To My Adoring Public . . .

Thanks for keeping at me--I was doing so good and then BAM! two weeks had passed. Your sweet nagging reminds me that someone does read this blog. :-)

First, a kitty vignette for you:

Nuri: "Ahhh . . . just the pillow I've been looking for . . ." (Sigh of Delight)

Sam: "What the . . . ?!"

Sam: "I think I should care about this . . . "

Nuri: "Whaaat?"
(Nuri uses the Jedi mind trick)

Sam: "Nope. I'm too tired to care."

Nuri: "Huh. It worked."

"Really? Still with the pictures?"Sorry. Pet pictures are a definite weakness of mine.

It's been a little crazy around here. So crazy, in fact, that I didn't end up going to Hume Lake with the youth this time around. It was one of those bittersweet choices--better for my sanity, yet I know I missed a neat time. On an exciting note though, there were more adult chaperones than ever before, even without me going. It's awesome to have that involvement growing!

We are finally de-frocked from the holidays. Putting away decorations is SO not as much fun as putting them up, but we waited so long that I didn't have that sad empty-house feeling.

We squeezed in a quick visit to Ben & Pei since my last post. I thought these few pics Erik snapped before I let him go to sleep were an interesting display of the transition from central California to southern Cali.

To go down to L.A. county, we take the Grapevine through Tejon Pass. This route involves going up to about 4000 feet and back down; when there is any amount of snow, they simply close it down until the road has completely cleared (if you harken back, this was the cause of an unplanned, extended visit a couple of years ago). We actually delayed our trip to see Ben & Pei twice before heading down--once because of snow closure and once because of my jury duty (yep, you heard me--I find it interesting that all three of us California siblings have been called for jury duty since moving to Cali, yet none of us were ever called in WI). This corridor being the only practical route for semi and car traffic down south is also one of many reasons for the disgusting air in the valley (and the fines we pay for it).

Here we come from Bakersfield, where we'd been having chilly gloom and fog. Do you see that little bright spot in the V of the hills?

Here we are at that bright spot!You can see that there was still some residual snow in the hills, but the roads were bone dry. That shining blue sky was what we saw for the rest of our travels.

Crazy! And on the way home later that day? Same thing. From blue to gray in one little blip. The same thing happened the last time we took a group to Magic Mountain. It was actually raining in Bakersfield, but as we came over the pass--perfectly blue sky with sunshine.

We also got to see little Rose who, to be blatantly honest, was less than thrilled to see us. Apparently she digs her new digs.

The boys geeking out at the computer.Pei in the kitchen preparing our amazing lunch!I seriously need to have a "Cooking with Pei" weekend. Here is the table set with mouth-watering won ton soup (homemade won tons, people!) and the makings for some delicious Vietnamese spring rolls--to die for! We are SO making these again. If you're having trouble deciphering all the delectables, let me list them for you: rice noodles, shrimp, pork, cilantro, Thai basil, mint, cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, lettuce and hot garlic sauce). Go get some today! Seriously. Everyone needs these spring rolls in their life.Here you can see the spring rolls in various stages of being rolled. Pei and I had dampened our rice paper spring roll wrappers and started loading them with goodies. Erik is displaying his beautifully wrapped roll, ready to eat. And Ben is covering a mouthful of deliciousness!Pei modeling her Christmas Sock Monkey cover for her snow boarding helmet--Ben & Pei were skiing and boarding at Mammoth this week for Ben's (early) birthday celebration!Their lovely living room (taken for Mom who complains that she STILL hasn't seen their new apartment)Here they are modeling their new patio furniture. Hard to see in the daylight, they have strung some large clear Christmas bulbs for evening lighting--pretty!

This last week I was busy running around finding props for a production of Pinocchio. It was a last minute thing this time around, but Don found most of what we needed with a little help from me. Our friend Bill and I spent a day visiting all sorts of secondhand stores and other shops in search of toys for Gepetto's workshop. This was one of my favorite finds:
Erik was a sport and took on the task of creating something to display as a "work in progress" on the stage.I don't think he enjoyed it at all.I totally love this toy and would keep it (just not get reimbursed) but for the limiting fact of too few nuts, which are what hold everything together. You can see in the tray all the pieces leftover that can't be used without nuts.I should be at rehearsal right now. Unfortunately after spending the morning sniffling and sneezing, thinking I was having allergies, I am now Officially Sick. Bummer. :-(

Erik has been taking good care of me and I hope/plan to kick this with a good long sleep tonight! Of course, I also planned not to GET sick. Meh.

So I'm off to bed. But I need to put in a note about one more recent event. It was a very special baby shower. All baby showers are special! And we're in a season of them at church right now (two little darlings born in the last month, one coming in a week and another in April--heaven help our nursery workers!) But this celebration was a little different. Our youth pastor and his wife are having a baby Very Soon. On the 27th of this month, in fact. And what made this shower so special was the fact that it "shouldn't" have happened.

Back in June we got a request to pray for Ryan & Chrissy because they had lost their baby. It was early on in the pregnancy and they hadn't told anyone yet. To make a long story short(er), they went to the hospital on a Sunday in a state of emergency. The doctor told them that the baby had been lost and thought it had probably been an ectopic pregnancy. They performed a D&C for the sake of Chrissy's health and when no tissue was flushed out said that meant the baby had already passed through. Ryan & Chrissy were, of course, devastated.

Two days later, still sick, she went back to the doctor. This doctor, after some questions and tests, came back into the room and said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but . . . you're still pregnant. There is a baby and it's alive." Thus began a rollercoaster--specialists, worries about the effects of the D&C and the medications afterward, several more rushed trips to the hospital with cramps and bleeding, and generally a complicated and emotional pregnancy with lots of nausea to boot. And lots and lots of prayer. And suddenly (it seems sudden anyway!) she is scheduled to be born in a week and a day! God is good. :-)

The little sweater I made for Aubrie Grace