Nate and Christiana

I have several dear friends and family members in So Cal, so while we’re still here, I’m hoping to visit them all. On the weekend of March 7th, we packed our bags, jumped in the car, pressed “play” on the iPod (listened to “The Tale of Two Cities”) and headed south to the Carlsbad area. Our first stop was the Farris family. They are good friends of my family, and we’ve missed them greatly since they moved away from the Bay Area. Dean and Serrell have 4 wonderful kids (Rachel, Ricky, Jeremiah, and Leanna) and an adorable rottweiler puppy named “Tank”. Ricky was unfortunately away at camp, but we were able to hang out with the rest of the family. It was also fun for them to meet my “new husband”. Good times with good friends.

Leanna and Rachel, who was heading off to her fun Legoland job

Serrell and Tank

Our next stop was to visit my fantastic family. After meeting up with my Uncle Tom and Aunt Barbara at their home in Carlsbad, we drove to see my second cousin, Kaitlyn, perform in a witty rendition of Robin Hood. It was enjoyable to watch her and the other kids in this comical play. We then headed back with my aunt and uncle to their home, where we had a lovely homemade lasagna dinner and proceeded to play Mexican Train dominoes until after 11:00pm! We had so much fun!

“Robin Hood” – Kaitlyn is second from the left

Mmmm…lasagna dinner

Playing Mexican Train Dominoes

Getting a little competitive…are we? After 13 rounds, Nate was the final winner!

We went to church with them the next morning, where they both sing in the choir.

After church, we had a delicious brunch at my Cousin RT’s home in San Marcos. Here he is with his lovely family: Shawn (wife) and two kids, Rich and Kaitlyn (the actress from Robin Hood). I can’t believe how big the kids are getting (but then, RT was saying that he can’t believe how big his “little” nieces and nephews are getting too…the Norris “kids”…the nerve of us getting married…and now, pregnant!)

Shawn works at a veterinary clinic, so they naturally have lots of fun animals around, including these large tortoises.

We were privileged to watch the feeding process. They were actually really cute, in their own tortoisey way.

Nate played catch with their 2 Golden Retrievers

My cousin and his family have one of the coolest pools that I have every seen

Rich entertaining us with his acrobatics

The dog entertaining us too

Kaitlyn and I

On March 4th, Nate’s sister and her son, Joanna and Liam, surprised us with a visit from the Bay Area! It’s not often that our family and friends from up north can just “pop in”, so we were really excited to see them. They had taken the spur-of-the-moment trip to drive a dog back to its home, and since we weren’t too far from their destination, they decided to pay us a visit too! What a great surprise!

Uncle Nate and Liam had fun playing Lego StarWars

Nate had a few days off at the beginning of March, so we decided to play tourists and visit the famous Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Admission was free, though parking was $10–still a bargain at $5/person. The architecture was unique and the exhibits were fairly extensive, including some of my favorite artists: Monet, Van Gogh etc. The landscaping was also enjoyable with its whimsical style and modern designs. We wandered through the various interior and exterior delights and then treated ourselves to lunch at the Museum Cafe, sitting on the balcony overlooking the lovely grounds, and enjoying the beautiful day!

Taking the tram from the parking structure to the museum.

View of LA from the tram

This was one of our favorites

Portrait of Jeanne Kefer – I thought this was a sweet picture

Wheatstacks, Snow Effect – Monet

Irises – Van Gogh

People enjoying the beautiful day and the balcony where we had lunch

The lovely landscaping

Whimsical designs

A Barbed-wire tree trellis – modern loveliness

More landscaping

Happy Tourists