Christmas Fun in northern California

Well, this is December 17, 2009 at the farm in central Illinois (not California!) when Tom finished the fall harvest. The farmstead is in the background with Shadow in the foreground.






Sunset at our beach house near Fort Bragg. The kids made all the arrangements for this most comfortable beach house.








Flower

















































The cozy digs at Sea Cove.









Making a pie









Joel and Karen made this pork, cabbage, squash, and cornbread meal...inspired by their time in South America.









Now we just need some music to go with this album cover.








Russian Gulch State Park. You must go here. We could see gray whales migrating south right from the shore.








Tom and Barb along a coastal path near Mendicino.








California Afternoon Welcome at the Rob and Kathy Arnold residence in Sonoma. Photo by Dan.






Some silly willies.

TVE's 50th Birthday

Tom's birthday was on 9/11/09, but they chose to celebrate it this past weekend. My sister-in-law, Carolyn, and I cooked up a plan for me to crash the party. Charlie was supposed to be out of town as well, but his plans changed so we both surprised Tom, Carol, Teri and Kelly!




Teri, Blake, Kylie, and Kelly








Mom, Kelly, Kylie, and Dad


















Dad and Mom are navigating their way through Times Square to get to the restaurant. In less than a week, they will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary. To celebrate they will be going out for dinner and will hear some jazz in the city!!











Kylie can really play her trumpet! Wow! Here she is with Charlie.