In the Land of...

Kansas!

With family for Thanksgiving.

Lots of fun with cousins!

Grandpa needed help to raise his flag:

We had an early celebration of Ruthie's birthday while we were there. We put together a little scavenger hunt for her to find her gifts from Nona and Grandpa.

Finding the clue that was in the little tractor:Blowing out the candles on the cake:

Five good friends (Maryn and Anna standing, Ruthie, Josie and Landry sitting):

Reading with Aunt Rachel:

Anna and Josie reading with Mom and Dad:

Landry and Ruthie reading with Uncle Jeb:

Lots of good relaxing times.

Nona took this picture of Ruthie in her new outfit with her new baby doll:

Three sisters posing for their Nona:

Aren't we cute?!

And silly?

We love Nona and Grandpa!

Feeling thankful for:

Family connections

Fires in the fireplace

A 3 year old birthday girl

Good books to read

Skype

Yummy food

Winter weather

Smiles and laughter

Long drives in the car (car date!)

YOU!

Caroline's

We got a fun package in the mail today! It said it was from Miss Caroline Fike. Anna smelled it and told me there was coffee in it, so I assured the girls that it must just be for Daddy and me and the two of us would open it later. They didn't quite buy it:) They know their Caroline cousin!Thank you for the rings and necklaces, Caroline! Can you see the silver necklaces and red rings we are all wearing in these two pictures? Uncle Mitch is wearing his ring right now, too, and says to tell you thank you.

Truth be told, though, Mitch and I were even more excited about the contents of the rest of the package:

COFFEE!

Smells don't lie. Anna was right. And this is THE BEST coffee, let me tell you. If you haven't tried Caroline's Coffee yet then you've got to soon. Come on over to our house and give it a test! We've got a pound each of Nicaraguan and Sumatran waiting for you, take your pick. This is your official invitation for some good conversation over a cup of freshly roasted coffee. But be warned! This coffee is not just any coffee. Once you have tried a cup of Carolines coffee you may not be able to live with just any coffee. Roasted in the heart of the California gold country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (my home sweet home!), the art of coffee roasting has been perfected at Caroline's Coffee. They have been roasting and selling only the finest coffee in this three generation family business since 1988, and it just can't get any better than what you drink at Carolines. You can even order it online here. Check it out!

Vacation is Over

And summer has begun.

At least it feels that way to me.

Which is better? Vacation or summer? I love them both. They seem mostly synonymous this time of year. Vacation, in this family, meant Mitch not working or schooling (and me not blogging). Summer means sunshine. I like it best when they both go together.

For those of you who have wondered where we have been and what we have been spending our time doing:

We have been doing

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Well, that's not really true. It can't be true in a house where three active little ones live. But we haven't gone anywhere and haven't done a lot of things that we normally count as normal in the daily rhythm of our hectic 'dad's in school' lives.
We HAVE been on lots of bike rides, spent lots of time in the garden now that we're finally past our frost date and can plant all the warmer weather crops!, gone to bed at a decent hour and gotten up at a decent hour, felt well rested!, played, laughed together all through our dinner meal, sat in the sunshine together, had a few normal bumps in the road that go with being in a time of transition between a crazy schedule and a normal, healthy, daily rhythm, had lots of family around, celebrated a graduation, said good-bye to a good friend who graduated and left the area, started a new summer job, enjoyed our morning coffee sitting on the couch together with both of us fully awake!, finished a ballet class...
And basically have fully embraced and enjoyed switching to a healthier rhythm of life for our family.

Congratulations, Mitch, on graduating with honors!

Hooray for Daddy'O!

Mitch with his brothers Chad and Jeb:

(Thanks for the pictures, Chad!)

Meeting my niece, little Maia Sage, for the first time:Windy bike rides with Jeanette, Michael, and Maia:

(Thanks for those pictures, Jeanette!)

See, we are still alive and quite well! Enjoying our days, laughing lots. Hooray for doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Snapshots of our California Christmas

Nothing can every fully encapsulate a time in our lives, there is no way I can share with you completely about our time in California over Christmas. But I wanted to share with you a glimpse into our fun times, memories and bonds we made that will last a lifetime.

Our little family was in need of some times of connection and rest, time to remember what we care about, who we care about, time to feel alive and around family we love again.

Our time staying at my sister's house was definitely full of all of those things.

What can be more relaxing than spending time in a hot tub? Spending time with 5 little kids in a hot tub! Here's Mitch with all 5 cousins:

I can't even count for you how many good meals we ate, gourmet meals Uncle Trace cooked and we enjoyed. Family and friends gathered around a full table, good conversation, lots of laughter, eating to our hearts content. The center of life.

We went on many hikes with all 5 cousins and Grandma Jo on the trails in the woods around my sister's house, following Jack-the-fearless-leader: lots of identifying trees, stomping down the frost heave icicles, playing in the mud, counting rings on tree stumps to see how old they were, listening to the birds, being outdoors in my native Sierra Nevada mountains, the essence of peace for me.

4 of the cousins eating their snack on a log, a break in our hike:
(l-r:Caroline, Jack, Anna, Josie)


Reading books with Uncle Trace: Josie reading with her Papa, my Dad.

Jack and Anna enjoy a game of Candyland:

Downtime activities. Let your hair down, make yourself at home, be yourself.

Three sisters and our Mama! Together at last!

Life is made up of a series of so many special moments.

We even took a day and went to the beach! Our girls had never seen the ocean (well, Anna had but she was only 6 months old the last time). Here we all are out on the Marin Headlands, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background:

Yes, it was a chilly, January day. Don't let the next pictures deceive you.

My beautiful sister Becky and my beautiful niece, Caroline:

Daddy'O, Anna and Josie, dipping their toes in the ocean water for the first time:

I love when my girls have such special times with their Daddy.

Run! The waves are coming!

Remember that picture of us all in wool sweaters and hats? Now look at Anna and Jack and Caroline! Anyone else for a dip in the ocean in January? We were on a beach at Point Reyes National Seashore just north of San Fransisco. Yes, there were other people there, but we couldn't figure out why none of them were in the water, too.

Little Ruthie played in the sand to her heart's content:

And got all covered with it! Look at that smile!

This is one of my favorite beach pictures, it says so much about who each person is. Jack, leaping into the cold waves laughing and exhilarated, all boy. Anna and Caroline, a bit more timid, holding Mitch's hands, yet out there in the water playing the whole afternoon, running, jumping, dunking under the water and screaming with delight:

I loved getting to know Jack and Caroline (my nephew and niece) better, getting to spend so much time with them and watching them play with Anna and Josie and Ruthie. Two kindhearted souls who love life, love the people they are surrounded by and seem so mature and self-confident for their age.

Another highlight of our trip was taking the girls on a little hike up Sugarloaf Mt in Nevada City to show them where Mitch and I got engaged.

Fun to share with them a little piece of our history, a little spot on this earth that is dear to our hearts. Not that you can see it in this picture, but we had a view out over the Sacramento Valley all the way to the coastal mountain range despite the overcast skies and the rain that was beginning to fall as we hiked down.

And the Beltrans!

What trip home would be complete without getting to see my dear friend Lupe and her family?

(l-r: Ben, Lupe, Andrea & Ben -we didn't get to see Carolina)

The girls had a lot of fun playing with every member of the Beltran family, and Mitch and I always love hanging out with our good friends.

Here we are, the Clement clan after we returned home:

(picture take by Grandma Judy Clement)

Thank you, Holly and Trace, for hosting us and giving us such a wonderful space in your home to relax and enjoy the company of all the people around us. Thank you for making us feel at home in your home.

It was a time that truly exemplified the essence of what Christmas is all about to me: giving, sharing, loving, accepting... God among us.

I hope each of you were able to experience a piece of the same this Christmas season.

The Projects

For Christmas presents this year I made "art-on-the-go" bags: Drawstring backpacks that contained a sketch pad and a felt pencil role.
I got the idea and the pattern for the felt pencil roles from Amanda Blake Soule's book "The Creative Family". I made 6 of these, all a bit different, one each for Anna and Josie and their 4 older cousins. Sorry Maia Sage and Ruthie, I didn't think you two were old enough yet.

So for those of you who were curious, now you know what all of my sewing was leading up to Christmas.

The sketch books for Anna and Josie, by the way, have cover art drawn by Mitch, he is the artist of the family, not me. Anna and Josie themselves did the front and back cover art for their cousins' books. Yes, they watched the making of the bags and participated in much of it, not knowing that any of it was for themselves. I love the innocence of childhood and their joy in making and giving gifts to their cousins without a thought for themselves.

I hope you all enjoy using your art bags as much as we loved making them for you, Jack and Caroline, Maryn and Landry! We love you!

My New Niece!

This is indeed exciting news!

Maia Sage Miller

August 29, 2009

7lb 9oz

She's so beautiful. You all look beautiful. Welcome to the family, Maia.

Photos courtesy of Farrah Moser

Pictures from the Farm

All five granddaughters. Landry is 1, Maryn will be 3 in August.
Anna and Maryn cutting flowers with Nona:Anna in a dark purple hat eating breakfast:

Ruthie swinging, Josie's behind her pushing:

More swing fun:

With Ruth Dickinson, an amazing lady, one of the Ruths our Ruthie is named after:

Maryn holding little Miss Wuffie:

Pigtail girl:

Anna and Ella relaxing before bed:

At least Ella knows how to smile for the camera:

Eating ice cream with Grandpa:

Playing on the porch:
And a little video of Josie pushing Ruthie in the swing. She was really swinging herself sometimes!

We had a great time, relaxing and fun. Thanks for a week with no cooking or dishes for me, Judy! It was good to hang out with family and friends. Anna said her favorite thing to see was the hawks. She said "We were walking to the frog pond and I saw a hawk and I was telling Daddy that I saw a hawk and I liked the hawk!" Her favorite activities were swinging on the tire swing and riding the spring horse downstairs in the basement. You should have seen her ride! She said her other favorite thing to do was watch Grandpa mow with Maryn. Her favorite people to see were Nona and Grandpa. Josie said her favorites were all the toys and the horses to ride downstairs. She liked Grandpa and Nona's house. My favorite was Uncle Chad telling the girls the thunder was God rolling potatoes, and then he took them outside and they actually saw the potatoes falling from the sky! These girls will always think that potatoes fall from the sky. The look of amazement and excitement on their faces when they showed me the potatoes they found was priceless. It was also fun just to watch my little girls interacting with their cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and friends, getting to know them all better. Those are bonds they will have their whole lives.