Oh the things I like to eat!

Meeting Santa

Santa arrived in town today at our local outdoor mall. Parker was so excited to go visit Santa, but he wouldn't even sit on his lap, not even for a lollipop. The only way we were going to get a picture was as a family.

See brother, Santa's not so bad....

Or maybe he is a little scary. Just don't look at him and everything will be all right.

Elder Rose is Home!

We are thrilled to have Jeffrey safely home from Argentina. We had a great day picking Jeff up at the airport and going to visit a member of the stake presidency for his release and enjoying dinner at home. We are looking forward to many enjoyable days together.

4 months

Where does time go. Emmy turned 4 months today!

What would you do with the Biggest Pumpkin?

According to Katie:

 

With the biggest pumpkin we could find at Wal-Mart this week I made pumpkin soup, pumpkin cake squares and pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie mix for the freezer--All of which were very tasty. Wish we could have shared some with all of you!

Bathroom Decor

 

 

So I'm getting close to redoing my bathroom decorations for just under $20 using stuff I already had, some clearance towels from Target and a little fabric. I spray painted some picture frames, covered them with fabric and made some flowers to add a little color, and made some curtains. Peter said it is a grandma bathroom because everything matches, but I think it is cute.

Fremont Peak Hike

The view was worth the climb.



Today we took a break from the laboring and went for a hike to Fremont Peak today. The view was nice, but the hike wasn't much. We probably only hiked up the hill about a mile. The trail was pretty well marked until we got to the last stretch and then we had to guess where the trail was. This place is located up above Pioneer Park in San Juan Bautista.

Dad figured out how to use the timer on his camera so we captured a shot of us sitting on top of Fremont Peak.

On a clear day you can see Monterey Bay in the background.

We saw quite a few of these little creatures along the way. The map did say we would see wildlife!

Blessing day

This one is from the other day, but it was too cute not to include.

Football

I didn't realize how big football is in the south until we went to the first game of the season. As we were driving we saw a lot of cars parked way down the road. They must have been a mile or so down the road. When we got to the game the stadium was packed. It was a sold out game- though we met some really nice people that gave us an extra ticket- who would have thought a 2 month old would need a ticket for a football game. Parker wasn't so excited at the beginning. It was NOISY- The loudest place I have ever been. They must really be in to football. Parker did enjoy the fireworks though, everytime our team scored a touchdown they would shoot fireworks off. We only stayed until half time since it was about 9:30 at that point in time, we had fun, but probably won't attempt it again for a while.

They had these cool caboose cars that people must rent out or something. They are equipped with a tv.

And just because she is so cute- Peek a boo.

Traveling Grandparents!

I am so grateful for the past month and a half and the opportunity I have had of bonding with my sweet grandchildren. It was so much fun being with Kristen and Shawn as they welcomed baby Emmaline into the family.

As a bonus I also got to spend a few days with Mike and Diane. Parker and grandma had a lot of fun reading stories, building trains and playing outside while mommy and baby slept.




I was home a week and Kristen called and said they had accepted a job offer and they were moving to South Carolina. So I booked a red eye ticket and flew out to help them with their move. Life was busy but we managed to load the truck, clean their apartment and drive down the coast without any problems. Parker and Emmaline were good little travelers. When we arrived at our destination I watched Parker and Emmaline while Kristen and Shawn looked for a place to live. We were able to mix a little fun into the time we had together. We went to the zoo and to Charleston.





I left Kristen and Shawn's and went to visit Kimberly, Peter and the girls. Hannah, Katie and Madison had fun blowing bubbles, playing outside, and going to Lil' Mr. Biggs. We also went to an amusement park called the North Pole. The girls had a great time riding the rides and enjoying the day with some of their friends.





Grandpa Rose joined me later in the week (which was fabulous). The girls surprised grandpa at the airport with homemade signs and candy. On the way home Grandpa treated us to Chick-fil-a for lunch. Grandma and grandpa were also able to take Hannah and Katie to Lowe's for the their project building day and we made bug boxes. The girls looked so cute wearing their goggles and aprons.


One highlight of our trip was being there for Hannah's first violin performace. She was really nervous but she did great. We are proud of you Hannah! Keep working hard.


We were also there for Hannah's first day of first grade.

Kimberly and Peter treated us to an evening at the Flying W Ranch for a chuckwagon supper and entertainment by the Flying W Wranglers. We all had a delightful time and the girls had so much fun boogying to the music.

An announcer gave directions of how to go through the serving line and he cautioned the parents to not let the children under eight eat too many of the beans or they would wake up as a twelve year old in the morning. When grandpa went back for seconds on the beans Hannah said, "Grandpa you're going to be a hundred tomorrow!

Our place

front yard

backyard

backyard

master bath

master bed