Obama's body language

IN Jane pointed out an article talking about Obama's body language in a recent photo. Then they make connections to the health care reform plans. I'm very thankful IN Jane pointed out this article. Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have Mercy-especially on the elderly with this administration.

Great Aunt Marie's House

The day after the wedding, we went over to Ram's aunt's house. Some of the family had to leave, but most of the family was able to go over for the afternoon. Aunt Marie was in a great mood. She had one daughter get married last year, and one daughter get married that weekend. She still has one boy and one girl left. Boys and weddings don't involve as much. The last girl has Down's Syndrome. They joke that if she ever gets married, they will have pizza and Slurpies because that's what she wants. She was thrilled to be done with the wedding planning. It's crazy to have two weddings in less than a year! We ordered sub sandwiches and Aunt Marie had some chips and salsa etc. to go with them. It was great to talk to the family as everyone was busy with the wedding and it was the first chance we really had to chat. The bride and groom came home for a little bit so that she could pack for her honeymoon, but they were busy and we only talked to them for a little bit. We laughed because they opened up the cards to get some cash for the trip, but they waited to open up presents. They talked about how nice it was that the reception ended early (I think about 9pm) so they were able to go to the hotel and get some rest. The next day they took a middle of the night flight-first to FL and then to Jamaica if I remember right.

Great Uncle Dan brought a fun beanbag game for the adults but the Lambs tried it out.

Great Uncle Hal (the bride's dad) worked very hard to put in this beautiful waterfall and plants in their backyard. I can't imagine how much it work it was to carry all those rocks and put them in place. He had an "expert" check it out after he was finished. The expert said it would cost about $50,000 to have professionals put this water feature in. He also said Hal did a great job and did everything right. That made Hal feel good to know that everything was draining correctly etc. Cousin Adam was very patient taking the Lambs up the hill so they could see the water. Here he took Lamb 1 and 3 at the same time.

Cousin Adam was impressed that Lamb 3 could handle walking up the steep hill with just a little help. Lamb 3 was determined.

Papa also took trips up the hill with the Lambs. Here he is with Lamb 2.

Cousin Jenna took the Lambs up a few times. Here she is with Lamb 1. Jenna helped Lamb 1 walk across one part of the rocks too.

It was an enjoyable afternoon at Marie and Hal's home! Hopefully tomorrow I can post some final thoughts about our CA trip. I'm out of pictures to post from that trip though!

Rehearsal Dinner and CA wedding

The rehearsal dinner was held at a barbeque restaurant. The groom's family was very friendly and so kind to allow all of our family to attend. The food was a buffet of barbequed foods. It was delicious. They had bandannas for napkins and cowboy hats for the children. The Lambs were excited they got to keep those. They played lots of cops and robbers in the hotel room. They played even more after we got home and had their police man uniform and ride on cars.

Our family after the rehearsal dinner. I heard that Ram was just like Lamb 1 and hated having his picture taken when he was a boy.
Lamb 2

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning, some of Ram's cousins played with our boys. This photo was taken at the wedding reception where they continued to play with our boys. Annie is Adam's girlfriend and she was the most enthusiastic about playing with our boys. Annie helped the Lambs to run off a lot of energy. One of the groom's nephew's (a ring bearer), Lamb 1 and 2, and Annie are in this photo.

Don't tell anyone that we skipped church and played Duck, Duck, Goose on Sunday morning. Great Aunt Debbie even joined in for a little while. Lamb 3 wiped out on the patio and had a big bump on his head when we went to the wedding. After a long chat with relatives and the Lambs playing games, we walked down to a cute cafe and had a good lunch before the wedding.

All of Ram's mom's family at the wedding. All the siblings and their children and spouses and our children were at the wedding. This is quite impressive because we came from WA, several places in CA, ID, and MN.

Ram's mom with all her siblings

The bride's family (Ram's mom's sister's family)

Grandma and Grandpa with our family

Our family

The wedding and reception were held at a park. A Mexican restaurant catered it. It was a taco bar with great food. I've never seen a candy bar before. There were jars of candy and we were to fill our bags with candy for the ride home. Lamb 2 usually doesn't eat many sweets, but he finished the bag on the way home. Don't tell anyone that Ewe finished her bag too.

It was a little hard to manage all 3 Lambs at the wedding and reception, especially since the wedding was outside and not at a church. But that turned out to help us as there was lots of area for them to run around in during the reception. When they weren't sitting eating, we took turns watching them run around. We hadn't seen Ram's mom's family since Lamb 1 was a baby, so it was great that everyone was there and we were able to visit with them.

Why?

Why does Lamb 2 get up 4 times in the night when Lamb 3 actually sleeps through the night?

(Lamb 3 slept through the night for several months after we brought him home from the hospital. When he started teething, sleeping through the night ended. A few months ago I quit nursing him in the middle of the night, but still was up with him at least once a night. It was usually 2am. We've been battling colds and minor fevers. I think Lamb 2 didn't feel well and that was the reason for all the night waking. Lamb 3 slept through the night for the first time in months. I think that was because he was sick too. I'm hoping to get them all in to the chiropractor today. Hopefully the chiropractor will help them all without changing Lamb 3 sleeping through the night. We can hope...)

This is going to be a long day between the last summer library storytime (they get very excited!), the Lambs are tired and grouchy from being sick, getting up 4 times last night with Lamb 2, and trying to work on the tons of peaches here (actually it's only 34 lbs worth!).

More about our CA trip

I'm finally getting to post about our trip to CA again. The Lambs loved all the flowers in CA. Unfortunately here in MN, we let them pick flowers that are weeds like dandelions. We never did get them to understand that they can't pick the flowers in front of our hotel and other businesses we went to.

Lamb 1 and 2 picking "just a few" flowers for Mama and Grandma.
Lamb 3 had to copy his big brothers.

Ram with Lamb 3.

After our sightseeing on that Friday when we went to the city, we went to a Mediterranean restaurant that was just about a block away from our hotel. It was delicious. It was pleasant weather for a walk down there too.

Lamb 1 and 2 with Grandma, walking home from dinner.

Most nights we went downstairs at the hotel and had treats at Happy Hour. Lamb 1 especially liked the Shirley Temples. They had wonderful food too. Great cheeses and crackers, lots of fresh fruit, chips and salsa, fresh veggies and dips, etc.

Lamb 1 was looking forward to the elevator at the hotel. Lamb 3 also enjoyed the elevator. We were on the 6th floor so they were able to take lots of elevator rides. They enjoyed looking out the clear glass on the elevator.

This was taken in the hotel lobby. This was the best photo I could get of the Lambs-too much to look at. The hotel was really busy, especially on the weekend. There was a huge family reunion, and several wedding parties and guests.

The Lambs loved watching the fish in the hotel lobby. We did our best to keep the Lambs from going swimming with the fish! All 3 Lambs were difficult to handle in the hotel lobby-too much to see and too much room to run around.

The Lambs were happy that this Embassy Suites had fish, just like the other Embassy Suites that we stayed at in L.A. area.

The hotel we stayed at was fine, and this is not a complaint as much as a statement. The breakfast area was far too small for the amount of guests. It was the worst on the weekend, but it was bad every day we were there. Most guests want a nice breakfast because made-to-order omelets are advertised as a perk of staying at Embassy Suites. We had to wait for a table, then wait in long lines for food, and wait for a high chair, etc. all while keeping track of the Lambs and getting food for everyone and helping everyone get their food cut up etc. The rooms at the other Embassy Suites I've stayed at were nicer too, even though our room was adequate. This was a one time event for us to go to San Francisco area for Ram's cousin's wedding. I'm thankful that the Embassy Suites that we prefer is the one in the L.A. area that we go to more often, when we visit Ram's grandparents.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll post about the rehersal dinner and wedding. After all, that is the real reason we went to CA!

Poop!

A Looper friend, Gina, has a boy about the same age as Lamb 1 that recently had surgery. This post is a good reminder that those of us with healthy children are blessed. We shouldn't take for granted the multiple dirty diapers we change and the potty training problems we have. My dad always says to be thankful that "the plumbing works" for our children. We praise God that John is doing so well after surgery.

PRAY

Please pray for baby Stellan, his heart, his family, and especially his Mama and Papa. Click here if you don't know about baby Stellan. Thy will be done, O Lord.

We had a very busy weekend with our town celebration for being 130 years old and TRAM riders this morning (The Ride Across MN) bike riders. I will post about that later, but I wanted to post about Stellan now.