Merry Christmas!

Wow! Am I glad that I don't live in snow country. My sister Yvonne sent this photo to me. It's of her front yard in a suburb of Denver. The good news is that it has only snowed in Denver 14 times on Christmas Day since 1900. Not too bad I guess. I just know that Jeff will not drive there during the winter again. Not fun when you have to deal with snow chains and maniac snow drivers. We had a great Christmas with our friends and family that we saw. We look forward to seeing the rest of our family in the next two weeks while Jeff and Isaac are off from school.

High-Wire Act

We did another "Grandma Tour" the other day before Christmas. We went to the Los Angeles ScienCenter. Upon arrival Maxwell was able to lift a pickup truck up by pulling on a rope attached to a giant lever. Way to go SuperMax! We checked out the new Imax film "Sea Monsters 3D". I've never seen an Imax film before. It was really cool. There was a school class down in front of us and it was fun seeing them all reach out to "touch" the fish swimming by and hearing them scream. After the film we talked Annette into riding the high-wire bicycle. We tried to get her to rock it side to side to flip over but she wouldn't...it was only 3 stories up from the floor. What a chicken! There were so many neat "hands on" things for the kids to do. We watched what static electricity does, how magnets work, how inertia works on roller coasters, and how you react to fear. The "Creep Show" exhibit was fun with all the different aspects of fear...from insects crawling on you to loud sounds to falling over. It was nice being able to hang out with Auntie Charlotte, Auntie Nette, Daddy and Grandma C.

"While Visions of Sugar Plums Danced in their Heads"

That was Isaac's line in the reading of "The Night Before Christmas". Yesterday Isaac's class put on their Christmas performance at school. The teachers split the story into 40 lines and each child then recited their line in turn. They did a great job. They learned 6 songs in two weeks and the last song they performed was in sign language! Wow! He did a fantastic job! Isaac was so happy that he was able to be in the performance. We've been struggling a little to get his homework in on time and his teacher told him that if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be in the performance. Well that lit a fire under him! Isaac is truly blessed with a wonderful teacher. And the added bonus...she loves teaching boys! We scored when we got her!! Overall we've had a great year so far and look forward to finishing it off well.

Martha's House Tea Room

Today Charlotte and I took Grandma C to a Christmas Tea for her 81st birthday. The tea was at my friend's Sharon's house. Sharon has been doing teas for a couple of years now. They are WONDERFUL! Our luncheon started off today with holiday tea and fabulous warm scones with Devonshire cream and jam. We then had fresh fruit or soup. I chose the mushroom soup. Yum! We then had 3 different kinds of sandwiches which were very good also. Dessert is always amazing! Lemon bars are my favorite and the cherry white chocolate dipped cookies were first runners up. Charlotte and I have been able to attend a tea or two each year that Sharon hosts. We have brought friends and family with us and everyone seems to enjoy themselves. It was quite festive with all the Christmas decorations and happy chatter going on. Thank you Sharon for opening your home and sharing your talents!

Snow at Disneyland

The boys and I went to Disneyland with our friends, Darla and Kyle, to see all the pretty Christmas decorations and lights. The snow comes down on Main Street in the evening before and after the Christmas Parade. The snow is actually soap bubbles that really does look more like snow than the confetti stuff did. Where was this technology when I worked there in Custodial? We had to bring out the supervacs to clean up after each shooting. This stuff is great! It just evaporates. The boys loved it and enjoyed trying to catch some. We went on a few rides and Maxwell was finally tall enough to go on Star Tours. Unfortunately we went on it first so I was not feeling so hot the rest of the time there. Of course, going on Space Mountain with Isaac was not a good choice so soon after Star Tours. Overall, the day was great. Crowds not too bad and the fireworks show was great!

The Chronicles of Narnia

Charlotte, Grandma C, the boys and myself went to experience "The Chronicles of Narnia" at my church. The experience began with entering the "wardrobe" and crossing into snowy Narnia. The church incorporated live drama and snow during the film which included the housekeeper, the Professor, Mr. Tumnus, Lucy, the White Witch (Ice Queen), Father Christmas and Aslan. Yes, we actually had a real live lion come out on stage (thankfully in a cage). His trainer got him to snarl and swipe towards us. After the film we were able to view the lion, a lioness, a cub at the stage and out in the foyer Father Christmas in his sleigh and a real reindeer were there to greet the children. Even though I had seen this film before, I was really impressed with the live drama. I can't wait to see future productions put on by Crossroads.

Natural History Museum

This isn't the best photo but it'll do. The T-rex looks like it's going after Jeff. After we went to Watts we went to the Natural History Museum. So many neat things to see and to show the boys for the first time. We lost Grandma C and Abigail within the first 10 minutes there. Didn't know she could move so fast. Spent about 10 minutes looking for them before we could begin our tour of the rooms. She's almost as bad as the kids at times! We found her in one of the rooms with all the taxidermied animals...of course...she just loves animals...stuffed and real! The boys enjoyed all of them as well. They really liked the Discovery Center downstairs with all the insects, animal pelts, and dino-dig pit. We were also able to see the "Treasures from the Vault". These are special items that are kept in the vault and only brought out for special viewings in a darkened room to preserve them from deterioration. Some of the items included a Glass Sponge (looks like fiber-optics coming out of a snail shell), Amelia Earhart's flight journal, and 7 foot long elephant tusks. All were really neat to see. We hope to make more trips with Grandma soon. Max told Grandma last night that he wanted her to stay at our house forever and ever. I think my "house cleaning" would be the death of her. At least she knows she's loved!

Watts Towers

Well I have finally made it to Watts Towers. I have always wanted to go and see these towers but they are in a really bad area of Watts near L.A. So for my comfort...I took Jeff along to protect us! I don't think he was as thrilled as I was to see the towers. My mom and Abigail went with us for the final day of "Month out with Grandma C". She had seen them before about 35 years ago but didn't remember them until she saw them again. The creator of them, Simon Rodia, started them in 1921 and finished them in 1954. He was a concrete worker and tile setter from Italy. He used all recycled materials for them that he found in the area...over 100,000 ornamental pieces. The towers are about 30 feet high and the whole structure has 17 structures. This was all done by himself and only in the evenings and his days off. He would put up re-bar, then coat it with cement, let it dry and then climb up to do another one. The boys wanted to know how he could climb so high! I'm sure they could probably figure that one out themselves.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Yesterday we went to the Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro. It's quite a nice little museum with lots of different sea life to look at and touch. There are several fossils and skeletons of large sea life like a sea otter, dophins, seals, a human, and a whale. The boys were amazed at the size of the whale bones. The touch tanks were really neat. The large sea stars looked like God decorated them with pearls all over their backs. Just beautiful! Max loved touching everything and Isaac, of course, didn't. Isaac did like looking at the sharks and informed me that sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. It is truly amazing what a child learns without the parent even knowing about it.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Tuesday we went to visit Grandma C's long-time friend, Marie. Grandma has known her since kindergarten (75 years)! Wow! Marie and Russ live in a great little community on a golf course. Russ has had to install a window shield of plexi to keep the golfballs from "visiting" inside their home. I'm glad we don't have that problem at our house. I guess living on the green is better than the fairway. Marie showed off her "ornaments" which ended up being her little garden of various flowers. Grandma C was in seventh heaven over this. I obviously missed getting the green thumb gene. I can't carry on a coherent conversation for an hour about plants. After seeing Marie we went to the Mission. It really is a neat place to see. They now have audio paddles that you carry with you throughout the grounds. At each stop you can listen to more information given about it. The main sanctuary was being renovated so we were unable to see much in there. However, the boys really enjoyed lighting candles and saying a little prayer for someone. It's the little things that kids like...especially if fire is involved.

Trip to the Zoo

I'm not sure who the "monkey" is in this photo. Isaac with his goofy forced smile, Max who looks like he has a headache, or Grandma C making the funny face. Anyhow, we went to the LA Zoo to see the new gorilla compound. It was awesome! They set it up where you can view them from railed edges or up against plexiglass. The gorillas seemed to be happy...no one throwing poop at us this year. Maybe the Denver Zoo taught them some manners during their four year stay. We almost lost Grandma on this trip. Max decided to push her when I was looking the other way and they both took off down a hill. Holy Cow! Thankfully I was able to catch them without getting hurt myself. I have to keep a closer eye on that little guy.

A Visit to the "Arm Pits"

Maxwell asked me the other night when we were going to the "Arm Pits". That would actually be the La Brea Tar Pits. This month is designated as "Get Grandma C Out of the House" month. I have lined up a fun-filled month of numerous places to see to keep her sane and the boys busy. Isaac really liked the "Tar Pull" demonstration. There were two metal shafts (one 5 inches thick and one 1 inch thick) that were submersed into tar. You had to try to pull them up out of the tar. The skinny one was hard enough for him to do...the big one was impossible. He now really understands how all the animals got stuck in the muck and died. I cannot believe that they uncovered millions of fossils alone between 1913 and 1915. Absolutely amazing! This is an actual "working" museum that has volunteers that sort, clean, label, and catalog ALL fossils over 1/4 inch is size.