Junior Doctor Dolittle:)

Zeke, with perfect placement, feeding the giraffe a snack:) Good job, Zeke!

We (Sarah, Zeke and I) went to the Santa Barbara Zoo last week. Part of the time Sarah was busy with her students as a CAVA (Calif. Virtual Academy) teacher, so Zeke and I ventured around the zoo on our own. He liked the animals, but was just as happy playing on the playground, and especially cruising around the zoo in his wagon:) We met up with Sarah for lunch and then took a spin around the zoo on the train. I think Zeke enjoyed the small train more, the one activated by two quarters that rocks in place :) It was a fun way to spend an afternoon!

So many memories were conjured up on our stroll around the zoo...My family lived in Ventura for eight years when our kids were little and we had an annual family pass. It seems like a lifetime ago! The kids and I also went many times with my sister, Laura, and her two daughters(they also lived in Ventura). I sure miss her!

A Touching Perspective From Two Who Know:) A Letter(with memories video style) to the Obama Girls from the Bush Twins

Tie Breaker!

Jesse and Lois are having a BOY!!!

That makes:

2 girls+
3 boys=
5 grandchildren!

Yippee! Congrats you two!

Just a Thought

Martin Luther King's most well-known and well-loved speech, "I Have a Dream,"(see post below) was given on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C.. My favorite sentence from it has always been:

"...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Yet, for days, all I have read/heard about President Obama has focused on him being the first black (half, actually) President. I thought race wasn't supposed to be an issue!? He is a human being.

What about the content of his character?

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King, Jr. Jan. 15, 1929-April 4, 1968

Christmas and the Post-Christmas Blues

I came across this "Cathy"(a favorite of mine) comic strip after Christmas and it seemed to really mirror my feelings(except for the last two frames)...I tried to cram a year's worth of family togetherness into ten days and it didn't work out quite as I had planned. Of course I enjoyed having all my kids and grandkids here and we had some great fun, but the time ZOOMED by, and with it, my lofty expectations and now it's over...The Glaziers are back in Nebraska and the Sparks have returned to Hawaii.
I was disappointed in what I missed:
*Not enough time with ALL of us together!
*We didn't watch any Christmas classic movies, particularly "It's a Wonderful Life."
*I forgot to get out the little kiddie aprons I collected for the grandkids, and to take their picture in them.
*I didn't remember to get out the cute, little mugs for the grandkids for cocoa, which I purchased just for that purpose.
*I also forgot to get the Christmas crackers(poppers) off the shelf for Christmas day at dinnertime that I searched all over for and finally found at Tuesday Morning.
*Due to my helter-skelter running around looking for peppermint(and gingerbread)ice cream(which was never found) I actually missed the entire(almost) Christmas Eve activities with the grandkids, which included the Christmas story(using one of my nativities)from the scriptures, singing Christmas songs and eating birthday cake. I missed the whole focal point of Christmas! I was (am) so upset at myself over this especially.


But we DID do many fun things together and forge more memories...
*Everyone(I stayed home with the little ones) went to Crux Climbing Gym...Jim and Jesse each broke a climbing record on different walls.
*We went to the Melodrama and enjoyed "A Christmas Carol" and the "Holiday Extravaganza."
*Some of the kids went to Oso Flaco.
*The kids played "Risk."
*Some of us went to Avila Beach and Avila Barn.
*I went with Summer and family to see the elephant seals.
*Jesse, Lois, Jim and I played "International Monopoly" which utilizes debit cards and each person starts out with 15 million dollars:) Jim won!
*We all went to church together.
*Karaline and I decorated sugar cookies together:)
*Summer and Brian went to Pismo Beach for an overnight getaway while we watched the kids. Happy 5th Anniversary Summer and Brian!
*Karaline and I went to the movies and saw "The Tale of Despereaux" and shared some popcorn:)
*The guys, and Lois:), went and saw "Valkyrie" while the rest of us visited with my dad.
*We had a campfire in the backyard and my homemade marshmallows were roasted:).
*We watched some movies..."Enchanted" is now Karaline's current favorite:)
*Jim barbecued for the family and his parents came up from Santa Monica.
*I made gingerbread cookies:)
*It was fun to watch the kids get excited on Christmas Eve when Santa jingled some bells and left new p.j.'s on the porch:)
*We gave Karaline, Megan, Zeke and Jake lots of hugs and kisses! XOXOXOXO!
*It was great to be together and play, talk, go on a walk to the park or around the block.
*We had family pictures taken by Gena Patten at La Purisima Mission:)
*HAPPY NEW YEAR!


I used some of my cookies as decoration
Little cousins-Zeke and Megan
Megan climbed up between grandpa and daddy
Karaline enjoying the cookie she decorated:)
The boys insisted on doing the Christmas dinner dishes:)
Auntie Lois playing with little Jakerbug
Jim's parents with their great-grandchildren
The Glazier family viewing the elephant seals and Megan with a bird's-eye view (below)