More Sailing Pictures

Sailing

On Saturday, Ian and LaDonne (Tom's twin brother and his wife) came to Monterey. Kelly (Tom's boss) has a sailboat and took us all out sailing on the ocean. It was amazing! I was worried about Addison getting sea sick, but he did great. He got to sound the horn as we left the harbor. He spent most of his time out on the nets with Ian. We saw sea otters, sea lions, and dolphins! There were about 6 or 7 dolphins swimming together and we could see their fins rise and fall as they traveled. It was a beautiful day, and the rained stayed away until we were almost back in the harbor.

Trick or Treating

OK - so apparently I took a lot of pictures of our Halloween activities.
Some friends from the ward invited us to go trick or treating in their neighborhood because we don't really have a neighborhood. We have neighbors, sort of, but it's kind of a hike to get anywhere where we live. It was a lot of fun. They had the perfect neighborhood. Addison has never made such a haul on Halloween.

Fall Festival

I was in charge of the Fall Festival for the second grade at Addison's school. We had about 175 kids and it was really crazy, but the kids had a lot of fun. Addison was Anakin Skywalker and his friend Nick was Darth Vader. We had a parade, face painting, cake walk, and lots of other games.

Trunk or Treat

On the Saturday before Halloween, our ward had a trunk-or-treat. First they had games and activities inside and then we went outside for treats. Addison had a blast. The last picture is Addison with his primary teachers, Brother and Sister King. He thinks they're the coolest - and they are.

Treasures We Find At Goodwill

We went to the Goodwill in Pacific Grove the other day and found some treasures. I got a Santa Cruz t-shirt and some running shorts and Addison found a C3P0 costume. Sure, it's a little small, but we had never seen a C3P0 costume before. I washed it 3 times and now he's wearing it as much as he can before it will absolutely not fit over his body anymore.

Addison Dancing

Addison likes to boogie. These are a few of his best moves!

Earthquake!

Did you hear about the earthquake? It measured 5.6 on the Richter scale and we felt it at our house. I guess it was only a matter of time. I mean, we're in California now, right? I was reading to Addison just before bed and I felt things shaking. I said something to Addison and it scared him, so I convinced him (and myself) that it was just a really strong wind. Then I got a text from Ellen asking if I felt the earthquake. It was one of the biggest they've ever had on that particular fault. Pretty crazy.

Homework at the Beach

On Tuesday we were going to go to the farmer's market, but had some time to kill between school and the farmer's market opening, so we decided to go to the beach to do Addison's homework while we waited. Addison finished his homework and started playing in the water and, of course, the farmer's market was forgotten. He started out practicing his Karate Kid crane technique in the water with the strict warning that he was not to get his clothes wet because he had nothing to change into. Yeah, right. One big wave was all it took to get him drenched and then he was jumping in and under the waves. While we were there, four or five jellyfish washed up onto the beach. It was really cool to see them. I never have before. A woman at the beach told us that every once in a while thousands of jellyfish will wash up, and apparently now is one of those times.

Singing at the Mall

Last week was National Family Week (or something like that)and the stake primary here sings at the festivities that they have at the mall every year. First all of the primary children sang and then the Tongan branch that meets in our building had a choir that sang. It was so awesome! The missionaries were there and lots of people stopped to listen to both the primary kids and the Tongan branch. The primary kids were, of course, darling and did a great job, but you should have heard the Tongan branch choir. They were amazing! They sang hymns acapella in Tongan and it was really incredible.

Running Trail

This is one of the trails I run. It's so pretty! What do you think, Dean and Erin?

Addison on a Bike

We went to Addison's school last night and he rode his bike around the playground for an hour. He wants me to point out the skid mark he makes when he stops really fast at the end of the video.

My House

OK, so it's not really a picture of my house, but this is the view from the west side of my house.

Farmer's Market

Every Tuesday in downtown Monterey, they close the main street and there is a farmer's market. Last week Addison and I went to check it out. It was awesome! I started to take pictures, but my camera died and so I only have one of Addison in front of a salt and pepper shaker collection. I thought we'd just be seeing lots of fruits and vegetables, but there were all kinds of things. Vendors, artists, clothing retailers, restaraunts, and lots more all had booths. Addison found a little drum like in Karate Kid II (his new favorite movie series) and was so excited. There were huge tables of just tomatoes - red, yellow, orange, purple. There were tables of grapes and apples and herbs and everything else you could think of. You could sample almost everything from the fruit to the restaraunt food. It was a blast! Hopefully, we'll make it part of our routine.

Power to the Peaceful Festival

Today (September 8, 2007) we went up to San Francisco to the Power to the Peaceful festival. It was a free concert put on by Michael Franti at Golden Gate Park. The Indigo Girls played so, of course, I was so happy to go. There was a kid's area where Michael Franti read to the kids (Britt's jealous, right?). Addison and I hula-hooped with a big group of hippies. And, the people watching couldn't be beat. Afterward, we walked up Haight street and ate crepes in a little shop near Haight/Ashbury. It was a long day, but the city was beautiful and we had a lot of fun.

Addison's First Day of School

Addison's first day of school (August 19, 2007) was just a little traumatic for both of us. But, he came out at the end of the day happy. He gets to play with our neighbor and "best friend in California" at recess and at lunch and really likes his teacher. I'm so proud of him!

Labor Day Hike at Big Sur

Today we went hiking above the Big Sur area. The hike was hard (labeled "strenous" in the book), but Addison was awesome!! It's so crazy to be hiking a big mountain and looking at the beach. I'm looking forward to the adventure of getting to know this area.

Relief Society Barbecue in Carmel

Tonight I went to a Relief Society barbecue at an amazing house in Carmel. I'm posting some pictures that don't even show how big and fancy it was. I'm also posting a picture of the parking area where my car is parked between the Mercedes and the BMW. The dinner was really great and we had a lot of fun. I brought my knitting on Erin's advice. She told me it would win me friends and she was right.

August 26, 2007

At church today there was an activity I'd never experienced before - a Linger Longer. Have you heard of this? Everyone brought food and stayed after at church and the kids ran wild and we ate, ate, ate. It was fun. I'm meeting lots of great people and so is Addison. He still gets a little timid when going to primary, but when I come to get him he is always smiling and has a friend in tow. On Tuesday there is a Relief Society barbecue at a woman's house in our ward who lives in Carmel. Apparently they have this barbecue every year and it's a big event. I've heard her house is amazing. She hosted a big benefit for Mitt Romney a few weeks ago... I imagine it's pretty fancy. I'll write about it if I go. Maybe I'll try to sneak a camera in and take pictures!
Speaking of fancy... On Friday Tom's uncle Marv took Addison golfing on the famous Pebble Beach golf course. He had a blast! Tom's aunt Carma had planned a lunch and had invited a lot of young mom's from the ward, and while we ate, Addison and Marv golfed. Marv and Carma have been really great and it's good for Addison to have surrogate grandparents!
I've been talking a lot about the mouse that has been running amok in our house. It was discovered today. The foul smell from the laundry room and the mouse mystery were resolved at once. Thank heavens Tom was here to dispose of it.
Things are good here. My house is pretty much put together. Nothing really fits because it's so small, but we're in a great area and I think we'll be happy. Our days are pretty much the same as at home except that we often end them by driving to the beach to eat dinner and watch the sunset.
As soon as I figure out how, I'll post pictures of my little shack.