In Good Company with the Percy Clan

We arrived in California without any hiccups. Sophie slept for the take off and landing. We enjoyed spending the first half of our trip with Keri's family, the Percys. Keri's sister, Jolene, joined us with her kids, Shawn and Autumn. We spent one evening jumping on Jolene's trampoline. We also had Sunday night dinner with our friend, Colleen. Everyone had a nice time except, Taz, Keri's parent's dog. He did not like the attention being taken away from him.

Dana's Point and Seal Beach

We went to Dana's Point on President's Day with Keri's family. We had fun looking at the tide pools because the tide was way out. Sophie had her first chance to dig her toes in the sand and touch the ocean water. We ended the day by heading up to Seal Beach and took a stroll down the pier to Ruby's for dinner. It was a long, fun day.

Time with Friends

Luckily, we had time to enjoy dinner with the Kerr family. Garren is such a smart kid and what a looker! Kristie prepared dinner for us one evening and we were able to visit with her husband, Grady too. We are looking forward to the birth of the Kerr's second son. Oh, and thanks for the haircut Kristie!

Visiting Oma and Charles

We were excited to visit with Neal's paternal oma (Dutch for grandma) and start recording her personal history. She has had an interesting life being born in Indonesia and living through the Japanese invasion and uprising against the Dutch colonization. Sadly, the camera was on the wrong setting and all the pictures were a field of black. We were able to lighten them but the quality is very poor. Oma and her boyfriend, Charles are always good company. It was nice for Sophie to see her great-oma.

Hanging out with the Barnette Clan

We had fun hanging out with the Barnette family the second half of our vacation. It was great to see everyone, especially Grandma and Auntie.

Ionne's Birthday Party!

Neal's maternal grandmother, Ionne, celebrated her 80th Birthday while we were in town. She enjoyed surprise visits from her son, Keith, his son, Jeff, Jeff's wife, Shelbi, and their daughter, Carissa. Kira, Neal's sister, also joined in the surprise. A dinner in her honor was held at El Torrito.The fun continued at Ionne's son, Brad's house. Ionne's daughter-in-law, Royce, sent a slide show from Colorado to wish her well. Susan put together a picture collage for everyone to view. And we presented her and her children with her written personal history. Before moving to Texas, Keri , for months, would ask Ionne if she would let her come over and do a little housework for her in exchange for some of her stories. This was the compilation of that.Then it was time for family photos! Ionne with her 3 living children and Eric in spirit.Hooray! She made it to 80!Four generations!

Indonesian Food

The day before we left, we met up with Kira, Neal's sister, Susan, his mom, and Oma, Neal's grandma on his dad's side, and Charles, Oma's boyfriend. We went out for Indonesian food which we crave when we are not in California. The restaurant is called Toco Rame. So many yummy dishes to share!

Aunt Kira at the Airport

We flew back home from John Wayne Airport. Kira, Neal's sister, was dropped off extra-extra early but that ended up being a good thing because we got to hang out at the airport together for some time before we left on our flight. Kira left not long after us for Colorado. Sophie was awake for the take off and landing for our return trip but never fussed except when she got hungry. We could almost see the halo over her head! :-) We loved our trip and seeing everyone!

Thanks Carly!

Our good friend, Carly, surprised us last week. She made three adorable Easter dresses. One blue dress for MacKenzie, our friend, Kari's daughter. One pink dress for her own daughter, Ella. And, yes, one purple dress for Sophie! She wants us to get pictures of the girls together in thier dresses. We hope to show those pictures to you when we get them. Thanks Carly for your thoughtfulness and sharing your talent!