Pictures from Aunt Luci

Some pictures the Aunt Luci took and sent to us. 3 of the pictures are taken at a family favorite restaurant, Ocean Harvest. My personal favorite is the ones of Emma and Boompa.

Emma's Expanding Vocabulary

Seems like I just updated everyone on Emma's vocabulary yesterday but it has already expanded. She has added: ball, up, and purple.

General Updates

Here is what everyone is up to:

Jessie: Seems she has been very busy but that is a good thing for the old pocket book. Before we know it she will rule the design industry in Portland. She is seriously thinking of buying a house sometime soon which is exciting. She is anxiously awaiting the start of NFL.

Tasha: Like Jessie, Tasha has been very busy lately with some very large meetings. Although I can't feel too sorry for her as these meetings involved transformers, tricycles, and relay races. She and Jr recently celebrated their 6th anniversary and she thanks her lucky stars for marrying such a great guy.

Jr (Chris): Keeping busy with work. Wrapping up the current recruitment cycle and getting ready for the next. He leaves for 2 weeks in Montana in mid-September. Numbers for the current year are through the roof and the numbers of students who start on September 4th is at a level that PNCA hasn't been even close to. Total enrollment will increase by nearly 25%. He too can't wait for the NFL season to start...DA BEARS.

Emma: You get her updates all the time but she is doing pretty good. She seems to be mostly recovered from her illness this last weekend. She is talking more and more. She can say the following words:

Mama, Dada, Nana (grandma Jo), Baba (great-grandpa Forkner), Dadu (not sure what that is), another version of nana that means night-night, she has said Jessie a few times, Uh-oh, WO!, something like nanu which means thank you.

Emma continues with sign language but is becoming more and more verbal. She is spoiled by all, especially by Nana and Aunt Jessie. She is obsessed with large forms of transportation, particularly planes, trains, and buses.

Well, that is all for now.....

What a Day....What a Day

Yesterday (Saturday) was quite the day. The great thing is it was Tasha and I's anniversary (our 6th) so it will always be memorable. Emma had a couple of firsts yesterday:

1. She had her first sickness. She has had little colds but nothing that slowed her down. She had a fever yesterday and although she was in good spirits she was a little slower.

2. She climbed out of her crib!!!!!!!!!!! We had put her to bed already and it was about 9pm or so. Emma all of the sudden started to cry and at one point she really started to cry. We said "we should go check on her". All of the sudden we heard a big "thump" on the ceiling above us (her room is right above the dining room and living room). We popped up and sprinted up the stairs. To our surprise when Tasha opened up the door there was Emma walking towards us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She climbed out of her crib. Thankfully she wasn't hurt. We calmed her down and put her back to bed. I lowered her crib to its lowest level so we will see how long that will contain her.

Crazy stuff..............

Recent Pictures of Emma

These were taken last week during our trip to California.....STOP GIVING ME A HARD TIME ABOUT NOT PUTTING UP NEW PICTURES OF EMMA!!!!!

Cali continued

So, on Tuesday we had a lovely lunch with Boompa. The gal who helps Boompa is named Jaseenya (I am sure I butchered that) made shrimp salad that was amazing. Of course she gave us enough to feed an army. After some wonderful chocolate cake we chatted for a bit. Claudia met us at Boompa's and we headed to Morro Bay where we walked around and had ice cream.

Tuesday night everyone came over to Luci and Joe's house and we ordered pizza from a wonderful local place. It was called "Pizza Place". The amazing thing about this place besides the pizza is the amazing business sense the owner has. When I went to pick up the pizza I assumed they would accept credit cards (doesn't everyone??). Well, when I reached for my credit card the owner said "we only accept cash or check". I wondered what I was going to do.....then he said "Just bring the money or check later". I assumed he meant that day, or go somewhere get the money and then come back for the pizza. Nope, he said, "just bring the money in the next couple of days". HUH? WOW. He even said "don't bring the money tonight, just enjoy the pizza and bring the money on a different day". He also said that if he wasn't there to just slip the money under the door. CRAZY but much appreciated. I think other businesses should take lessons from this guy. Of course it helps that his business is in a really small town. I brought the money the next day and when I walked in he said "Hi Chris, how was the pizza". Amazing....

On Wednesday we took our time getting ready and ultimately headed back to Claudia's. It's about a 2.5 hour drive. It isn't a really exciting drive either. Before leaving we gathered the family one last time for a lovely lunch at Ocean Harvest which is a family favorite and tradition. Fernando the owner is amazing and the food is amazing as well. He always provides great service and makes sure we are well taken care of. My grandparents were some of his very first customers. After leaving and arriving at Claudia's, we made burgers and had a lovely dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening.

On Thursday we got ourselves up and moving so that we could head up to the cabin. On the way to the cabin we shopped in Oakhurst and got some coffee. We then walked next store to the cemetery to visit my dad's site. Most importantly is was great that Emma could enjoy a beverage with Grandpa!!! After the visit we headed up to the cabin where Steve and Marcus were already. I had to immediately assess the storage room and determine if we could turn it into a bedroom for Emma for the night. It was no problem which was nice because it meant that we could stay the night. Jessie made a lovely lunch for us. We then relaxed before having a nice dinner. Both meals were outdoors on the back deck. There isn't a better place on earth to enjoy a meal. The trees, sights, sounds, and smells make it amazing. After we put Emma to bed we sat on the back deck and enjoyed some beverage. The star show was amazing and we got to see the Milky Way, lots of stars, satellites, and shooting stars. Marcus, Jessie, and I slept on the deck, like my dad taught me!

We woke up on Friday and had breakfast and then got ready to head back to Claudia's. We were pretty wiped out so we lounged around Claudia's and watched Emma in her pool. Then we had dinner before watching a little TV and then headed to bed to get a good nights rest before flying back on Saturday.

We woke up on Saturday, had a nice breakfast, and got things packed. We then had to say goodbye to Claudia and Sierra. The trip home was nice. Emma slept most of the flight and before we knew it we were back in Portland. Nana (grandma Jo) was there to pick us up. All of luggage made it and we headed home.

All-in-all it was a great visit. Jessie and I both talked about how it was nice that we got to spend lots of time with everyone. We don't feel like we didn't get to see anyone as much as we wanted. The food was great and it was fun to see Emma interact with everyone. It was truly a special trip.

Cali So Far

The trip has been great so far. We arrived on Saturday, mid-day. We then traveled up to Claudia's house and hung out while Emma got caught up on some sleep. We then traveled down to FresYes to pick up some supplies. While enjoying some porch time upon our return we had a wonderful surprise when Claudia's son, Reed, drove up from LA to hang out with us. We had a lovely dinner and porch time.

Sunday we hung out and then headed up to Oakhurst to grab some coffee and do a little shopping. We bought Emma a pool which she enjoyed later. Steve, Luci, and Boompa came over and we had a late lunch. Claudia prepared an amazing lunch and an equally amazing dessert. After seeing the Sweet clan off we relaxed on the porch.

Reed left early on Monday. We then went to the local park and Emma had a blast running around with the dogs and throwing the balls for the dogs to retrieve. We then played in the little play ground. Emma really enjoyed the slides. We then got ready and drove to our current location, Templeton. Shortly after our arrival we the entire Sweet clan came over and we had an amazing dinner that Luci prepared. As usual, dinner included amazing green salads and pasta salads. We then relaxed before retiring for the evening.

We woke up this morning and then went to local park so Emma could get some energy out and then came back and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast that Joe prepared. We are now waiting and getting ready to go have lunch with Boompa. We will then drive over to Morro Bay.....

....to be continued.....

Going Back to Cali

I prefer the Notorious BIG version compared to LL's. But that is where we are going, to Cali. Fly out this Saturday and return the following Saturday. Should be lots of fun. Should also be a challenge was we fly with Emma who can't sit still...FUN!!