Emma's Birthday Party and McCloud Falls

BIRTHDAY PARTY @ Whiskeytown Lake


We had a great time hanging out with new friends at the lake on Sept. 19th. It was hot enough to swim :) I made a fruit tart to avoid massive sugar intake... but Emma liked the fruit the best!

DAY TRIP TO MCCLOUD FALLS

We took a nice trip to McCloud (just south of Mt. Shasta), packed a picnic and hiked to lower, middle and upper falls. It was a beautiful, easy hike about 2 miles. It was chilly there.

VIDEO OF EMMA HIKING

A LOOK BACK AT EMMA's 1st YEAR

SEPTEMBER 20, 2008

OCTOBER 08

NOVEMBER 08

DECEMBER 08

JANUARY 09

FEBRUARY 09

MARCH 09

APRIL 09

MAY 09

JUNE 09

JULY 09

AUGUST 09

SEPTEMBER 09

Its been a wonderful, precious year with Emma ~ we looked forward with eagerness to watch what God has put inside her blossom in the months and years ahead.

WALKIN' TALL

She went from walking while holding both our hands, to one of our hands, to practicing with a walker and BOOM... she took the first steps on her own and its been all walking since.... a week before her first birthday

Check out this video clip a day after she started walking on her own !

A Week with Oma and Opa

Dale's parents, "Oma & Opa" came to visit us for a week. They had a great time playing with Emma and she really enjoyed being with them. Oma took Emma and I shopping .... and we loaded up on some new toys and books. Opa did alot of exploring by bike. We all were able to enjoy lunches and dinners together , some swimming at Whiskeytown Lake and some hiking at Lassen Volcanic Park. Dale and his Dad also tried to hike to the top of Lassen Peak but due to an earlier rock slide only 1/2 the trail was open, so they braved a different trail to the top of Brokeoff Mountain .... more about this in a later posting. The night before they had to leave, we had an early birthday celebration for Emma with Angel Food cake, peaches, ice cream and some gifts. She had a little bite of cake but really enjoyed the cut peaches and ice cream much better.

An added bonus for the Kuklas, Emma started taking some steps during their visit.

SAN FRAN

We met my sister, Sheila, her husband, Dino and their 2 girls, Corrina and Angela in San Francisco for a couple days.. Aug 22 and 23. Corrina was performing with her dance academy at Pier 39. It was so great to spend some time with them, enjoy some cooler weather and see some dancing. Emma had a great time playing with her cousins. We also spent some time walking on the coastal trail, on the northwestern edge of the penisula ... really nice.

Outdoor Girl

We went out to Lassen Nat'l Park again last weekend. We drove to another park of the park and hiked a nice trail that runs past 3 beautiful crystal clear lakes. Emma seems to enjoy being out in new surroundings, but we did have to stop a couple times and let Emma crawl around. She's a pro crawler and is on her way to walking... at this point she gets us to hold her hand so she can walk about. She also has 7 teeth and 1 more coming. She is clearly saying "Dada" and "dawdaw" (dog) .. its seems almost any animal qualifies as a dawdaw.

Summer Vacations

In late June I was able to take a short trip to Sarasota, FL to see my family and celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday. It was great to surprise my parents, see Amy's and Amy's boyfriend Willie, and Ian and Sally, as well as hear the great news about my sister Sally being pregnant with their 1st child!

In July we visited Moira's family at Fenwick Island, Delaware. It was a great time, with Emma enjoying the ocean and having a great time with all of her cousins, aunts, and uncles. Following, coming back to CA "great gramps" a.ka. G.G. was able come up to Redding to spend 3 days with us. We enjoyed his company and I was able to play golf with him. I was always consider it a privilege to spend time with my grandfather, one of the most special people in the world to me. I want to say a special thanks to Buster and Laurie Dumford who allowed us to stay at their house and took us to/from the airport in Sacramento. P.S. Although not an East Coast vacation I couldn't help throwing in the above picture of my little darling at Lake Manzanita in Lassen National Park (one of my favorite places out here).

June 2009 post

Thanks for all the prayers ... Dale took the CA law test and passed and received verification of his license this past week. He will finish orientation start working with patients this coming week. He has also applied for the School of Supernatural Ministry for the fall. Emma is crawling, pulling herself up to stand on the coffee table, cruising around the coffee table, and she is just about to get her upper 2 teeth.

We took a couple day trips this week to some nearby national parks. Lassen Volcanic National Park and Whiskeytown Lake.

Emma In California

I've been eating food since we left Charleston. I am starting to love trying to grab Cherrios off the floor. Also, I am really good at scooting across the floor on my belly.

Mother's Day! I got my Mom a balloon and some chocolate. We were visiting with Aunt Sheila and Uncle Dino and my cousins, Corrina and Angela. We had nice lunch at a restaurant on the beach.

Running errands in Redding with Mom and Dad

ITS HOT IN REDDING IN THE SUMMER , thank God I have my blue whale pool with a neat spout to help me cool off!

OF COURSE, Dad likes it too!

ON OUR LAST LEG

The last leg of the tour .... Jackson to Boise... Boise to Bend... Bend to Redding.

Again, beautiful places and nice people.

We arrived in Redding on Friday, April 24th ... it was surreal, hard to believe we made it to our destination. We were so ready to be done.

We had a contact for a place to stay. The Swartz brothers - Samuel & Jonathan. These 2 really nice guys, who are doing the ministry school, took us in for 9 days. Jonathan gave up his bedroom for us and slept on the couch. God really blessed us. It was really nice to have some folks welcome us to town, give us a bed to sleep in and use of the apt. They were busy and gone alot, so it seemed we had time to stretch out, get our bearings and Emma had plenty of floor time. We enjoyed going to church on Sunday .... felt at home there. People were SO friendly and helpful.

Dale had an interview right away on Monday, April 27th with a home health agency. They said they would like to have him. Also, he has the option to go from FT to PT in the fall , if he decides to do the ministry school .... add the kicker .... the job pays alot more than in Charleston! Yeah God!! He has to get his CA license first, which involves taking a CA law test.

We spent the week looking at neighborhoods, looking at housing ads and trying to find our new home. By about Saturday we had decided on a nice 3 BR home to rent which is very close to a kids playground and walking trails ~ we are excited. Yeah God!! The tenants are ministry school students and don't finish until May 17th. So we have a bit of a wait to move in.

We felt that we needed to take our leave from the Swartz brothers on Sunday, May 3rd. They are wrapping up the school year and stress on Jonathan seemed to be building. So we packed up the car and headed to a hotel for 2 days. We called around and asked for contacts for others that might be able to host us, but nothing came through ..... so we called Sheila and Dino (my sister and brother-in-law who live 7 hours down the coast). Despite the fact that they are in probably the busiest times of their lives, they didn't hesitate to tell us to come on down. While its hard to still be in limbo, we felt that maybe it was a God thing .... a time for us to help them out with day to day stuff and take some of the load off.

So the pieces are identified, but not locked into place yet .....

Also.... our stuff is en route ... Dale's parents picked up our stuff and they should arrive in Redding in Wed or Thurs. We are praying that we can unload the stuff in the garage of the new home, which will be a week before we can officially move in .... we should find out today from the rental agent if we can do that.

10 Days in Jackson ~ Part II

The wildlife was everywhere .....


Elk roaming free in the National Elk Refuge

Antler arch ~ downtown Jackson

Moose having a drink.

(little) Big Horn sheep

Napping Bison

Daddy and baby wrestling!

It was hard to leave ...

Ten Days in Jackson Hole~ April 13- 22

Grand Teton in the center .... wow!

Uncle Duff and Aunt Lynn's house was gorgeous, comfortable and the perfect place to take a nice long break from driving, eating out, sleeping in hotels, struggling with Emma in the back seat. She had a great time flopping across the carpet (not quite crawling yet). While Dale and I enjoyed the view of the mountains out of the family room windows.

It snowed off and on during the first 3 days, but we got in some snowshoeing.

more to follow......