Beautiful, picturesque Montan~a de Oro State Park

A stay in San Luis is never complete without a trip to Montana de Oro. It is so gorgeous. And so close--only about 25 minutes from Julie and Ernie's house.

Christmas photo montage

My sisters in law (married to Cam's brothers)-- Arya on the R and a reluctant Gilen on the L :)

Cam with Elias, his Panamanian brother

Lisa, Julie's hairdresser, making Cam look amazing (she gave me a great haircut too!)

Julie and Gilen soaking up the sun in front of Matt and Gilen's house.

Cam's aunt Debbie (Ernie's sister) and her husband Mike

Matt & Gilen's son Hudson, who adores Thomas the train, blocks, and playing on his own. He can amuse himself for hours.

Tim and Arya's son Brecken, who is talking much more than last time we saw him! He is so communicative and his expressions make me laugh.

And back at home, I just couldn't resist taking a picture of our Christmas tree! $25 at an after Christmas 2007 sale at Kroger! Yeah baby! Doesn't it remind you of your childhood? That's why I bought the kind with the multi-colored lights (no classy white lights for me...they're boring!)

It looks cooler with the lights on...I should have thought of that. Oh well. As you can see, we're a little sparse on decorations, but time will remedy that! I go for the non themed Christmas trees, with every type and style of ornament you can imagine, including all the ornaments the kids make at school and church and all the ornaments people give you.
Those are my favorite trees because they are a piece of family history!

Christmas in California Parte Dos

While we were in San Luis, we got to go to Jamie Farrar's wedding. Congratulations, Jamie and Jesse! It was a fun surprise to see Mitch and Mandy Warner there with their two cute kidlets!

Here comes the bouquet...the girls are poised for attack.

Hilary caught the bouquet, although she fought Carrie Pearson for it for a full 2 minutes. :) They kept moving around and I couldn't get a very good shot for a picture. But here it is.

On Dec. 26, we went shopping downtown with Cristie before going to see the Melodrama with

the Jones' extended family (sorry, no pictures of that...darn!)

We visited a San Luis landmark: the bubblegum wall! Yes, all that crud on the walls is gum! Here's Cristie adding her own piece to the montage.

We also several nights hanging out with Cam's buddies from high school. One one occasion, Cristie, Hillary and I had fun upstairs trying on some clothes that Julie gave me, while Cam visited with the guys in the living room.

Christmas in California Parte Uno

We spent this Christmas at the Jones' house in SLO (San Luis Obispo, California to those who don't speak Central Coast). We arrived on Dec. 20th, but all activities before Christmas day are lost to living memory, since our sweet camera was a Christmas present from Julie and Ernie!

Cam loves this style of home and wants to build one like it some day.
Inside: The Jones's cool antique piano

And the tree--the only visible sign of Christmas since the weather is so nice! (just kidding)

Our nephew Brecken's favorite thing about Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house is feeding the "gonkey" named Bray who lives next door.

No more carrots, Bray--sorry! Don't eat Cameron's hand!

Bray was sad to see us go.


We also had a great time biking on the Bob Jones trail with Matt, Delaney, Ernie, Cam and me.

Delaney was our pace setter, and at one point she reached 11 mph! Go Delaney!

The trail ends at Avila Beach.

Cam and I walked on the pier,

while Laney chilled out with her new iPod. Sweet.

Adam and Jer's cross country trip

Adam and Jer arrived at our house in Columbus, OH, New Year's day 2009 at 7:00 pm.

They had had a long, harrying day driving from New York.

We fed them pizza and had a great time visiting, then put them to bed.

After a quick breakfast, they headed off toward California with "Eva" as their guide. Adam says Heron is excited to run and stomp on the floor in their new home.

Good luck boys, we love you!