CHRISTMAS DAY 2008

Christmas day was wonderful as always. We had the wonderful company of Michelle's family and Kelly's family. That makes is great for empty nesters. We always make everyone wait up at the top of the stairs and then Grant turns on Boston Pops music and start down the stairs. We enjoyed watching the children open presents. Little Alex is just starting to rip paper but sure did like our gift of poppin' balls. After gifts are opened, we look at stockings. Grant got tickets to go to a Dodger game and Tod got tickets to his alumni, Cal State Long Beach sports. Afterwards we had a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, yogurt, juice and milk. Afterwards it was time to go across the street to my sister's, Patricia, house and call Robert. We talked for about one and a half hours and enjoyed every minute. We also go to Abuela & Abuelo's house for dinner and more gifts. We had a great time!

Pictures: Tod, Michelle, Madelyn, Spencer, Zach, and Alex coming down the stairs; Madelyn and Spencer standing in front of the presents and tree; Madelyn with her american girl doll.; Grant, Christine, Zach and Kelly; Michelle helping Alex open a present; Alex, Madelyn and Spencer playing with a toy; Christmas breakfast.

CHRISTMAS EVE 2008

One of our family traditions is to put our shoe under the tree before we go to bed on Christmas Eve night. This comes from the tradition that in Uruguay on January 6th all the children put their shoes out in the hallway and the 'three kings' come and put gifts under their shoe. So we have taken that tradition and incorporated it into our own tradition. We put the shoe under the tree and Santa puts gifts under that person's shoe. But...........first we have to do a shoe dance!!! We all get our shoe, turn on music and follow Grant in dancing around the bottom of the house. I, Christine, am the end! So the bottom picture is everyone getting ready to do the shoe dance: Michelle, Spencer, Grant, Tod, Madelyn, Zach and Kelly. The middle picture is Grant and Madelyn in the dance and the top picture is Spencer. He crashed on the chair just before the dance so we left him there!

Nativity at Abuela & Abuelo's

The Sunday before Christmas, we go to my parent's , LaMar & Sonia Williams, home for our annual Nativity production. This evening always includes dinner, snacks, the acting out of the Nativity, Christmas songs, playing bells, and a visit from Santa Claus. Always friends are invited to join the famiy and enjoy the evening. This year Grant and I invited the Briggs to go with us. Dan, Franca, Francesca, and Alessandro Briggs. Ale became one of the shepherds. Also Pat Libby, her daughter, Denise and her daughters were also present. My brother, Larry and family were there as well as my sister, Patricia, and her family. We always have a great time and enjoy the production of Luke, chapter 2. Here are pictures: Spencer, as a shepherd, looking up to the angels; Abuela found Santa's sack and passed out gifts. My mom always says, "Don't open it!" She makes us all wait until everyone has a gift. The angels, including my granddaughter, Madelyn who is at the bottom; everyone taking pictures of the nativity finale. I thought it was funny to see how many people were taking pictures! The production crew: Larry, my brother, with the camera, Me, playing the piano, Grant in the back was the narrator, and terry & Louis who took over playing the piano for me. The Shepherds: Ryder Romero, my great nephew, Alessandro Briggs, our friend, and Spencer our grandson. The finale of the nativity play with my dad, LaMar Williams sitting on the left.

Shopping with the Grandchildren

It is fun fun fun to go shopping with your grandchildren! I seem to like to buy books for them. Madelyn, 9, is an avid reader, and I am trying to get Spencer in the mood for reading. We also made a stop to "Fuzzywigs", a candy shop in the Shoppes. Of course, Spencer loved that store!

Christmas @ Grandma Clark's

The Saturday before Christmas is always, "Christmas at Grandma Clark's house." This year we had the advantage of having more guests than usual. We had Grant's Uncle Jim and his wife, Claudia, Aunt Betty, Stephanie & Dave Marsden, Grant's cousin, plus Michelle, our daughter, and her family. Grant and I had a great time. There are always presents for the children and we adults play a Christmas Present game. Kind of like the white elephant game. We had a great dinner prepared by Stephanie and enjoyed each other's company. A great weekend!

SYDNEY IS "KNIGHTED"

At Sydney's (Laura's daughter, 5) school, they honor those who are exceptional in the school values. Sydney was 'knighted' by the school knight, for showing compassion to her fellow classmates. She received a medal and also lit a candle with the rest of the school children who were knighted. This ceremony is only done four times a year. So.... well done Sydney!!!

A BOY!!!

LIESEL & CODY Moultrie found out they are having a boy!

They had their appointment this past Tuesday, December 16th but tried to wait till their announcements were mailed to tell everyone. A huge snowstorm in Utah delayed mail to everyone so they called us! We are so excited for a new grandson in our family! Also, they moved up Liesel's due date to April 24th. That is even better news!

MISSIONARY DINNER

Sunday eveing, December 14th, we invited the other couples from our ward, with missionaries to our house for a 'missionary dinner.' There are five families in our ward that currently have boys serving missions. Only the Kat family and the Reynoso family were able to attend this evening but we still had a great time. George Reynoso make a pork roast, Wendy Kat made a salad and we provided the rest. We sat and talked about our boys for a long time. It was a great evening. We plan on having another dinner in three months. From L to R - front row: Teri Reynoso, Christine Clark, Wendy Kat. Back row: George Reynoso, Grant Clark, Fred Kat.

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

This is the first year in a long long time that it was just Grant and I decorating the tree. We haven't been without someone else since Michelle was a baby. So, we put on Christmas music and started decorating. the first picture is Grant stringing the lights on the tree and the second picture is the finished tree. What do you think?

THANKSGIVING

We had a treat in having Cody and Liesel here for Thanksgiving this past weekend. (I love when my children come home!) Thursday, we spent with the Clark side of the family at Grant's brother's house. John and Jeanna always do a great job on Thanksgiving. All their chilren were there including their adorable granddaughter, Ivy. I was "Grandma Sister"to her. So all night she would say, "Grandma sister, could you please get me fishy crackers?" She is so darling!!!
Our daughter, Michelle and her family along with Liesel & Cody were there. Madelyn and Spencer loved playing with Jamie and Ivy. After dinner, we stayed and played games until it was time to go home.
On Friday, we went to my Mom & Dad's home for our traditional Friday Thanksgiving Dinner.
Since my Mom, Sonia, always had to work on Thanksgiving day, we started having Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. This year, my mom wanted to have it on Thursday. But everyone in the family didn't want her to change our Friday tradition, so we had it on Friday. Afterwards we went to Metro point, at South Coast Plaza, to listen to the band, to dance, wander around the stores and eat 'Cosi' warm bread right out of the oven! A good weekend to be had!
Thankful for: FAMILY & FRIENDS!!! Life is so so good!!!

GRANT'S TRIP TO UTAH

Grant spent this past weekend in Utah. He went for the basketball tournament at BYU and also for the BYU vs. University of Utah football game. He stayed at Becky's house a few nights and also at Norton's house. He took toys for our grandkids to enjoy. He introduced the boys, Drew 4 and Clark 2, to donuts and chocolate milk. He also took them to Wendy's and showed them how to dip their french fries into the chocolate shakes and eat them! I'm sure Becky has a lot of "Un-doing" to do today, Monday, now that Opa is gone! BYU was undefeated in thebasketball tournament but lost the football game to University of Utah. Oh well, all in all it was a great weekend for him.

MY PREGNANT GIRLS

Here are our girls and their cousin, Lisa. All pregnant at the same time! There are actually two more cousins on the Williams side of the family that are expecting also, Angela Williams and Amy Bang. Becky is due at the end of January, Liesel is due the beginning of May and Lisa is in March.

Aren't they cute! L to R Rebecca, Lisa, and Liesel

FIRE FIRE FIRE!!!

This past weekend, November 15-16, 2008, proved to be a very tense weekend. Saturday morning we noticed smoke in the air so turned on the TV to notice that Corona was on fire at the corner of the 71 freeway and the 91 freeway. What happened next was very unexpected. The Santa Ana winds were blowing so the fire jumped the 91 freeway and started burning by Green Valley Road. It roared through the houses damaging many, up the hills, into Yorba Linda, and embers started fires in Brea. The fire burned houses by Kathleen's old place in Yorba Linda. Carbon Canyon became a hot spot so everyone fromt there was evacuated. Then the fire came over the hill towards Chino Hills. All of Butterfield ranch was evacuated as was Carbon Canyon. The fire eventually went into Tonner Canyon where it spread to Diamond Bar. Right now at this moment, Monday Morning, Nov. 17th, Ayala High school is being used as a red cross shelter. Grant went over Sunday morning where they were housing about 1,000 people. This evening, Monday, the Stake is providing dinner to about 450 people. Larry and Lorrie, my brother and sister-in-law, were packed up Sunday morning waiting for the evcuation order. Joe and Angela evacuated to my sister, Patricia's house. Patricia happened to be at the beach with my mom when all this broke out so she was stuck in Orange County because all the freeways around here were closed the 91, the 71, and the 57. Saturday night was erie to see the glow coming over the hills. We were surrounded by fire! No one slept very well. Now the fire is semi contained and the winds have died down. Many have lost homes but fortunately no one died.

GRANT DOES WORK

Grant and his partner "Jackie" sit at our dining room table and work. I thought it was funny that they always have the same pose when they are concentrating and thinking.

FIELDTRIP TO THE FIRESTATION !

I took my preschool to the Chino Valley Fire Station on Peyton north of Grand Avenue in Chino Hills. The children loved it! We toured two trucks and the inside of the fire station. The children couldn't get enough. It was very interesting to the adults too. I like fieldtrips!!!

VETERANS DAY GET AWAY!

Grant and I went away for the Veterans Day Holiday. We went to a Bed & Breakfast in the Temecula wine country. It is off the 15 freeway and down Rancho California Road. There are many wineries around this area plus it is so peaceful and quiet. Lots of rolling hills with grape vines or citrus groves around the area. Our B&B was up on a hill so we were able to watch the sunset in the hills and have a great view. For breakfast, the 1st course was fresh fruits of several kinds and juices out on the veranda.

The second course was fresh breads of all kinds and finally the entree was Eggs Florentine with grape tomatoes and goat cheese or champagne poached salmon with capers, a bagel, cream cheese, tomato, and onions. I took the salmon and Grant took the Eggs Florentine. We sat and visited with the other guests at the B&B for a while and then took a drive through the wine country.

We also drove to Old Towne Temecula and had lunch and went to the fun shops there.

All in all, it was a great get away and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

FAMILY

This past Sunday we got together with Christine's family (Williams) that are left in California. Ron came down from Washington State to see the parents. We had a big family dinner and visited until late in the night. It was great to see him again. It is always great to get together and visit.

From left to right: Back: Patricia, Larry, Ron, Christine. Sitting in front: the parents, Sonia and LaMar Williams

LOOK WHAT I HAVE!!!

After 4 years without one, we are finally getting a fireplace mantel! I can't believe it is almost done. It will be varnished to match the kitchen cabinets. Now I can decorate!!

I will post the 'after' picture when it is done!

TRICK OR TREATING WITH THE ANIMALS

Saturday, October 25, 2008, we went to Irvine Regional Park with Michelle, our oldest daughter and her children, Madelyn and Spencer. The Orange County Zoo is there. It specializes in animals who live in the southwestern habitat. They were having 'trick or treating' with the animals, so, Madelyn and Spencer dressed up in their Halloween costumes and met us there. The zoo had people all over the zoo passing out candy, helping the children with a scavenger hunt, and doing crafts with the children. We were all really impressed with the zoo!

Afterwards, we went over the the park's pumpkin patch and rode the train around the park. We also bought train whistles for Madelyn and Spencer so they could blow them as we rode the train. It is great to spend a day with our children and grandchildren!

BIRTHDAY TIME FOR CHRISTINE

Today is my birthday. I'm at the age that I'm not really sure I want to be celebrating birthdays anymore, but I love getting messages from my children and grandchildren singing "Happy Birthday". I woke up today happy to be alive ... grateful that I have a wonderful husband, great children, super grandchildren, good friends and extended family! Everything else is just extra!

TUACHAN THEATRE

This past Saturday, October 11, 2008 we took a fast trip up to St. George, Utah to see the play, Les Miserables, at the Tuachan Theatre. We left at 6:00 a.m. to get an early start. Dan & Franca Briggs went with us. We stopped at Peggy Sue's in Yermo, CA for breakfast. Franca & Dan had never been there and Grant thought it would be a fun place to go. After that we went straight up to St. George. Grant decided to show Franca the St. George temple and as we rounded the corner, we saw Liesel & Cody coming out of the temple grounds! We all went to Nielsen's frozen Custard to have a treat while waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready.

We stayed at the Coral Hills Hotel along with my parents, Patty, Larry, Lorrie, Lisa, Joel, Jakie, Liesel & Cody, and the Briggs.

That evening we went out to dinner at Cafe Rio, and then went to the theater. Was it ever cold!

The Tuachan theater is an outdoor theater and the temperature out there was about 40 degrees! We had lots of coats, blankets, hats and gloves to sit and watch the musical. It was a great performance and we enjoyed it a lot. The next morning found all of us down in the breakfast room at the hotel and then everyone started going home. It was fun to see our daughter, Liesel and her husband, Cody for one day. I am glad we went!

FIELDTRIP!!!

Since I have a pre-school, I arrange field trips all the time. Unfortunately, I don't get to enjoy them as much as the children and their parents do. As usual, I am in the background trying to make sure everything is going smoothly. This time we went to the Orange County Zoo, at the Irvine Regional Park, and their pumpkin patch and train ride. This is the first time that I have ever had t-shirts with my preschool logo on them. It was fun to see everyone in their shirts. It was a great day and everyone seemed to have a good time. Great place to go! So to enjoy it myself, I am going to take my California grandchildren there next Saturday!

The other things we did in September

While we were in Utah for football games, we also saw our two daughters and their families.

We stayed with Becky, Geoff, Drew and Clark in Provo this past weekend and saw our Liesel & Cody on Saturday morning for breakfast. Grant and Geoff enjoyed the football game while Becky and I went shopping! We also went to Randy Norton's wedding on Friday, September 19th at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. (What a beautiful Hotel!) Friday morning Grant taught the boys (Drew & Clark) his famous 'horsey' ride and we also went to play at a park.

Pictures from top: Grant with Clark & Drew on the 'horsey' ride; Clark crawling through the playground; Grant and Drew doing karate moves like power rangers; Drew on the swing with his dad, Geoff, pushing him; At the wedding, Grant and Ed Norton eating cookies they had found while the rest of us were waiting for the reception to start.