Memorial Day and Jim's visit

Jim and Rex came for a visit over Memorial Day weekend.  They arrived on Friday afternoon, and we had a great visit over the long weekend.
We mainly took it easy - had leisurely mornings, took walks in the afternoon, worked cross-word puzzles, etc.  Aside from the wind, the weather was great!

We went out to dinner on Saturday evening to the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco.  One of our favorite restaurants, and Jim's, too.  We had a great dinner, and Rex sure enjoyed the leftovers!  Thanks, Jim, for a great birthday dinner!

Sadly, Jim and Rex have headed home, hoping to beat the worst of the holiday traffic.  Thanks for coming, we sure enjoyed your visit!

Lunch on the deck!

Rex

Resting on his chair

Yesterday's walk along the coastal trail.  The wind made the weather really cool along the ocean

Giant tire at Dunes beach

We took a little break at this park

The guys, with Rex hitching a ride!

Snake!

Heading home! 

Drive safely and thanks for coming!

May in Moss Beach

And the garden is happy!  All of the deck furniture is out, the umbrellas are up, and we are once again enjoying our outdoor living area!  Come and join us for a glass of wine on the deck!

My newest wind chime!  Thanks, Don and Waneta - it's a very cheerful wind chime!

The bleeding heart came back up this spring, and is booming profusely

My new favorite annual - the Linaria!  We got it last March at the SF Flower and Garden show.  It's so cheerful and fragrant!  It bloomed from March to September last year.  On my list of plants to buy when we got back from NZ this year, was the Linaria.  But, when we got home and were wandering around the yard, we discovered about a dozen linarias, blooming away in the rocks!  I dug them up and planted them in this pot.  That night, some critter dug them up looking for grubs, or something.  I replanted them.  They got dug up again.  I finally piled rocks on all of the exposed dirt!  I won!  They are blooming happily on the deck

In spite of the fence work and the trellises leaning forward for weeks, the clematis are blooming away

More clematis, on the other side of the yard

Peonies!!  They are up and blooming!

These double peonies are also fragrant!

They make great cut flowers, and keep the plants from falling over with heavy blooms

Our psoralia - it's covered with little lavender blooms that smell just like grape kool-aid!

Our nod to edible gardening - a zucchini plant!  It's growing well and has blooms, but we probably won't get any zucchini until September, when we get our warm weather

Bryan and Peter got us these cheerful African daisies last year when they visited.  You can tell that they are very happy

Roses in the front yard

Roses and lavender

Lee's Meyer lemon!  He bought it several years ago, bare-root and half-dead.  This tree is a tribute to Lee's green thumb!  It's got blooms, ripe lemons and green lemons on it, all at once.  Lemons, anyone?

Long Beach and Nathan's new apartment

We flew to Long Beach on May 10th, to spend a week with Nathan, help him find an apartment and get moved into it during his 10 day house-hunting leave.  One of the many pleasures of retirement is being able to take off and do things like this!

We arrived Tuesday evening, and Don picked us up at the LB airport.  We went back to the motel, caught up with Nathan, and heard about the rest of their trip, after San Jose.  The motel was in Seal Beach, a great little community, right on the ocean, and very close to Long Beach.  Don took us all out to dinner Tuesday night, and we had a great time at Claim Jumper - a chain of restaurants that we had heard great things about.  The food was great and we had a good time.

Wednesday morning we walked to Main Street had breakfast and checked the area out.  Nathan had to go back to the base, and Don had a noon flight home, so the morning went by quickly.  After they left, Lee and I went back into town, browsed some of the shops and walked to the end of the pier.  It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed being outside.

Nathan and Cathi had found a condo on Craig's list that sounded promising, and Nathan had corresponded via e-mail with the owner, and was pretty sure that this was THE place to be.  So, Wednesday afternoon we met up with Doug to check it out.  It's a great condo, right on the beach, very close to downtown Long Beach.  One bedroom, living, dining, and TONS of great storage!  There's covered parking and laundry facilities on-site.  There's a huge common deck with furniture and a bar-b-que, and right down the steps is the beach!  Pretty much ideal!  Nathan told Doug he would take it, and then our next question was:  when can he move in? 

Doug had made arrangements to have the apartment completely painted first, so he said that we could get the key on Sunday.  The next two days were very busy!  Nathan had an appointment to take his Scion to the dealership to get his transmission fixed, as it was grinding.  They gave him a brand new Nissan Altima rental car, and told him that his car would probably be ready by the following Tuesday.

From there we went to Ross, where we began the process of outfitting Nathan's new home.  Sheets, towels, dishes, etc., etc., etc.  It's not easy to start from scratch!  And it's costly!  But Nathan had been saving for the last couple of years, and was ready to start the next phase of his life.

Nathan needed furniture, so on Thursday we went to IKEA!  It was Lee's first experience there, and for those of you who have never visited an IKEA, they certainly have the whole merchandising thing down!  They start you on the 3rd fllor, with a map, and then lead you through the next two floors of furnishings and finally to check out and pick up!  Their prices are great.  However, you provide the labor, as everything comes in boxes and needs to be assembled!  Fortunately, Nathan's grandfather, Don Sr., had gone with him while he was at home to get a well outfitted tool box!  It got LOTS of use!

Nathan picked out bedroom furniture, living room furniture and also for the dining room.  After checking out and arranging delivery for Monday morning, we continued on to Target to finish off our list - cleaning supplies, paper goods, etc., etc., etc.  At this point our motel room was getting pretty full - all of our purchases AND all of the items that had traveled with Nathan in his car.  Oh, yes - and our luggage!

While all of this was going on, Nathan was making arrangements with the moving company to have his household good from Cordova delivered, and getting his vehicle registered in CA. We had lots of "to do" lists!

By Saturday, we had done everything we could so took the weekend off!  Nathan went to a great hockey store in Anaheim and got all set up to play roller hockey.  Lee and I went into Belmont Shores and then walked along the beach to Nathan's new apartment, where we could see the painters working away!

Sunday was more of the same - breakfast, relax, go for a walk, etc., etc, while waiting for Doug to call us and give us the keys!  The car was loaded and our plan was to empty the motel room into the condo on Sunday evening.  Nathan had wisely extended our motel stay for Sunday night, so we didn't plan on staying at the Condo.

Doug finally called about 6:30 pm and told us that we could come and get the keys, but that the painters weren't quite finished - ACK!!  We went over, and sure enough - the floors were still covered, painting stuff was everywhere, and it became apparent that we would NOT be bringing additional loads over that evening.

Monday IKEA was scheduled to deliver the furniture between 8 - 12:00.  We got to the condo with another load, and I stayed there while Nathan and Lee went back to get the rest of our stuff and check out of the motel.  The painters arrived at 9:30.  I asked them to clear the bedroom so that IKEA could put stuff in there, which they did.  They then began finishing up the kitchen and bathroom.  Nathan, Lee and I went for a walk, while waiting for the painters to finish and IKEA to call. 

The call came in about 11:00, so we walked back.  The furniture came at 11:30.  The painters had cleared the living room and were finishing up and were out of there by noon.  We had boxes of furniture everywhere!  Nathan's household goods were scheduled to be delivered the next day, so we had a LOT to do!  Nathan and Lee started the assembling of the bedroom furniture.  The first piece they put together was the desk, which seemed to take forever!  I got busy cleaning!  The Condo was freshly painted, but the kitchen and bathroom were badly in need of a good cleaning!

So, on Monday and Tuesday, a housefull of furniture got assembled, the condo got a through cleaning, the household goods came and Nathan's car was ready to be picked up!  The excellent news there was that the replacement of his transmission was covered under warranty!  Phew!

Wednesday morning Nathan had to get his car smogged and registered.  Lee and I finished up some of the last minute details.  We had a great lunch at Chili's (thanks, Nathan!), and had some time to relax and enjoy Nathan's great new living space before it was time to head for the airport and home.

It was great fun to be able to assist in this every large endeavor - I had forgotten what it's like to start with nothing!!  We are looking forward to visiting again, soon, and taking advantage of the deck, beach, and Nathan's great hospitality!

As they say on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition:  Welcome home, Nathan Murphy, welcome home!

The Sharks beat Detroit in round two of the Stanley Cup play-offs, and go on to play Vancouver in the third round.  Nathan is happy about this!

Nathan's condo, from the beach

The view from the beach

Here's the great biking/running/walking path that goes from Long Beach to Seal Beach

Oh, my!  LOTS of boxes!

Assembling the top of the desk

Finished desk base

Nathan, assembling one of his dining room chairs

Ok, now for the bed!  It's a great chest bed, with 4 large drawers under it

Done!  Still to go - two small chest of drawers - one for each side of the bed

One of the sofas - covered in black cordoury

The second sofa - this one makes into a queen-sized bed.  Nathan is hoping to have LOTS of company!  I have a feeling he's going to need a calendar for his guests!

His dining room set, with my birthday flowers!

The CLEAN kitchen!!

The living room.  I suspect that at some point Nathan will add a flat screen TV...  but at this point he plans on enjoying lots of outdoor activities.  I think he's going to be a So. Cal guy!

Thanks, Nathan!  We'll be back!!

Our visit with the Richey/Lawson's

Saturday afternoon we left the Murphy's, and drove to Bellingham to visit with the Richey/Lawson's.  We had seen Val, Dave and Hailey at Nathan's dinner, but were looking forward to spending some time with them, and Lindsay, Jacob and Madi, too

Since Sunday was Mother's Day, we spent Saturday afternoon with about a million other people, at Costco, provisioning for our Mother's Day lunch.  I have to admit that I have never been in a Costco as busy as that one was, but we were successful in our "hunting and gathering".

Dave bar-b-qued dinner that night, and we had a nice, quiet evening. 

On Sunday we got ready for Mother's Day and waited for Lindsay, Jacob, Madi, and Cathi and her kids to arrive.  It was so fun to have everyone together!  But, we missed Cody, Kelsey, Don and Nathan!  We ate lots and lots, including strawberry cheesecake, and the "littles" had great fun playing together.  We got some great photo opportunities, too!  I was very spoiled on Mother's Day, as the girls and their families gave me a gift certificate to Half Moon Bay Nursery!!  We are looking forward to going shopping there!  What a wonderful, thoughtful gift!  Thanks you guys!

Later that afternoon the weather cleared up and we were able to be outside.  Madi wanted to ride her little pink 4-wheeler.  She rode by herself for awhile, with Dad holding on to the back of the bike for dear life!  Madi definitely knows what the throttle is, and wants it full-out!  Needless to say, the mean adults wouldn't allow that, and she got very frustrated with her passengers when they insisted on controlling her speed!  I have no doubt that it won't be long before she has enough control to ride by herself.  Fortunately, she has full-body armor, as I'm sure that she will take a spill or two!  After the 4-wheeler was put away, Madi rode her minature pony, Kyla - much slower!

Val and Dave have been enjoying riding together in the evenings, and had been hauling their horses to an arena.  Since they have room, they decided to build their own!  For Mother's Day, Dave had arena sand delivered, and spent many hours getting it smoothed out and ready for use.  Now they can saddle up and be ready to ride, without driving anywhere!  Not sure how the horses feel about that...

On Tuesday we had to say goodbye to everyone, and drive to Seattle, where we caught a flight to Long Beach for the next phase of our trip.  More about that, later!

Thanks so much you guys!  We had a great time visiting with you and can't wait to see you in July!

Moms!  Valarie, Lindsay (expecting a daughter in August) me and Cathi!

Grandkids!  Lindsay, Sean, Dylan and Hailey - note that they ALL have their cell phones!

And the "littles" in on the action as well!  Lindsay with Madi - our great granddaughter, Sean, hailey, Patience, Dylan and Jordyn

And we briefly captured Nick for this shot!  He's more of an action guy - sitting and posing for pictures is not high on his list of things to do!  But this picture has 7 of our 10 grandchildren

Cathi, Nick, Patience and Madi

Madi is not appreciating the fact that her Mom won't let her control her speed.

And here's Dad, running behind Madi as she controls not only her speed, but also her direction.

Valarie and Stetson in the new arena

Great job on the arena, Dave!  And a gift that will get a LOT of use!

Madi, at the end of the day.  Needless to say, I loved having her asleep in my lap

Lots of fun, great pictures, great memories!!

Thanks, you guys!

Our visit with the Murphy's

On May 4th, we flew up to Seattle, rented a car, and then drove to Aldergrove, BC, to visit with Cathi, Don and kids.  There were lots of events going on, and we wanted to be there and join in, and visit with everyone.

First, Nathan was there.  He was in the process of transferring from Cordova, AK, to Long Beach, CA, and after spending many days on the Alaskan Marine Ferry, he finally arrived home for a short leave.

He totally enjoyed visiting with his family and friends, and the "littles", Patience, Jordyn and Nick, loved the time and attention that he gave them, to help make up for all he had missed while he was away from home.  Needless to say, everyone was enjoying having Nathan home.

One of the things that Nathan did was to invite his "important people" out to dinner.  We went to Everson and ate at Herb Neimans Steak House.  Steaks are king there, and they are among the best we've ever had.  We all had a fabulous time - and it didn't hurt that in addition to the two bottles of wine we ordered, two more were delivered to our table, compliments of Herb himself, and a long-time customer that is a friend of Dave's.  Thanks, Nathan!  What a generous thing for you to do!

Dinner was on May 5th, which also happened to be Cathi's birthday, so we had lots of reasons to celebrate!  Dylan, bless his heart, took care of the "littles" for us, so we had an "adult" evening.  Sean unfortunately had a jazz concert that night, so wasn't available to join us.  While we were enjoying ourselves at dinner, Dylan and the girls whipped up a birthday cake for Cathi, and decorated it!  It was great to come home and celebrate her birthday with a cake.  Thanks, Dylan!

This will be a birthday that Cathi won't soon forget!  Not only because Nathan was home, and her cake and dinner, but, earlier that day, Cathi, Nathan, Dylan and I went to the mall to do some shopping.  We were in Payless Shoe Source, Nathan had gone up to pay for his shoes, Cathi and I were still browsing, when we heard gunshots being fired and people screaming!  We were quickly herded into the back room, along with the other customers and staff, and the heavy steel door was shut and locked!  We found out that armed men had robbed the jewelery store, which was pretty darned close to where we were!  There were about 25 people in the back room, including two double strollers with babies.  We waited for about 45 minutes, and then security led us out the back door, and we were able to leave via the loading dock.  Nathan and Dylan graciously carried the two double strollers and their occupants down the flight of stairs.  The moms were very appreciative!

They did catch the criminals, and no one was seriously hurt, thankfully!  But, what an experience! 

After our action-packed Thursday, Friday was a joint birthday party for Patience and Jordyn!  Patience's birthday was on the 9th.  Six little girls came, all dressed in party clothes, for the "Garden Party".  Don Sr. had made bird houses for he girls to paint, and Cathi had gotten some adorable pots and plants to put in them as well.  Everyone had a great time!  Waneta brought all the paints and helped with the painting.  The bird houses turned out great, as did the potted Alyssums.  After presents, cake and lots of playing, 6 happy little girls headed home.

Patience got her family birthday presents that evening, and she was a very happy 7 year old!  Jordyn didn't quite understand that the joint birthday party with friends didn't extend to the family gifts.  She got some gifts, too, but as she'd had her birthday in February, they didn't quite measure up.

On Saturday morning the Murphy family had an appointment to have family portraits taken!  We were all up, showered, fed, dressed, and out the door by 9:30 am!  Quite a feat for 10 people, let me tell you!  The photo shoot was scheduled to be outside, and of course, it was raining!  But the photographer took us to a location with a great covered area, and she got some great shots, both individual and group!

After family portraits, Don and Nathan left for California!  They stopped along the way in San Jose and caught a Sharks play-off game, one of the things on Nathan's "bucket list".  Unfortunately, they didn't win, but at least they were there.

Next stop was Long Beach, where Nathan will be posted at a Coast Guard Small Boat station for the next 4 years.  He reported on May 10th, then began his 10 day house-hunting/moving leave.  More about that later!

Thanks, you Murphy's, for a wonderful, if short, visit!  We had a great time and so enjoyed seeing all of you!  Can't wait to see you again in July!

Nathan's "important people"  From the left, Cathi; Mark Cutler, Leslie Smith, Aunt Valarie, me, Lee, Uncle Dave, Alex Cutler, Nathan, cousin Hailey and Don

Our gracious, handsome host!

Alex and Nathan - they have been best friends since second grade

Nathan and Hailey

Nathan and proud parents

Nathan and proud grandparents

Lee and Uncle Dave

Valarie, me and Cathi

The Cutlers with their "second" son

Cathi's birthday cake and her children.  Sean was still dressed from his concert

Painting bird houses!

All of the girls loved this activity!  It was fun to see the colors they chose

Jordyn, concentrating on her birdhouse

And Patience, doing a great job!

Very colorful bird houses for some lucky birds!

Waneta helping with potting the Alyssums

Present time!

Jordyn got Disney princesses!

The birthday cake!  All of the adults agreed that this was the best cake we had ever tasted!  Thanks, Waneta, for bringing it!

Patience's American Girl, Kit!

And a bed for Kit, that Don Sr. made, along with bedding that Waneta made

Bedtime for Kit!

Jordyn opening her gifts

It turned out that Don had made two beds, so Jordyn got one, too.  Her Grandma is going to make her special bedding, too

And Patience got a bike!  That Nick loved!!

Happy birthday, Patience, and what a great party!