We took a trip to California this past weekend for a party
to honor my Dad's cousin Mary and her husband John's 50th
wedding anniversary. Nearly two years ago when we were in
Nebraska for my Aunt Barbra's funeral, we met up with
cousin Margie French out there who we had a great time
meeting. She invited us to attend this party all this time later.
We have been planning for quite some time. My Dad was able
to see family and friends he hasn't seen in many, many years.
It was truly a wonderful time.
On Friday, Chris and I were looking for something to do during
the day so we asked my Uncle what would be good - he suggested
that we go to "Old Sacramento" and see the sights there. It was only
45 min away from Stockton. Having been only 12 when I left Calif I
didn't realize how close it was. As soon as I heard Sacramento - I
was excited as I realized I have brothers that have an office there.
We took off and decided to surprise them at their office. We drove
fairly easily to the address I had which turned out to be Evan's home
address. I called Donna on the phone and got the office address
and we headed out - now we are from Show Low Arizona where we
do not have alot of one way streets - all there was in Downtown Sacramento
was one way streets! After much anxiety we finally reached the building.
The girls were standing on the steps waiting for the guys to come out
and go to lunch. When I announced who I was, Julianna screamed and put
her arms around me and hugged me and made me feel very welcome!
Chris & I surprised Neil and Evan and they were kind enough to take us
out to lunch. As I had had a late breakfast I opted for a great "diet"
lunch of chocolate cake! Then back to the office for pictures and a tour.
The rest of the trip consisted of the family party for Mary & John at their
lovely home of 49 years, a quick trip through San Francisco including
lunch at Fisherman's wharf with Dad on the way to Antioch. A lovely
dinner party in Antioch at the home of my Mom's best friend, and finally
the official anniversary party. We met family and made new friends and
had a terrific time. Thanks to all of you who made our trip special!
Lunch with the group at a great restaurant
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
California Trip
Edgar Brothers
The beautiful Edgar Institute Victorian Building
We are standing on the steps
Foyer of the building
Evan in his work environment
Julianna - the "brains" of the outfit
Terri & Neil in the conference room
Stockton Party
Our Nebraska cousins Teri, Tara, Whitney & Tana
Cute, cute girls!
My Dad's cousins Mary (the 50th honoree) &
Karen Ruth
Doyle & Margie French (Margie is Mary's sister)
The Harris's (woman with red hair & man in
white shirt) are also from Show Low, AZ. What
are the odds of that? They are cousins on
John's side of the family.
San Francisco
Chris & Terri with Alcatraz in the background
A little windy at the Golden Gate bridge site
Notice how much Chris's hair is blowing!
Classic Streets of San Francisco shot
Chinatown
Antioch Party
This is the house I came home to as an infant
in Antioch California
This is the lake where I remember growing up -
lots of fond memories of swimming and boating
on Lake Alhambra in Antioch
Friends Liz & Bob Hall that we hadn't seen in over
30 years.
Dad with friends from Antioch
Terri & Patty Swenson - my Mom's best friend!
50th Anniversary Party
John & Mary with their children Jeff and Shelli
Terri with new friends Jess & Karen Cano
Uncle Bill (Dad's brother) his daughter-in-law Lani
and my Dad
Our Nebraska cousins Teri, Jeff & Chris
The beautiful trio! Whitney, Tana & Tara
Birth Mother Anniversary
Some of you may know that a year ago on June 11, my birth mother contacted me for the first time. I went out and met her for the first time in July of last year and again in Sept when I met my four brothers. We are all pictured above. It has been quite a year! Neil came to visit us in March (pictures can be seen in earlier posts). I wanted to post some pictures as I have told this story to many people.
Evan, Eric, Terri, Donna, Neil & Sean
Donna and her companion, Bernie
Donna and Terri with Donna's very good friend Carol
Terri & Donna in Santa Cruz
Our photo shoot!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Father's Day
Papa with his favorite girl. They took a picture
because their clothes matched
When Konnor woke up he matched too! As well
as the Zebra cakes
Three of our four beautiful grandbabies - Colby
is the fourth and Kenny and Leslie's (due in
August) will give us five!
Papa and Grammi and the kids. I am wearing
my Sunday "cooking" dress which is now somewhere
near a rag!
Sedona
Chris taking a "thoughtful" pose.
I decided to take Chris on a quick trip out of town
just to get him away from the stress of work. It has
been pretty intense lately, so we chose Sedona. We
have great memories from going there when we
attended NAU and we have been back to celebrate
anniversaries as well. We stayed at the beautiful
Casa Sedona Bed & Breakfast. We had a wonderful
dinner at Rene's and just had a great time
together. The original intent was to go on the
motorcycle, but after getting it all ready to go, we
discovered the rear tire was in very poor condition and
we decided it best not to chance it. So we ended up
driving - next time Oak Creek canyon the the bike!
Disneyland & California Adventures
Mom & Skip with the great background!
We had a great vacation with B and Jenn and Colby!
I absolutely LOVE the light parade!
The end of the second night - Colby had just a little
too much fun
An airplane picture for Papa
Terri and Jenn flying high! (in a kiddie ride!)
B, Jenn & Colby anticipating the water to blast them
Skippy playing the carnival game with "Skippy"
the dolphin - I played on Cruiser and came in 2nd!
Skippy is a dork!
