Kringla

Christmas isn't complete without some fresh Kringla. Yum! We made 6 batches for friends and ourselves.

Band Concert

Tabitha had her Holiday Band Concert last week at school. She is playing the flute and really enjoying it.

The Beginning Band played first followed by the Advanced Band. The kids had a great time and showed just how far they had come in the last 4 months.

Grandpa was able to join us for the festivities.

Our little band girl!

Napa Valley (finally!)

We have been trying to go to Napa Valley with our friends for about 5 years, no joke. We have purchased plane tickets, canceled trips, lost plane tickets due to expiration, planned, canceled.....well, you get the idea. We finally headed out last Friday for our trip with Gus, Karen, and Mike. We were welcomed by the wonderful Friday night traffic on the 5 near the 14. Talk about a parking lot!

Gus was ready to fill his wine cellar. First stop...St. Clement where we were delighted to taste "liquid candy" (or "liquid crack" as another wine taster put it)

V. Sattui was a must on this trip. They are the most popular winery with an Italian market inside.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch with some fresh cheese, french bread, and of course their wine.

Opus One was next on the list. This is one of those stuffy wineries where an appointment is needed to taste. We walked in anyway, boy were they stuffy! Didn't taste, Gus just bought a treat to save as a surprise since they wanted $30 just to taste!

The beautiful valley...

Hess....beautiful grounds, weird art collection....modern is definitely not our taste.

Rombauer had a beautiful garden to walk around

Our BFFs

Steve finding some entertainment

Pine Ridge. The last tour of their cave had already begun but the gal there graciously took us on a private tour!

Can't remember this one. Named for some guy. Just stayed outside and watched the koi fish.

These guys were so entertaining. They were definitely used to getting fed. Just walking up to the pond made them crazy! Look at that guys lips!!

A great trip with wonderful friends. So glad we finally made it!

Day of Testing

Off we went for another round of testing for Jacob's Tic/Twitch/Muscle Spasm. We started at Sharp and Children's MRI Center. Since he'd been through this before he didn't want me to go in with him. Instead I got to sit in my own waiting room with a TV :)

Waiting to be called in...

He had 2 MRIs and 1 MRA (not sure what that is) of his spine and brain.

After the MRIs we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to the lab for some blood work. Last on the docket was and EMG. It was quite fascinating to watch. The Dr. is a neurologist who works with his neurologist. She did some examinations of her own before the test began. The first part involved putting these electrodes on his fingers. She then took some took (I have no idea what it was) which created some weird sensations in his hand. The point was to see the muscle conductivity or something.

During the second part of the test she inserted a needle into 1 muscle at a time. This allowed us to hear the muscle and see the muscle contractions on a screen. It was very interesting. Now we wait for the results...

Labor Day at the Lake

Our friends, the McGills, invited us to their house on the Lake Mojave portion of the Colorado River for the long weekend. Jake and Tabby headed up with Rachel and John and their son Dylan on Thursday. Steve, Kelsey, and I brought up their daughter Megan with us on Friday after school.

The kids had a BLAST! They spent the weekend jetskiing...

TUBING!! They walked away with some major bruises but it was all worth it!

Tabby and Megan catching some air!

Even Steve got into the tubing.

The girls getting ready for a ride.

The kids and dads even did some cliff diving. They all jumped off these incredibly high cliffs and survived!

Getting Caught up

We went back to school very early this year, Aug. 11. There are no longer any elementary students in this house (sniff...sniff...). Tabitha started the 6th grade and joined Jacob at middle school.

Jacob began 7th grade and is soooo excited. He loves all of his teachers and is already having a much better year than last.

Kelsey hit two milestones that week. She turned 18 the day before school started (Happy Birthday!) and began her Senior year.

More testing for Jake

This is a video of the next test Jake needs done as part of the ongoing treatment/diagnosis of his arm tic/twitching. It's called an electromyogram. Essentially it's testing his nerves and seeing how quickly they send signals. Oh, but the fun doesn't stop there! He needs another set of MRIs (yes, that's plural). There are a couple of different ones his doctor wants to do along with blood work again. She is still pretty sure it's a tic but wants to really check things out. One possibility is that there is an enlarged blood vessel irritating the nerve sending the signals to his arm. She discussed three treatments options: (1) reversal therapy which would retrain his brain to control the movement (2) prescription Tenex (3) injections of Botox into the muscle. (2) and (3) are not necessary yet so we'll wait and see. So, after he gets this testing all done, about 2 months probably, he goes back in to find out results. His doctor, Dr. Freidman at Children's in San Diego, has been so great. She is very patient and usually spends an hour with him. I really appreciate how she doesn't rush to get to the next patient.

Catching up with Old Friends

My mom and I spent Sunday afternoon catching up with some dear old friends. When we lived in Hawthorne, so many years ago, we used to get together often. Since then we haven't seen each other much.

Stephanie, Jennifer and me. I hadn't seen Stephanie since we moved in 1980 and she moved to Lake Elsinore. Jennifer and her family moved to Simi Valley shortly after. It was great to catch up and see their kiddos.

The "moms" - Barbara (Stephanie's mom), my mom, and Dar (Jennifer's mom). When we were little Dar used to cut my hair!

Even though time had passed, everyone looked the same...WEIRD!

Driving School!

Watch out world, Kelsey is driving! She finally got her permit and started her driver's training. She is very excited to finally be on the road to having her license. We, on the other hand, are very scared!

Cabrillo National Monument

Another spot we hadn't been to before was the Cabrillo Monument in Point Loma. So we packed a lunch and headed out on a gorgeous overcast day.

Steve pointing out the obvious lighthouse in front of us. He always makes sure I don't miss the little details ;)

After the monument (which wasn't much) we headed a few yards down the road to the ocean.

We saw a bit of wildlife. Yep, those are DEAD creatures whose carcasses were sitting on a rock. GROSS!!

Getty Center

Since we didn't take a vacation this year we decided to take the kids to the Getty Center in Los Angeles. We have always wanted to go and this summer gave us the time. Best of all...it's FREE!

Yep, that's a naked woman behind the kids.... art ;/

The gardens were beautiful there. We wished we could walk through the maze...

The Getty offers spectacular views and architecture.

And beautiful gardens. Next time we'll head to the Getty Villa in Malibu and features Ancient Greek and Roman art.

WEDDING Weekend!!

Matt and Jenny's wedding weekend had finally arrived. We were eager with anticipation as all the brothers and Nita were arriving. Tab and Jake were able to spend some quality time with little Grace (we sure missed Anna and her parents though).

Gracie made a beautiful flower girl. I was able to get some great shots of her.

Steve served as the Best Man, though he had some terrible stomach bug the day of the wedding. He was able to tough it out through the ceremony and pictures but then had to head home to bed.

This was our last family photo before Amanda leaves for Minot.

The Molstre Gang with our newest addition. We are so happy to have Jenny as our newest Sister-In-Law!

The Bridal Party

Matt and Jenny's first dance. It was so sweet!!

Our nephew, Jeremy, popped into our girl's photo. We love him!!

The newest picture of all the "In-Laws". We love our lone man!

Lori, Kris, Sandra, Nita, and me