Veterans Day

Last week we spent Veterans day at the cemetery. This was our third year at the annual Valley Center Cemetery Veterans day ceremony. You can see the post from the last two years here (2007) and here (2008). Gunnar is on the board and gets to line up the speaker every year. Plus he is the obvious choice for invocation and benediction, so he gets to do those too.The speaker was a retired Marine from our church, who also happens to be an Escondido police officer and SWAT team member. He also happens to be the owner of the blueberry bushes that we visited this spring. Oh, and it was his wedding that Grace was the flower girl in. All that to say, he was the speaker, he did a great job, and aren't you impressed with my linking to previous blogs skills?
As I have mentioned in the previous post, I enjoy walking around the cemetery and reading the head stones. This year, Grace was able to participate a bit more so
that was fun. She was able to recognize her name on a headstone and everything. Oh, and she wondered if there was a horse buried under this one, because there was a picture of a horse on it.
I love this one.
And here is our traditional picture with Grandpa Dick:
And a family picture. Even though our outfits were perfectly appropriate and matching for the occasion, apparently, once you have more than three people in your family, it is impossible for everyone to look good at the same time.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hanson

So last week was Gunnar's dad's birthday. He turned the big 7-5, which I hear is an exciting one. For his birthday we didn't really do anything, becuase: a) He was jet setting across the country, and b) I was sick and had been sick for like a week and a half. Due to being sick, I didn't even have Grace make him a video or post something on my blog (like I did last year) or something like that which I would normally do.

So, better late than never, right? Here is the birthday post I am sure he will love.

Dick, I took these pictures of Linus and am posting them here on my blog in honor of your birthday. Hopefully they bring a smile to your face. :)

Although I am sure Dick understands the significance of this gesture of peace and good will, for the rest of you following along at home, this is a big deal for a couple different reasons.

Dick LOVES Linus and was very sad to give him up. I on the other hand have not been much of a Linus fan for the last 8+ years that I have known him. So it was ironic that Linus came to live with us.

Dick also enjoys teasing me. And unfortunately, I have been known to be a little sassy at times. So the "Linus-is-or-is-not-the-best-dog-to-walk-the-face-of-the-earth" discussion has been going on for months, if not years between us.

Also, I haven't really posted pictures, or taken pictures for that matter, of the little (or actually not so little) bugger. Since living at my house he has brought out the worst in me by barking for no apparent reason, and so I haven't been compelled to take pictures of him. Besides that, I have been sick, incredibly pregnant, tired, sleep deprived and busy the last couple months and it really hasn't been high on my priority list.

BUT, for your birthday, Dick, here it goes. For your viewing enjoyment. Linus in all his glory. Actually, this might even be better than real life, becuase you can't smell his breath or get hair and droll on your clothes. :)


I thought that he would be even cuter with Grace standing next to him. And I was correct.

Happy Birthday, Dick! We all love you!
I hope you have a great year!

Christmas Eve Part 1

We had so much fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas that I think I will break down and do a series of post. I think it should be easier to follow that way.

Christmas Eve was a busy day that started out with a visit from Grandpa Dick. He brought Grace a present, some sticker books, that are super cool and she loves. Thanks, Grandpa Dick!

For me he brought the Christmas cheer of seeing his stinky dog Linus. I say this sarcastically as Linus and I are not very close. Some would say we have a love-hate relationship. He does most of the loving, and I do most of the hating. Tess, (our dog, who I affectionately call the "cold blooded killer") on the other hand, really enjoyed meeting Linus. Ironically, he made her look rather dainty, and that is hard to do.

Here are the men and their dogs in the back yard. I really like how the rain has brought out our "seasonal grass" (ie weeds), it really makes the back yard very pretty.
Aside from the snowflakes on Grace's shirt, this picture really isn't very Christmasy, but it sure is cute. :)

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!

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

Happy Belated Birthday, Dick!

I first must apologize, because I totally forgot it was my father-in-law's birthday yesterday. I made the critical error of flipping my wall calendar over a few days too soon.

This picture of Gunnar as a baby illustrates my feeling exactly when I realized what I had done.

Anyways, I would like to take this time to official wish Dick a happy birthday. From the first time I met him, he kindly accepted me in as part of the family. He has also always been very generous to us, which I really appreciate, especially his helping out with Gunnar's schooling.Of course, we have had our disagreements, like whether or not labs are the best dogs ever, if blonds really do have more fun, if little planes are fun to fly in or not, or what kind of jokes are appropriate to tell a lady (such as myself) . All in all though, I really do love and appreciate him.

I really appreciate his laid back manor. I am thankful for all the financial savvy that he has passed on to Gunnar, and his helpful advice on our investments and such. I really appreciate that he didn't get upset with me when I scraped the side of his BMW trying to pull into my garage. I also appreciate his patience in answering all my questions about what the world was like back in the "old days". Oh, and I really also appreciate all the times he has taken me to Chinese food. I really like Chinese food. :)

I also must say I am thankful in advance for him taking me to the presidential inauguration (if McCain wins and if he gets invited). On a side note, don't forget to vote for McCain.

Without a doubt, I would have to say the thing I appreciate most about Dick, is his wonderful son. Gunnar is a great guy, and he would not be who he is today without his dad.

Dick, I hope you had a nice birthday yesterday. Sorry I am a day late on the blogging. :)

Happy birthday!

Christmas eve

I love holidays. Wether they are relaxed and lazy days or if they are full of people and fun and excitement, I love them either way. I think we were blessed to have one of each kind this year. Christmas eve was a day packed with people, good food, and Christmas-y things like carols and presents.

My parents and Daniel and Maria were heading up to see my Grandma we had our Christmas dinner earlier than usual. Gunnar's dad and his friend Ann came up. This is our third year of doing Christmas eve dinner at our house and I always have a wonderful time. We had green beans, twice baked potatoes, ham, salad and rolls. It was all delicious, if I do say so myself. :)

Grace was super excited to wear a "party dress". My mom had told her she was bringing her two presents so she ran around the house all morning saying "ta, two presents" over and over again. I guess the whole Christmas greed thing kicks in at a young age. She also learned to say "merry Christmas" and "baby Jesus" both of which I found to be quite cute.

After lunch we opened presents. Grace got a back pack full of plastic animals and stroller for her baby dolls. The stroller said on the box "some assembly required" which in actuality meant "for your sake I hope you either have a degree in engineering or are related to MacGyver because if not you are in for it". Thankfully Maria and Gunnar were able to figure it out. Grace LOVES it. And by LOVES it, I mean she woke up at 4 am wanting to play with it and pretty much keeps it within arm reach of her all day long.

Ann taught Grace how to sing "ba ba black sheep" which she was waiting for her stroller to be assembled. When Grace sings it, there is a lot of waving of her plastic sheep while yelling ba ba ba.

Gunnar scored some socks with moose on them. What else could a guy want?

After opening presents we headed over to the house we are in the process of buying so we could show it to Gunnar's dad, who hadn't seen it yet.

Our family left around 3:30 which gave us a little down time before we headed back to church around 5:30 to get everything ready for the Christmas eve Service.

We were so excited and blessed that our friends the Brach-Tani family came up from La Mesa for the service. Grace's friends Lilah and Isabel are both super precious sweet little girls. They were looking particularly cute that night decked out in their holiday wear!

The service included lost of singing Christmas carols and the reading of the Christmas carol.

It was an exhausting day, but packed with so much fun.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to enjoy being with those you love.

Thanks for reading! :)