Merry Christmas 2010

The family in our Christmas pjs - ready for Santa...

Melissa and Kerry had the Foster's Christmas party on Thurday night and Jayden wanted to go duck hunting with Pop on Friday morning, so Auntie M to the rescue....She picked up the boys after work on Thursday and headed to Arkadelphia.  We got a little extra time with Miranda and the boys, and Miranda got a little snuggle time with Evan ( he won't do this if his Mom is around ), Jayden, and Kyler:

 

Mim and Mike stopped by the hospital to see my Uncle Charlie in Texarkana, so they arrived around 2 on Christmas Eve (which was the same time Melissa and Kerry arrived).

 The boys and I have had a little project going for the last couple of weeks.  I took some pictures of the little cuties, they took some pictures of each other, and colored some pictures for their Mom and Dad.  They also made a list of their 10 favorite things about each of their Parents.  I put it together in one of those books you can order from Walmart (8x10) and it came out SO CUTE!  We talked them into opening that gift on Christmas Eve so that they could take time to look through it with the boys. I think it was a hit~

 Setting out cookies and Coke for Santa and cheese for Santa Mouse:

I woke up around 3:30 am....I can never sleep on Christmas eve!  When the girls were little, I was always the first one up and had to wake up the girls when I couldn't stand it anymore :)  Jayden woke up around 6, but he had to stay  in his room.  We're hanging out until everyone else gets up:

 Checking out the goodies from Santa:

See Kyler's grin?  He pretty much had that look on his face all day.  He kept saying "I love Christmas!"  Of course the other boys were pretty happy too :)

Miranda getting a BIG "thank you" hug from the boys for the game table:

 And last, but not least, THE SISTERS~ ~



Thanksgiving 2010

Place saver

Bikes, Blues and Barbeque 2010

Place saver

The Big Dam Bridge Bike Ride 2010

Saturday was the BDB Bike Ride.  Since the ride starts at 7:30, Phillip and I went up the day before and stayed at the Double Tree...making a little mini-vaca out of the event.  We did a little shopping, picked up my packet and checked into the hotel.  It was such a great evening - after all of this heat we finally had some cool temperatures.  We walked down to Flying Fish for dinner.

I was so glad that Kara was able to join me - and her friend Stephanie!  I have done 50 mile rides by myself before, but it is so much more fun when you have a buddy to chat with!  It was a great ride - perfect weather.  At the halfway point, Kara decided to keep going with Stephanie.  The goal...the Metric Century....68 miles.  Now when you are just saying the numbers, 68 doesn't sound like a lot more than 50, but when you are on your bike that is a lot of miles!  Yea Kara and Stephanie!

I completed my 50 - and was glad to see the finish line... and my husband!  Phillip is not usually there when I do a ride, but it sure was nice.  He loaded up my bike and took me to Panera's (my choice) for lunch.  Creamy Tomato soup is back :)  A few pictures:

The last of the lazy days of summer....

Will post pictures here eventually :)

BASEBALL 2010!

The boys had a great baseball season and I was there with my camera!  I will post pictures shortly.

Such a beautiful day!

Sunday was a great day!  I got up early, leaving my hotel a little before 8. The weather has been fantastic...typical SF, it starts out foggy, but then clears up before noon.  The temps...high of 61!...low of 51!  This is fall weather.  

I walked to fisherman's wharf from the hotel (about 3 miles) which is an up and down walk.  Some of the inclines are so steep that they have horizontal ridges in the concrete to give you some grip.  After picking up my rental bike I headed out.  My trek took me from Pier 39 over the Golden Gate bridge, and into Sausalito.  It was still pretty early when I went over the bridge, so the fog had not lifted yet.

 I stopped at a cute little cafe right on the bank of the bay and had a large glass of orange juice.  Although I'd not had breakfast, I just wasn't hungry and the fresh squeezed OJ hit the spot. Below you can see my view from the cafe...

This is such a cute little town with lots of shops, but no shopping for me...I wouldn't be able to get anything else in my one suitcase that has clothes for 8 days.  I took the side trip up to Mill Valley and that was a treat. 

They have a park with the oldest redwoods in California (according to the locals).  I walked into this grove of trees that were huge (diameter) and so tall I couldn't see the tops.  Even though it was the middle of the day and the sun was shining, it was almost dark in this grove.  I'm setting up my camera on a picnic table so that I can get a picture of myself and then I notice that a homeless man is asleep on the next table!  That is one thing that has been shocking to me.... the number of homeless people.  When I left my hotel this morning, I noticed a sleeping bag on the sidewalk.  Much to my surprise, there was someone in that sleeping bag!  Back to the biking trip...

After Mill Valley, I headed back to the trail that runs along the coast and followed the trail to Tiburon.  I just missed the ferry, so I had to wait for an hour for the next one.  That gave me a little time to look around town and eat some ice cream (since I hadn't had breakfast or lunch, I could eat without guilt).  The ferry left port about 4:15 and docked in San Francisco a little after 5:00.  A few pictures taken from the ferry below:

The fog looks so cool in this picture below.  According to a couple on the ferry, this fog is the reason that San Francisco enjoys such cool temps in the summer.....aaawh beautiful fog....

 By the time I checked in my bike and walked all the way back to my hotel (stopping to get a little something to eat) it was 7:00.  I was pooped!!! But I can't think of a better way to spend the day. 

Even though I wasn't on a bike trail the entire way, all of the roads had a bike lane and all had speed limits of 35 to 40 mph, so it wasn't bad.  Again I'm wishing Arkansas was more bike friendly!