Mom's birthday

Earlier today we celebrated! French cafe and shopping...my mom is the BEST!

















I posted this picture last year on my moms' birthday. That is when she told me she really kinda hates this picture. Seriously? I love that it is candid and she just looks cool with her long brown hair. So hairspray and everything.

Plus, my brother and I are just cute and serious which is rare even today.....

Well, I am posting it again. So there.

I am taking her to birthday breakfast this morning and will capture her current beautiful self.

Love you mom and I am SO VERY Thankful for y o u!!!

being at my aunt's

is so different from our life at home. She lives in the midst of vineyards in Central California and has goats, chickens, farm fresh eggs, berries to pick and one of our most favorite things - a front porch.

oh, and lots of music too

I Heart Saturday AND......ghiradelli square

I Heart Saturday AND.....gifts from Norway

The gift of sacrifical love...thank you birth mom!






The gift of beautiful surroundings







This photo may soon replace my current blog header photo (which Brian took at Andrew Jackson's house)... he was thinking of me when he saw this Norwegian doorway and old cobblestone walkway- I love it!


The gift of new family that bestow on us art, cookies and candles



We loved it!

mission accomplished

Nate and I were on assignment today.

First, the Federal Building. A certain someone in our family who is traveling across the world (like, tomorrow) needed that important little blue book before he can get on the plane.

and since we were sooo close, we had go here,

and see this building, 'cause someone is starting to dream

then it was off to this lovely building off I-10 to obtain some needed meds for that person that is departing the country - tomorrow...

and then to this fish taco joint because.....well because I was with my teenager .

I Heart Saturday AND.....tony in town

He is my uncle and much more like a brother. He loves movies, the Lakers, music, a good cigar, wine, his family and most of all the GOSPEL. He lives and breathes it. He teaches it and shares it. He has had a huge impact on my spiritual life.

He is a senior pastor of a church in Illinois - visiting for the week and meeting with church leaders and talking about a possible move back to CA!!!

We are praying.....I miss these girls!

off to Neverland...here we go!

The Corona troupe never let's us down - it was an awesome production of the classic musical and we just loved it! We said "here we go", we wanted to be the mother to all the lost boys and tell them stories and we clapped really hard and said "we believe" so that tinkerbell would not die.




and then we ate cake




Because it's our birthday week- that's why!

I Heart Saturday AND......shipmates

The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you that your son Francis Kirwin Seeley, ship's cook first class, U.S. Navy, is missing following action in performance of his duty and in the service of his country. The department appreciates your great anxiety, but details not now available and delay in receipt thereof must necessarily be expected. There has been no casualty report concerning your other son, Lewis Everett, ship's cook first class, U.S. Navy.

Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs,
Chief of Naval Peronnel
Arlington, VA 4:14 pm

This was the telegram sent to my Great Granmother Seeley (my Dad's grandmother) in 1943. Later she would learn that her son Francis "Bob" Seeley was dead.



My Great Uncle Lewis, the surviving brother, wrote this book regarding the sinking of his ship and the passing of his brother. It is such a great book and easy to read. (available here at amazon.com) I love that he was brave enough to face his sorrows in retelling the story of these brave men. I will read it again this weekend and think of not only these men, but all of the American soldiers who have died fighting for our country.



On September 11, 1943, Lewis E. Seeley and his brother Bob, were serving their country aboard the destroyer USS Rowan, DD 405. Shortly after one in the morning, the ship was torpedoed by German e-boats, and sank in forty seconds. Two hundred and four men died almost instantly. Bob was among them. Wracked by grief and guilt, Lewis spent the next four decades trying to forget that night. But eventually, he found himself unable to ignore or resist the insistent nightmares of that night. He realized that to put the ghosts to rest, he would have to seek out the company of his shipmates to help him remember.

I Heart Saturday AND.....this guy (or these guys)

happy birthday honey!

oh- and in our family, we think its extra cool that he shares a birthday with this guy...so today we raise a glass to him as well

J.R.R TOLKIEN

Acorn Woodpeckers

At Mt. Palomar State Park we camped among the trees - trees that looked like this filled with acorns! It was so cool. We had a front seat view to God's creativity. The woodpeckers pecking on a tree above my tent woke me in the early morning hours.

I had never seen trees like this but now as I have read about them (of course it has become a mini-science unit this week), they are popular in Oaks in the West. They peck at the wood and then they gather acorns, find a hole the right size for their acorn and store it.

all i want for christmas or whats new is old

As I glanced over the list of "what I want for Christmas" list that I have been collecting for the family, I had to stop and smile.

Matt wants...

Nate wants...

Brian wants....

Bria wants....

I guess we are in for an old-fashioned Christmas after all, no chargers or batteries required.