Stupendous Saturday!

Dave did this 2 days in a row….have to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and guests from the midwest. We have had a lot of cool and cold weather relatively speaking. We feel chilled if it dips below 65! 

Lunch guests. I am so glad that one of their grandmas lives in CA not too far from us.

Sweet Yehzie who has found her thumb. 3 1/2 months.

Just had to post our weather for the past two days :) But as you can see "winter" returns next week!

Minah and Minzie loving picking fruit in our yard. Minzie very sadly said," We don't have any fruit in our yard."

A nice warm day means a trip to the local frozen yogurt place.

Finally tried avocado fudge. It was tasty but I would choose fudge made with good ole' butter!

These people really made our day!

A little strange but that is how we like them!

Yehzie modeling one of my hats. All bundled up for our outdoor dining and sitting around the fire.  It was wonderful to have our special friends from WI who are family to us :) When they moved to Waukesha they were a couple and we watched them become the parents of 1, 2, 3 special girls. 

February Fun

    Feb 1st was a wonderful day…..Shane and Nikelle came to stay for a week. My cousins Tim and Andrea ( from WI) came for the weekend after being in Vegas for work. Then Nikelle's parents, Randy & Brenda( from CO) joined us for an extended weekend. Finally, Nikelle's sister Summer & Mike (hubby) joined us from N. CA.
   Saturday we went on a whale watching trip out of Dana Point. It was a slow day for whale viewing but a few made their appearance at the end of the trip. Overcast day but fun with family!
   I guess if you live in S. Cali long enough you will run into celebrities. I probably have seen some without recognizing them! Summer was the star stalker of this trip…. that man in the photo below is Joel David Moore- he is a character in the TV series "Bones". He seemed to be too busy romancing the girl to watch for whales!

Andrea and Tim

Family bonding on the ocean:)

Saturday supper on the patio. Apparently once you have lived here long enough you no longer eat outside on chilly nights…. wimps! We fired up the 2 patio heaters and the fire pit and partied!

Nikelle, Shane, Mike, Summer, Randy&Brenda

The Garners minus 1. Missed you Tristan!

Cousins

Poor Dave had to work so I took the kids to the zoo. We rushed to the panda exhibit first since Mom and 6 month old baby were on display only form 9-12. Well as you can see they were snoozing!

This polar bear was very entertaining. He was trying to kill and drown this barrel- after multiple attempts he gave up.

Nikelle and I rushed back to the panda exhibit for one last look. We got to see this little guy try to climb down the tree and fall off the branch! He does this a lot and was unfazed. Then he hung out in the flowers. He is the 6th cub from that 1 panda mom. The most successful breeding program ever. Kind of tricky since mama is only fertile 1-3 days per YEAR. 

Post lunch napping. I love the close up of the hand.  At first I wondered why they were so close to the glass… well there are heat lamps only by the viewing area. Very clever!

Madelyn was cute too. There are 21 Galapagos turtles at that zoo. Many of them were brought there in 1928. They figure they are between 100-150 years old. They move verrrrrry slowly. You would move slowly also if your heart only beats 6 times per minute!

Taking the cheetah for a stroll. What a pretty kitty!

No this is not a zebra. This is Shane trying to stay warm in our cold CA house.  Those tile floors on the slab are chilly.

Shane at the beach. Please pardon these photos- they are out of order and I don't feel like messing with them!

The hike near our house. the back side of the mountain had a view of lavender fields. We smelled them before we saw them. At first, Nikelle thought she smelled french fries- what! Must have been wishful thinking ;)

Mountain lion track. Shane and Nikelle tried to tell me it is a few dog tracks but my interpretation is much more exciting!

That new iphone takes amazing panoramic shots.

Simple pleasures!

Candy land with Nejelys. No one lost- there were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place winners…..hmmmm

"Grandpa" Dave

Carlsbad beach 

Told you these were out of order- one of our whale sightings.

Carlsbad Beach

On the way to the airport- one last walk at the beach.

Whale watching trip again

Sat after the whale watching trip Ron and Terri Bone came for supper. Brenda and Terri grew up together.

Credit goes to Nikelle for this beautiful photo ( and other photos)

The moms

My boy

Brenda's girl

Shell hunting

Love this couple and miss them!

Then there were 3…..

   4 K's- Keith, Karen, Kevin, Kristi…. Two sets of children were born to Ralph and Helen Enge: Keith and Karen 2 years apart in age then a 7 year gap before Kevin and Kristi were born 2 years apart. That was just the way it was! Now we have lost our oldest "K".  We were a family of 6 and now we are a family of 3.

                    Keith Ralph Enge   Sept 18, 1949 - Feb 5, 2013
      I really only remember him as an adult due to the 11 year difference in age. I was 7 when he went away to college. I do remember being very excited when he came home and not wanting to leave him at college. He was basically a genius whose favorite word was "basically"! He lived at home on and off during my growing up years.  He was the best tutor for geometry and physics homework. He was a gentle soul who loved to read, work on his war games, program on his computer and ride his bike. Perhaps I couldn't relate to him as far as life goals but he meant no harm.  What I found important in life didn't always agree with his list. After Keith died, my sister said, "He was content with his life. It is only when we apply our standards to his life that he comes up short." So true.

    Keith suffered a massive ischemic stroke on Friday Feb 1st. It left him with damage to 60% of the right side of his brain. He could speak but not swallow. His left side was paralyzed and didn't exist for him. The right brain is your cognitive and reasoning side and so much more. My other brother Kevin found him and called 911. He was told that the likelihood of Keith surviving this stroke was slim and if he did he would never be independent. A long term care setting would be his next and final stop. He made it through the initial critical hours and days.  Kevin was able to chat with him and Keith was able to make his wishes known. Monday Feb 4th Keith left the Intensive Care Unit because he was stable.  On Tuesday Kevin received a call that Keith was completely unresponsive. A CT scan showed massive brain edema. Within a few hours Keith was gone. It just doesn't seem possible that we have lost our brother 8 months after losing our mother.
    The three of us decided that Keith would be cremated.  We plan to have a private memorial with immediate family only at a later date.  This may not be the "norm" but it felt right to us. Nothing showy-just family sitting around the table sharing memories and love. Farewell my big brother…..

Fabulous Fifty Tea Party

    I just love that I have time now for fun activities like tea with the ladies! We helped Colleen celebrate her 50th birthday with a tea and hat gala. The lovely table and  few of the goodies….

The birthday "girl"- Colleen

Marilyn, Jane and Lynnae  

Me and Julie

Jeanette and Marilyn

Colleen and our hostess Jeanie

Jeanie and Ann

And so we had a very nice time sipping tea and eating sandwiches and sweets ( the best part of a tea in my opinion)! Sitting around chatting and catching up on "news" was fabulous. Now back to reality- house to clean, laundry to do, and yard work to accomplish…. Lots of company this weekend! Shane and Nikelle are coming for the entire week! Yippee! We ordered great weather for them- sunny and 70 today with high 70's the end of this week. Love this S. Cali climate!