Happy New Year!

We've had such a nice and relaxing holiday break. Here's what we've done on our Christmas vacation...

A little car racing...

A little cycling...

A little imaginative play...(this is baby desus in the manger)

We've had some happy times and some tears. We were happy when we got some fun toys for Christmas.

We were sad when someone opened all of the Christmas Eve pajamas for us. Hmmm, I wonder who it was...

The boys showing off their PJs.

Brian and Brandon at the Emerald Bowl after Brandon and the choir sang the national anthem in the rain. Go Trojans!

Brandon's idea of fun--camping overnight in a snow cave near Lake Tahoe with the scouts. He says it was 70% awesome and 30% miserable. I think the 30% miserable involved a 4 am cell phone call to Brian's snow cave for help in warming up and getting more sleep. Luckily, they came home happy and without any frostbitten appendages.

Father and son--freezing and having a great time in the snow. Boys will be boys.

2009 was full of fun adventures. We can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us. Have a wonderful New Year!

We'll Have a Green Christmas, Without You

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

A boy scout in a lemon tree?

We are having the most unusual Christmas with our fruit harvest, unusually warm temperatures, and nowhere to go. On Saturday, we mowed the lawn and cleaned up the yard.Yesterday we played at the park. Today we climbed trees, wrapped presents, and checked our grapefruit (they should be ready any day.)

Even our roses are hanging in there, still producing beautiful buds.

Last night we went caroling with a big group from our ward and the kids were confused at not needing snow boots, hats, and gloves. It is even more confusing to see that the hills and the grasses are getting greener, even if the trees have lost almost all of their leaves. But, just to prove to you that we got some snow...Of course, it melted in a few minutes. But, it surprised everyone in the area since they haven't had snow in about 10 years.

We even went to our version of Temple Square to see the lights... Notice the Nativity scene under the neon blue palm trees? The Oakland Temple is behind us.So, things are a little different here, but we are still feeling the Christmas spirit. We hope that you all are too. We miss you and will be thinking of all of you! Have a wonderful Christmas!

'Tis the Season

Well, the countdown to Christmas has begun and our household is busier than ever with preparations for the upcoming week. Josh and Amanda have written their letters to Santa and put them in the mail. Brandon and Katelyn helped by taking dictation and then editing until the letters were perfect. They were even complete with illustrations. I'm sure Santa is going to love them.Katelyn is busy making more decorations for the Christmas tree. Her presents are already purchased or homemade and wrapped under the tree. She has been singing up a storm. I think baking is next on her list.

Brandon has been working on his own arrangement of Carol of the Bells, a violin duet he plans to do with Dad. He is writing it down on sheet music so that Dad will be able to sight read it.

Zachary is helping out by loading the dishwasher. After all, somebody has to do the hard work of keeping this family organized.

Gotcha Day

Today we are celebrating the day we officially adopted Amanda Galina. Five years ago today we stood in that ancient-looking court house in Samara waiting our turn to see the judge. The next day we took a four hour ride (each way) to Syzran in the cold, snowy weather, 4 couples in a little mini-van with no seat belts or car seats. Imagine the ride home with all of our babies! Amanda cried the whole way back and insisted on having her right arm out of the coat sleeve so that she could suck on her four fingers. That night we sat in our hotel room, totally jet-lagged and exhausted watching our tiny bundle kick and roll over. She was nine months old and weighed a whole 10 pounds. It all seems like a blur--sleep deprivation will do that. But, we were so happy that we finally had our baby.
In honor of her special day, Katelyn did her hair in a very glamorous way, curls and all. She has been Katelyn's very special friend all day. They have a "late night" planned in Katelyn's room (probably until about bedtime) where they will play Barbies and giggle. After dinner we are going to watch the video coverage of that historical day and then let Brandon rehearse his Christmas show he's planning, which includes dancing with Amanda. What would we ever do without our little Russian princess? We still keep in touch with those other families and have sent emails back and forth today. We really bonded in that little mini-van, I guess. What an adventure!

I Left My Brains In San Francisco

What a whirlwind week! We survived the Christmas performance rush and now are settling down to a nice and quiet Christmas without any family parties or major events. In fact, the calendar is empty. It is such a nice feeling!! I am sure we are going to get very lonely and miss everyone at some point, but we are really enjoying some peace. Notice I did not say quiet. :)

This is a picture of the Bay Bridge, the route we took to enter the city for each rehearsal and performance.
This is an example of the beautiful Victorian homes near the church where Brandon performed. It was really fun to drive around this area of the city, if you don't mind the hills, the trolleys, and the narrow streets with no parking. Notice the city in the background? That is what I had to drive through to get back to the Bay Bridge.

San Francisco is quite a city. I first thought I might like to live there for a short while. Now, I think I could be very happy to never go back. There are about 10 million cars with only about 2 million parking spots. All of those parking spots are taken at every given moment. We almost missed Brandon's performance searching frantically for a spot. We finally found one about 5 blocks away and then ran like mad to arrive just in time for Brandon to perform. It was in this beautiful Presbyterian church on the top of one of those famous SF hills looking out over the bay.

Brian and I were completely amazed at the quality of those angelic boy soprano voices. We were also so pleasantly surprised to find out that Brandon was chosen at the last minute to be one of the soloists. Our little boy's voice filled the sanctuary with a gorgeous version of Ave Maria. It was beautiful! Suddenly, all of the sacrifice and effort seemed worth it. Wow! What an experience. Brandon said it was amazing and he hopes he has the opportunity to sing like that again.
We are hoping we are up for it. For now, he can just sing for me at home! And maybe for Grandma over the phone. :)

We Made It

Thanksgiving week came and left with a flash. Packing up a whole family of seven for seven whirlwind days back in Utah, and then unpacking, turns out to be really more like a two week adventure. We finally conquered the mountain of laundry, got our house back in normal working order, and now get to look ahead at the next couple of weeks. Can you believe that we are facing yet another mountain? This time it is not the Sierra Nevadas or the laundry pile, but the rehearsal schedule for Brandon's choir. They are either performing or rehearsing the next 8 out of 12 days. Not in their usual location, in downtown San Francisco. Tonight I learned a new skill. I can now parallel park the Mormon-mobile (Suburban) in busy downtown traffic. (I think it was the only Suburban in the entire city--something about emissions and the environment...:) Anyway, aside from having to feed the parking meter every hour and spending so much time waiting and watching the masses of humanity, it was actually a pleasant experience. I was just pleased that I could park at all.
I do feel that I should give thanks to all of our family and friends who made time for us while in Utah. We were so spoiled at Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelmsen's house. We didn't have to do any grocery shopping, cooking, or laundry which allowed us plenty of time to visit and get a few things done. We realized how much we miss everyone, though. We enjoyed our time with you all so much. It's hard to watch things change. Even though it had only been three months, we could see big changes in the kids, and in everything really. I guess you just can't stop the change. You just have to accept it. I think one of the keys to happiness in life is learning how to be content no matter what the circumstances. It helps to just simply trust in the Lord.

Zach has learned a new word, by the way. He walks around saying,
"Zip it." Hmmm, I wonder if he learned it on our 12 hour car ride home??

Roses Bloom Beneath Our Feet?

I recently heard a Relief Society lesson all about how to have
"Love at Home." The teacher echoed my sentiments about that song. Is it for real? How could life at home ever be that ideallic? Then she reminded us that roses have thorns. Then, it all clicked for me! If the roses are blooming under our feet, those thorns have got to hurt us sometimes! It suddenly all made sense!

I sometimes read back over my blog and think that it's kind of a shame that I only include a sample of the good parts of our home life. But, then who would really want to know about the hard times? This is just to let you know that we have both kinds of experiences, with a lot of hum drum in between. I have included a picture of our roses, thorns and all. Thanks, Dad, for showing me how to care for them. They are doing so well!

In the last few months we've had lots of tears, lots of emotion, lots of contention, and lots of hurt feelings. It's hard to move, it's hard to be an adolescent, and it's hard to be a little kid (especially if you are two.) But, we have the roses too. I have lots of memories that I choose keep etched in my mind in place of those "episodes." Like, during the recent violin recital I choose to remember how well Katelyn and Brandon did, not the fidgety little ones who had trouble sitting still so long. I am so thankful that Brian no longer travels. That is the sweetest smelling rose in the garden.

Life really is sweet. Just today we discovered a tiny turtle (stuffed animal) that was put into the bathtub to see if it could swim (by Zach). When I told Josh and Amanda the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears today, Zach walked by right when she broke the little chair and said, "Oh no!"

Tonight for family home evening we all took turns telling what we are most thankful for. It was so sweet to hear the kids tell that they were thankful for each other. It was unsolicited and sincere. Then, Josh looked up at me and told me he was so thankful for his Mom and Dad. I had a sudden flashback of how close we came to losing him during our adoption process. Wow. We are so grateful that story had such a happy ending. Then Amanda came up and hugged me tight and told me how grateful she was to have a mama. It was so sweet. Then we showed our gratitude and joy for our blessings by dancing together and singing. For some that might seem corny, but it was really fun! We all got into it and danced to "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "California Girls" from the Beach Boys and other songs. Then we concluded by singing the Primary song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me." It fit us perfectly.

I too am glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Father created for me.

Who's Birthday Is It?

Can you believe our little buddy is two years old? We had a very fun day today celebrat- ing with our birthday boy. He thought it was great fun, although this morning I wasn't sure. We let him open his first present--this shirt he is wearing. He opened one side, took a look at it, said, "shirt", and walked away! I asked him if he wanted to finish opening it. He said, "no" and kept right on moving. We all laughed and laughed. We learned real fast that if it wasn't a ball, a car, a train, or a book, it just wasn't worth his time. He loved the train set from Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelmsen and the Elmo book from Grandma and Grandpa Carling (which, by the way, was the only thing that distracted him from his favorite present...) He got a basketball hoop from Mom and Dad--he was still talking about it when he was dozing off to sleep! We had to promise that he could play basketball when he woke up in the morning. Even then, there were some tired tears. It's just so hard to wait when you are two. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day...

Happy Birthday, sweet baby.

Temple Hill

This is the view we get to see from our temple. Every time we are on Temple Hill we get to see God's handiwork; usually in the form of amazing sunsets and cloud formations. One day we saw a purple fog settled over the valley below. The beautiful, shining temple was like a beakon to all the wanderers below, calling them and inviting them to come up the mountain.
Today Brian and I spoke in our new ward about Lehi's Dream and this image came to mind. Aren't we grateful for the Tree of Life and the fruit that is white and most desirable above all other fruit. It has made our family very happy. Just wanted to share...

Go, Go, Go Brandon!

The last few weeks our family has been eating, sleeping, and breathing the music from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Our ward is putting on the production this week and Brandon, our lucky little deacon, has been able to join in all the fun. Can you imagine, of all the luck? We move in just as rehearsals are beginning? And, it is Brandon's favorite musical! He told me this week that living in California is like living in Paradise. He can't imagine a better life. He has made good friends in our ward, had a wonderful time learning and growing together as a team with them, and has been able to use his musical talents in a very fun way. We saw last night's performance and it was so good! I cannot believe the talent, the devotion, and the fun that one ward can produce.

On Halloween a group of youth in our ward came to our house trick-or-treating. Brandon answered the door and they all said, "Brandon!!! We didn't know you lived in this house!!" Then they all gave him high fives. One of the young men said, "Hey Brandon, can you sing higher than this?" Then he sang as high as he could. Brandon easily sang higher. They all applauded and told us how much they love listening to Brandon sing. Needless to say, Brandon is a very happy boy.

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween night and I am at home all by myself for a few minutes while Brian takes the kids around the neighborhood. It is so quiet! Except for the occasional trick or treater, it seems nice to be alone. Did I admit that outloud?

I thought you might want to see the cutest little trick-or-treaters around. Aren't they adorable?

Happy Halloween!!

October Highlights

I know. I'm really behind on blogging. I love to do it, but time just goes by so quickly. I'll try to summarize the month with some photos of our highlights. We had a great month, mostly because of our new twelve-year-old deacon. He had a great birthday, complete with a football/pizza party in our backyard with 13 friends and a field trip to the Chabot Science Center. He was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and was surprised by a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Carling who drove all the way to be there for that special day. That made the birthday weekend truly fantastic. This is Brandon blowing out his twelve candles (can you believe we are old enough to have a twelve-year-old?), Brandon as quarterback of his team at the party, and Brandon and Josh discussing the race for space between the Americans and Russians at the space museum. We even got to see a tube of borsch that the Russian astronauts took into space. Yummm!

This is our family home evening activity--making Halloween treats. The gluten-free sugar cookies were awesome. Of course, Brandon and I haven't had the real thing for a long time, so maybe they were terrible. Everyone had a great time, though.

This is the San Francisco Bay, about a block away from where Brian works. It is beautiful. The people at work who live in the city walk along here to catch the ferry to go home after work. The kids got to visit Dad at work yesterday and do a little trick-or-treating around the office. Afterward they had lunch with Dad. Everybody at work has been hearing about these kids for about six years, so they were thrilled to meet them finally. They were a huge hit and got smothered with candy. The kids had a ball.

More Halloween pictures to come...