was wearing the evidence on his face.
Saturday morning, about 8 a.m., seems to be a pretty good time to go to Disneyland. There were practically no people there for a good hour. . .Ellie finally got to go on Splash Mountain, two times. Gavin and Ellie got their first annual pass for Disneyland. They can hardly wait for Uncle to come home from Argentina so he can get his pass and take them to Disneyland.
Here we all are riding on the Jungle Cruise. . .we always like seeing the back side of water at Schweitzer Falls.
James and Ellie rode on the Matterhorn, and Alana's friend Steve joined us for the day also.
We all rode the Gold Line into LA and ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Yang Chow. We even had our fill of of Slippery Shrimp tonight.

I Love a Parade

The annual Route 66 Parade here in Duarte is always a lot of fun. This year, with my being Mayor, I decided to try out a T3 scooter, owned by the Sheriff's Department, in the parade. It was a lot of fun to zoom around on and I felt like I got to see more of the people. James and Gavin are shown here on Route 66 before the parade began.
The Grand Marshall this year was a young man, 14, named Jordan Romero (center). He is the youngest person to ever climb Mt. Everest. He did that with his family this past year. He has summited all of the highest peaks on each continent except Antarctica and will be attempting to summit that mountain, Vinson Massif, this coming January.
Ellie and Margaret rode the T3 also on the parade route.
Here was the car that Brad, Ellie, Gavin and Margaret (part of the time) rode in for the parade. It was a 51 Chevy convertible.
I took this picture from the T3 scooter. The kids liked riding in the parade and seemed to enjoy waving at all of the people. The next day after the parade, Gavin wanted to know if they could ride in a parade that day too. Have to wait till next year, Gavin.

The Stay- Cation

Everybody was a little bit sad that we didn't get any camping in this summer so we decided that a campout in the backyard would be pretty "rural" . Hotdogs and s'mores were cooked over the fire pit in the backyard, followed by an "outdoor" movie complete with popcorn. Above 3 of the kids are shown waiting for breakfast after a night of camping.
There was reading of stories before the kids bedded down for the night in the cabin tent.
Ellie had her flashlight that she used that night.
Gavin was warm in his sleeping bag and he too had his own flashlight.
A few days later, after a picnic at Encanto Park with cousins and Great Grammie and Grampie, the kids got a bath in the big bathtub. . .and they had a great time.

Evan with New Companion

When Evan was transferred the last part of August, he was give a new companion, Elder Amasio, and coincidentally he is from Anaheim. Elder Amasio is Tongan. Evan said he really enjoys talking with Elder Amasio about California and that he is a great companion. Evan said that he will most likely be here in San Pedro for about 6 months. . .which he is fine with him because he really likes this city, surrounded by a lot of agriculture. Also, San Pedro is located on the Parana River.

The Sun Comes Out

After the first two days of fog at Morro Bay, we finally had a beautiful day and went out on the sand spit down near Montana de Oro. Of course, Fums headed straight for the water. Auntie Lana saved him before he got totally wet.
As we were sitting having "happy hour" on the sand spit, we noticed a caterpillar. We thought we had put him far enough away from the kids so they wouldn't step on him accidentally. Then when Fums was walking down to the water, we noticed that someone had hitched a ride behind his ear. . .and Fums was totally unaware of it.
Here we all are having "happy hour" on the sand spit.
James and Ellie walked down to the water to test the waves.
After a day at the beach, the weather was so beautiful that we had dinner out on the deck of the house. Following dinner, we hiked Blacks Hill and watch sunset. A great weekend!!

Morro Bay to Beat the Heat

We all decided to get out of LA and the 90 degree weather. Morro Bay did not fail us. We have had foggy weather the whole time. In the picture above, we walked along Morro Strand in the fog.
One day we drove up over the Irish Hills and looked back at the fog that was shrouding Morro Bay.
James, Ster, Steve and Alana went on the tour of Hearst Castle while Brad and I watched Ellie and Ethan. We went to San Simeon Beach and the kids played in the sand by the San Simeon pier.
What's a trip to Morro Bay without a trip to Bali's frozen yogurt in SLO!? Cousin Allison joined us for our dessert and dinner before she heads out for Denver.

Evan in San Pedro

This past week Evan was transferred from the "big city" of Buenos Aires. He is about 3 hours away by bus due west of Buenos Aires in a city called San Pedro. It is located on the Parana River and is a vacation area for people from Rosario and Buenos Aires. He said it reminds him a bit of San Luis Obispo in that it is a smaller city surrounded by a large agricultural area. He likes his new companion, Elder Amasio, who is from Anaheim, CA. Evan said that he expects to be in this area for approximately 6 months. Pictured above is a new convert with Evan in his new city.