More on visits...

On Saturday, we had talked about going to San Francisco, but it was raining (not that it isn't usually raining in San Francisco), so we decided to go the aquarium instead. We love going to the aquarium. It was really crowded, but still fun.

Cam, Addison, and Grandma in the wave tunnel.
Outside the aquarium.

Sunday was fun and relaxing. We watched conference, played games, and ate a lot of food. On Monday, we went out to Garrapata for a picnic. It was pretty windy, but the weather was great.

Eating on the beach.

Grandma and Shellie. I love this picture.

Snuggling on the beach.

Tough guys!

This is the best. My crazy mom and Cam got in the freezing cold water to tempt the waves. Over course, they got more than they bargained for when they underestimated one of them. I love their faces!

This is so typical of Cam... coming to the rescue!

Addison misses Cam!!

He's so handsome.

I love visitors...

Mom, Shellie, and Cameron came to stay for a week and I was so happy. I love having a house full of people, and noise, and fun. I usually spend my days (until Addison gets home) at home quietly working by myself... boring. It was so much fun to show them around the place I'm calling home.

They arrived late Thursday night. Addison stayed up until they got here and went to bed at about 11:30. He woke up at 6:30 (of course) and went to school. We had decided to go to Carmel, but didn't think we could be back in time to get Addison from school, so I checked him out early. In typical Addison fashion, he was worried that he was missing his first art class, rather than being excited about missing school. He got over it pretty quick after a few minutes of hanging out with Cam. Cam was such a good sport. I think anybody who knows him would say they wish they could have him around all the time. He is so easygoing and is always looking for ways to help. When Cam is around, you never have to carry luggage, worry about your kids, or run to the store for milk. I don't know what Shellie is going to do without him when he leaves for Colombia! We went to Hula's for dinner.
Addison and Cam.
We love Hula's!

... more to come

Conference Sunday

I love Conference weekend... big breakfasts, knitting projects, staying in my pajamas all day, afternoon naps, and of course, being edified by our prophet and leaders. I was so excited to have family in town this weekend to share it all with. We also had friends from the ward over who came over before the first session on Sunday and made us aebleskivers (Danish pancakes), which were awesome!

Grandma working on her conference crocheting project (dishcloths) and Addison and Cam working on Addison's Conference Packet. I don't know how we would survive Conference without those things.
Edward and Meridth - our breakfast cooks and delightful guests.
Shellie - multitasking. She's really good at it.
An after conference game of Clue.
This was my Conference knitting project - Addison's slippers (colors chosen by Addison). Why are his feet are at such an odd angle? Because, after felting the slippers (washing them in really hot water so they shrink) they have to be shaped to the feet. I didn't want Addison wearing wet slippers through the house all day, so I put them on him while he was sleeping (and then took a picture). Yes, he is a deep sleeper. Yes, I realize he will wake up with wrinkled feet. Yes, that's the kind of mother I am.

Narnia

Our stake put on a production of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe a few weeks ago that was amazing! There is a lady in our ward who runs a children's theater in Salinas, and she provided the costumes and sets and directed the play. Addison was a dwarf and had a blast. It was an awesome experience for him. There were months of practices and late nights, but it was worth it in the end. They did 3 performances and hundreds of people attended. Addison was excited to share the play and its message with some of his friends from school.

Addison and Seth, the dwarves.
More dwarves.
The whole cast.


Aslan, Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy.
Singing Cair Paravel.

You can't really tell in this picture, but on the song "Joy for Joy" they did a little dance where Addison was in the middle of a circle with kids dancing around him. It was so cute. I wish I could have videoed it, but the play was copyrighted and we weren't allowed to.

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Both of them are in our ward and did an awesome job.

Ummm....Hi

I have a serious problem when it comes to leaving phone messages. It all started because I have had even more of a problem when it comes to forgetting what I call people about. So, I feel like I need to tell the person why I am calling in the message. I can't just say... "Hi. This is Stephanie. Call me back." Generally, this is how a phone message to a friend who is coming over to dinner might go...

Hi, this is Stephanie. Okay, so I'm really excited that you guys are coming over tonight. Give me a call back and we'll talk about what time.

This should be enough, right? No. Now I'm thinking, well, I'm out right now and I'm not sure when I'll be back. Does she have my cell phone number?

I'm on my cell right now but I'll be back home in about...

This is where it starts to get bad. I haven't thought this through and now I'm not sure when I'll be back, so instead, I will list all of the things I need to do before I get back home so she can figure out when I will be back on her own...

Well, I need to stop at Target and then I'm going running and then I'm going to pick up Addison from school, so I'll be home after that...

Wait... Addison has karate tonight.

But Addison has karate at 4:00, so I'll be gone for a little while for that, but then I'll be home.

Ok. That's good. Oh! I forgot to give her my cell number! That was the point of this ramble right?

So, anyway, my cell number is *******.

Now I can't remember... does she usually call on my cell phone or my home phone? I better give her my home phone number too. This is getting really long, talk fast...

My home number is *******. Maybe you already know that.

Did I find out if they are allergic to any foods or have any particular aversions?

I know you don't like fish, but you're okay otherwise, right? Tom's a vegetarian so hopefully you're not against that. Just call me back and tell me about your dietary habits.

Did I just say dietary habits in a phone message?!

Oh my gosh,

I said that out loud. I have to stop this... This is where the # button can sometimes be my saving grace or it can drive the nail into the coffin. On some voicemail programs, when you push the # button, it gives you options such as "Review your message" or "Continue where you left off". Number 3 is what I'm looking for, "ERASE AND RE-RECORD". I love that option. If you've received a phone message from me that is 20 words or less, I have almost certainly used option #3.

Sometimes, though, after I push #, I hear the sweet, calm voicemail message lady say, "Thank you. Your message has been sent."

Oh no.

This is where I long for the days of answering machines and breaking into houses to steal the tapes. (Have you seen that Gilmore Girls where Lorelai steals the tape from Luke's answering machine? That's what I'm talking about. I love that episode.) No luck though. People often call me back wondering if I'm okay because my message ended so abruptly.

All I can do now is just hope that the person on the receiving end will actually call me back so that I can explain my problem with phone messages, and that they will still come to dinner.

(I'm glad you did Meridth and Edward).

Constitution Day - School House Rock Style

Addison's school had "Constitution Day" last Wednesday. I have never heard of this. We certainly did not have "Constitution Day" when I was in elementary school. His teacher told me they were required to do something for it, too. And so something they did... They learned the preamble as sung by School House Rock (another thing I was deprived of as a child - no Constitution Day, no School House Rock... How did I survive???). Anyway, all the parents came and stood on the lawn (because Addison goes to school in California where they have no public school funding and so he has no auditorium, or lunch room for that matter) and listened as the kids sang this song. Good thing the kids are so great because it made the 6.3 minutes spent celebrating "Constitution Day" all worth it.

The Lundell Family Visits Monterey

This was a while ago, but I stole the pictures from Amy and need to post them so they will be in my blog book! They are a little random, but I'm a fan of Amy's picture taking.

On the pier in San Francisco.
Trying to see Alcatraz.
Checking out the view.
View from behind.
Outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
At the aquarium... Looking at our favorite fish, the sun fish.
In the wave tunnel.
At Asilomar.
Pebble Beach in the fog.