OMG!! How is that even possible. I don't feel that old (even tho the eyesight is bad, hearing is going, shoulder hurts)! Jody is kidding us about qualifying for the senior discount at IHOP! I'm hoping to get carded the first time I ask for it!

It was a great day. Mark surprised me by baking the cake. My fave - white with chocolate frosting. Chelcie and Madison helped with the frosting and decorating. It was quite delish!

Fun gifts! New jammies from Jo (she, Doug and Mark are having a hard time getting past the lumberjack pjs), sweater and mad money from Louise and Bob, and my new Keurig coffee, tea, hot cocoa maker from Mark with accessories from Doug, Kym and girls. It is quite fun! And thanks Megan, Jeff and girls for my new apron and bracelet (both made by Megan). Love 'em!

Well, I think I am the last January birthday for the family. That's a wrap! Thanks and love to all!!

the kids and I headed over to Doug and Kym's to celebrate Chelcie's birthday with her friends. We had a blast doing a scavenger hunt! There were about 6 of us driver's with 4-6 kids per car. We had to take pictures at the school, church, get items from Golden Yogurt, Starbucks, etc. The first pic is my group. We didn't win, but it was crazy driving them around. I'd pull up, they'd jump out and get what they needed and then jump back in and we were off! We would have done much better, but at our first stop, the kid forgot to save the pic and we had head back to do it again!

We then headed back to the house for pizza and cake. The rain couldn't stop the festivities, it was just moved to the back patio. What a fun night!

the snow that we have been getting! We may not live in it (that's quite OK), but it is quite beautiful. As I drove in to town yesterday, I couldn't resist taking a few pics (explains the blurriness of some). The first two are of Mt. San Jacinto (our desert mountain where you can take the tram up to the snow). The third pic is the mountains of Big Bear and the last pics are of Mt. Baldy (these last pics are pretty clear because Nick was riding shotgun by then and could take the pics as he kept yelling at me to keep my eyes on the road).

I got up and headed into Downey to spend some birthday time with mom and dad and pick up the twins and Nick to bring them home with me. Over breakfast we opened presents. The long standing joke with my sister as to what an angel I was when we were younger (NOT!) explains the card and then the bag that keeps getting passed back and forth. Due to my Nancy Drew passion (which I got from my mom), my mom and dad got me "The Lost Files of Nancy Drew". I still have all my books and can't wait to curl up with all of this and relive some of the books. I have some really old ones and have been wanting to kind of catalog them. Fun stuff awaits!

Thanks Lori and George (for my candle) and mom and dad! Love to all of you!

Tuesday night for Chelcie's birthday, the family went over to Lamp Post Pizza for dinner and then back to the house for dessert and presents. Of course we got her the expected, #14 for her Precious Moments birthday train, but then have to throw in the weird, cans of peas! For some reason she loves canned peas and since they aren't served at home, it has become a crazy thing she enjoys at our house.

Enjoy your peas Chelce!!

Happy Birthday girl! From a cutie to a beauty!

Love, Lolo & Papa

for our annual trip up to Oceano (Pismo) to celebrate Dawn's, Mark's and my birthdays. We figure we have been doing this for about 29 years now!

Once we get past L.A. and no longer have to worry about traffic reports, we put in CDs to listen to some fun, singin' music. This year it was Blues Brothers, Patsy Cline and topped off with Willy Wonka (all compliments of Jody).

After we headed inland at Gaviota and through the tunnel (hootin' and hollerin' cuz the horn wouldn't blow), we stopped for lunch at Anderson's Split Pea for the Traveler's Special (all you can eat pea soup)!

Then we were off...

Dawn made Olallieberry Crumble from the berries in her back yard. Yummmmy!! Olallieberries make my favorite pie and I usually have to wait for June to get my fix. This should hold me over. We opened gifts, had dessert, and just enjoyed our time together!

north to see the elephant seals. They are always quite entertaining! Every female had a fairly newborn pup with her and all the older males were going around lookin' for some lovin' or for a fight to protect their territory! We even saw some of the females getting feisty as they protected their babies. There was one pup who had lost his mom and was going from female to female looking for nourishment. He finally found a sleeping mom that he was able to sneak some milk from before she shooed him off.

We left there and headed back south to Cambria for some lunch and then a walk to the tidepools. We saw a lot of starfish, sea anemones, crabs, some seals basking on the rocks, and a squirrel. Just love nature's beauty!

Then we had to hit the road again...

Dawn headed for church in the morning, so I headed into Pismo to pick up some cinnamon rolls. As I headed back to the house, I stopped at the pier for a walk and then went to see the butterflies that take a break from migrating to wherever it is they are heading.

After Dawn got home, she and I had a marathon puzzle afternoon. I said I wouldn't be able to leave unless the puzzle was completed, so with just a break to have dinner, we finally completed it about 10:00 that night. Then, since it was a mystery puzzle, we had to figure out the "who done it?" We got the right answer, but not for the right reasons. Sherlock Holmes we aren't! But we had a lot of fun!

we headed for home. Of course, we had to stop at Olvera Street to get Mark's favorite taquitos.

We had a wonderful weekend! Thanks Dawn and Terry!!

Mark aka Dad/Daddy/Marco/Papa/Babe! The desert portion of the family all got together to celebrate Mark's 55th (how did that happen?) birthday. The request for dinner was pot roast and desert was Kym's great, light cheesecake with cherries or pineapple. Had fun opening his gifts, got sobby over the card from Doug, Kym and girls and cracked up over card from Mom and Bob, and he loved his new UCLA t-shirt Jo! Looking forward to seeing the pool pic from "The Hustler" up on the wall and to movie night to watch the latest "Pirates".

I headed into town to take Nick home. He spent the week with us just doing some fun family stuff, which always includes some skateboarding. I got to spend a little time with the twins, before heading back home.