Monday, January 30, 2017

Week 4

Happy Tuesday and welcome back.  Last week was a beautiful weather week with spring like conditions.  It was pretty cold in the mornings, but the afternoons were beautiful, bright, and sunny.  I wish I could say it was a good week for our country too but sadly it was not :0(

Regardless here's a look at how our week went down:


Day 22- Sunday, 1/22/17
Today is my birthday and John made me a nice steak dinner and got me this pretty cake.  Unfortunately before we could celebrate we had to make our way home from the mountains in some stormy conditions which is always nerve wracking and super slow. Then we had to spend a couple hours in urgent care getting Justin's knee looked at.  He hurt it in tennis conditioning Thursday, and I was hoping after a few days rest he'd be fine, but he still can't walk on it today.  The x-rays show no damage to the bones so it's probably a tendon but we'll have to see a specialist to know for sure.  Of course we're still waiting for that appointment.  Until then, crutches and rest for him.





Day 23- Monday, 1/23/17
LOL!  Brandon and I were playing around with the dog today.  If you scratch her just right on the cheek she lifts her lip up really high on that side, and if you scratch on both checks at once you get this face.  Brandon was in stitches laughing so hard and now he has this picture on his phone for when he needs a good smile.





Day 24- Tuesday, 1/24/17
Brandon got this rubix cube for Christmas and has been playing with it non-stop lately.  He and a friend at school play together to try to see who can solve it first.  He's been watching youtube videos and researching online to help train and solve the thing.  At least it keeps him away from the screen for awhile once he's done researching solutions.





Day 25- Wednesday, 1/25/17
It's been a long week gimping around for this kid and it's only half over.  His other leg is now starting to hurt from over use so this afternoon he ices both.  At least he's still smiling. 





Day 26- Thursday, 1/26/17
Thursdays at work are now quality control or QC days in our new lab.  We're testing media plates to make sure they can detect bacterial isolates important for dairy heard health screening.  It's exciting and interesting to be learning new things and working with new organisms, and so far the new lab we set up for this is perfect for what we need to get done.





Day 27- Friday, 1/27/17
TGIF!  Time for popcorn and a movie.  Even Rusty knows the drill.  He's securing his spot on the couch next to where I sit and next to where he knows some popcorn will be.  We watched the new Pete's Dragon with the kids.  I was in 4th grade when I saw the original and just barely remember it.  This on is a little different but still a good movie with much better dragon effects.





Day 28- Saturday, 1/28/17
Super excited and can't wait!  The grandparents are set to watch kids, the passports are renewed, the travel package is booked, and I even got a couple new items for my birthday to take on our trip.  John and I will be traveling to Bora Bora this June for our 25th wedding anniversary.  I can't wait to check French Polynesia off my bucket list!!!  Only 5 more months to go :0)




All done!  See you next week in February.  Wow!  This month flew by.


Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Week 3

Hello and welcome back!  Last week was a super crazy weather week with a lot of windy rain and tons of snow in the mountains.  We weren't sure if we'd be able to make it to Northstar for my birthday weekend trip but we did and had a fantastic time in all that glorious snow.  It's great to see the Sierra mountains looking like the good old days again.

Take a peek at last week to see for yourself-


Day 15- Sunday, 1/15/17
Under our bed is one of Rusty's favorite places to hide and he's also quite fond of chewing on our bed skirt plus any socks John happens to leave lying around.  Crazy cat!





Day 16- Monday, 1/16/17
I'm home with the kids for the Martin Luther King holiday so we celebrated with donuts.  It was also a really nice day for a change so I took advantage of the extra time and sunshine and went for a long walk with Brandon and Bella on the levee just before sunset.  It was interesting to see how high the water levels are after so much rain and knowing there will be more to come.





Day 17- Tuesday, 1/17/17
Back to buisness--work, school, and chores.  This is one of my least favorites things to do.  It's nice to have clean dishes but I really hate having to put them away.





Day 18- Wednesday, 1/18/17
The rain and wind were so insane today.  I'm glad Brandon had a short day at school so I had to leave work early and could get home before the causeway got even worse to drive over.  He got so soaked just walking from his class to my car and while driving home we saw so many fallen trees and broken fences from the wind. Once home safe and sound I helped him dry out and warm up by making hot cocoa to enjoy with his homework. 





Day 19- Thursday, 1/19/17
Must be a slow week.  With all the yucky wet weather and lack of good natural light there isn't much to take pictures of except the cat.  LOL!  These are his favorite toys.  The fish he's had since he was a kitten.  It used to be bigger than him! And the chili pepper is newer but still a go-to toy when he's feeling feisty.





Day 20- Friday, 1/20/17
Time for some real fun.  Despite the nasty weather just after the kids got out of school we headed to the mountains for my annual birthday ski trip.  There were chain controls on the roads and it snowed most the way but we made it there just after dark taking it slow and staying safe.  Thank goodness for four wheel drive.  The amount of snow up here this year is so wonderful and like it used to be every winter before the drought. It's probably been a good 10 years since we've seen snow levels like this and I love it.  It will be a great weekend.




Day 21- Saturday, 1/21/17
Welcome to our winter wonderland.  It's still snowing today but it's mostly light fluffy snow with big flakes that are fun to play in.  Sadly Justin hurt one of his knees Thursday night at tennis conditioning so he's not moving too well, but he did get to play in the snow a bit.  Brandon was my ski buddy for the day and John switched between skiing on the slopes and checking in on Justin.  Just look at how beautiful the trees are heavy with snow.  It's so peaceful and fresh up here.




Wait!  One more-

January's Family Photo







This was on the balcony of our condo just before we had to leave.  The saddest part of our whole trip was missing Tyler who's away at school.  It's the first time since he was born that we've done this trip without him, but he did call and text us a bit to stay in touch so he was here in spirit.




Now that's it!  See you next week and guess what--we
are expecting more rain.  LOL!  Careful what you wish for.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Week 2

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It was so nice to have a 3-day weekend and be able to decompress a bit after being back to the crazy work and school schedules for a couple weeks.  We're slowly getting back to a new normal and also looking forward to an upcoming ski trip.  Let's just hope we can actually make it to the mountains without road closures.  It's been a crazy wet and wild winter for a change.

Here are the pictures from last week:


Day 8- Sunday, 1/8/17
We had a nice big Sunday breakfast today to help send off Tyler right.  He flew back shortly after to UCLA so he can start his second quarter and was eager and ready to get back to his studies.





Day 9- Monday, 1/9/17
Over the weekend Brandon built one of the Lego sets he got for Christmas and had time after to school to play with it a bit.  He's the only one that's still building these days which is kind of sad--almost the end of an era in this house.





Day 10- Tuesday, 1/10/17
Rain, rain, rain!  And in this cold, windy, wet weather Target is the last place I want to be, but we're pretty much out of all the essentials so there is no avoiding it.  It's time to restock and now that Tyler is gone again hopefully things will last longer.  In his absence it was easy to get used to less trips to the store.





Day 11- Wednesday, 1/11/17
It's time for high school finals and Justin is planning to put in some long hours tonight mostly studying for honors chemistry. He's got his tunes and a cup of cocoa in his special night owl mug to help.  Good luck kiddo!





Day 12- Thursday, 1/12/17
There is no more karate on Tuesdays but now we have basketball on Thursdays.  Brandon's team is starting to take shape and may actually be ready for their first game this weekend.





Day 13- Friday, 1/13/17
School just let out for the day so it's officially the start of the weekend and Brandon is eager to jump into building another large Lego set.  He has the long weekend but I'm pretty sure he'll be finished by early tomorrow.  The Star Wars sets never disappoint.





Day 14- Saturday, 1/14/17
Time for a girl's wine trip.  We went to Julietta Winery not far from my house for a tasting and a nice long lunch.  The girls helped Elaine and I celebrate our upcoming January birthdays.  We had a foggy start but eventually the sun came out and made for a nice day.  It was a lot of fun with some good company.  The wine and barrel photo credits go to the winery and thanks to Gene for taking the pictures of our group.




That's it.  January is already flying by.  Thanks for stopping in and hopefully we'll see you next week.


Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Week 1

It's time to start a new year on this blog with a new cover photo and all.  I sure hope 2017 brings us great and wonderful experiences. I know we have a big summer trip planned and some milestones to reach plus some goals to set and achieve.  Are you ready?  We are ready so let's go!

Here are the pictures from our first week in 2017-


Day 1- Sunday, 1/1/17
Happy New Year!  We had a nice relaxing day at home for the first day of the year and ended it with a wonderful feast and a yummy chocolate roll cake.  You can find the recipe for the cake here- http://bellyfull.net/2014/11/25/chocolate-peppermint-roll-cake-recipe/  We skipped the peppermint part since a couple people in our family are not fans, but the cake is fantastic otherwise.





Day 2- Monday, 1/2/17
We were all home for one last day of our winter break today, and it was a rainy day perfect for cozy cat naps.  Then the sun came out in the afternoon and treated us to a beautiful rainbow.





Day 3- Tuesday, 1/3/17
It's back to reality.  John and I went back to work and the younger boys went back to school while Tyler slept another vacation day away ;0)  He's home for one more week before his reality check.  Lucky bum!





Day 4- Wednesday, 1/4/17
Brandon got this new book for Christmas and was happy to discover he can use it as one of his reading counts books in school.  He finished it all in one day too.  Meanwhile the pup waits for him to put the book down so he can play with her and her many toys.  They just aren't as fun without the boy.





Day 5- Thursday, 1/5/17
After some dark, foggy, and rainy days it's nice to see the sun shine again.  I even walked the dog early so I could enjoy the light and the warmth.  Once that sun sets the temps drop considerably and the walks are much less desirable.





Day 6- Friday, 1/6/17
We managed to get Tyler out of the house for one last family activity before leaving.  It was time to attend a Kings basketball game in their brand new Golden One Stadium.  What a nice place! It's very high tech, really open, and has a lot of great food options.  It was a lot easier to get in and out of than I expected too, but the seating is super tight and really steep. I kept getting this weird feeling like I was going to fall. At least the height makes for a good bird's eye view.  Bottom line is we all had a fun night together enjoying a super close game and checking the new place out.





Day 7- Saturday, 1/7/17
Justin is finally done with his service project for the year.  He had 2 other appointments with Janice, his supervisor, to get the paperwork signed and a required picture taken but she kept canceling on him so we were happy it actually happened today.  He's enjoyed his time at the Front Street shelter and is excited to move from the teen group program to actual individual shelter work once he turns 16 in March.




OK--done with week one and that's a pretty good start to the new year I'd say.  As you can see, this year I'll be doing my weeks Sun-Sat because that's how the year started.  Thanks for checking in and I hope to see you back next week.


Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Week 52 part 2

Happy Tuesday and Happy New Year! We are all ready to start a new year here, but first we need to finish up the last week of 2016. The first week of last year was super short with just a few days so I ended up with a 53rd week but I'm calling it "Week 52 part 2".  Our family had a nice relaxing end to the year happily spending it at home together.

Take a look at how our last week in 2016 went down-


Day 361- Monday, 12/26/16
Today I worked on taking down the tree.  Bella's bed is right next to where I was working so the lights piled up next to her as they came off the tree and I couldn't resist adding a hat and snapping a picture.  She's such a good sport or at least willing do anything for a treat.  And then there's what the house looks like as I'm trying to put Christmas away and plan for a ski trip all at the same time. It's a process for sure.





Day 362- Tuesday, 12/27/16
The sun is shining bright but it's still really cold out.  We've had frost most mornings over the holidays.  Brandon helped me walk the dog in the afternoon sun while we still had light.  I can't wait for the longer daylight days to come back.  Once that sun goes down theses walks are even colder and not nearly as fun.





Day 363- Wednesday, 12/28/16
So far this fall and winter season has been great for rain and snow which means we get a quick ski trip over winter break.  We just went up for the day but made the most of it. We had perfect sunny weather with no wind and the snow was really nice and not icy at all.  Perfect conditions make for a perfect day ;0)  We can't wait to go again in a few weeks for my birthday.  More snow please!





Day 364- Thursday, 12/29/16
Justin's been working on some stuff for school today realizing he only has a few days left in his break to get it done.  He likes to work in his bed and with earbuds on playing music to help him "get in a grove."  No worries though because he's also had plenty of time to play.  The boys got gaming chairs for Christmas and have put them to good use during their break.





Day 365- Friday, 12/30/16
Everyone got Starbucks gift cards for Christmas so today we went out for pastries and drinks after dropping a load of stuff at Goodwill.  It was perfect because they were going stir crazy and needed to get out of the house plus they were a great help unloading my car at the donation center so it made for a nice reward.  That's Tyler's "I'm sick of pictures" face.  LOL! Poor thing. One more week of pictures and then he can have a 2 month break from me and my camera. 





Day 366- Saturday, 12/31/16
It's New Year's Eve!  We had a busy day getting our family pictures done in the morning and then going out to lunch at the new Burgers and Brews place in West Sacramento.  We all enjoyed our lunch but John was especially impressed.  Later we stayed home for the night watching Marvel movies, eating yummy finger food, and ringing in the new year together.  Tyler was with us until about 9 pm and then headed to a party with friends which was sad for us but fun for him.  He's really enjoyed reconnecting with everyone while being home over the holidays.  It was a long day but a great day for all.  Bring on 2017!



We'll save Sunday for next week to start off the New Year right with week 1 and day 1 all in the same post.


That means were done for now.  Another year finished and on the blog.  See you next week and happy 2017!  I hope it's a good one for us all.