go sharks!

aaron's company had their company holiday party back in january at the sharks game.  it was our first time at a sharks game and we had fun.  i wasn't too fond of guys fighting each other just for the heck of it and was even more surprised when the ref just let them fight until one of them falls down on their knees.  at this game the sharks was on a losing streak, but they won that night and i think they are winning now. 

view from the plaza suite

sharks player coming out

sharks just scored

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family time

i finally got to meet andrew, who is aaron's cousin.  aaron haven't seen him for 26 years and that's because andrew is in the navy and right now he lives in missouri.  he's been deployed to afghanistan, iraq, and his next assignment will be 9 months in kuwait.  we hope that it won't be another 26 years before we see him again.

we usually try to stop by deb's frosty to get soft serve when we're in diamond springs.  i love soft serve!  so we convinced leah to let ryan and jeremy have some ice cream.  and of course their cousin travis wanted to come too.  it was freezing, but we didn't care because we were having soft serve.

ryan had his first basketball game on friday night and he brought his jersey and put it on for us to see.  he requested to have number 1.  how cute!  his team won that night and ryan made a basket! 

on saturday morning leroy made his famous sourdough pancakes for about 20 people.  since we stayed the night, we had first dibs and they were yummie!  what is so special about the pancakes?  apparently there is no yeast in them - leroy called it natural yeast.  don't ask me to explain.  all i know is that they are fluffy and good :)

04.14.1912 - 12.25.2010

clara's memorial service was on friday, 1.7.2011 at her church in diamond springs.  we knew that the church was going to be filled with people because clara touched a lot of people.  i didn't realize she donated a lot of her time to her community and charity organizations.  clara was organized in life and she was also organized after her death.  she had a list of who was going to speak at her memorial.  before her death, clara had even asked the pastor (sandy) that she would like sandy to do her memorial.  i could only imagine what a relief it is to her children to have everything all spelled out and organized. 

the reception afterwards was also filled with clara's friends and family.  i don't think the hall was big enough for everyone.  by the way, the community named the hall "clara scheiber building" several years ago because of her volunteer work to her community. 

i will miss playing cards with clara.  i will miss her spunkiness - always speaking what's on her mind.  she was a special lady.



The Dash Poem

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own;

The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left,

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,

And more often wear a smile

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read

With your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?

lesson in loyalty

a friend of ours recommended the movie hachi: a dog's tale.  we just saw it and let me tell you, this is definitely a tearjerker.  the last time i cried like that was when i saw grave of the fireflies.  hachi definitely teaches you the true meaning of what loyalty is. 

homemade doggie biscuits

since i didn't have to go back to work today, i decided to bake doggie biscuits.  when i read the instructions, i was thinking why is it more complicated than it really should be?  but once i started doing it, it wasn't as hard as i thought.  of course when i took out the kitchen aid mixer, i had to call aaron and asked him how to put the whisk in.  found out that the whisks that i took out belong to our other mixer - duh!  :) 

before and after

i think emma & dexter liked the biscuits :)  emma was begging for more when she was done!

x-mas extended

we celebrated christmas with my family on new year's eve.  steph made yummie ahi tuna salad, ramen, and salmon.  i was so stuffed i thought my stomach was going to burst.  we played would you rather, but then there was too much reading and dumb stuff that we had to do, so we switched to fact or crap.  i did not do very well on the first round (let's just say i was not very good at guessing).  i did better on the second round - i tied aaron for last place :)  tuan won the last round, huong came in second, tin third, and kristen fourth. 

lianne loves playing with pierce.  of course, pierce's toys are all "mine" to lianne :)

furry babies begging for treats (and yes, they got some)

tuan got an awesome shirt for his boot camp - an underwear shirt!

mom & dad loves the photo book we got them

pierce loves pushing lianne's stroller.  he likes it because it allows him to walk without having to hold someone's hand.  he just laughs and laughs.

more washington photos

we had fun at sharon's for christmas.  everyone was there, except for leah and her family.  brynn got a leapster and ava got a razor scooter from santa.  the night before emma threw up and on x-mas day dexter did not feel good.  wasn't sure what was wrong, but gave him some baby tylenol to ease whatever pain he was in.  brandon was so tired that he slept for most of christmas day.  he did managed to play some cards with us and when rhonda and laura yelled at him (rhonda yelling at him for being slow and laura yelling at him because he beat her by one point), he went to bed.  :) 

erika has her baby bump and she looked really cute.  baby is due on july 7.  she will find out the sex of the baby sometime in february. 

we left on sunday morning around 8:20 and got to diamond springs at 9:40.  we found out on christmas day that clara had passed away at 4:00 that morning.  we were so hoping that we would be able to see her, but i guess it was her time to go.  we will miss playing cards with her.

we got home on monday late afternoon and it feels good to be home.  dexter is feeling better too and is back to his old prancy self.  all we need to do now is sell our place!

brynn building her snowman - before and after

laura loves our furry babies

dexter is so pooped.  resting his head on the bar of the chair



emma likes to look at you while you are driving and she will keep on looking until you pet her.  the landscape on the left is of klamath falls.  the blue sign in the right picture welcomed us back to california!



washington photos - day 3



sharon made the snowman - so cute!  as you can see, we were bribing emma and dexter with treats so i could get a picture of them :)




emma is modeling




isn't this cute???  i am not that artistic - rhonda made them.




according to brynn, that is frosty the snowman's house :)




aaron shoveling snow as emma and dexter watches




dexter having fun in the snow.  at the beginning he always shivers, then he's okay after he runs around.




sharon made cookies for x-mas. 




aaron helped decorated them




brynn was watching and dexter was begging for crumbs :)




rhonda making swedish creams - one of my favorites :)




aaron is such a good helper!




brynn watching strawberry shortcake movie on my laptop :)



on the road

we got on the road at 4:30 on sunday morning to head to washington.  we made it in 15-1/2 hours.  emma and dexter did really well - we stopped 4 times for them for potty breaks.  below are some pictures on the way to our destination.



mt. shasta




this was our view as soon as we passed the california border into oregon.  we saw this view for the next 4 hours.  never ending route 97.




our rest stop in bend, oregon.  i thought dexter wouldn't like the snow because he gets cold easily - proved me wrong.  emma and dexter doesn't mind the snow at all.




an imprint of my license plate




aaron getting snow off the car.



emma had a puppy