Three Generations Having Fun Together

The dust has settled once again after a week of company. Our daughter and family came from Michigan to spend a week of their vacation with us which is a real treat since we get to seem them once or twice (if we're lucky) a year. The days flew by but we have had a great time. Friday, the night before they took off early (their plane took off from Fresno at 6:30 in the morning which meant we were up at 4 to say goodbye) we had dinner up at Jen's and took some group pictures to remember the visit. Just thought I'd share . . .

"Aunt Patty and Uncle Harold" with our daughter Sandra, son-in-law Mike, and the boys— Riley and Thomas

Ken and I with our daughters Sandra and Jennifer

Both "sisters" and "good friends"

We feel quite blessed with five awesome grandkids and it's always fun to watch them enjoy each other when we're all together!

Life is good!

Chickens Like to Party

A beautiful day was spent poolside at Simply Country Farm using the time to visit with family from Michigan and my sister and husband who came over the mountain from Big Pine. The kids were swimming and we were sitting on the patio chatting and having a fun time catching up on each others' lives when I noticed from the corner of my eye a chicken had flown over the fence and starting coming down the hill to join the party.

At first it was just one chicken, then one by one the whole flock ended up down on the patio where we were sitting.

One of the Buff Orpingtons was quite friendly and actually hopped up onto Sandra's lap which made her jump which frightened the chicken. She (the hen) then flew from Sandra's lap onto Ken's shoulder which made us all crack up at the surprised expression on his face. Karah came to his rescue.

Karah has a calming affect on most animals, chickens included.

Life is good!

Three-Generation Pedicure

Today was spent with "just the girls." We went shopping and to lunch at Oka's, a nice Japanese restaurant in Oakhurst. Then Sandra thought it would be fun to take her mom, sister, and niece out for a pedicure which was a whole bunch of fun and quite a pampering treat. What a great time it was to spend a day with my sweet daughters and granddaughter . . . a real memory-maker day! Sunday I had to take a picture to document the occasion.

"Painted Toes"

Life is good!

A Day on Bass Lake

This week has been a blast with our whole family together. Monday we had the pleasure of renting a 23' pontoon boat. There were 12 of us all together—seven adults and our five grandkids which include one girl and four boys. Having raised two daughters and being raised myself with three sisters and one brother, I keep finding myself amazed at the energy level of boys in general, at least in our grandsons . . . they just keep going and going and going. And I love watching them have so darn much fun!

Bass Lake is just a half hour drive north of us.

I found a comfortable seat in the stern of the boat and my job was to hold the flag up letting fellow boaters there's a swimmer in the water nearby.

Sister Jackie and brother-in-law Rick found a spot right next to me . . . and this was their expression most of the day when the kids were on the "tube" showing off as only they can do.

Christian (standing) with his cousin Thomas trying out the tube.

Here's Jared striking a pose.

Thomas, Christian, and Jared.

Halfway through the afternoon we were given a boat with a more powerful engine, 135hp vs 75hp, which the kids loved!

Aunt Jackie is so young for a 62-year-old . . . look at her here with all four boys.

My son-in-law, Mike, was the captain for the day and gave Jared a lesson in driving, which he took very seriously and did a great job.

Karah spent most of the afternoon on a comfy seat at the bow of the boat reading a good book and enjoying the sunshine. . .

. . . until Aunt Jackie suggested she jump in the lake to cool off!

A great way for Ken and I to spend time with our whole family . . . sister, brother-in-law, son-in-law, daughters and grandkids . . . couldn't be better.

Life is good!

Seven Weeks Hence . . .

The baby goats, born seven weeks ago, are growing by leaps and bounds up at Simply Country Farm. A new home was found for a couple of them and the others will be added to their dairy goat herd. Two of them were neglected by their mama and have been lovingly hand fed by Jen and Karah.

Earlier this week Aunt Jackie came for a visit and enjoyed helping with the evening meal . . .

to the ever-so-anxious "Guinevere" . . .

with farm dog Murray hoping for a few drops to come his way (eventually he won by Jackie allowing him the last few drops from the bottle).

Life is good!

Fathers Day At It's Finest

Fathers Day has always been a time to honor our dads, and this year was no different. Only this year our Michigan daughter and her family came to California for a week vacation and they landed on Saturday . . . just in time to celebrate Fathers Day. On Saturday night it was announced that breakfast on Sunday would be prepared by our daughter, Sandra, and grandsons Riley and Thomas.

We always look forward to a visit from Mike and Sandra.

When I woke up Sunday morning things were already happening in the kitchen.

Riley and Thomas were busy at work in the kitchen. It was wonderful to watch them working together.

Here Thomas is preparing the tortillas.

Checking to see if the tortillas were warm and the cheese has melted.

In addition to making the green chile sauce, Riley's job was to cook some mighty tasty fried eggs.

Fried egg is placed on top of the stack of cheese and green chili sauced tortillas.

Beautiful Fathers Day breakfast.

Here is one happy "Papa" . . . Happy Fathers Day Ken, Mike, and Paul.

Life is good!

Another Pride-Filled Evening . . .

O'Neals Digital Middle School celebrated its 8th grade graduation tonight. Our grandson, Jared, was one of the 29 students in the graduating class. We felt nothing but love and pride for his accomplishments. This is his first year in public school since the family moved here five years ago. Our daughter has home-schooled all three of the kids until Karah entered high school as a sophomore two years ago, Jared entered middle school starting with this year in eighth grade, and Christian will start 6th grade here next year.

Jared has become a nice, kind, and smart young man with a good heart and a personality that shines and makes you smile! We couldn't be more proud to be his Grammy and Papa.

2012 class of 29 students - Jared is on the top row (circled in red).

He looks pretty happy marching in with his 8th grade friends.

I am so grateful that Christian agreed to be my assistant photographer tonight. Using the second camera he was able to get some good shots as he could see much better from where he was sitting. Thanks Christian, you did a great job!

Before receiving his diploma Jared was honored by receiving several awards: one of them being the American Legion Award, and another for getting straight A's

Congratulations Jared . . . best of luck and have fun in high school!

When we arrived at the school we couldn't help but notice this super-stretched limo parked outside . . .

 

The driver was quite friendly and invited me to check out the inside and take this picture . . . this baby will hold about 20 eighth graders and 14 adults. Jared, after the ceremony, climbed in with a bunch of his buddies who were invited to a party hosted by one of their fellow graduates. Being the fun-loving and sociable kid he is, I'll just assume Jared had a great time!

Life is good!

"Take me out to the ball game!"

We've watched Christian play on a new team this year in Oakhurst's league playing most often as the Giant's first baseman.Today the Giants played the Yankees and I remembered to bring my camera. The team played well, both offensive and defensive, leaving the game with a winning score 9-2.

This is his "baseball ready" stance . . . keeping an eye on the pitched ball and the batter.

He catches the ball with his foot on the base 90% of the time.

Today was a good day, he hit the ball and got on base each time at bat. I'm glad the ball can be seen (with the help of the red pointer finger) as it soars over the head of the second baseman!

It's such fun to watch Christian improve each year. He's becoming quite a good ball player and a good member of his team. Now a few weeks rest before football season starts!

Life is good!