Too busy to Blog

Our calm and quiet (and boring) empty nest-hood took a turn in the fast lane. In reverse order, Brady and Ashlin had a 8 lb 14 oz 22 inch baby boy named Hunter Chase Sessions. Ashlin labored through Mother's Day and delivered at 2 am the next day. They will make great parents...as soon as Brady get finished with his finals. Gwen, Mindy and Ashlin went for pedicures and a movie before the labor came on.

As Ashlin was laboring, Garrett and Jay fixed the mothers- Gwen and Mindy omlets in bed. Two days before Jay pulled off a surprise 60th birthday party for Gwen with several of our close friends. This was Ashlin's last supper before the labor started. Garrett has been doing his final rotation with a local doctor before he graduates at the end of May. Two and 1/2 year old Carter found that Mindy's tummy has a baby sister on board.

Jay had to round up some medical support for the statewide Mormon Helping Hands project. He found a boy actually snacking on the best treat in town. He went nuts!!! Garrett was part of the medical team which included several doctors, a nurse, and an EMT and of course a podiatrist.

The weekend before, our dear friends from Alturas who live in Idaho flew in for a couple of fun filled days. They had treated us to their collection of snowmobiles years ago at West Yellowstone in Island Park. We did Angel Island on segways which was a blast, followed by a trolly ride and fisherman's wharf and the chocolate factory.

The next day was Sacramento with our traditional bike ride for breakfast where the kids joined us. Then it was onto the capitol where Arnold was not sighted and then to a boat ride up the American River.

SoCal: Kids, Wedding, Grave, Disneyland

Due to the un-user-friendly nature of these blogs, this is in reverse order and the videos are at the end. The pictures are small, but they can be expanded by clicking on them. This is the lake near Ali and Troy's house. We are on a walk with Jack and Lucy.
The lake walk was preceded by a hike to the hill top time capsule where the coyotes must have discovered the buried almonds and broke into our box. Ali joined us and realized how steep it was. We were able to recover Ali's old Christmas card, an almond wrapper, and the box lid. This weekend was NOT the one to visit Ali and Troy. She was totally involved in a stake youth conference which ran for several days. In spite of this, they were great hosts.

Since we had done some volunteer work-we earned a day at Disneyland where the simple joys of feeding a duck was as entertaining as the rides. Jay and Gwen are chowing down on a massive turkey leg.

They could build many more attractions if the stroller parking was necessary, but then folks would not have a kid-excuse for coming. The kids ran right up to Goofy and gave him a big hug.

Nephew Mike Sessions' wedding to Sue was fantastic. After the wedding dress, it was then into more traditional outfits. The White House was a great place for the dinner.

The groomsmen are supporting Sue. Notice the gazebo in the background, where 30+ years ago, we had our wedding pictures taken in Irvine at the Woodbridge Lake. Here's Crystal's great family by the lake.

The Sessions children gathered at Marc and Doris grave site for a remembrance. We recalled how the folks migrated to Orange County. Nearby was the Head family grave site-which would be the "Headstone".

Nearby the wedding location, Gwen visited her mom, Elda's old home and Bill's avocado tree where she picked a couple. It was a very memorable weekend.

The guys did quite the dance at the wedding dinner.

This was a brief ride (after a long wait) but it was pretty extreme.

Again, the simple joys of a simple MerryGoRound satisfied the kids (and grandparents)

Special Olympic Memories

Yesterday, a co-worker of 22 years and former boss Joe Lavagnino, came to Rocklin's Hardwood Palace (where I am sure my boys have played)(which is right next to the Sky Hi wall-to-wall trampoline place). He was with his daughter Lisa to support his Special Olympics son, John. This brought back several years or memories of our kids coaching involvement in this fine program.

There's John in the key with his eye on the ball-well sort of....as I would take his picture he would pose. He loved having his family there. He is the same age as our twins...that would be 25 for Tallon and, lets see, Brady would be 25 also.Our kids had the honor of acting as coaches and volunteers for Special Olympic events at Rocklin, Bear River, and Del Oro High Schools. It was more for the benefit of our church kids to let them feel needed and blessed and to realize the simple joys the Special Olympians felt.

Even though it has been a number of years, I almost could recognize some of the contestants yesterday.

I did not have any duties yesterday, like passing out the coaches tee shirts in year's past but I enjoyed watching John's team win by a close margin.

These were and are massive events with lots of support from the community.

Here's Ali and Holly with their contestant who they are obviously proud of.

Valentines and Chinese New Year Day

What are the chances that Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year would be on the SAME day? Well the year of the Tiger started on Heart Day and we dinned on some traditional (?) Chucker meat shot and cleaned by Sid Kelly. It was nicely cooked by Linda with corn flakes and cheese.

Debbi Burgess brought a homemade salad and rolls and a pie cooked with the help of a gal name Marie. Jon had several helpings of the mellow tasting chucker. Gwen cooked the potatoes, rice, and some beef...just in case the chucker was a yuk-er

Jay reponded to the classic 99 cent store ad: "Attention all Romeos" and bought some very expensive gifts from the Good Choice and Bad Choice columns (not listed on this blog-to maintain a little good taste). The ladies are displaying their ever-so-tasteful wares.

We topped off the evening with a Snypes video call to the Doolittle's, in snowy Virginia, who are the founders of our dinner group gatherings. They had just finished Courtney's 18 birthday bash.

Jay made his traditional V-Day visit to get Gwen's students all out-of-control. They went nuts for his almonds..which wound up in the office. He did NOT wear his Santa Valentine's outfit from year's past.

Here's Gwen with Grandma Helen who helps in the class. The kids are wearing Valentines Day hats. Last week was busy for her with the school dance festival and Orientation for next year.

A few folks from the office did Dim Sum on Friday which was a treat. Jay loves his multicultural co-workers who brought him a chicken foot last week.

Jay's family has always loved other cultures. His exchange student time in Japan got him going. We are proud of our multi-cultured family. Mike who Crystal is holding is getting married in April.

Sportsman's Expo-again this year

Since Blue Diamond's advertising consultant also handles this event, we get tickets which I distributed to many employees and friends. This is me with a dear dear which brought back memories of my hunting past. The older I get the Bigger were my bucks.

My big-rig Corolla fit right in with the 4 wheel drive, gun-racked, raised, dog carrying pickups. Notice the license: "Retrievers Save Game". My car should say "Toyotas Save Gas".

The Spash Dogs were hard to shoot mid-air, but they are always make a splash as they retrieve the pretend bird. Missing were the 4 wheel jeeps going over boulders.

The dog training demo was amazing!!! Steve's dog Digger has some training to do. Since our boys are or will be Eagle scouts, our neighbor, Steve joined me at the 100 year Scouting display.

I was not tempted to buy this expensive gun safe. Notice the marked down price of only $4,099. My guns are safe under the bed. The Boring booth was a mouthfull. A hunter behind me said the boar reminded him of his ex-wife...expecially with the hair under the mouth. Most folks were dressed in camo-all I could muster was a green Eddie Bauer coat. Most of the booths were for hunting guides and lodges who few could afford...including me.

Being a fisherman, Steve enjoyed the massive fly fishing pond. There were also lots of boats, but he could not find a single ski boat like his. We only ran into one co-worker. Joe Lavagnino brought his 2 boys-one in scout uniform.