Posers and Floats

My kids and the nieces and nephews are all the same. WHen I try to get them to pose for group photos, they groan and protest vociferously. But as soon as I snap a couple, they suddenly start hamming it up and I have a hard time getting them to stop!



Carolyn and Craig took the kids to see floats being built for the Rose Parade. Mike and I didn't go, because we were trying to find everything that needed to be packed for the trip home!

Christmas Day cheer

Merry CHristmas morning!!! Ok, so it's late January - but at least I now finally have pictures up! Here's a cute picture of Krista busily checking out all of her loot.
And here's Craig enjoying his treasures. Actually, I think he's unwrapping the present from us.
Grandma and the gand are checking out the calendar. We made them on iPhoto this year and it was so much more of a snap!
Christian and Colin.
Tyler and his stocking.
Mke and Craig received race car track from Grandma and the boys immediately appropriated it for their own use. Eventhe girls had fun with it later. I think Mike and Craig got a turn with it too.
Craig took the girls outside and pushed them up and down the street in the little red wagon. Of course, he also let them go and made them steer on their own too.


Christmas afternoon, Mike, Krista, Craig, Carolyn, corinna and I went down to the Strand and took a nice long walk. Well, the adults walked and the girls 'scootered". It was a lovely afternoon. Mike and I had a great time cheking out all of the houses that have changed over the years and the ones that have not. The property owners have started carving garden space out of the beach side of the Strand. Many o them are very complicated and expansive. Supposedly they are trespassing on city or county property, but that hasn't stopped any of them from making the gardens look like the are priate. Of course, that didn't stop me from freely enjoying them also.

Let there be lights!

Momwanted some pictures of Christmas lights - so here some are! I actually took these pictures in El Segundo - there were WAY more lights strung up there than in my part of SLC> There is a street in ES that changes its name the Christmas Lane or some such for the holiday and every house is decorated. Most of them are cool - very few cheap blowups - mostly things that people have made by hand. Of course my favorite is the penguins.

We bought new Christmas lights for nest year - actually, they will be going up at Halloween, because they are dark purple! It should be pretty cool. Of course I will post those pictures much later.

Smash Up Mike

I don't know if you can enlarge this photo enough to see it really well, but if you look at the very tip of Mike's middle finger, you might see the break.

Sunday after we returned from California, Mike was getting wood from the garage for the wood-burning stove. As he closed the door, there was an interruption and he slammed the doot shut and heard a "crack". He had smashed the tip of his middle finger in the door.

He and I spent about 2 1/2 hours at the emergency room - in a snow storm, of course. But that's a pretty good time for an emergency visit, I must say. And I have had some experience.

It hurts and keeps on hurting. Of course, he kind of likes the idea of it being his middle finger. If there can be any amusement out of the whole thing. And some guy really was driving very badly - Mike riased his hands and shrugged at him. At the next stop light, the guys gets out and wants to know why Mike flipped him off - Mike raises his hand and the guy just looks at him in disbelief! Nope - not flipping you off!