Just a quick note to say....

Cara has survived her tonsil/adenoid surgery and doing ok. Her throat is very sore, but she seems to have no trouble handling a laptop :-), so I guess she will survive. I didn't bring the camera to the hospital so I couldn't take a picture of her in her cute little blue surgery hat.
God worked out the day in His perfect timing, my parents watched the younger kids, which was such a blessing not to have to drag them from waiting room to waiting room (we were in 3 different waiting rooms), the doctor and staff were very nice, and it's all over. Today we are back to school, and now it's lunch time, so I better go feed the hungry kids. Poor Cara, can you believe she is already sick to death of ice cream and wants some real food? She practically drooled over our stew last night, as she ate her pudding. Soon, Cara, soon.

Time for Another Family Picnic

This time to Tahoe.

To see the salmon.
And just hang out and be a family.(Ya know, Ralph, even if you don't smile, your picture is still goin' on the blog.)
~
Fun memories before a not-so-fun week coming up for Miss Cara, who is getting her tonsils out on Tuesday. But she will survive and God will be with her.
Life is good and God is good!

10 Years Old!

Today we celebrated Joey's 10th birthday. How can that be? Wasn't he just born the other day? And yet, here he is:

Yesterday we went to Petco and got Joey's present, the newest addition to the Houseful of Blessings Zoo, who has had many names, but I don't think it is quite settled yet, so I can't say for sure what his (or her?) name is. But anyway, here it is:
Grandma and Grandpa, Omi, and Uncle Sock and Aunty Lynn came up for the big celebration. What a blessing to have family who cares enough to drive up and celebrate with us. Joey chose lasagne, garlic bread, salad, and Buster Bar Ice Cream Cake, which was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Friday we had a great day too. We took the day off of school and went down and did our annual Christmas Shoebox shopping trip. It takes forever for everyone to pick out just the perfect thing for their boxes. The kids spend their own money on this every year and each make their own box and they look forward to it so much. After that, we spent a lovely afternoon with the H family, where we always have so much fun. I'm pretty sure Cara will post pictures of the afternoon, so I won't.

Saturday also was the big SAT test for Cara, and I'm sure she's glad that's over. Now we gear up for Cara to get her tonsils out on the 20th. Should be fun........NOT. Poor girl. After she recovers from that, she can study up and get her driver's permit. And Ralph can teach her to drive. Not me. :-)

That's all for now. I will try to be a more faithful blogger. No promises though. Life is sure busy in the Houseful of Blessings these days! Ta ta for now.
:-)

Back from Pismo Beach

Once a year, the kids and I, we just hafta go to the ocean. Otherwise, something might happen....I don't know what, but we probably shouldn't find out. :-)

So here are some pictures of our trip.
This picture was taken from the suburban. Ralph just loves to drive on the beach, and you can do that at Pismo. I'm not sure that the doughnuts Ralph did were exactly legal, but we didn't ask and didn't tell.
One day, it was really windy, and so Ralph bribed the kids that if we could leave the beach, he would buy them ice cream at McDonalds. So here is Jackson with old Ronald himself.

At the petting zoo.
On the pier.

Here we have homeschool ingenuity at work. We forgot to bring a ball, so Cara made one with aluminum foil. Worked quite well for their kickball game, too.

Jackson in a dinosaur egg.

Jackson's little "bathtub".
The sunset.We found at least 200 sand dollars. Why we had to bring approximately 198 home with us, I don't really know, but we did. :-)

So we had another fun family vacation. W missed Danny, of course, but I guess college students just have to suffer some. Actually he seemed to enjoy the peace and quiet around here. I don't think he missed us one bit. :-)

Vacations are nice, but it's also good to be home.

Jackson is 4 years old!

How can it be? And yet, here are his 4 fingers to prove it:

He was counting down the days for about a week. "Is it my birthday yet?"
"No, not yet," until finally the day came. After church, we headed down to Grandma and Grandpa's for the big celebration. He had such a fun day. Grandma and Grandpa, Omi, Uncle Scott and Aunt Lynn, Uncle John, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Matt, and cousins TJ and Tony were all there! What fun.

Look at all those presents! He was thoroughly spoiled! Some of the highlights include lots of trucks and a new toy electric guitar. He also got some clothes and new jammies, which he really was excited about, which is kinda funny for a 4 year old boy.
After all that excitement, here he was on the way home.

This morning, he immediately put on one of his new winter outfits from Grandma. Nevermind that it's not winter yet. :-)
"Now I have cammo pants just like the big kids".
What a blessing Jackson is to our family. God is good!