Drumroll Please...

After 7 nights and 6 games, here are the Ticket to Ride Totals...

Kyle...996 points
Jen...1,007 points
and Dave...1,056 points! 

Throughout Kyle's visit, the competition was fierce and we were very equally matched.  Though not reflected in the point totals, Kyle actually had the most wins!

Over the River and Through the Woods

Yesterday we experienced the very epitome of sabbath.  We spent the Sunday at our favorite local winery, strolling their beautiful grounds, then taking the kids to the park and walking the old streets of a gold rush town.  If only every Sunday could provide this kind of rest for the soul, we'd be recharged every week!  There was wine tasting, bridge crossing, tree climbing, goose chasing, leaf throwing, deep breath taking, gold nugget viewing, bookstore browsing, coffee sipping fun for everyone!

Tis the Season!

Fa la la la la, we're all in the Christmas spirit after a day of decking the halls today!  We always choose and cut our Christmas tree shortly after Thanksgiving, so we got to share this tradition with Uncle Kyle this year.  We found a fun Christmas street fair near our tree place, so we started there today.

Don't worry, you're seeing this picture correctly.  Of course it includes Miss California, a horse named Little Girl and Cowboy Santa wearing Wranglers and boots. 

Cowboy Santa and a big bag of warm kettle corn:  Is it really fair to start Christmas on such a high note?  Won't it inevitably be all downhill from here? :)

At the choose and cut farm, we had to go through all the steps to finding and bringing home this year's perfect pine.  We had to consider all the options, and quickly rule out the ones that wouldn't even fit in our house. This was much to Delia's dismay-- here she's trying to convince Dave and Kyle that one of these massive trees is the one for us this year.

Here it is!  Probably the most perfect California Christmas tree we've ever cut! 

Since he's never done it, we gave Kyle the honors of manning the saw.  The girls were oh so helpful.

The tree had to be marched to our car.

And featured in a quick family picture.

Then strapped to the roof, where we prayed it would stay as we tried to avoid the fast roads home.

Finally, the tree was decorated and admired for the rest of day.

My girls got to pet a horse covered in jingle bells.  All the Christmas CDs are out of storage.  And my house smells like pine.  Life is good.

Monterey Day

We were very excited to take Kyle on today's big outing to Monterey.  The main thing on the agenda was the aquarium, and it was great, but we were surprised that some impromptu stops were really the favorites of the day.

Though the aquarium was crowded, we figured it was still better to battle crowds here rather than at the mall.  And finding peaceful places was not too hard-- like sailboat and seal gazing out on the deck.
.

The unanimous pick for today's favorite animal was the cuttlefish.  Perhaps because a docent was standing by the tank answering our questions, we found this little octopus-like creature super interesting.  We especially loved watching them flash different patterns and colors right before our eyes!

The penguins were especially playful today.

As were the girls, since they are encouraged to play in multiple places throughout the aquarium.  Ella made fishy faces while hiding in the kelp forest.
.

Of course we had to do lots of touching in the touch pools.  Today we felt velvety star fish, an urchin who felt us back, decorator crabs and a skate's empty egg pouch.

Kyle and I spent a long time watching this flatfish lie perfectly camouflaged in the sting ray pool.  It took us a minute to determine if he was even real, but then we saw his eyeball moving and decided he was.  You would think all trips to the aquarium would be pretty much the same, but each time we go, new animals hardly noticed the trip before stand out as God's most ingenious creations!

After several hours of exploring the aquarium, we enjoyed the beautiful day by taking a walk around Cannery Row, window shopping and discussing John Steinbeck.
.

You absolutely can't spend the day in Monterey without stopping at the ocean.  Though this stop didn't give us any actual water access (so no sand in our toes today), we loved taking a long hike/climb out on the rocks to get a great view of the huge waves crashing.
.

The best part of today was sort of stumbling on the Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, one we visited and remembered from years ago.  This is prime season for migration and we figured we'd see a good amount of our favorite orange and black butterflies...
.

We never would have guessed we find thousands of them all clumped up in the trees and dangling from the branches like this!  I've seen pictures of this, but never dreamed I'd ever take my own!  What an amazing sight.  I'll remember it all my life.

Now Thank We All Our God

For a table heaped with fancy china and enough food to feed us for a week.  For my lovely eldest daughter, who has a servant's heart and a desire to keep learning more about God.

For my husband, who works hard ministering to people all day and then comes home and plays with the kids, listens to me and helps with the chores.  For my spunky youngest daughter who can never have enough snuggles and who freely shares her "I love you"s.

For extended family who love and support us and who've always celebrated God's work in our lives, even when that work keeps us far from them.

For a couch to curl up on, a big TV to watch movies on, a whole closet full of games to play, a fire to keep us warm and a special church family to share laughter and pie with.

For an abundance of fun places to visit and unique experiences to have.  For the great relationship we share with family; for times together being times of joy, not stress.

For a faithful God who gives us purpose, who guides us through times of decision, who speaks to us personally through His word and wise friends.

We give thanks.

+2 More Hockey Fans

The VM Family has officially added two more hockey fans to its count.  You know Dave's favorite sport to watch is hockey and his all-time favorite team is the Blackhawks, well, his influence has rubbed off on two little girls.  He has long wanted to take Ella and Delia to a game played by our local minor-league hockey team.  The Family Night deals they offer, though, have always been exclusively on Wednesday nights-- school nights when Dave is always leading his youth group.  Last night he was super excited to have the night off, have his brother here and have the opportunity to take us all to watch his favorite sport!

The girls LOVED IT!  Delia busted out her trademark dance moves during all the fun songs.  Ella followed the game the whole time and got totally into it.  Our team ended up loosing and she was seriously sad!

Not a lover of the game like Dave and the girls, I'm more a fan of the fun stuff that occurs in between the periods.  You know, mascots throwing shirts, chuck-a-puck contests, the Zamboni (which the girls took huge delight in!) and a man proposing to his girlfriend on center ice (we actually saw this last night!)

Though Delia followed the mascot Thor's every move with a concerned, furrowed brow, Ella couldn't wait to meet him after the game.  Dave takes his young adult group to one of these hockey games every year and after such a fun experience, Ella is planning on joining them this winter!

Two Little Indians...and Uncle Kyle!

"Today's the day!  Today's the HAPPY DAY!"  the girls squealed as they jumped in and on my bed well before the alarm went off this morning.  They've been counting down to Tuesday, aka the day Uncle Kyle arrives.  And to make their school days fly by, they each had a Thanksgiving Feast to look forward to today, as well.  Now, a whole week off to celebrate the holiday, take some outings and enjoy time with one of our favorite family visitors.  It's a happy day indeed!

A Pomegranate's Story

One of our family's favorite treats is a pomegranate.  Pomegranates are not the world's most well-know or cherished fruits, but they grow pretty easily in our area, so we've come to love them.  Two years ago, the girls even gave Dave a pomegranate tree for Christmas.  I took pictures through the seasons, so the following is the journey of baby tree to pomegranates on our plates:

When we gave Dave the tree, it looked like a twig in a pot.  It was hard to imagine it growing big enough to even support its heavy fruit.

 But it sure did!  The tree is full now, reaching taller than our fence.  Pomegranates are a fall and winter fruit, so the tree buds in the summer, which is when we first noticed these funny looking little bean-things.  "Baby Pomegranates!" the girls liked to find and count. 

The beans turned into these exotic-looking red flowers, blooming just a year and a half after we planted it.

By late summer, the beans and flowers had transformed into a fruit that we finally recognized as a pomegranate.  They stayed green for a long time.  Some grew in bunches like this, some grew individually.  Our tree will give us 9 pomegranates in this first year of fruiting.

The girls went out and picked some of the biggest and reddest pomegranates today.  Unlike our peaches which fall right off when ripe, the pomegranates had to be really twisted and wrestled with to pop off their branch.

The one we ate today had that perfectly zingy burst of juice in each of its seeds.  Pomegranates are high in Vitamin A and C, folic acid and antioxidants.  It is believed that making them a part of your diet can help prevent heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, arthritis, even common colds.  We're so pleased to have discovered such a unique and healthy fruit and just amazed that we could produce our own so easily!

11-11

The two World War II planes low-fly back and forth, buzzing the tree-tops and getting cheers from the crowds of people on Main Street.  We find a spot to watch the parade, stopping to chat with friends along the way.  As the Color Guard, made up of uniformed veterans from each war, makes its way down the parade route, I feel that familiar lump in my throat.  By the time they raise the flag, lower it to half mast and play taps, I am swallowing hard.  As they walk past, my daughters ask, "Why are we standing and clapping, Mom?"  I explain that it's our way of saying, "Thank you".

After a patriotic parade of marching bands, historic army vehicles, 4-H clubs and even an Uncle Sam on stilts, we make our way over the Community Center for a BBQ lunch sponsored by the American Legion.  The whole town has come out and we wait in the long line.  This is fine because there are more friends to visit with.  Once inside, we explain to the girls what the symbolic empty table set and left for the POW MIA means.  Maybe because I just read Unbroken, I'm seeing everything in a new light this year.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Veteran's Day, it took me over 20 years to really "get it."  It took me moving to a small town, where the American Legion is super active and the men and women who've served past and present are numerous and have names and faces.  One of the many things I love and will always remember about this current home is how real it has made my pride for being an American.  How grateful it has reminded me to be for those who risk their lives to fight for our freedom.