california, part 7: fun with lincoln (& his parents)

We stayed with sweet baby Lincoln & his parents, Melissa (my cousin) & Shaheen. :)

Finn absolutely loved to play with Lincoln & Cedar was interested too.

Cedar's smiling at his big brother but Lincoln is watching me carefully & keeping Cedar at an arm's length away. :P

We loaded up in the Barrett's Suburban & drove with Melissa & Shaheen to San Clemente, CA in search of Rainbow Sandals for Kenton & me. :) The babies rode next to each other with Melissa in the middle seat.

Finn & I rode in the back.

Sleepy babies.

Success! We joined the club & bought our first pairs of Rainbow Sandals. They've been all the rage in California for awhile now...we'll see if they live up to the hype. ;) So far, so good.

After shopping, we ate lunch & headed back to Melissa's house for naps. We ate dinner together, then drove to Pasadena with Kellie, Emily & Ryan to visit a game store & walk around downtown. I didn't end up taking photos, but we had a fun time & ate a yummy dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. So good!

california, part 6: the pool

Thank goodness for the Barrett's pool! We were so glad to have a place to cool off during Glendora's heat wave - over 100 degrees everyday! We had a couple of night swims too, which was so super exciting for Finn!

He was getting so brave after a few swims - jumping off the diving board to Kenton or to a floating ring. He even jumped to a ring without water wings on (with Mama very close by & Aunt Becca helping when he slipped too far forward & slid out!). :\ It's great to see him gaining confidence in the water over the course of one summer.

Fun with Uncle Erik & the pool vacuum.

The "Novemberists" with their water wings & rings! So much fun!

Cedar getting in some cuddle time with Uncle Keith & Aunt Carol.

Finn slept so well every day after swimming so hard. He loves the water!

The cousins
(minus Erik, Hannah & Eleanor)
Becca, Gretchen, Katrina, Melissa, Kellie, Emily, Natasha & Wyatt

Silly faces!

The husbands/boyfriends
Shaheen (Melissa's husband), Kenton, Josh, Aaron, Steve (Kellie's boyfriend), & Ryan (Emily's boyfriend)

Silly shot!

california, part 5: visiting oma

Before Erik & the Ruddicks had to head back home, we made a quick visit to see Oma (my dad's mom). She agreed to have all 4 of us siblings, our husbands & our 7 young children over for lunch - so sweet!

Cedar's first time meeting his great grandmother.

Oma with 7 of her great grandchildren!

Erik had all the kids entertained by a game on his iPhone. :)

Cohen & Finn are such good buds. They play so well together & can always be found laughing & joking about something silly. They really miss each other when they've been apart & talk about each other often! I love that Finn thinks of his cousins as his friends. :)

Cedar is always surrounded by a cousin or two (or more!). He managed to get both hands in his mouth, while smiling. :)

Thanks for the great visit, Oma! It was so nice to see you! We love you.

california, part 4: in-n-out

Sunday evening, we met up with my parents, siblings & the Barretts at In-N-Out! This was one of the three meals we ate there over the course of the week. We love In-N-Out & have to get our fill while we can. :)

My cousin Melissa had baby Lincoln 3 months before Cedar was born. It was fun to see them next to each other, occasionally noticing each other. :)

3 months apart, but Cedar's not much shorter than Lincoln. A little lighter though.

My mom with her sister, Nancy & their grandbabies. :)

All 7 grandchildren, together in California!
Griffin (2 1/2), Tyler (9), Cohen (3 1/2), Memaw, Cedar (almost 4 mos), Sadie (6), Ronan (5), Finn (2 1/2) & Papa

Silly faces with Mama!

Beautiful sunset (partially due to smog & smoke from wild fires) over the In-N-Out parking lot. :) Really, very lovely.

Note: I should have divided these posts by "days" instead of "parts". There are many more "parts" to come, since this is only day 3 of our 7 day vacation. :) But I can't leave anything out, it was such a great visit with the people we love! :) So stay tuned...I will get through these photos as soon as possible.

california, part 3: the beach

On Sunday, August 30th, we drove to Huntington Beach with the Chases, Ruddicks & my Aunt Carol, Uncle Keith, Natasha & Wyatt. This portable dvd player was such a life saver for the whole trip - Finn is so much more willing to go for long rides in the car if a movie is involved. :)

It was about 20 degrees cooler at the beach than in Glendora. Which meant 80's instead of over 100 degrees! It felt great to us!

Finn was a little concerned about getting sandy, but that didn't last long.

Aaron & Tyler worked hard to create a great castle with a huge wall surrounding it.

Finn helped Kenton dig holes & build piles. They definitely look related in this photo. :)

Aunt Carol never turned down a chance to cuddle Cedar. She rocked him to sleep & he slept so peacefully to the sound of the ocean waves.

We always try to make it to the beach when visiting our family in California. It's so different than the Oregon coast & it's so fun to be able to actually go in the water. Natasha, Josh & Wyatt spent most of the time surfing/boogie boarding. Everyone had a really great time!

Kenton allowed himself to be buried in the sand - crazy guy!

Ronan working hard to dig a huge hole!

Tyler hanging out.

The kids all loved the sand the best. None of them really wanted to play in the water, but I think they all got a little wet. Finn even got to go out with Dad & jump in the waves!

I love this shot - so much sand on poor Finn's face. He doesn't look to pleased, but was so excited to tell everyone about his experience at the beach!

california, part 2: the memorial

On Saturday, August 29th, we honored the memory of my Uncle Tom.

My mom shared some stories about what it was like to grow up with her brother. He was a musician & an artist, so they displayed his instruments on the stage & shared some of his artwork through a slide show & in the foyer. It was so nice to be able to see all of the photos of Tom, throughout the generations & I loved seeing photos of events that I remember. He was a funny guy & always made me feel loved. I will remember his sense of humor & cherish his love for art.

My dad played "Love is the Answer" by Todd Rudgren (a favorite song of Uncle Tom's) with Uncle Tom's friends & his friend's daughter.

Some of our cousins on my dad's side of the family came to the memorial too. Youngest to oldest: Erik, Katrina, Gretchen, Becca, Heather & Adrienne

After the memorial, we drove up to the place where we were planning to spread his ashes, but the gate was closed. Everyone parked on the side of the road & discussed the plan.

We ended up squeezing through the gate & walking to the bridge that my cousin Wyatt built for Eagle Scouts.

It was getting dark but I was able to get one clear shot of my mom, spreading her brother's ashes. Aunt Robin is kneeling below, Aunt Nancy standing behind, next to Aunt Conxita (in white; Uncle Tom's ex-wife) & Aunt Carol was next to Conxita. Each took a turn, then my dad & Tom's best friend Kevin took a turn, spreading a handful of ashes & saying some words. It was very emotional & I felt honored to be a part of something so special.

california, part 1: family bbq

We just returned from a week long visit to Southern California, for my Uncle Tom's memorial (who died in June). We decided to drive overnight to take advantage of sleeping children & made it down there on Friday, August 28th at about 7:30 am - 14 hours! We made good time & felt pretty energized after only a few short rests. On Friday evening, my Aunt Carol hosted a BBQ at their house so that we could all get together & visit.


A recurring theme throughout my pictures is Cedar being held by my extended family members. He's such an easy baby & seemed to enjoy the special attention he received. :)

Uncle Truls, Great Aunt Norrine, Great Aunt Sister Roberta, Aunt Nancy & Great Aunt Judy

Here's Cedar, being held by my mom's cousin Pam. He also has been chewing on his fingers constantly.

Cedar & Uncle Mike. Such a sweet, cuddly baby.

All of the cousins were gathered for the first time in about 2 years (on this night we were missing the Chases, who arrived the next day). We always have a great time together. Pictured above: Natasha, Ronan, Josh, Elle, Emily, Lincoln with Kellie, Melissa, & Shaheen.