November in Review:

Well, as much as I try to slow it down, time just keeps on ticking away at a remarkable pace! Another month has come to a close. Farewell, November! Here is a look back at the events from the month:

First up, Homecoming. How is it that my little girl is now a sophomore in high school? At least I got to do her hair for, this, her first high school dance. I love playing with those curls!

A pic of the hairdo...

... and her masquerade mask.

Madeline and her friend, Kirsten, outside after the dance.

and a group shot with some of her friends.

Next up: Jared and Grace made public profession of faith and became members in full communion of Christ United Reformed Church on Sunday, November 15th.

Here they are being greeted by the congregation after the service.

Next up... Justin's Birthday. Our youngest son is now 11!!!! See what I mean about the time racing by?! His birthday was on a Friday this year, so the festivities were kind of crammed in with all the normal Friday stuff. But, we had a good time celebrating. We had a special meal of fried raviolis, meatballs, and zucchini with raspberry italian sodas (Justin's choice, of course).

Opening presents...

For dessert, we had homemade black and white cookies instead of cake.

Justin tasting the first cookie! This was the first time making these at home and I assure you it will not be the last! They were wonderful!

The very next morning we were up bright and early for Jared's last soccer game of the season! We are very proud of his team, The Blue Cheese Comets, and all their hard work this season! And we are thrilled to report that they had an undefeated season! Now it is on to Tournament of Champions! Look for the results of their time at TOC in my upcoming December post! GO BLUE CHEESE COMETS!!!!

October Highlights

Here they are:

Jared won the Thinker of the Year award at school, we celebrated with an award ceremony and reception with the other recipients. Here he is receiving his award.

And a close-up. Great work, Jared!

Asian Dynasty Days at School: The fantastic Korean dancers that performed for us.

Jared and Justin binding there Chinese Characters books.

Grace and her friend trying out some Origami.

And, Justin taking part in a reader's theater of an old chinese folk tale.

Jared and Grace are taking part in a Cotillion program this fall. They finished off the first half of the session with a Sock Hop where they got to practice their Swing skills!

And of course, Halloween... Justin dressed up as a Zombie and so we embarked on a little stage make-up fun for the full effect. Here are a few shots of the process.

First, the liquid latex.

Next, toilet paper and more liquid latex for the sagging skin effect and gapping wound.

Then, the make-up.

After a little more blending , we had a great looking zombie!

Jared sported the Michael Jackson look.

Madeline went with a literary character, Katarina from The Taming of the Shrew.

and Grace, along with her friend, Kirsten, were Rock Stars.

And since we were hosting a party, we decided to get in on the fun, as well. I was a tree and Jon was a tree hugger. His idea... pretty cute, huh! (His shirt says, "Unrepentant Tree Hugger")

Well, that is it for October... stay tuned as I am hoping to get around to pics from November while on break this next week!

September Highlights

The girl's birthdays are like bookends to our September each year. We celebrated Madeline's 15th birthday while we were in Catalina for Labor Day weekend. We forgot the candles for the cake, so we improvised with the chicken candle that was in the house we rented...We then enjoyed a delicious cake, chocolate cake with a whipped ganache filling and ganache frosting. Thanks to my wonderful cake baker, Jon, for all his labor on this one! It was all the more challenging because we weren't in our own kitchen.
We enjoyed our first field trip of the year with a visit to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Air and Space Museum. We planned the trip for a Monday so that Madeline could join us. We all had a great time and learned several new things about this remarkable man. Here are the kids with a portable bridge built from simple notched logs. Ideal for troops to carry and assemble while traveling. I had no idea that Da Vinci had created so many military tools! He truly was a Renaissance Man.
And we finished off the month, celebrating Grace's 12th birthday with the traditional sleep over. They had a scavenger hunt, decorated totes, painted nails, and played lots of games. Here are a couple pics of the fun!

showing off their totes...

... and playing the nail painting game

Check back soon for October highlight!

Catching up on blogging... again!

I can't believe I have let myself get so behind on the blogging, again. It has been a busy 4 months! Summer came to a close all too quickly: school is now in full swing, phase 1 of our patio/laundry room/kitchen project is nearly done, and I can't believe that the holidays are right around the corner! Stop the Merry-go-round, I want to get off! Life seems to continue on full steam ahead despite my attempts to slow it down. The kids are a year older, an inch taller, or a bit more independent every time I turn around. So, here is my start on catching up on the blogging!

Father's Day weekend, we enjoyed meeting Jon's cousin, Rebeca's, new twin baby boys! Here are Christian, Rebeca with Blake, and me.

Jon with Vincent, our great nephew, and me with Blake. It was a good baby fix day for this couple of baby-lovers!

We spent a fair amount of time this summer working on a household project. We began the process of screening -in our back patio. We first had to do a lot of repair: replacing several beams and a couple of the supports due to termite damage. Next came the half wall and new cover. The last step is screening and screen doors! I should have the completed pics in the next week or so. My amazing husband finished the screening this past weekend and now we just need to build and hang the screen doors! Then it will be time for phase 2: moving the laundry area out of the kitchen and into the screened in patio.

A picture of the progress!

And a picture of Fezzik, our neighborhood pheasant, walking through our yard.

We celebrated the end of summer with a trip to Catalina with Jon's family. We had a great time with his parents and his brothers and their families. We played in the water, snorkeled, ate, and relaxed. The best part: we walked everywhere! No cars for 3 whole days!

Jared, Grace and Justin with their cousin, Nichole, dripping wet from a spontaneous dip in the water!

At the top of Wrigley Monument. Quite a view from up there!

More to come... soon.

Camping in Yosemite

We just returned from our vacation in Yosemite. What a fantastic trip! We camped with 6 other families from church for a week just outside of the park. The weather was beautiful, the waterfalls were at near peak flows, we enjoyed taking in many of the sites, and can't wait to go back and see some more. It just doesn't get much better than that! And to top it all off, we enjoyed devotions around the campfire each evening followed by great fellowship, some music, a little dancing, a bit of wine (& beer) tasting, and of course, loads of laughter.

Just look at that beauty... what a majestic site. It is humbling to look up at these massive mountains. I think this is part of Cathedral Peaks, but I am not positive.

On Tuesday, we ventured in to the Valley for the first time, stopping at Bridalveil Falls on the way in. Once in the Valley, we headed over to Yosemite Falls. We had so much fun climbing the rocks and enjoying the mist from the Falls.

There were a couple of pools of water that didn't have current running through them. Some of our friends even took a dip in the chilly water.

It is hard to see them, but Jon and the boys along with a couple of their friends are way up next to the falls. They are just to the right of the falls in this picture.

Justin and his friend, Isaac, on the walk back from the Falls

After the Falls, we spent some time in the Museum and Visitor Center. The Half Dome hikers had a little planning pow-wow while looking at the route on the relief map in the Visitor's Center.

I don't have any pictures from the Hike, because my camera didn't go on the trip. Jon, Madeline, and Jared hiked Half Dome on Wednesday with 8 others from our group. 9 made it all the way up. 8 of them even climbing the cables to the peak. It was an impressive accomplishment for all of them! And, an experience they will never forget. The rest of us spent the day pool side at the campground and visiting the Museum in nearby Groveland. Stay tuned for picture...I will post some once I get copies from those who had cameras along on the hike!

The next day was spent in the Valley at Sentinel Beach. This gave the hikers a chance to rest their weary muscles. I can't wait to go back to this spot next time! The water was a bit chilly, but we all had a ton of fun playing in the water, riding the current down the river, and running in the nearby meadow. The kids had a really good time, but the grown -ups sure seemed to be having their share of fun, too.

Testing out the water... It took some getting used to.

They decided it was worth the chill.

Pretty soon, they were all hopping in.

The girls warming up on the beach with a little sun bathing.

My boys, in the water, of course!

Jon and I got in as well, but I don't have a picture. We had a lot of fun floating down stream with the kids. We were supervising and making sure everyone stayed safe, ...or at least that was our excuse for joining in on the fun.

We spent our last day in the valley checking out the Sequoias in Toulumne Grove (one of the smaller of the 3 groves in the park). Here are our kids at the trail head.

Me, taking a closer look at some of the cool roots sticking out of the hillside on our way to the grove.

Much of the group in front of the first sequoia on the trail.

Grace inside the base of one of the giants.

This one formed a tunnel on the path. It was cut sometime in the 1800's.

This fallen log had a tunnel you could crawl through.

Jared crawling out the other side of the log... They were so dirty!

How many kids does it take to circle a giant sequoia? Lots.. there were 11 here, and they could barely reach around this one!

On top of a log that had fallen near the path... If you could climb on it, or crawl through it, they did! They had so much fun exploring everywhere we went.

The Taylor kids along with the Lopez and Brown kids in front of the tunnel log.

and their parents... yes, we are all kissing (aren't we cute)!

another shot of the kids along with the James kids, and Alexander's friend Zach.

When we returned to the cars, we spotted a young bear about 50 ft from our car. It is digging in a fallen log just to the right of the third tree over from our van. Justin spots the bear and takes off running. My response: "Justin Taylor, you stop right now" Let's just say, we all found out how loud I can shout!

Our Friend, Roy got closer than I dared for a picture. I was too busy jumping in the van.

Alexander and Zach playing us some good campfire music on our last evening there!

Until next time, I will be dreaming of waterfall mist on my face and floating down the river... and maybe even climbing Half Dome.