Monterey, 4/7-4/8, 2009

We left home for Salinas at about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7th, trying a route we hadn't used before. This route was recommended to us by the lady with the Australian accent from Erin Clarkson's GPS. Who knew your Garmin could talk like you do? (Erin's actually a Kiwi, but close enough.) It was a full Suburban with Erin and Blake, Diana and Luke and Peter, Emily and I, but what a great group! We made it time for a 1:00 lunch at the Steinbeck house. It was as charming as ever and not at all busy, making us less embarrassed about our brood who ordered pizza from the kid's menu. From there, we dropped off the car at the Victorian Inn in Monterey and caught the afternoon sea otter feeding at the Aquarium. It was great to have two days to see the exhibits. We fit in a lot that day, then returned to the hotel for their "wine and cheese" afternoon snack. Diana and Luke stayed at the hotel while we strolled Fisherman's Wharf. Every restaurant offers samples, and our taste buds got a little confused, but we finally picked clam chowder and calamari from Gilbert's to take back and share. There was a Longs Drug a block from the hotel, so we walked there to buy a half gallon of ice cream for dessert. The hotel had a hot tub for the kids to jump in--a perfect end to our day.
On Wednesday, after a nice little breakfast at the hotel, I thought I was a smarty pants and got us to the Aquarium for the member's early entrance time. Well, I didn't read my member's newsletter carefully enough, shame on me! I had us there at the weekend entrance time of 9:00 instead of the weekday time of 9:30! The docents at the Aquarium were not happy to see us and marched us right back outside. My tour group was very patient with me; we used the extra time to read historical kiosks and take photos. Luke kept turning to look out to the bay when we were trying to get group shots! My favorite exhibit that day was definitley the sea horses. We took in everything--the penguins, the outer bay, the kelp forest, the jellyfish. We tried to spot whales with binoculars out the viewing window, but no luck. There was even a baby area where Luke could lay on a water bed and touch different textures. The other kids loved reaching to touch the bat ray. At lunchtime, we grabbed some goodies from the nearby Nestle's shop and sandwiches from Subway, heading for Dennis the Menace park. The kids played hide and go seek. Our last stop was the beach at Seaside where the kids splashed in an estuary (which a local told us wasn't very clean, so they hopped right back out!) and Emmy and I flew our kite (which nearly bopped Erin on the head several times!) The best news: rain had been predicted during the time we'd be there and we got clear weather instead! I was grateful for our terrific trip.

Spring Break

I hope to blog a lot during the time the kids are out of school. We will do some chores, but I hope to have lots of fun. When I was visiting teaching Thursday, Julie Raybould mentioned it was going to snow in the Sierras. Emily had recently missed a friend's birthday snow trip because it was on a Sunday, and I knew she wanted to go. We had an exhausting Friday evening (Emmy: swim practice; Peter: baseball in the cold wind and a basketball game--won one, lost one), but we jumped up Saturday morning, grabbed our sleds and headed to Yuba Gap snow park with friends Blake and Megan, whose birthday we'd missed. Megan is a Star Wars fan so we watched "Thumb Wars" on the drive and gifted her a Lego Tie Fighter ship, or whatever you call the one Darth Vader escapes in at the end of Edisode IV. Peter surprised and confounded me by arriving at the snow park without his snow boots and gloves. Fortunately, the park store had supplies. Peter will work off the cost of the unbudgeted expense this week! I built the little snow dude myself--he was supposed to be a guard for the snow forts the kids built for their snow ball fight--forgot to take pictures of the forts!

Sunday was a wonderful opportunity to watch General Conference. I watched most of the morning session on my own and was particularly touched by Elder Holland's talk regarding the lonely nature of Christ's sacrifice for us. He reminded us not to betray the Savior in our behavior, as Judas did, or deny him through our actions, as Peter did. The afternoon session was viewed with the family, including the Christensen clan. Emily and I used the Conference Notebooks I had prepared to take notes. Peter had a super hard time settling down/being quite. Diana played with Luke, who is starting to scoot, on the floor and Mac was once again very well behaved. I just love Mac and enjoy watching him be a dad. Anytime I ask him to do anything to help around the house, he's so sweet to pitch in. He and Diana were kind enough to finish up our winter puzzle (two pieces missing, one chewed up by Lucy.)

Marching On!

Much of the month of March was devoted to preparation for Emily’s play and Peter’s baseball season. Both began last weekend! We run kid’s activities concurrently! I will tell all about how I do it in this blog!
Wednesday evening (3/25) was a perfect example. I fed the kids an early dinner of leftover Shepherd’s Pie, which I thought was delicious and they thought was yucky. I then dropped Peter off to baseball practice, then drove crosstown to get Emily to her Seussical rehearsal, making a brief stop to purchase tickets for several friends, then back across town to pick Peter up from baseball, then Peter went on to Boy Scouts. The dogs came along in the car for the evening so they wouldn’t be lonely. During the Scout meeting, I walked them at the nearby park until Peter was done. From there, it was to the airport to pick up Kevin--hooray!--then back to get Emily from rehearsal. Because they had eaten their less than favorite dinner, I treated everyone to a burger from In-N-Out. Everyone was happy and full for bedtime.
Kevin has been a big help while home. Although he has homework to keep up with, he still finds time to do dishes, run errands and be the “techoguru”.
On Saturday, I sent Marv off early to a volunteer shift for thebaseball league in the kitchen, then the family came to the Opening Day Pancake Breakfast. I tried my hand at scorekeeping at Peter’s first game. Baseball is hard for me to pay attention to so scorekeeping is a great way for me to maintain my concentration. However, with the sun glaring and music blaring from loud speakers, this was the beginning of the migraine that kept me company the rest of the day. Peter hit the ball, stole bases and played catcher (he said his knees don’t even bother him.) He is quite a performer himself. From there, I dashed to work backstage at the afternoon matinee. The Seussical show has gone well and Emmy, as the Young Kangaroo, is the best part of it to me! She is maturing and learning so much with each role. The Theatre Alive group is extremely comfortable to work with. Having prepared a picnic in advance, the family brought it to the theater and we noshed together before watching Emmy’s evening show. Diana, Mac and Luke were sweethearts to spend a big portion of their day with us.
I can’t help but feel as though we’ve all accomplished quite a bit this month. Although it’s not perfect, the house is standing and layers of dirt and dust are being removed at regular intervals, the schoolwork keeps getting done, Marv juggles his job while searching for a better one, and I do my best at work, working my regular shifts and subbing for an injured friend, the school volunteer assignments--how many art docent lessons have I given this month? And Primary--did I mention I conducted and gave a sharing time lesson last Sunday? Wait a minute--I get it! I am not alone in my efforts. My family helps me. The Lord blesses me tremendously with health and strength.
Here are some other things I feel good about. I took charge of the director's gift for Seussical's closing night. Dana, the director, had admired a fuzzy blue and green scarf my friend Tami had given my for my birthday. Well, just say "knitting" and Diana springs into action. She and I practically dueled to see who could knit scarves for each of the directors faster and Tami stood by to coach us. I ended up finding wonderful pincushion flowers and spiky mums--very Suess looking--to present at the curtain and lots of other gifts and goodies from the families of the cast presented in big gift baskets.
I tried to make sure Marv was honored for his birthday. We all took him to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory 3/31 as he was out of town on the actual date (4/1). We gave him a cute card Emmy had picked out, a Blue Ray player with his favorite Disney movie, Pinnochio, to go along with it. For a better report, you should really see Diana's blog!

Cuter Than She Smells

Although I don't really have to celebrate every holiday ever invented, I have been enjoying Read Across America week at the kid's schools. I'm sure Seuss himself would've enjoyed our kick off assemblies, held at Maidu and Excelsior schools Friday, Feb. 27th. With much hoopla, Ryan Jones, Peter's scout leader and a lawyer, attended wearing judicial robes to swear everyone in as Life-long Readers. He was fantastic--I couldn't have done a better job at casting. Speaking of casting, the cast of Emily's production of Sessical was off-the-charts energetic and captivated the kids and teachers with their performance of three numbers from the show. This week, some of the older cast members returned to Excelsior as TNT (Take Note Troupe) presenters and performed poetry, Shakespeare and shared their favorite books with students during their library visit time. My partner Beth Thomas and I have been very grateful for all the support we've received and gratified to receive kudos for the event from the students, teachers, principal and librarian (who got into the spirit by dressing as the Cat in the Hat during the week!)
Sat., Feb. 28th was Peter's basketball playoff. He executed a very disciplined game with no mistakes that I'm aware of. Marv, with help from co-coaches Rob and Mark, did an amazing job preparing these boys and their overall improvement over the course of the season was clear. The other team had a few more points on the board when the buzzer sounded, but nobody went away feeling unhappy. Our boys and parents showed a lot of appreciation for Marv, which he deserves. Dashing from Peter's basketball game to the site for her Girl Scout troop's cookie sales, Emmy was asked to give information to a interested customer. She said, "They are really delicious and I can eat as many as I want and I never get fat." The belly on this customer suggested he might not be able to get away the same thing, but Emmy made the sale nonetheless.
After being so busy with extracurricular activities, I knew I needed to get more done around the house this week, but where to begin? I kept procrastinating, using the kids' half day schedule at school as an excuse. One day, Emmy and I painted our nails and I coerced her and her friend Jordyn to make a leprechaun craft. Another day we had a blast going out shopping with Diana--please visit Diana's blog for details! Peter and Marv played hooky one day skiing on the slopes at Sugar Bowl. Over the course of the week, my piled high desk did get a few inches shorter, but I credit Diana who came Friday for help with serious cleaning. Definitely tidier this week: the dogs. I usually keep up on their bathing and brushing, but it was overdue. Peter was having a hard time being around Lucy--"She's cuter than she smells!" was the comment that pushed me to action. Armed with coupons from Petco, Merlin got to leave hair on someone else's floor for a change and Lucy, her first away from home grooming, received a special lucky charm tag for her collar.

When We're Helping We're Happy

This morning Peter, Emmy and I drove through the drizzle to attend a stake conference broadcast with Mac, Diana and Luke. It was a regional broadcast, so I thought we'd enjoy sitting together as a family even though they are in a different stake. The messages were inspiring. I especially enjoyed Elder Wickman's about finding Zion in California and Elder Merrill's on teaching by the spirit. Luke was so well behaved! Diana got him to sleep early in the meeting. Peter and Emmy were quiet, only up once for a drink of water during the rest hymn and Mac hardly fidgeted at all! Even Mac and Diana's neighbors, Josh, Holly and baby Abby who sat on our row were reverent! Wow!
Rehearsals continue for Emmy's production of Seussical while I'm busy preparing for two school assemblies that will feature excerpt from the show. This is to promote the national Read Across America program. The schools commemorate Dr. Seuss' birthday and encourage the joy of reading by bringing guests in to read and perform for the students. Our theme is: "Readers Help Here There and Everywhere", as all of the guests coming are involved in community service.
In other news, I gave an Art Docent lesson Friday in Emmy's class--it's my twelfth year to serve with this program in one or more of the kid's classrooms. Speaking of volunteerism, Marv is now in his seventh year coaching Peter in basketball. I would have to give some serious thought to how many years he has coached in one sport or another. He was about ready to hang up his sneakers due to his team's lackluster season, but the boys took the floor with a passion Friday night and blew the other team away. Peter played an amazing game, but was sorry to bump heads with a boy from the other team who got the worst of it. Peter was very sportsman-like and patted his shoulder until he felt better. The victory puts them in position to play for the championship next Saturday morning.

I Heart Valentine's Day

I appreciate holidays, not only for the fun they bring, but for the deeper meanings they are associated with. You cannot go wrong with a holiday that is all about love. A lot of people enjoy that stretch when Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's follow one after another, but for me, the special days that come next--my birthday and Valentine's Day, give me something to look forward to during the gray months of the year.
This year some of my Valentine traditions were repeated, however, I neglected some of my favorites. I'll just have to pick them up next time! In years past, I've given a special "Love One Another" Family Home Evening and gifted each person a book to foster love of reading. This year, I did give out cards and we watched the best movie ever about "twue wove", The Princess Bride. My dad, Jim Page, was not much of a holiday celebrator, but he did consistently bring my mom and I a small box of chocolates every Valentine's Day. Sometimes it was the little Whitman's box, sometimes it was heart shaped. I've not forgotten how special it made me feel. Incidentally, Daddy passed away this time of year on Feb. 10, 1983, so I'm thinking of him. Here are my mom and dad pictured just before my birth in 1961.
I also snagged Marv for a quick dinner for two after his Friday the 13th basketball game with Peter's team. We don't get out very often just the two of us. I'm glad we did it.
Earlier that week, I was able to fly Bryan home for a two day visit the 11th and 12th. It's always a treat to have him around. He pitched in to help with a lot of the neglected home maintenance issues. On his last night home, Diana and Mac joined us for dinner with our long-time friend Jenessa Evans. Bryan and Diana are close in age to Jenessa and carpooled to seminary with her throughout high school--now there's a bonding experience! She has been our neighbor since we moved here in 1994! She just returned from her mission in Milan, Italy and it was great to catch up with her.

Birthday--Special Extended Edition

Since my birthday, I've had many opportunities to continue celebrating. I have been taken to lunch or breakfast by friends Judy Rounds, Monica Rose and Juleen Clift. I was surprised and touched by the arrival of the hard-to-find DVD collection of the Canadian television show "Wind At My Back" from my boys. The Saturday after my birthday, Diana prepared a wonderful pizza fondue dinner and gave me a family photo calendar she made with pictures corresponding to each person's birthday or pictures appropriate to that month's celebration. For example, February has shots of each of the couples in the family--so cute!
One of the most serendipitous birthday celebrations occurred February 5th. Emmy was asked to audition for a non-union movie about a little girl who scares her sister to death (literally) with a doll, so she and I traveled to Southern California. I was skeptical about the quality of the script, but her acting teacher Tina Cole put a positive spin on it, pointing out that it was "classic" material. I jumped on the band wagon, pointing out that just like there are fairy tales, this was a scary tale! Kevin emailed his two cents, advising that Emmy's talent and enthusiasm could outshine the script. Off we went early Thursday morning (2/5) to Southern Cal for a stormy, slightly scary drive. Arriving in the nick of time in the area of the Hollywood Bowl, she did well, but was not cast. From there, we braved traffic on to Anaheim to spend the evening with Kevin and Jackie. Here are the photos from our visit to Jackie's delightful place of employ, Olivia's Dollhouse.






Olivia's is a tea party center, the normal guest age is 3-9, but Jackie has served at some unusual events there, too, like bachlorett parties! Jackie decided to treat us to a tour and honor my birthday. We visited the fabulous dress-up room full of costumes. Jackie typically dresses as Cinderella or Tinkerbell when she hosts parties, but had her stylist's apron on ready to give us up-do's. We saw the gigantic heart shaped table in the garden-like dining room where the girls have tea. There was room after room of collectable porcelain dolls. I kept thinking of the doll horror movie role Emmy had just read for and couldn't help finding irony.
The following day (2/6), we went along with Kevin to a scan and biopsy. The previous week, his car engine had completely gone out on him on the way to an initial scan. I'm not sure he would've told me that he'd found a lump if his car hadn't of broken down. I was grateful the doctors got him right in. I've also felt very blessed that both Jackie and Nathan Mills who's living in Long Beach have been able to help him with transportation. Nathan spent the day with us Friday. He's so nice to Emmy. I really enjoy his company.
So far, his scans have been suspicious. The pathology on the biopsy is abnormal but the doctor said it does not look like a recurrence of lymphoma. We are waiting to hear the results on more scans he will be having this week. Meantime, he was able to sell his old car for scrap metal and bought a used Acura CL that was within his budget. He was able to pay for it himself with money earned working at Time Warner/AOL. Kevin is an amazing young man!