The Golfer Arrives

(An accidental shot while setting up the timer, but I liked it anyway!)
Burlile came and stayed with our family last night. It was wonderful to see him again and we've vowed not to let so many years pass by this time. "We're too good of friends for that!"
After I told Kelly what a perfect babe we have, Sarah was fussier than usual and he saw a new side of her we don't really know; hopefully this side of her won't be around for long.
His wedding pics were beautiful, he really lucked out in the bride department.
We walked to Kay and Dave's for dinner. It's always a great meal there.
Sarah did enjoy playing with Kelly especially since he liked to help her walk around...her new favorite past time.
Kelly left today for his golf tournament in Long Beach---goodluck! We're sending good vibes your way.

(Sarah and her newest buddy!)

i'm so not a california girl and here's why...i don't heart the beach! there, i said it! i know this about me and i own it. however it becomes even more obvious to me when we have guests and they don't get a picture in front of the ocean until the day before they leave. how sad for them! and as you can see from the pictures, we're not even really on the beach, we're at palisades park!

thanks for visiting grandma! it is a time we will cherish always!! sarah loves you and that makes me the happiest. XOXO

Today's Events

We started the day with our ward picnic. It was a chilly morning but it warmed up quite nicely. Grandma had a nice time. In the afternoon while Richard and I prepared our Sunday School lesson Grandma and Sarah did what they do best, play! We went to Malibu Seafood for dinner. It's located right on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Malibu. You order your food and then eat on picnic tables looking out over the ocean. It is all fish; not Grandma's favorite but she said she liked fish n' chips from Skippers so I thought we better take her somewhere where it's real fish and fresh out of the water. She enjoyed it and loved the view. We ended our evening driving around downtown Santa Monica trying to find parking for GLOW. There were going to be huge art displays of some sort all lit up and glowing on the pier and in Palisades Park from dusk to dawn. Everyone in Santa Monica as well as all the surrounding areas thought that it sounded great as well. We finally gave up our parking hunt and headed home. There is part of me that wants to get up early in the morning and go check it out. Richard is more than willing to stay and watch Sarah. :) While Richard and I were warn out and very annoyed by our journey, Grandma thought it great sightseeing and just marveled at all the traffic. If only we all had her positive outlook on things.

We didn't get a picture of Grandma in front of the ocean because we thought we would do it when we went to our next beach activity, but since that never happened, neither did the picture. Tomorrow after church maybe we will have to take an afternoon stroll on the sand.

WATCH OUT JENSENS HERE SHE COMES...

Here's our little army crawler! She gets up on her hands and knees as well but can't figure out what to do with her arms in that position so then she resorts to this. Her favorite position these days is standing, which gets tiring for mom and dad. But we do it anyway! :)

What's that saying;

"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold."

Last night a friend from highschool who I haven't talked to in almost 3 years (since my wedding) tracked me down. He will be in town next week for a golf tournament and we are going to get together.

There's so much to catch up on--his wedding, my baby girl. I love those friendships where you can pick up right where you left off and it feels as if you never skipped a beat!

Since She's Been Here

I have attemped to post pictures every night since she's been here. I haven't gotten around to it and we haven't been to bed before 11:00 this entire week--that's late for me. We are glad to have Grandma Bigelow (Sarah's GREAT Grandma) here with us for a week. Here's what we've been up to.

Most of our days have been spent like this. Grandma has been enjoying Sarah Jane and she loves her right back. They sit in the corner over by Sarah's toy basket and play, and play, and play. Richard and I are in for a rude awakening when Grandma leaves and we have to feed her and play with her again, but for the time being we love seeing both Sarah and Grandma so happy in one another's company. Sarah is a people person; if you love on her, she will love you back. This has been wonderful for Grandma and made her feel so special because Sarah has never shyed away. I hope Sarah never goes through the, I only want my mommy stage. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We have also been going on many walks. Grandma can't get over how perfect the weather is. She thought she was going to come to California and cook; not in Santa Monica. Ah, the joys of an ocean breeze. She has really been enjoying all the flowers. Everything is in bloom and she can't get enough.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to the Getty Center and had a wonderful time. Grandma couldn't believe the size of a lot of the paintings and couldn't imagine how long they must have taken to create. She LOVED the garden.

Thursday we drove to LaMirada to see her older, by 1 year, brother Don and his wife Terri. SArah Jane and Terri matched and Terri thought that was pretty special. We had a nice visit. They hadn't seen each other in a long time and it was sweet to see how glad they were to be together, even if it was for just a short time. I was reminded about the importance of family!

Traffic wasn't too terrible, but she did get to experience a little LA traffic jam here and there. The trip wouldn't have been complete without that. :)

We're off for a picnic with Richard at Stoner Park and then we will go walk around the temple grounds this afternoon.

NOT Monochromatic

Recently Richard and I have taken notice of the fact that the meals I make are often monochromatic. It's interesting; almost like I crave in colors or something. The other evening we had salmon, garnet yams, and apricots. A couple days before that we had chicken, potatoes, apple, and corn on the cob. These aren't the only 2 times this has happened; it seems to happen often despite the fact that we eat a wide variety of foods. Weird! Saturday we made pizzas on the grill (thanks to Lisa & her friend) these were not in any way monochromatic and they tasted just as good as they look. Richard working his magic. He actually tosses his pizza crust, no rolling pin needed. Guess those days ay Shakey's Pizza paid off. We made one BBQ Chicken and one ULTIMATE Veggie pizza. It was the best veggie pizza I have EVER eaten! The ULTIMATE Veggie: red & yellow peppers, spinach, zuchini, broccoli, aspauragus, red onion, and pineapple. Dreamy!