Fun at Happy Hollow

Trying to fit as much fun as we can in the last two weeks before school. Jacob is being a good sport since he is a bit too big for many rides.

Congo line at Smart & Final

Somehow we got in the slowest line at the store this morning. The kids were bored, the in-store music had a good beat, and the next thing I knew, some kids were dancing by the watermelons (ok, they were my kids). The free dancing led to a congo line. They weren't too loud, the store was not crowded, and the mother was too tired so the dancing was allowed to continue.

Ryan's Baptism

Ryan was baptized on his birthday, two weeks ago.  It was a beautiful day and Ryan says it was the best day of his life, so far.  His grandparents were able to be there along with many aunts and uncles.  Uncle Chris and Grandpa Stovall gave talks, Jacob shared some scriptures, and even Alison (and all the primary children) came up to sing a song.  I made a slide show of Ryan and will see if I can somehow post that. 

After the baptism, we had lots of green food at the church and then came home and had more green food at home.  We did not have corned beef and cabbage, but rather grilled flank steak (it was too warm to cook ham, which was Ryan's original main dish choice).  We had mint brownies for Ryan's birthday cake and apple/young berry pie for John's birthday.  It was a great day.*

* Grandma Stovall got the stomach flu the night before Ryan's baptism and so it wasn't quite a great day for her.  Luckily, two days later, only a few people who at the baptism/dinner came down with the stomach flu.  We feel pretty lucky that everyone didn't get sick.  

Pictures for the Bardsleys

Here are two pictures that I thought I would post for our family in Amsterdam.  The first is Alison in a dress that Mia gave to her and she has been waiting for years to wear! She was so happy to wear the dress today for Easter that she did not take it off all day.

The second picture is a tulip that came all the way from Amsterdam and was planted in our garden.  So, it was probably planted too late and it got warm here too fast, but at least there is a bloom (even though it is right at the base)!  We are all excited about it.  We will do better next year.    

New Year's Eve at the beach

This year we hit the beach on new year's eve instead of new year's day, and we went to Half Moon Bay instead of Santa Cruz, but it was still beautiful. We went tide pooling and saw snails, crabs, anemones, starfish, some mollusks, and seals.  We then ate at a restaurant near Pillar Point and watched the sunset. It was a nice day and a nice end to 2012. Thank you weather, for not raining. The beach in winter? Oh yes.