Quiet Home

Well, yesterday morning, Ashley and we were up at 4:30 am to await Sally's arrival to fly with Ashley and the boys to Salt Lake City. Before 5, the boys were in their car seats, hugs were had all around, and Ezra waved as they headed off. Ashley was good enough to tweet and/or call to let us know all had gone well (even though Ezra was a bit squirmy) and they were all reunited with Bryce and Francis.

But for us, and Carolyn in particular, being in our once again quiet home, absent of the cries of Ezra's "Mimi!" or those of Porter wanting to be transfered back into mom's arms, little 'tokens' reminded us of the fun (and challenges) of having the Hales living with us for a month. A binkie in the back seat of the car, a bib draped over the high chair, the miscellaneous Cheerio, our cat seeminly searching for his newest friend, a bedtime story book that won't be re-read for awhile.

Carolyn will be heading to SLC later this month while Bryce is off at a conference, so she will be able to seem them soon, but the daily bath, or request for "up, up", or the walk down to the lake to see the geese through a toddler's eyes - all will be missed. The house is pretty quiet.

Christmas Chaos

The last two weekends have been full of parties and events while at home the construction (and destruction) continue to require that three downstairs rooms remain quarantined by plastic and blue tape and Ashley's old bedroom is in disarray as a new closet is constructed and leaking patio doors repaired. There are very few places not impacted as furniture and items from the now empty rooms fill the remaining rooms to overflowing.

Two weeks ago, it was a friend's Christmas gathering where a twenty foot juniper had been chopped down and all of its 700 pounds somehow wedged through the single entry door and propped and braced in the two story living room. During halftime of the USC-UCLA game, the men mounted 12 and 16 foot ladders to hang the lights while the wives steadied the lower rungs. We all brought a few ornaments to help decorate the "larger than normal" Christmas evergreen. Then it was off to a get together of those going on the artist's cruise to Mexico in later January. While the artists got their itineraries and supply lists, the non-artistic spouses plotted excursions to be taken such as an ATV tour or zip line over the jungle.

This weekend, I spent my Saturday continuing to work on the guest bathroom stripping the remnants of the wallpaper (I have a little more to go) with a deadline to get it completed before our family comes to spend Christmas Eve. Then it was off to the company Holiday party again held at the Fairplex in Pomona. We had a good time, but the dinner serving was somewhat indicitive of the problems within the real estate industry. The salad literally had three leaves and the vegetables consisted of three string beans and one baby carrot. Good thing I like steak!

Sunday, after church, we drove up to Pasadena to visit Ashley, Bryce and Ezra. Bryce was kind enough to take us over the classic city hall where we five took a family Christmas picture although I'm not sure Ezra looked at the camera very often. Then we went to Pei Wei for an early dinner before dessert at the Hales and then home.

Easter

A long and fun day at the Hutchins' home this last Sunday, Easter. We were out of the house quite a bit earlier than the normal Sabbath as we drove to Monarch Beach to pick up Wanda for the 10:30 church service. Since it was expected (and turned out) to be a more crowded service, we got there about twenty minutes early before enjoying both the worship and the sermon.

Then it was home to put in the glazed ham, the potato casserole, and stuffed zucchini for our mid-day meal. Lisa and Katie made it to the house around 1:30 and Ashley and Bryce about a half hour later after Bryce had preached at Christ Church. The meal was great and we enjoyed catching up on Ashley's pregnancy and Katie's college and spring break plans.

Lunch was followed by an egg hunt (mostly chocolate) and then by our Easter tradition of a game of croquet on the common area lawn overlooking the lake. I think I've found my hidden sports talent as I with my black ball streaked through wicket after wicket traversing both 'fairway' and 'rough' so that I was able to reach the last wicket before any of the others had made it halfway. Then I chose to become poison by not hitting the last stake, and instead, searched out the others in my version of a death star. I eliminated them all only to be chastised for my malevolent level of play! Oh, the competition!!

After a second round in which I gladly set aside my mallet, we went back to the house for dessert and then a new game that Ashley and Bryce suggested. We split into two teams, the dream team of Bryce, Katie and Tor, and then the Others, and each person provided a slip of paper for each of four historical/current persons. A team then gave hints to each person's identity and points were awarded for each one ID'd correctly within one minute. Each team taking consecutive turns until all the people were identified. The second round used the same people, but this time, you only could give a one-word description. So, it helped to be able to remember the twenty-eight possibilities. And, finally, the third round used the same people, but this time you had to act out the person with charades. The breadth of pop culture was evident when both Britney Spears and Harry Belafonte were included as choices.

It was pretty funny to watch the charades required for Fannie Flagg or Calvin Coolidge! Everyone had an enjoyable time and all left with leftovers and chocolate.

Christmas Eve

The Regal Beagle - Francis.







Pictures from Christmas at Ashley and Bryce's apartment with the newest Hales.

UPDATE: The full series can be found:
http://flickr.com/photos/fisker/