Grandma Time

Friday we had a packed schedule of fun and visiting with friends and family. Our first stop of the day was my mother-in-laws house. In the car, Grace told us she was going to ask Grandma Carol for some olives. Sure enough she remembered and got her Olives, so in her opinion it was a successful trip. :) Such a funny girl.

We had a nice visit, and a few minutes before we left, Grace asked Grandma Carol if she could see her earing collection. Grace loves all of Grandma Carol's "bling". They went upstairs, and a couple minutes later I went up to find this:Not only did she get to wear some of Grandma's earing, she got to try a little make up and look in the special mirror. Grace was so excited. She told me "I don't want to wash my lips off becuase I have lipstick".

It is funny that I am not really a make up girl and I don't wear earings. So it isn't something Grace has seen modeled. Yet it is inside her to love make-up already. She is a girl through and through, and she knows it. And although I am not encouraging her diving into make up at this point in her life (I have to restrict her chapstick becuase she becomes obsessed), I think a grandma bonding time is great. There is something so special about that interaction.

Thanksgiving fun

We had a wonderful thanksgiving yesterday. We have so much to be thankful for!

The day started out slow and relaxed, which is always nice. We even got a little rain. Since we had some time, we decided to drive the long way through the mountains and Julian. It was a beautiful drive, although it added an extra hour of travel time. The clouds and the mountains were worth it though.Grace was very excited as we headed out. She loves a good party.

My father-in-law had a full schedule of Thanksgiving celebrations yesterday, so we were glad he was able to fit us in. He wasn't able to join us for the meal, but we were glad we were able to hang out with him before dinner.
Grandpa Dick had brought some sparkling cider, and in the holiday spirit we let Grace try some. She does not have a lot of experience with carbonation, and the look on her face was priceless. She said it was "spicy" but went back for another drink, so she must have liked it.When we are around our family, Grace pretty much doesn't want to have anything to do from me, becuase she enjoys everyone else's attention. This works out just fine for me, as I get to have my hands free to enjoy the company of my little niece Elena. She is so happy and content, she is super fun to hang out with, even if she doesn't always look at the camera. :)
Elena fell asleep on me, and I let Gunnar have a turn holding her so I try to help out in the kitchen and take some pictures. Besides, I try not to hog all the fun.
My mom LOVES Thanksgiving. She always likes to have some activities to help us focus on being thankful. This year she even had something prepared for Grace to do. When I asked Grace this morning what her favorite part of Thanksgiving was, she said coloring, so aparently, it was a hit!
Auntie Ann helped her with cutting the leaves.
Finally it was time to eat. The food was all delicious. I love Thanksgiving food!
We have been trying to get a decent family picture that included Elena. This is always tricky, as the more of us added to the group, the harder it gets. Michael set up a tri-pod so we tried again out in front of my parents house.

Ann, Maria and I were hanging out while he was getting things ready. You really have to be careful what you do when someone has a loaded camera.
I think the final project came out okay.After dinner we hung out. Grace got Grandma and Uncle Danny to read her books. Elena actually seemed to enjoy the book reading as well. It was super cute.I love this picture of Daniel and Grace. Sooo cute!Grace loves the "don't break the ice." Gunnar had never seen it before, so my dad showed him how to play. Who knew that game had such a far reaching age span appeal?
Finally, a family picture before we headed home. I don't know why we always wait until right before we come home when Grace is tired. Oh well, there is always next year.Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful day!

Happy Thanksgiving

In the spirit of thanksgiving, here are some pictures of Grace and Elena in their Happy Thanksgiving shirts.

I am so thankful for what God has done in my life. I hope you all have a wonderful day, surrounded by family, food and fun. Happy Thanksgiving!

Valley Baptist Thanksgiving Outreach

Sunday night we had our first annual bi-lingual Thanksgiving potluck and outreach. Try saying that 10 times fast! It was actually tons of fun and there was lots of food, which is always a winning combination.

Our church has an outreach to the migrant workers in our area. Mostly they are from Guatemala, although some are Mexican. They are hardworking guys, who you could tell, really appreciated the yummy meal.

The whole service was in both Spanish and English. When Gunnar spoke, Alberto (the leader of the Hispanic ministry) translated for him. Our good friend Marcus Preciado did the music. We go way back with Marcus (he did the music at our wedding) and we love him and his family so much! It is always a joy to see them. My family also came up, as my dad was the featured special speaker. He spoke in both English and Spanish, which is extremely difficult to do, but he pulled off very well.

Anyways, pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

Gunnar and Alberto give the instructions on the food

Marcus leading in worship

Grace with Marcus's daughters Macey and Kayla

Kayla wrote Grace this adorable note...how cute is that??

Grace wrote her back. Apparently it said "Grace love Kayla" unfortunately, Grace's handwriting is still not very legible. Maria enjoyed the party favors

Grace, on the other hand, went straight for the table decorations

A kiss for GrampyGunnar with some of the guys from the Hispanic group. They were super cute and all wanted to get their picture taken with him. What can I say? I married a super star. :)
I love my sister!

The sisters with Daniel
Happy family! How adorable is Grace's smile?

I can't figure out which of these last three pictures is my favorites, I love them all so much! I love the interaction between Maria and Grace. They both can always bring a smile to my face.

A visit from Elena and company

My family came up last week to see us, and to go to the hymn sing at our church. Which, by the way, was loads of fun. I always enjoy their company, and Grace, as always was beside herself with excitement. The only thing better than Grampy and Grammy coming up, is of course, Grampy, Grammy, Tia, Uncle Danny, Uncle Mike, Auntie Ann, and Baby Elena coming up. Good times, good times.

When they got here, both Elena and Grace were sleeping. How cute are those girls?Grampy (also known as Grandpa Pa or my dad) helped Grace look over the fence. She thought it was fun.

Elena just gets cuter and cuter. She is the happiest baby and will sit there and smile and smile. She is super mellow and goes with the flow (just like her mommy). She is such a joy to be around. She even let us put her in Grace's baby's stroller. Times like this are when it is the downside to being the baby of the family.

Belated Birthday Cupcakes

I was supposed to make Gunnar cupcakes for his birthday. But then the people from church surprised him with donuts. And who wants to eat donuts and cupcakes in the same day? Not me. So I didn't end up making cupcakes.

My memory isn't that great when it comes to things like that, plus I am not really into desserts. Gunnar on the other hand has the memory of an elephant (that is good, right?) and enjoys desserts. Plus, I think he secretly enjoys guilting me into thing. So after a particularly painful guilt trip Saturday I went ahead and made Gunnar cupcakes.

So I am proclaiming it loudly, here on my blog, so there is no doubt. I made Gunnar cupcakes for his birthday. And I was only two months late.

Parmasan Cheese Face

She takes her parmasan cheese seriously. It makes her mother proud.

Working with daddy

Grace loves going to work with Gunnar. The other night she was already in her PJ's but tagged along anyways as he wasn't going to be too long.

They are so cute.

Carrot Soup

Grace and I love going to the library. We get to find good books to read, and if we are lucky we even get to see our friend Katie who works there. We usually go once a week and load up on books. This week Grace picked out a book that she wanted. I did a quick scan to make sure it didn't contain anything objectionable (you would be surprised) and we brought it home.

The book is called "Carrot Soup" by John Segal. It's a cute story about a rabbit who plants and grows carrots only to have his friends harvest them and surprise him by making carrot soup for him. Grace seems to really enjoy it, after all, it contains many of her favorite story elements: animals, friends, balloons, yelling surprise, party hats, not to mention deception and going behind people's backs.

Last night I noticed that in the back of the book, there is a recipe for carrot soup. I have been taking day to relax today, so after reading the book this morning, Grace and I decided to make carrot soup. We grated a lb. of carrots and then boiled them with celery and onions. After putting the whole thing in the blender, it was like a orange tomato soup. I thought it was delicious and Grace even asked for seconds. She has been rather picky about her vegetable consumption lately, so this was a moment for rejoicing indeed.All in all, I find that keeping Grace "helping" me, keeps her entertained and happy, the house cleaner, and in this case results in a tasty lunch. What can I say, I love being a Mom! :)

Veterans Day

Yesterday we spent the morning at the Valley Center Cemetery Veterans day ceremony. We went last year as well, as Gunnar is a member of the Valley Center Cemetery board.

I would have to say this year was way more fun than last year. For a couple reasons. First of all, unlike last year, Grace didn't have a cast on her arm. Although a surprising number of people remembered and asked how her arm was doing. (It is doing great, by the way)

Also this year was much better than last year in that the featured Veteran speaker was a good friend of the families. His son and wife are good friends of Grace and I so we were all excited to see our friends. They, along with Gunnar's dad, came over for lunch, which was a treat. Living out here in the boon docks, I have come to greatly appreciate when people make the drive all the way out here.

Here are a couple pictures from the ceremony yesterday.

Reverend Hanson's invocation

Grace loves her buddy WillHanson generations