A white Christmas morning...

This is what we woke up to on Christmas morning. Lots and lots of snow as you can see from the pictures below. Adding to the snow that had fallen the days before, it was about 24 inches deep. And with the drifting, it was deeper in some spots. I particularly like the picture of the mailbox filled with snow.

It was amazing how much snow collected on the tree branches including the apples on the tree!

Nicholas...

has found his thumb

or his fingers and hand.

He's just adorable and growing so fast!

Let it snow...

This is what the front yard looked like yesterday. A real winter wonderland. It was cloudy all day and much colder than Monday when we had some sunshine. Last night more snow was

predicted during the night and this morning. And...

this is what we woke up to this morning. My how the front yard changed. And it's still snowing. We heard on the news this morning that it's supposed to snow another 10-15 centimeters today and tonight. They must be right since it is still snowing.

Here's two more pictures of our winter wonder land.

It's really pretty but it's getting to be a bit much now. I just looked out the window and the trampoline has a foot of snow on it now!

Fun with Santa...

Last Sunday we went to see Santa at the berry farm which is right across the street from the tree farm. The girls were very excited and got dressed up for the occasion. Here's Patience and her Mom waiting for Santa to arrive in front of the Christmas tree.

Baby Nicholas even got to see Santa. He was very good and didn't even cry although I couldn't get him to smile for the camera.

Here's Jordyn with Santa not looking to sure about the situation. In fact, she didn't want to sit on his lap but changed her mind when she saw that he was giving out candy canes to everyone that sat with him.

And Patience could hardly wait to sit on his lap. She was so excited when Santa came in. She was jumping up and down in front of him and was the first to sit on his lap.

Don and Nathan even got to sit on Santa's lap. I wonder what they asked Santa to bring them?

The berry farm was decorated and very festive. We enjoyed looking around and having hot drinks. And of course we had to buy some pies to take home for dessert on Sunday evening.

From the frozen tundra...

This is what we saw when we landed in Seattle this past Thursday.  We were on our way to Bellingham and had to make a connection at Seattle.  The flight was delayed out of San Francisco by 2 hours because of the snow storm so we just made our connection walking off of one plane and on to the next.

Cathi met us at the airport in Bellingham and then we drove on to Aldergrove, Canada. Surprisingly the roads were not too bad.  However, it is very cold and hasn't been above freezing since we arrived.

The next day on Friday we drove to Seattle to pick up Nathan since he had 4 days off beginning on Saturday.  Interstate 5 was clear for the most part with only one section that was pretty icy.

Coming back we saw the bus accident in Seattle where 2 buses slid down the hill and almost over the barrier above I-5 onto the freeway.  You might have seen coverage of it on the news on TV.

This is what the front yard looked like on Friday morning.  Notice the snow coming over the eave. It looks as though the roof has been frosted like icing on a cake.

Last night after we got back and had dinner, we decorated the family Christmas tree.

Here's a picture of Grandma and Nicholas just before we began decorating the tree.  Nick is wearing one of his Christmas presents.  Doesn't he look cute.

All of the kids helped to decorate the tree including Nicholas.  Here he is helping with the lights. He thought it was great fun and was fascinated by the lights.

The girls were very excited and had lots of fun deciding where to hang the decorations.  Jordyn liked putting the decorations on the back side of the tree.

Here they are after the tree was decorated all smiles with the exception of Jordyn who hardly ever smiles for pictures.

And here's a family picture in front of the tree.  It's a great picture.  Nicholas was a bit tired at this point as you can see.  It's amazing how the young ones have grown including Nicholas who is almost 3 months old now.  My how time flies.

Here's a picture of Nicholas all ready for Christmas in his Christmas stocking.  Doesn't he look cute.  Pat's friend Dani knitted it for him and has knitted stockings for the girls as well.  It's great to see all the stockings hanging on the fireplace.

Well it's Saturday evening here with the temperature about 12oF.  Snow is predicted overnight and into tomorrow.  It's predicted to snow about 4-6 inches tonight.  Then freezing rain is to follow so it will really be a slippery mess then.  However we are set for supplies so will be able to hold up for a few days if necessary.  So I'll write more later with an update on how things are going.

Some pre-Christmas cheer...

We met Sue, Jon, and Jacob yesterday afternoon in San Francisco at Union Square to celebrate our Christmas together since we will be away at Christmas.

The weather had turned really cold with rain showers but we were lucky as it didn't rain while we were in the city. However it was quite cold even though it was only 4:30 pm when we met. So we wandered about looking at all the decorations which was quite festive.

The city was very crowded with lots of people out and about. The sidewalks were so crowded you could hardly walk and we had to wait for a turn to look at the window displays at Macy's. Lots of traffic as well so we were glad that we took BART into the city.

We went into Nieman Marcus to look at the huge tree they have in their foyer and all of the other decorations in the store. We had a wander through the store and then decided to go on to the Grand Cafe where we had dinner reservations even though we were a bit early. Since it was so cold we didn't want to wander any more.

Our dinner reservation was for 6:15 pm and we arrived at 5:45 pm and they were able to seat us right away. So we had a wonderful dinner. We shared 2 different desserts which topped off dinner and the evening.

We left the restaurant about 7:30 pm heading for BART and the city was still buzzing with traffic and people. But we had a great time and are looking forward to next year when we can meet again to maybe go to a show and dinner afterwards to celebrate Christmas together.

Merry Christmas Sue, Jon, and Jacob...

Dinner at the Grand Cafe

Macy's decorations
The Christmas tree at Union Square

What's been happening with us...

It's been a long time since we posted, so here goes! We've been very busy visiting family and enjoying retirement. Had a great trip to NJ to see Nathan graduate from boot camp, followed by a 10 day trip to Aldergrove and Everson.
We were there for Madi's first birthday, and to visit with Cody, who was home on leave. It was fabulous, as we got to see ALL of our grandchildren - something that's going to become more rare as they all begin their own lives. We now have 4 grandchildren who have graduated from highschool! And of course, having a great granddaughter brings a whole new perspective! :) It's a strange feeling to have a child who is a grand parent - we MUST be old!

We spent Thanksgiving in Grover Beach with Jim and Gary and Joyce. We had a great time, and the first time in a long time that we were just able to visit without having work to do. Friday after Thanksgiving we all did the night tour of Hearst Castle. That had long been a dream of Gary's, and we were all able to share in it. It was just fantastic! All decorated for the holidays, and to make it more authentic, there were docents in period clothing wandering about, the way they would have been in the 1930's. It was a great experience!

After the tour we went to the Cambria Pines Lodge for dinner, which was very, very yummy, and we got the nice waiter to take our picture.

We left Jim's on Monday and drove to Carmel. We had a wander around there, then on to Monterey, where we spent the night. Tuesday morning we went to the aquarium, which was just fantastic! As you'll see from the pictures, we LOVED the jelly fish!We'll definitely be returning to the aquarium.

The rest of last week was spent doing laundry and yard work and enjoying the great weather by taking long hikes. I finally lost the extra pounds I put on over Thanksgiving!
Friday we went to the Flight Attendants luncheon - an annual event, and it was great that I was able to go, too. Friday night we went into Half Moon Bay for their "Night of Lights". Main Street was closed and there was live music, carolling, roasted chestnuts and marshmallows, a parade and lots of activities for the kids. It was a real small town America event, and we really enjoyed it. We ended the evening at Sushi Main Street. Yum!

Yes, life is GOOD!!


Thanksgiving dinner at Jim's.


One of the many decorated trees at Hearst Castle


Hearst Castle at night

Pointsetta Christmas tree

Dinner at the Cambria Pines Lodge after the tour of the castle

Jim and Rex on Pismo Beach

Penguins at the Monterey Aquarium

Lunch time!

Sea Dragons - relatives of the seahorse. How's that for camoflauge?

Jelly Fish! In a controlled environment!

More Jelly Fish

And more Jelly Fish

Can you tell that we really, really liked the Jelly fish?

Lee under the wave!

And one more Moon Jelly!

After a yummy dinner at the Fish Hopper

Welcome Nicholas David Murphy...

Nicholas David Murphy

Great granddaughter Madilyn

Grandma, Patience, and Jordyn

We arrived in Canada on Wednesday September 24th. Baby Nicholas was scheduled to be born on September 29 with a cesarean surgery. We decided to come a few days early to help with the family and also just in case Nicholas decided to come early.

On our way to Canada, we changed planes in Seattle and called our son-in-law, Don, to let him know that we would be on the 1:30 pm flight arriving in Bellingham. He was picking us up and we were traveling on a stand-by ticket so needed to let him know what flight we would be on. He told us that we were grandparents again but we didn't believe him since he is always joking around with us. After talking with him a while, we determined that he wasn't joking!

He had to take Cathi to the hospital about 4 am that morning as natural birth had begun. However the baby was not in the birth canal. Natural child birth was not possible so he was delivered with a major cesarean surgery since it was scheduled anyhow. Nicholas was born at 6:37 am.

After Don picked us up, we picked up the rest of the family and went to met Nicholas for the first time. Here is a link to more pictures of Nicholas. Cathi was doing remarkably well when we saw her at the hospital considering the surgery. She and the baby came home two days later on Friday after convincing the doctor to release them a day early. She was ready to come home!

So we have been busy helping to take care of the family while Cathi recuperates. Patience and Jordyn, 4 and 2, keep us busy and require a lot of attention. They go to pre-school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I’ve been taking them to/from school. Dylan and Sean, 16 and 13, are both in high school and are involved in school activities so need a bit of chauffeuring around as well.

There are a lot of domestics involved with a family of 7 so that keeps us pretty busy. Cathi has been a great help doing what she can and Don helps as much as he can in between working on his computer business and his Christmas tree farm getting trees ready for sale.

Last Saturday we went to Bellingham for the weekend to visit with the Richey’s (Pat’s oldest daughter and family). We got to see everyone but Cody which was nice since the 3 oldest grandchildren are on their own now. We even got to see our great-granddaughter, Madilyn. She is such a sweetie and always has a smile for you. Here is a link to some pictures of Madilyn, and her mom, great-grandma, and aunt.

We took Cathi to the doctor this past Thursday for her checkup. The doctor said she was doing remarkably well and was one of her “stars.” He released her to drive so she picked the girls up from pre-school that day.

Last Monday the girls had a field trip with their class to Dave’s Apple Farm. They had a great time learning about and picking all the fruits and vegetables. We were lucky with the weather as it wasn’t raining but just overcast and cloudy. Here’s a link to some pictures of the field trip. The next day they talked all about the field trip in class and even had some of the vegetables and fruits they picked to pass around for class.

Yesterday we took the girls to Krause’s Berry Farm which is across the street from the house. It was a beautiful warm sunny day so the girls had a great time playing in the big sand box they have. There are always other kids playing in the box so they make friends and play together.

The weather has turned cold and fall is in the air. We had two mornings of frost and had to scrape the car windows before we could go to school last Friday. The leaves are turning and beginning to fall. Everyone here is saying that it is going to be an early winter since it’s gotten so cold so early.

We got a call from Nathan yesterday evening. He’s away at boot camp for the US Coast Guard in Cape May, New Jersey. He’s begun his 6th week of training and will be graduating on October 31st. We’re going to his graduation and looking forward to seeing his graduation ceremony. He’s doing well and had passed his physical and academic tests. He’s going to be stationed in Seattle so that is good news since he will be so close to home so will be able to see his family and friends more often being so close.

If all goes well here this week, we’re planning on going back home the end of this week. The family is doing great. We’ll be back to Canada on the 31st since Nathan is coming home for a few days leave after graduation from boot camp. Then we’re going to our great-granddaughter’s 1st birthday party on November 8th. Also Cody, our oldest grandson, will be home on leave from the Air Force. It will be good to see and visit with him since we haven’t seen him since June.