Thanksgiving 2009

We have a lot to be Thankful for this year. It's been the "worst of years" and the "best of years" all in one. In 19 years of marriage, Erik and I have not experienced anything like this last year of loosing two jobs and a big move. Yet, we are really happy here in Danville and we have been able to find work quickly which in this economy is a miracle in and of itself.
Also for the first time in 19 years we celebrated Thanksgiving on our own. Lexi was in Utah because her friends there were in a play that she wanted to see. We invited the sister missionaries, Sister Straw and Sister Aston, to join us.
Everyone pitched in and we all made all of our favorite traditional dishes: turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, corn casserole, rolls and pie for desert. It was fun working together and mom didn't get too stressed out!
After dinner the kids played "curses" with the sisters and Erik and I played memory with Jake.

It was a nice time to spend together, and we've been eating the left-overs all week!

The Lighthouse

After Muir Woods we wanted to see a lighthouse we'd heard about called Point Bonita. It's quite a walk out to the lighthouse and we were just too late to cross the bridge and get to the lighthouse itself. (They close at 3:30). But the views were amazing!

We loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Kenney!

This is the view of the city and Golden Gate Bridge from the lighthouse.

What a great way for Erik to spend his birthday!

Posin'

The parking lot you use to get to the lighthouse has an old abandoned building by it. (I think it used to be part of a fort of sorts for WWII but I'm not sure.) It proved to be a fun spot for "artistic" photography. Here are some of my favorites.


Woot! He's ready for a GQ photoshoot for sure!

Muir Woods

Since my Parents and Brother's family came from Utah to see the show, we wanted to do a little sight seeing on Saturday. My dad loves the National Forests, and so we visited Muir Woods which is actually right outside of San Fran. It's a smaller park, but plenty of walk-ways and beautiful redwood trees. We'll be happy to take you there too if you come visit....

Go, Go, Go Joseph!

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. They day after I created my last post, Erik lost his job and that pretty much wiped out any desire to blog. But we are doing better now and I'm ready to blog! I'm just going to jump in where I'm at, and perhaps later I can catch up with the other stuff.

Most recently, we have been having a ball with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Our ward here in Danville does a musical every other year. The youth are the actors and the adults do the set, directing, producing, publicity, set building/painting, props (that's me), and even making meals and treats for the practices. The kids practice every mutual night (Wed.) and every Saturday for two months. We had sold out audiences for 3 nights. We raised $5000 for the CA organ donor network in honor of a boy from school who just received a heart transplant.

Look closely at the top pic to find Lauren. (Sorry about the big black head in the way of the majority of my pics!)She was the wife of one of the brothers. Isn't she cute!


Lexi was one of the Narrators. There were 5 girls with this job and they were all AMAZING singers! The girl in blue is Lexi's best friend here named Ariana. We love her because she makes Lexi want to stay! :)
Lauren and other "wives".


Rick was the Baker. Yes the poor Baker who asks for an interpretation of a dream while Joseph is in prison, but the news is not good...he is put to death. (To be resurrected the next night for the next show of course!)

All the kids did a fantastic job! We have felt very welcomed by this ward and it has made it easier for my teenagers to make the change.

Thanks to my parents, Dave and Cris for coming all the way from Utah to see it! A special thanks to Kriss and Ed for flying out to see it the last night! We love you all!

Still figuring out how to load pics to blogger...sorry

and a swimming pool!

Here we are meeting the house for the first time. The kids are excited about the pool in back. It's not heated, but in the hot summer, and my A/C not working so great, it's been a blessing. Jacob is afraid of the water, but not afraid to lean over the side with the net and try to fish things out of the deep end. We put up a make-shift fence and have enrolled him in "meanie" swim lessons. (Meaning, it's no-nonsense. When they tell you to put your face in the water you do it or they put it down there for you!) I will try to get pics of that later to show you

New house in Danville

After a long 2-day drive we arrived in Danville on June 1. Erik was the only one who had seen the house before, and rented it basically because it was the biggest one we could find in the 3 months I checked Craigslist daily. It has 5 bedrooms and is 3000 square ft. I was a little worried about going from 4K to 3K ft. but we use the 3 car garage for storage and we fit just great. Lexi and Lauren have their own rooms, Rick and Spencer share and Libby and Jake share. The house is older, like 1978 or so but it's been somewhat updated. I don't mind so much being in an older house, basically because the whole neighborhood is the same age.

Welcome to our Blog!

Well, things are unpacked and we are beginning to feel more settled. We got our first $565 gas/electric bill so we are feeling very much a part of the community. Overall, we are really liking it here and hope we can afford to stay! So I felt like it was time to start blogging and that way, any of you who are interested might be able to know what we are up to! Sorry the blog isn't so cutsie yet. Hopefully I'll get to that eventually!