HURRAH HUNTER!

Hey!  Hunter Alan Hernandez turns 5 years old today.  5 is such a great age.  You get to start kindergarten.  You learn to ride a bike.  You can play at a friend's house for hours.  You don't take naps anymore.
Here are a few things I love about Hunter:
1.  He has so much enthusiasm!!  Enthusiasm for just about everything and everyone

2.  He is so friendly.  Take him to the park and he has a new friend within minutes.

3.  Hunter loves to swim.  He is really a fish in the water, I think.

Hunter, 1, gets a dip in the pool.

Hunter with his mom, Cathy.

3.  Hunter is very coordinated.  He learned to walk very young and to run before most kids could walk.  He is naturally very athletic and physically capable.

4.  Hunter has very advanced soccer skills. Does that surprise anyone?  But to be able to kick the ball with your laces and score goals against older kids when you are 3 and 4 is amazing.

5.  Hunter learns what the rules are and tries very hard to follow them and sees that everyone else does, too.

6.  Hunter adores his little sister, Isabella.  His only problem is that he wants to love and kiss her more than she wants.

7.  Hunter has always had a special relationship with Papa.  Since he was very little he definitely preferred Papa.  Maybe that is because his dad, Mao, has such a special relationship with Papa.

8.  Hunter is a very smart boy and learns quickly.  He loves to have a notebook with him to do his work in.

9.  Hunter loves his family and wants to do what they tell him.

10.  Hunter already can speak and understand some Spanish. What an advantage to be bilingual.

We love having Hunter visit us and keep us entertained.  Hope we get to see him soon.

Happy Birthday, Hunter!  We love you.

Company For the Holidays

What a great holiday season we had!  The Harris family came for almost three weeks.  We had to share them a little with Todd's family, but we had them the most.  Sunny and Steve were scheduled to also come and stay at the beach house, when we were surprised by the Toblers arriving also for a week.  They had arranged with friends who had a wonderful beach house in Laguna so they stayed in luxury.  Now all we were missing were Sam and Lindsay's family in NC since Ruby had just been born and Mao and Cathy's little group because Mao was in Colombia.  What that meant for us was:

Cousins performing on the stairs as Sunday dinner winds down.

Many moments to cuddle on the couch.

Games with Aunt Ashley in the living room.

Musclemen performing on the table.

Lunch at Ruby's Laguna to celebrate Jessie's birthday

Cousins posing for the camera--or not (broken camera can't focus)

Group excursions to the beach and tidepools.

Fabulous talent show acts:

It might be Dec/Jan but there is always swimming with this group!

Snack time, cousin time.  Kayla and Kate

One Adults Night Out

Early morning balloon rides

Evening at the beach

A little football

Babies at the beach

Bonfires and birthdays

Best friends and sunsets

Then baths, jamas, and a story

Then crash on the couch before bedtime.

We love the chaos, the fun, the togetherness.  We hated the good-byes.  We never know when so many will be all together again.  I hope it is soon.  Family is what it is all about.

THE WEEKEND

As the weekend draws to a close, I have decided to just summarize the things that made our life so rich this weekend.  We are lucky to live close to three of our granddaughters and one grandson.  Friday was an opportunity for a sleepover.  Early Saturday morning, on Kayla's request Papa fixed giant pancakes with chocolate chips, strawberries and whipped cream.

Mackenzie

Kayla

Bailey is blown away!

Then Papa decided to see how his new jeep looked without the top.  The girls went for a long ride with him along the coast, bought milkshakes, and walked out on the pier before heading home.  It was a cool day, but a blanket protected them from the chill.

Then it is back into the pool for as long as we would let them.  It was mostly cloudy but the girls still got a little sunburn on their faces.  I know better but forgot.

Sunday is always a day we spend preparing Sunday dinner for our family and whoever else might join us.  We sandwich in that preparation around attending meetings, sometimes a visit to our family ward and then time spent with the San Clemente 5th YSA Ward.  Today we were given a new bishop since Bp Leland Bruce has just been called to be a mission president in Antofagasta, Chile.  The bishop was no surprise.  Since this bishopric was composed of three former bishops and had only served a little more than a year, it was a natural to make the first counselor, Craig Lark, the new bishop with the former second counselor the new first.  Alan Gibby, also a former bishop, is the new second counselor.  They will be very good.

We had a nice dinner together and spent a little time visiting over pie and ice cream.  JR wants you to see how his ABC pie looks. 

A new marine came over as JR & Casey left for a little dinner and a little counsel.  He left with a new haircut and hope that the church would come back into his life.  Once in a while it seems like you make a difference.

****One more birthday I want to mention:  Today is my sister-in-law, Louise's birthday.  I do not have the best pictures of her.  I hope she will forgive the few I have saved from digital cameras.

Louise has been part of our family for lots of years.  Here are a few things I love about Louise:

1. She is one of the best people I know to write letters and keep in touch with those she loves.

2.  She joined the church years ago as the only member in her family.  She has never waivered in her dedication and testimony.

3.  She has great compassion for those who struggle or sorrow.  She empathizes.

4.  She has trained her children in the gospel better than anyone I know.  Their family home evenings could be televised to be the example of how you do it.  They have been totally consistent, I think, over all the years.

5.  Louise has overcome great adversity in first not being able to have children.  As she persevered and found ways to adopt their first four children, she has been blessed.  On top of that she was blessed with two more miracle children that she gave birth to, but had to do it later in life than most of us.  I know she is loved by our Father in Heaven because she has such a wonderful family.

6. She is such a faithful church member, keeping the commandments so diligently.

7.  Along with that, she does her calling with exactness and creativity.  We could all take a lesson from her.

8.  She is loving and loyal to family and true friends.  She reaches out to those who need it and makes sure her extended family keep in touch and stay strong.

9.  Louise takes more pictures than anyone I know.  She documents all the family events.  Then she is awesome to mail (and I do mean mail) you copies if she thinks you would want them--and we always do.

10.  Louise is always interested in your life and listens to your "stuff."

There are so many more things I could say about Louise, but it is late and the main thing I want to say if Louise actually reads this is Happy Birthday, Louise, I love and admire you!

Halle's Day

Halle Ann Tobler turns 9 years old today.  Boy do I remember when she came into this world!  Her mom had been in bed for almost two months trying to keep her in there until she was ready to face this world.  She was almost three weeks early, but healthy, strong and beautiful.  She won our hearts immediately.  It broke our hearts when her family moved to Utah when she was about 3. 

Luckily she comes back to visit often. 

Here are some of the things I love about Halle:

1. She is always excited to see us or talk to us on the phone. We are excited to be with her also

We loved being at her baptism.

2.  She responds to the spirit.  She got her own testimony that being baptised into the church was the right thing to do.  She also felt the spirit at the LA temple at Grand Camp.

3.  She loves her little brother and sister and helps her mom with them all the time. 

Halle with Mackenzie

4.  She is lots of fun.  She has many friends and is always concerned that they are included.

Halle with Toby.

5.  Halle reminds me of the girl I used to see in the mirror when I was younger.  We have the same coloring, freckles, eyes, middle name, and things like that. We have a little bond that way. She is cuter than I was, though.

6.  Halle loves to dance and has fun doing it with her friends.

Lacey and Halle having fun.

7.  She is her own person and tries to do what's right no matter what someone else says.

With cousins Sage and Mackenzie.  They have so much fun together.

8.  She loves jokes.  When she learns one she tells it over and over and laughs harder than anyone at them.  I love to laugh with her.

Baptism day

9.  Halle has a great memory.  She can tell you the scriptures we memorized for both Grand Camps even though it was a long time ago.  She can tell you what they mean, too.

Caught her early one morning!

10.  Halle is very helpful and often volunteers to help me with what I have to do.

We love you Halle Ann Tobler.  Happy, Happy Birthday!!