Ethan's Christmas Program 12-16-11

Always hard to get pictures of a program indoors -- this was no exception.  I was able to get a few pics of Ethan aka "Mr. Snowman" as his grade sang songs and entertained his mom, Bella, Grace, his Grandma Reiff, Caitlin, and his Great Grandma (Brenda's mom) and me.

Ethan visiting with one of his friends...

This picture is priceless -- look at all the interesting faces!  Pretty cute - You can just see the top of Ethan's head.  Check out the face of the girl at the bottom of the picture.  She obviously doesn't like to have her picture taken!  LOL

Autumn Leaves 2011

Kate told me that I needed to take my camera outside and take some pictures in nature as I had been discouraged because my indoor pictures seemed blurry and not real quality and Rob had recently bought me a new lens.  Here are a few of my practice shots... (Great time of the year to practice - it was so beautiful outside with the leaves changing colors)  I tried to focus on different things...

 I liked this shot of a branch that turned up and looked almost like the trunk of a tree ...

 A practice shot with the focus close up and blurring the background...

 As I was leaving and was in my car, I drove by this tree and it was so beautiful, that I had to get out and take one more shot "for the road"...I think my lens actually works :-)

Thanksgiving and Kenzie's Blessing Nov 24, 2011

Kenzie Leigh Fink, daughter of Josh and Leigh Ann Fink, was blessed at our home on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2011.  She wore the blessing dress that Kelly's daughter Veronica wore on her blessing day...

Kenzie

Leigh Ann and baby Kenzie Leigh

Leigh Ann, Josh and baby Kenzie

Bryan was the voice giving the blessing for little Kenzie...(Steve in the background)

Family of priesthood that joined in the blessing.  Kenzie's great grandfather Fink, Rob Fink, Steve Fink, Bryan Fink, Kris Fink, Mike Fink, Scott Fink and Ryan Jackson...

Great Grandma Fink was added to this picture

Bryan Fink with Josh and Leigh Ann and baby, Kenzie Leigh...

This was a wonderful day!  One that we will always remember.  It was wonderful to have family come and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.  We had approximately 24 family members that came.  Everyone brought yummy food and we enjoyed a wonderful visit! 

Belated Halloween Pics 2011

I know this post is so late and that I have put some of these pictures on my Facebook page, but since I am doing journaling with my Blog, I wanted to get these pictures online here as well.  Below are some spider webs that I created around Kate and Tyler and Chase's pictures on my stairway along with a friendly ghost...

The next picture is on my mantle.  Ethan noticed that I had some poison on the mantle.  The candle is a battery operated candle... 

Went over to see Ethan, Bella and Grace dressed in their costumes for trick or treating.  They were dressed up after the movie "Tangled".  Summer's grandmother sewed Ethan's vest and Summer created Ethan's boots out of felt and she made them look so realistic.  Grace wore a costume to look like a chameleon like in the movie, too.  Their costumes all coordinated with each other and they were awesome! 

Bella as Rapunzel...

Can't remember the name of the young man that was in the movie, but Ethan looked just like him, right down to the beard that Summer put on his chin after looking at the movie to see what type of beard he had... 

Chase and Tyler came over to our house after trick or treating and to show us their stash of candy...They made off with a truck load of goodies...

 Tyler was a ninja warrior and Chase was a knight... Tyler liked his costume because he got to have at least two swords and a dagger, too.  Chase had a cool sword and a cape and armour...

 For our office party I created an "All Eyes on Me" costume right down to the fingertips!  I got a bunch of different sized wiggly eyes and glued them onto a black top and pants and then got a hat and put two big eyes on that as well.  It was a fun costume, but not too many people knew what I was until I told them, and then they thought it was pretty funny! 

 The winner of the "Best Costume" went to Kathy G.  our witch.  She really accessorized this year and even had the ruby slippers from Dorothy.  She said she finally won.  In this picture she is giving an apple to our Snow White (Stella C)

The runner up for the prize of "Best Costume" was our very own Julia Child (Lynne W).  She also accessorized her costume with a dead chicken, recipe book, whisk and apron - not to mention curling her hair in tiny pin curls and messing her hair up to look more authentic!

Great costumes to one and all.

Rob the Temple Worker 10-7-11

I will probably be continuously learning how to take pictures, but here are a few pictures on the day Rob was set apart as a Temple Worker.  It was a beautiful day and after Rob was set apart, he went straight to work...I had to get back to the office...I took a little time and walked around the temple grounds and took a few pictures to help my memory remember this day!  It was a beautiful day inside and out!

Rob, just before being set apart as a Temple Worker at the Sacramento LDS Temple

I liked this picture because it made me think of the mirrors in the sealing rooms of the temple and I thought of eternity... 

Another view of the temple with the Angel Moroni on the top of the temple spire

I am so thankful that Rob has this opportunity to be of service to others and to be able to work at the temple every Friday from 11am to 5pm.  He has said how much he loves working with his crew and how wonderful they all are. 

Veggies and Flowers Spring/Summer 2011

For my birthday this year, Jen gave me this succulent plant.  I love the red edges on the leaves.  Hopefully I can keep it living!  No green thumb here; however, I think Rob has a green thumb -- see the following pictures of our garden and the delicious cucumbers and tomatoes!!

But before that story, this is the story of my hydrangea flower that Jen gave me for Mother's Day last year.  Surprise, surprise I kept it alive for that long and then decided I had better plant it out in the yard and see if it would grow out there.  At that point all the flowers had dropped off and it was just the plant.  I took it outside and placed it in a container...unfortunately I planted it right before a a major rain storm and where I placed the container was right under an eave and all the water just gushed down and hit the plant -- when I noticed it all of the soil was completely washed out of the container and you could see the bare roots.  I could have given up on the little plant, but I didn't.  I planted it in a flower bed, gave it some miracle grow and see the results! -- A miracle for sure! 

The cucumbers that Rob got this year looked like squash - they are massive.  I placed them on our kitchen table to show the length of them.

This is a picture of my cucumber plants.  Rob planted two this year one the regular cucumber and the other we think is an Armenian cucumber...

We got a trelis this year instead of cages so that the tomato plants could grow up and not be confined...It definitely worked!  Right now our tomato plants are over the top by 2 feet and the trelis is over 7 feet! 

The last picture is of my favorite cherry tomato -- the prolific Sungold.  We planted only one Sungold this year and it has almost taken over the garden!    The joys of gardening :)

Goodbye Lassen

The last day at Lassen, "the boys" went kayaking around Manzanita Lake.  They had alot of fun!  I think the "big boys" got more tired rowing than the "little boys!"

I think Tyler and his dad worked pretty well together...Good job, Tyler! 

Goodbye, Lassen maybe we'll see you next year! :)

Lassen - Bumpass Hell Hike - Exactly!

This was one of those hikes that we did with our little children and the destination was stinky!  What I remember about it was that it smelled like rotten eggs and Kate especially hated the smell.  Imagine my surprise when she said she wanted to take her kids on this hike to Bumpass Hell!  Kate had invited Hillary and her family to join us for the day and so they went with us on this hike.  When we got to the trail head it was covered in snow but we decided to plug on anyway...

This is a pic of me at about the halfway point -- Once I got a "walking stick" that Hillary kindly gave to me, I was able to travel much more quickly, but until then it was a tough go on the slippery snow...

Rob fit as a fiddle enjoying the out of doors :p

Here is a picture of our destination....the sulphur pits and hot pools...No one gave up and we all made it even Hillary's littlest one, Max, made it after a little coaxing...

Chase taking a break at one of the pools.  The great thing this time was that it really didn't smell as bad as what I remembered - maybe it was the way the wind was blowing, but both Kate and I agreed that it didn't stink as bad as what we had remembered!  Chase and I played a game where I would ask what I called the proverbial question -- he would say what's that and I would say "Are we there yet?" and he would say no not yet -- finally we made it and I asked the proverbial question and finally, finally, Chase said we were here!

I asked the boys to pose for this picture and hold their noses, but in actuality they didn't seem to think it was so stinky! LOL  Tyler had a walking stick, too, and I think he enjoyed it and felt like a real hiker...

Rob and I, Tyler and Chase in front of the turquoise, clear pool...

Coming back we stopped close to Helen Lake and it was covered with snow and ice.  In all the years that I have been going to Lassen, I don't remember this much snow in August!  The climb to Mt. Lassen Peak was closed 1/3 of the way up...

One of the big snow banks close to the lake.  You can see my "walking stick" in this picture.  Hillary and Max and Ryan and Chase are in this picture, too.

Then after that great hike, I asked Kate, Ryan, Tyler and Chase to push this huge rock.....

Then Kate asked Rob and I to carry it on our backs....The things we will do for a picture!

All in all it was a good experience, but I was glad it was over and that we all made it safely back.  (I only fell once and that was after some guy told me the best way to walk on the snow) -- I think I was doing pretty well without his help... BTW it wasn't Rob who gave me his advice, but someone else along the trail!

Lassen - Kings Creek Falls - A real hike!

This was a major hike for me!  We decided to hike to Kings Creek Falls - approximately three miles round trip -- doesn't sound too hard; however, it was a steep hike both ways!  This was a picture of the beautiful scenry that we enjoyed on our hike (when we stopped along the way so I could rest!)  Most of the time I was trying to place my feet in the right spot so I wouldn't fall.  Oh, did I mention that there was snow on the trail  and because it was more dangerous to go the short way we had to take the "horse trail" - a longer hike and uphill both ways like I said! The date on the pictures shows August 3rd, but it was actually the 4th -

Rob enjoying the hike and the company...

We finally reached the falls and this is a picture at the top...looking down...I wish I had been more prepared and brought a snack to give me some energy for the hike back, but at least I had brought some water as I did get thirsty!  Where's a good candybar when you need it?

I think I was contemplating the walk back in this picture.. Oh the joy :)  Chase and Tyler were real troopers and Chase made it to the falls and back walking the entire way with no help from his dad...

This last picture is a picture of the falls that I copied from a Lassen website...it was much fuller when we were there because of the late run off and the snow melting and adding to the flow...

The amazing thing is I made it back safely and I wanted to go on another hike the next day! -- Go figure :)