Road trip photos 1

Turkey day in Yreka

Olivia and Grandpa getting ready to carve the turkey.

Ben helping Grandma and Gram stuff the turkey.

Sam with great Gram.

Ben in his apron to help cook.

The pinecone turkey that has been around as long as I can remember.

Road trip photos 2

And a few more.....

Welcome to Happy Camp!

Ben's drum like the marching band drummers.

The spider at the park in Yreka.

Watching the holiday parade in Yreka.

Playing with great Aunt Jane using blocks made by Pop.

It's the little things

After traveling for 3 weeks and then staying in a home that is not our own for another week I'm quickly realizing it's the little things I miss the most...
*my own bed
*sharp knives in my kitchen
*my AllClad cookware
*a large capacity washer and dryer
*cloth diapers
*cable tv (local news)
*my dustbuster
*the boys' large assortment of toys and books
*a baby who sleeps through the night (the last time this happened was when Sam was in his crib, in his room)
*my entire wardrobe not just the handful of things that have been in my suitcase for a month

But there are also things I am so thankful for....
*being back with Brian
*Sam's birthday gifts and early Christmas gifts for the boys to break up the monotony of the same old clothes and toys
*the thought that when I do return home I'll have new windows! a new living room! and all of the things listed above.
*the simple gesture from John (our good friend whose home we are staying in) of making sure to tell me that there was an empty dresser we could put our clothes in. Just the thought of not pulling clothes from a suitcase every day nearly brought tears to my eyes!

A few months back I remember reading my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's blog while they were transitioning from Cleveland, Ohio, to Seattle, Washington. They were stuck in temporary housing while they tried to find a house to buy. They were such troopers and I just try to keep them in my mind to spare my sanity. They did it all with two little girls starting new schools and a newborn! Yikes!

Snow fun

The boys seem to enjoy the snow....at least for a little while. Sam was quick to fuss because I forgot to pull his little snowsuit feet over his boots so he had snow packed around his ankles. Ben especially loves his kid-sized snow shovel we found at our local hardware store. We love that he enjoys shoveling the snow...let's just hope that enjoyment lasts into his teen years!

Let it snow!

The boys with our borrowed Christmas tree.

"Merry Christmas!"

The view from John's dining room window.

As the snow falls and piles up we are comfortable in our friend John's home while he is away visiting family in Texas. It's something like house-sitting/squatting while we are waiting for work to finish up at our own home. Right now most of the living room is put together including windows, cabinets and wiring but due to the weather we may be waiting a bit longer for the windows in the rest of the house. This upcoming weekend shows a break in the snow showers so if it's not too cold we may see more progress.

Ben was pleased to see that John put up his little Christmas tree. While we were in Benicia at Auntie Beth and Uncle Pete's Ben pretended that their tree was ours. At least now we have somewhere to put our gifts!

This entire week is supposed to be snowy but with any luck the weather will break up enough that we can head down to Modesto to Great Grammy and Grandpa's house for Christmas.

Yes, Ben, there is a Santa Claus

During our recent travels, my sister Pauline brought up the "Santa issue." I really didn't even know we had an issue until I was asked if Ben understands that Santa brings gifts at Christmas. My reply was, "I don't think so." For us, Santa is a part of our lives every week because we attend the 10:00 morning service at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church which happens to be the service Santa attends too.
Our kids see Santa as a friend, not a mysterious being who surprises children with Christmas gifts. In fact, Santa has become such a big part of our lives that he actually took part in our boys' baptism last May. Many Incline residents don't know that he is an ordained monk who lives a life of poverty - unheard of in most Incline neighborhoods.
When Auntie Pauline asked Ben what he was going to ask for Christmas from Santa, he was silent. The concept of asking our Santa for anything is so strange. I'm sure to Ben, Santa is just an average guy.
We did make a visit to a Santa in the Mt. Shasta Mall in Redding, California while on our family trip. Both my little boys and their eight year-old cousin, Olivia, waited patiently for their turn to sit with the jolly old elf. As we got close enough to see him, Ben said, "Mommy, that's not Santa." Thank goodness Olivia was out of earshot! I'd hate for her to think Ben wasn't a believer. She had her Christmas ideas all ready including an American Girl doll. She also told Ben that after he saw Santa he would get a candy cane.
As we approached the big guy, Ben expressed that he didn't want to sit with this Santa. I did my best not to ruin the moment for my niece. I told Ben that this Santa looked like our Santa and that there are many men who look like our Santa and they all work together at Christmas time to talk to kids and find out what they want for Christmas. The look on Ben's face told me that this still wasn't sinking in.
We got all three kids situated with Santa for their photo - Ben and Olivia smiled, Sam screamed. Oh well. And when asked by Santa what he would like for Christmas Ben replied, "A candy cane."
So, what to do? I was a kid who grew up looking forward to my gifts from Santa each year and I always assumed that I would carry on the tradition with my own children. But things are different now. Why would I want my children to think that the wonderful man we know as Santa owes them anything? If anything, we should reverse the tradition and give to the Santa Claus Foundation that helps children across the country. http://thesantaclausfoundation.org/
The best gift for us is having him in our lives.

Hooray for Ben!

Note: This entry is for all of you parents out there who remember going through potty-training with your kids or are dealing with it now.

Ben began potty training back in July. He's done fairly well considering he is just 2 1/2 and supposedly it's harder to train boys than girls. The one thing we've really been battling has been pooping in the potty. He just wouldn't do it! But, after months of having to clean him up and wash out nasty undies, he did it!!!!!
We arrived at my sister, Beth's, home yesterday afternoon and Ben had been gassy all morning. He said his tummy hurt so I suggested he use the potty. He sat down and tried three times before SUCCESS! And it was the big potty rather than his little training seat. I ran out of the bathroom jumping up and down and everyone joined in the celebration. Ben was so proud of himself. I'd been telling him all along that when he pooped in the potty he'd get a treat. Today we went to the Jelly Belly factory and he picked out a keychain for himself.
And, when we got home he told me that he had toots in his bottom and went again!!! This time he was the one so excited he yelled out, "Happy Birthday, Ben!" (Remember that we just celebrated Sam's first birthday so that's been our big exclamation lately.)

Family time

A handful of pictures of the boys and I with their cousins Kayla and Olivia and Aunties Beth and Pauline from Sam's birthday.

Sam's First Birthday!

Sam is one!

"Ooh, cake!"

Taking a small taste.


The cake for the birthday boy.

Surrounded by gifts.

We celebrated Sam's first birthday over the weekend in Yreka. His actual birthday was on the 8th but obviously the weekend was a better time to get the family together. The participants included Sam, Ben, and I; Great Gram and Pop; Grandma and Grandpa; Uncle Howie, Aunt Pauline and Olivia; Uncle Pete, Aunt Beth and Kayla; and Uncle Ray.

Before I left Happy Camp to return to Yreka I made two big lasagnas as well as mini bundt cakes. I was so excited to bake cakes at a normal altitude since all of my cake baking attempts in Tahoe have fallen short.....literally. I opted for chocolate and white cakes with chocolate ganache and fresh berries. Both the lasagna and the cakes went over well with the family.

As is usual with a little one's first birthday, there were way too many gifts (thanks, everyone for making Sam and Ben so happy). He received two remote controlled cars, a drum, a baby doll, a toy cell phone, books, and lots of other good stuff.

The sweetest part of the evening was watching Sam with his cake. I had forgotten to leave the ganache off one so we gave it to him anyway. He ate the raspberry off the top and proceeded to use the ganache as body paint. Luckily I had the foresight to strip him down to his diaper before presenting him with his celebratory pastry.

Pictures will be here soon

Just a quick note to let you know that I've had some difficulty getting pictures to upload.....I thought that I'd at least get my entries from this last week up so you'd all have an idea of what's been happening. I'll add photos ASAP.

Happy Camp Highlights

Grandma gave Ben a small cookie tin to use as a drum. He kept saying he needed a belt for playing it. I could not figure out what he meant. He told me he needed a belt like the drums in the parade. Finally I got it....he wanted to have a drum like the ones in marching band he saw during the holiday parade in Yreka! So creative!
Grandpa filled the bird feeder with seeds so Ben anxiously waited for the birds to arrive. He loved the binoculars that were mine when I was a little girl.
We went to visit Grandma at work on Monday morning. We arrived at Happy Camp Elementary School and after saying hello to a handful of people, proceeded to the cafeteria to see Grandma and her coworker, Lisa. Ben was excited to have a snack of yogurt with Grandma and was reluctant to leave. Soon, Casey, the school's principal and mother to my good friend Courtney, came in to meet the boys. She invited Ben to return to the school later in the afternoon for a special assembly with Australian animals.
We arrived to the assembly a little late because I refused to wake the boys from their nap. But we got there just in time to see a seven month old red kangaroo! We also saw a kookaburra, a baby crocodile, two sugar babies, two tiny box jelly fish, and a baby tree python. Ben and Sam seemed to like the kangaroo the best. Who knew we would see Australian animals in Happy Camp!
We made sure to visit the “Welcome to Happy Camp” sign and take a picture.
While Grandma was at work on Wednesday, Grandpa, the boys, and I headed down to Bill and Sylvia Parry's house to visit. They were so excited to meet the boys and catch up with our lives in Tahoe. We talked about the big news of the morning of a mountain lion crossing the parking lot at the little market in town (which happens to be owned by Bill and Sylvia's son Bobby). Apparently, one of the employees was arriving to work and waiting at the front door to be let in since the store wasn't open yet. She saw the big cat going through the parking lot and was frantic to get inside. Bulletins were sent out to the schools to warn them. In the past few weeks there have been many mountain lion sightings as well as pets being killed. Needless to say, the boys didn't play outside while in Happy Camp. We were also lucky to have dinner with Bill and Sylvia on Thursday evening.
Friday after lunch the boys and I headed to the elementary school on our way out of town to see Grandma one last time. While there we said goodbye to Lisa as well and I was able to see one of my teachers from seventh grade, Terry Mattson. She looks just the same and was excited to meet the kids.
I also saw Casey Chambers one last time and gave her an extra hug to pass on to Courtney when she arrives for Christmas from Israel.
The boys and I arrived back in Yreka at Gram and Pop's mid-afternoon Friday.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles has always been a movie my family has enjoyed. Brian and I often find ourselves quoting it and laughing when we find ourselves in sticky travel situations.
Sunday morning Brian, my dad, and I got up before four o'clock to get on the road to Medford, Oregon where Brian had a six o'clock flight back to Reno via Seattle. The drive up is just over 40 miles so we wanted to be on the road with plenty of time to spare. It's a good thing we left so early because the fog was thick. We arrived at the airport and were immediately told by one of the security officials that no planes had come in the night before and nothing had landed yet that morning. Brian went in to find out that his flight was canceled. He traded in his ticket for another that would leave at five o'clock the next morning. We turned the car around and drove back through the fog to Yreka and cursed ourselves for not calling the airline before leaving the house that morning.
We got home and went right back to bed with our fingers crossed that the boys wouldn't wake too early. When Gram entered the kitchen that morning and saw Brian her exact words were, “What on earth are you doing here?” We all chuckled and went about figuring out how to get Brian home. He made a couple of phone calls to car rental places in Yreka only to find that they are closed on Sundays. He called another in Medford and was set up with a car to pick up later that morning to drive to Reno. Luckily, Jane and Drew needed to go right through Medford to get home to North Bend, Oregon, so Brian hitched a ride with them back to the airport. He was on the road right around eleven in the morning and arrived in Reno right around five in the evening. Our good friend Sue was in Reno running errands and picked up Brian and got him back over the mountain by dinner time. He was exhausted after his LONG day but was happy to be home.
While Brian was on the road back to Reno, the boys and I were on our way down the Klamath River road to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Happy Camp. It had been over five years since I was last in Happy Camp and this would be the boy's first visit. Let the adventure begin!

Turkey Day continues

We continued our long Thanksgiving weekend in Yreka along with Gram and Pop and Grandma and Grandpa. Aunt Jane (my dad's sister) and Uncle Drew arrived on Friday. Ben and Sam had so much fun playing with Aunt Jane. They built towers, buildings, and structures using the wooden blocks that Pop made for them. Aunt Jane and Uncle Drew are expecting their first grandchild in March and seemed to be taking the opportunity to “practice” with our boys. It seemed to be fun for all of them.
During the weekend it also seemed that Sam had all but given up on crawling unless he is in a big hurry to get somewhere. He loved having lots of furniture and people to grab on to while cruising around. He especially loved having the wall of the long hallway in Gram's house to help him walk.
On Saturday morning we attended the Yreka Holiday Parade. It was a first for both boys to watch a parade since the only other parade they've attended is the 4th of July parade in Incline which they've been in.
Ben loved the school marching bands and kept asking when another band was coming. He and Sam liked all the fire trucks with their loud sirens. We saw some other extended family members and enjoyed the sunny morning.
Later that day we all watched the Civil War Game between Oregon and Oregon State. Jane and Drew are big Beaver fans and were sad to see the loss to the Ducks. Thank goodness for leftover pie to soothe them.

Turkey Day

We left home early Wednesday morning (5:15 to be exact) with the boys still in their pajamas thinking that getting them in their car seats before they usually wake up would give us a couple of hours in the car with them sleeping. Wishful thinking. Sam fell asleep after about 20 minutes and slept for about an hour and a half but Ben stayed awake the entire trip! After just over five hours in the car we arrived in time for some visiting/play time before lunch at Gram and Pop's house in Yreka. We were all happy to be able to stretch our legs and have the rest of the day to relax. Grandma and Grandpa arrived later in the afternoon while Ben was resting and we all enjoyed an evening together.
The boys woke early Thursday morning after a relatively good night's sleep (Ben called out twice and woke Sam at one point). We all worked together to get the turkey into the oven and get all the side dishes organized. Ben helped with the stuffing of the bird and was decked out in an apron made long ago by my great aunt Patsy. My sister, Pauline along with Howie and Olivia, arrived mid-morning. Ben was thrilled to have his “crazy cousin” to play with. He probably said, “Olivia, come with me,” about a thousand times that day. Together they helped make the centerpiece and set the table. The other big attraction was watching all the birds on the bird feeder. At one point a Cooper's hawk swooped into the yard and had his own Thanksgiving feast on one of the little finches. The kids loved watching nature in action.
All together there were fourteen of us for the meal including: Gram and Pop (the boy's maternal great grandparents), Grandma Norma and Grandpa Bob (my parents), Auntie Pauline and Uncle Howie with cousin Olivia, Uncle Ray (my dad's brother) and Aunt Annie, cousin Mike, and Brian, Ben, Sam and I.
The menu included: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, butternut squash, green beans, red cabbage, cranberry sauce, green salad, fruit salad, and rolls. Dessert included pumpkin pie, apple pie, mincemeat pie, and peach pie. Wow! It was all amazing but definitely A LOT of food!
Ben was reluctant to try any of the food so he ate cheese and crackers with avocado instead. Sam actually napped right through his very first Thanksgiving since we had dinner at 3:00 P.M. He tried most of the food but seemed most impressed with the red cabbage and pumpkin pie. Go figure. For anyone not familiar with my family's red cabbage recipe it's basically a sweet and sour type dish. The shredded cabbage is cooked in a little sugar, water, butter, and vinegar until it's tender and then is finished off with a little red currant jelly before serving. It sounds unusual to some but it's amazing with all the other turkey day dishes. I actually had the honor of making not only the red cabbage this year but also the cranberry sauce.
We were so happy to be with everyone for such a family-focused day.