I Love the City!

My brothers birthday was yesterday, and he had to party in traditional Hollywood style. We went bowling! Not just anywhere, but at Lucky Strike! A very hip, cool lounge/nightclub/bowling alley at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. We had a great time with friends and family and our kids had a blast. The snacks were great too! Cheeseburger fries, homemade potato chips with cheese and bacon, coconut shrimp and BEER!

Afterwards we headed up to Laurel Canyon to hang out with my brother at his house and just kick back. What a great time. What a great place to live....We got to go into the city and see the lights and the Hollywood sign, the shopping center and the people and then...come home to our quiet suburb.

Don't you just LOVE bowling shoes!? That's a Sam Adams sitting there, with my name on it!

Getting to Know You...Christmas Edition

I got tagged and now, since I am it, I will play along! I'm going to answer the questions and tag three people and then they do the same and pass it on. (if you don't have a blog, you can just do it by email) It will be fun, don't be a poor sport!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends! Here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE! Change all the answers so that they apply to you.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Man, I used to wrap gifts so beautifully and perfectly! I learned how to wrap amazingly the one year that I wrapped for Neiman Marcus... THAT was a great holiday job! Now, I just do my best and get it done fast and I do a combination of wrap and bag. Someday I will get back to perfect seams, double sided tape and wire ribbon...maybe when my kids are 20!

2. Real tree or artificial? Difficult subject in our house this year. We got an artificial tree and I am still mourning the loss of the real tree. I miss the smell, but not the dead and brown drooping branches and forgeting to water it.

3. When do you put up the tree? When I was a kid, it was the weekend closest to the 15th because of my brothers birthday, and we continued that. Then we started doing it earlier because of our Christmas party, and this year we put it up on Thanksgiving weekend. It did not get decorated until the 8th, however!

4. When do you take the tree down? With a real tree, we usually did it a few days after Christmas and waited until New Year's Day if it didn't look like it might burst into flames at any moment, this year it might stay up until Easter. JK

5. Do you like eggnog? Not really, I think that it is GROSS! Whoever came up with that drink, must have alread had quite a few nips of something already.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My mom always got me (and still does) great things, but I remember a kit to make miniature doll house chairs that was really great! OH! And, my Aunt Jeannette gave me a charm for my charm bracelet and it was shaped like a button and said "Cute as a button!" and I will NEVER forget that!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. My cousin Laura made it and it is one of my most cherished posessions.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad, and my Stepdad..... and people who buy themselves whatever they want.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Gavin ... I had to shop more for Ella to balance out the pile!

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? If it came from the heart, then it was great!

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but there have been a couple of years that I did not send anything out, BOTH after my second child! This year I did a Thanksgivng letter, to get a head start and to remind myself of what the holidays are REALLY about!

12. Favorite Christmas movie? I have to pick a favorite? Um....Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas Carol is BIG (especially the Muppet version).

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I shop all year long, really...If someone says, "I would love to have a ....." I go and buy it, the next day and put it in my secret hoarding spot and put it on my list, so that I don't forget that I have it. I shop while I'm on vacation and then I get the rest of it done during November and December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably, but only something really nice, to someone that would like it more than me!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Eat... I eat everything! Fudge! Chocolate! Cookies! Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding!

16. White lights or colored on the tree? Gotta be colored... that was part of the reason that it was hard to find an artificial tree. We got one with NO lights and did our own.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells and Carol of the Bells... and, well all of em really!

18. Travel for Christmas or stay home? We do our traveling the weekend before and celebrate with my Dad and Stepmom in San Diego, Christmas Eve is with my Mom and Stepdad (both of those are also with my brothers) and then we are HOME on Christmas morning. We go the few blocks to my in-laws house for Christmas dinner.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course, can't everyone?

20. Angel on the treetop or a star? An Angel, it's one that my parents made when I was VERY young and now it is on top of my tree!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Oh, wait until the morning!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People who don't have a good attitude and are running around in a panic and being rude and selfish. I try not to drive anywhere in the evening at this time of year because people are crazy!

23. What I love most about Christmas? I love being with my family and having extra time together. I love gingerbread men and snowmen and decorations and lights and the music and wearing a sweater! I love fire places and singing and special meals and lots of treats! I love my husband even more and cherish the sweet memories of our "First Christmas". I love the fact that so many people are celebrating together and enjoying the power that comes from holding Spirit close to our hearts.

Tag you're it: Kate Bono, Valerie Kurtz and Andy Huffaker

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Well, the stockings are hung by both chimenys with care and the tree stands in the corner...no ornaments there.

There are figures and lights and wreaths galore, but wait...there is more, oh so much, much, much more!

Yes... I have been up to my antics and there are little Christmas touches all around our house!

My shopping is done, except for the two difficult Dad's in the family and I have told Andy that they are his responsibility this year....hey... I shopped for everyone else! All of the gifts are already wrapped and under the tree (even though it has not yet been decorated..THAT seems strange!) Except for the kids' because they have not been going to bed very early and I have tried to pull out the presents only to hear the pitter patter of lil feet and had to stuff them back away! I am hoping to finish that off tonight!

I have a trip to Hallmark to make yet, but the children have all new dress clothes and shoes and are ready for pictures, which I may just postpone until February....I can avoid the crowds that way!

Cookies are baked, decorated and stashed in the freezer and I wrote a Thanksgiving letter this year, so I am done with that too.

I guess that all I have left to do, is to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of the season! No. I am not referring to the begging and tantrums of my children as I drag them through Target for the millionth time this week!

I am looking forward to volunteering at the school's Secret Santa Shop, watching Gavin's Christmas show and helping out at the class party. Later this week we are going to a special Member's event at the Discovery Center to see Santa, have cookies and see the new exhibit "The Science of Gingerbread". THAT should be really fun! We will bake some more cookies with the kids which will turn into a frosting free for all...I won't mind though since my "pretty" cookies were a separate project! We will do some crafts and read some stories and make our family ornaments for the tree. --- Oh! and decorate that tree!

We will head down to San Diego to celebrate with my dad, stepmom and brothers (and their families) and then host Christmas Eve at our house with my mom, stepdad and my brothers... Christmas morning is reserved for "just us" and will be wonderfully calm (as calm as any Christmas with two small kids can be, anyway). We will have our Christmas bread and hot chocolate, open gifts and hang out. After we finally get cleaned up and dressed we will be off to Andy's parents house for wonderful prime rib dinner and MORE gifts.

We are talking about heading out to Arizona for a couple of days, but we have not firmed that up yet! We will be busy with lots of celbrating and family time and I love it!

I hope that you can enjoy your celebrations and all of the festivities and be ... at Peace.

Icky Sicky

Well, Ella has officially entered full childhood. She had her first episode of the "Barfing Flu" as it is "affectionately" named here at the Huffaker household. I had my suspicions that she would be sick, she didn't eat dinner last night and complained that her stomach hurt before going to bed. I warned Andy, since she goes to him in the middle of the night...but alas he did not heed my advice and when she stumbled into our room at 2 a.m. he hesitated. His seconds wasted caused quite a mess and ended with him changing and washing our sheets and bedskirt along with a good moping of the floor and rinsing of pj's. I take care of the human aspect when we have sick kids...I feel so bad for them that I don't get quite as grossed out. I helped Ella out of her pj's and into a tub to wash her hair. Once we got her settled down and I cuddled with her and put her back to sleep, I reminded him that there would most likely be a second episode. He grunted and went to sleep. At 3 a.m. he heard her in the hall and rushed her into the bathroom. Good, I thought! I told him to be sure to direct her to the toilet and hold her hair, I knew that he was not listening and realized as I was dragging myself out of bed that he was sitting in there, with her on his lap. Andy learned fathering lesson number 643 last night : Never hold a potentially barfing kid on your lap. You guessed it, she lost it - all over him! I helped her while he got himself changed and then settled her back to bed. Needless to say, we are all three exhasted today but Ella is doing well, she has had some Gatorade and a sip or two of soup. After the soup, she told me, "Mommy, my tummy doesn't NEED lunch". We left it at that. She still has a high fever and is moping around, but keeping liquids down. Hallelujah!

I was going to blog about my Christmas decorating.. but...this was the more pressing and present issue. Perhaps, tomorrow, since Ella will not be able to go to school and I will not be able to go to work!

Giving Thanks

So, I don't post as often as I did for a while. I have been REALLY busy just having FUN with my family! We went to Disneyland twice before our passes expired and were treated to the Christmas Parade and all of the holiday decorations! Gavin had a piano recital, and Ella and I have been to the library for story time! We got started on our holiday decorations and best of all, we have spent time with FAMILY!

Thanksgiving was GREAT! We celebrated at Andy's parents house and the Arizona Huffakers (Matt, Rebecca, Noah, Sam and Madelyn) were there with us (along with Jack, Sharon and Great Gramma!). I spent ALL of Wednesday cooking, so that I could just enjoy the fun on Thanksgiving Day. I made the casseroles: Green Bean (poo poo on Martha who thinks this is "not classy"... that might be true but it tastes SOOOO good!), Dressing (it was not put into the bird, so you cannot call it stuffing), Pecan Yams and a Chocolate Pie. I am not a fan of pumpkin and Yes, I have tried it (lots of times). I just don't like it! My Aunt Jeannette makes this AMAZING Chocolate Pie for the holidays and so, now, I too have taken up her tradition! The Yams too have become something of a "signature dish" although I cannot claim rights to them. They were made by a ministerial intern at our church a few years back and they are affectionatly reffered to as "John's Yams" in that circle. Apprently, my brother-in-law Matt just calls them INCREDIBLE. I admit, I have to agree!

Yams are something that I have detested since the first day that my mother scooped up a spoonful from a jar of Gerber's and placed it lovingly into my mouth, only to have it spewed back at her in a mud gyser like fashion! They are simply put, "Gross". However, the year that John made them at our church, I went through the buffet line and found them plopped onto my plate. Of course, I would not eat THOSE, I thought to myself. But, they did have this yummy looking topping made of pecans and brown sugar, so I picked at that a little and when some of the yam came with it, I realized that THIS was no ordinary yam dish! THIS was delicious! I procured the recipie and decided to make them for the holidays. They have been a hit ever since. I will admit that I make mine a bit thinner in the yam department and a bit thicker in the topping, but hey.... they are good!

The Chocolate Pie has been known to dissapear mysteriously from the fridge during the course of the Thanksgiving Day and my Aunt usually makes 6 or so, just to cover that problem. My cousin Laura and I sat gabbing in the motorhome one year and served ourselves a slice, and then a second. Eventually, Laura got up, grabbed the tin and some forks and we finished off an ENTIRE pie. We played dumb when questioned about the missing pie, but I suspect that my aunt figured it out by the chocolate at the corners of our mouths and the bloated, rather green look on our faces! Chocolate Pie also makes a wonderful breakfast the day after Thanksgiving, just serve with a glass of milk!

Thanksgiving was full of activity, with 5 kids running around! Well, Maddie just kind of scoots right now... We did sand paintings, and playdough and the big kids played with Star Wars figures from Andy and Matt's childhood. Andy got a chance to golf with his brother, the boys played Wii, we went to the movies, we bought a Christmas tree, we watched a movie at home -curled up on the couch enjoying fire, we played in the park, took family photos and had a second dinner together! On Sunday, after church, my Aunt Marie came over and we made Christmas Cookies! We decorated until sundown and now have a nice stash of cookies put away in our freezers! Ella even made her very first cookie! It was busy and lots of fun!

Here are the recipies for those two dishes, I hope that you try them and enjoy them as much as we do! ( I would have taken pictures of the dishes, but they were gobbled up pretty quickly!)

Aunt Jeannette's Chocolate Pie

1 pre-baked pie crust
1 small cool whip

Cream together:
1 stick of salted butter
3/4 c. sugar

Add:
2 squares of melted unsweetened chocolate (not too hot, make sure it is cool)
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs - ONE at a time, beat for 5 minutes after each egg

Fold in:
1/2 container of cool whip
Pour into shell and refrigerate, serve with remaining cool whip.
(guard with your life...or hide in a closet with a fork and pie, take a napkin and enjoy!)


Pecan Yams
the original recipie made 12-15 servings, and I have cut that down to 6-8...feel free to increase!

Topping
1 1/2 c. pecans
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 T. butter
8 T. flour
Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse until even, crumbly consistency. Do not over process. Set aside. (you CAN use a blender for this, or chop nuts and then cut in butter)

Yams
32 oz. canned yams with liquid drained off (I think that the can really comes in a 28 oz? just get whatever is closest...it's ok to go a little over, or under)
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
2 T. butter, melted
1/2 t. vanilla
Put yams and milk in processor and blend until smooth. Add additional ingredients and mis until blended. It should resemble thick cake batter. Pour into ungreased 9x9 inch pan and spread topping over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until browned.

A Happy Dance

Ella did this silly little "Happy Sandwich Dance" and we thought that it might just brighten someones day, it brightened ours!

Clean Freaks

So, I know that what we do and how we act influences our children, but I am always surprised at what that REALLY looks like. A few months ago, I heard Ella banging around in her toy kitchen. She was slamming pots and pans down and stirring vigorously while mumbling to herself. Suddenly she turns to her baby doll, and says with a very harsh tone, "No! That is not 'asceptable'. You have time out!". She proceeds to slam her dolly into a chair and tells her to stay there. Next, Ella turns and grabs her vacuum cleaner and while erratically swishing it back and forth over the carpet she gripes, "I have to clean up this messy house!". "Ugh, Wow, Yeesh!", I think to myself. Is THAT what I look like? It made me think about what I teach, when I don't know that I am teaching. It is pretty funny, looking back at it and quite honestly, it could have been worse! She did not hit her baby and she did not use any curse words!

About a week ago, Ella came to me and said, "Momma, I cannot properly do my chores, if there is not a broom my size!". Now, this child has NOT been given the chore of sweeping, helping to make her bed, clear the table, pick up toys and put her clothes in the hamper, yes...sweep, no. Nonetheless, who can argue when a child asks for a pint sized broom, so...I bought a whole cleaning set. My kids went CRAZY! They saw it on my bed and BEGGED me to open it! They quickly filled the spray bottle with water and went off to clean EVERYTHING. Gavin discovered that water does not clean windows very well, so he asked for Windex. I obliged and he proceeded to clean ALL of the windows in the family room. AND...they look GOOD! Ella got her cloth and sprayed down everything that she could reach and wiped away more dirt than I care to admit was there. They made a huge clean spot on the kitchen floor and before I knew it, I was cleaning too. Not a bad thing, really, BUT it was 7:30 at night and there were dishes to do, bills to pay and LOTS of other Mommy jobs. Cleaning the kitchen floor, wiping up puddles of water and finsihing off the windows were NOT on my list. It turned into a cleaning frenzy and at the height of it, I heard myself say, "That is ENOUGH cleaning! I can't take it anymore! Turn in your tools and go take a bath!". I did snap some photos so that I have proof to show them that they once liked cleaning and helping mom! It was a bit crazy, but a lot fun!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was my birthday last week and I have now officially completed my 30's. Wow! This is my 40th year in this world! THAT is really hard to beleive! (The grey hairs have a way of making me a believer) My mom and stepdad took us out to dinner at Roadhouse Grill. The meal was o.k. but the kids were wild monkeys. Andy is the BEST husband ever and made me a cake called "Chocolate Indulgence". It was super, duper moist and yummy and REALLY chocolaty! It was almost like brownie batter, firmed up a bit. WOW! He also wrote an awesome poem for me, complete with photos. It was really touching, but he asked that I not post the entire thing on my blog. AND he bought me a copy of "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. (Check it out on the link below!) It is fantastic and I am loving it. I secretly want to stay home alone one day, curl up on the couch with a mug of cocoa and a roaring fire and read the whole thing in one afternoon. (well, it isn't a secret anymore!) I had lunch with my boss at Chili's.. yummy Chicken Fried Steak, and then she took me for our annual trip to See's Candy where I get to hand pick my own 1 pound box of chocolates! Yipeeeee! It was a great birthday and I am reminded of the love and blessings that surround me! Thank you.

My kids walk all over me

Enough said!

Trick or Treat

Yeah... it took me this long to get Halloween on the blog. Busy life...

We had a great time, even though this was our first year all alone. Andy's brother and family used to join us and last year we had a friend and her kids with us. We had Andy's mom, dad and gramma over for dinner which was really nice and then the kids changed into costumes (which I had only just finished up hours before!). The time change was pushed back this year and we didn't realize that it was getting late, but not getting dark. We didn't head out until 6:30 (usually 5:30) and that put us home pretty late too! Andy's dad joined us for the walk around our neighborhood. It was really fun and we ran into a lot of people that we knew. We love where we live, it is sooooo 1950's. We stopped in so that Great Gramma could see the kids in costume and took some breaks to visit with neighbors along the way. When we got home there was just enough time to read a few spooky stories and have a caramel apple before going off to bed. The kids even had to wait to dump out their loot until the next day. They scored and had a great evening!

Princess Fantasy and Grand Adventure

One of the joys of living in Southern California is having access to LOTS of attractions, both natural and "man made". One of the grandest of these is of course, Disneyland! We have been blessed with the gift of passes during the last year and have used them a LOT. We are sad that they will be expiring soon, and we will not be renewing them this year, but the break will just make it all the more special when we return. We have been going as much as possible during the fall since it is our favorite time there. We also decided to spend a little quality and private time with each of the kids. They each planned out their own special day and went with JUST Mommy and Daddy for a day of fun.

Ella had a Princess Fantasy day. We went to the Coronation Ceremony, we shopped for princess dresses and accessories, we rode the carousel and visited Snow White on her adventure. The biggest treat that day was a special lunch where we were visited by 6 princesses right at our table. Ella loved the private time, special treatment and the princesses.

Gavin opted for a Day of Adventure. We went on the Jungle Cruise, Star Tours, and spent a great deal of time running around on Tom Sawyer's Island which has been recently revamped with a pirate theme and has some awesome special surprises. We had lunch at the Bengal Barbeque where all of your food is served on a stick. Gavin also had the opportunity to attend the Jedi Training Acadamy and fight Darth Vader, he is now officially a Padawan. Gavin really loved being able to just hang out with us and we loved being with him (and being stroller free).

Lots of fun... and more to be had, we will be making our last trip out in a week and plan to do a LONG day, catching as much Disney spirit as we can stand.

Darkness

It is getting darker, earlier and staying darker, later. I dread this "dark" time of the year. It often gets darker inside my soul... the holidays, memories and the lack of sunlight, seem to send me inward and that is not always the sunniest of places for me.

For me, Depression creeps in, like a fog bank. At first, you don't notice it, maybe the air gets chilly and you feel like you might need a sweater. Before long, you realize that you cannot see the ground before you and you are not sure if your next step will send you plummeting off of a cliff into the abyss of darkness. Summer for me this year was good. I was very, very Up... high, almost. But I felt the summer wearing me out and draining me. I coasted through September, lifted up momentarily by the updrafts the the first day of school can bring. This month, I am falling. It is getting darker. I started this month, feeling "tired". Not sleepy, but TIRED. Bone tired. I can't even walk across the room tired. I haven't written much during this month, because I could not muster the strength to type the words. Two weeks ago, I was falling asleep at work, falling asleep reading to the kids and falling into bed at 7:30! Exhausted. Last week, I felt the sadness coming and was prone to crying for no particular reason. I knew I was going deeper, but did not have the strength to stop. This weekend I hit the bottom....I did not want to do anything more than lie on the couch, staring at the t.v. I didn't even care if it was on, I didn't feel like pushing the buttons.

As I laid there last night, I thought about the busy week ahead. Today is my birthday, tomorrow we are moving Gramma, Wednesday is Halloween. I do not have the costumes ready and there are other preparations to be made. I decided that I could not afford to stay "on the bottom" and that I would wallow only one more day.

Today, I woke up and showered (always a good way to start) and smiled. I made my bed, and smiled. I helped the kids get ready and we walked to school and I smiled. I talked on the phone and I smiled. I helped Gramma pack and I smiled. I smiled on my face, I smiled in my heart, I smiled in my feet. I tried to "smile in my liver"... Thank you to Liz Gilbert, Author of "Eat, Pray, Love" for that quote. It is working. I am feeling better, I am feeling (semi) alive and although I have not gotten to the "up" place that would cause me to clean out closets all night long, I am up enough that I went to Target, and I am typing. I will be happy with this, for now.

I have never been good with balance. (o.k... stop laughing... I know you are thinking about how often I drop things and spontaneously fall over) I mean in my life. My house is either immaculate or a mess (my room was like this when I was a kid), my laundry is done or piled high, I am cooking major meals everyday or we are eating out every night. I am up, on, going a zillion miles an hour doing a hundred different things, or I am down, off and lying around feeling incapacitated. I have struggled with this for most of my life. I have sought help. I have gone to counseling, I have adjusted my hormones, I have tried some drugs. The drugs just made me lie around not able to care, but deep inside something was screaming, "GET UP...GET GOING...YOU HAVE THINGS TO DO!". I will pull myself up, by my bootstraps and I will get going, back up. I will try not to get so high that the elevation gets to my head and I can't breath. I will try to have some balance.

I have so much to write about and now, maybe I will have the strength to do it. The plumber is here to fix clogged drains, the kids are watching t.v., we are going out to dinner later, so... I think that I will take one half hour to read. Time for me. That is part of finding balance, doing for others and then for me. I know this, but it's not always easy to put into practice. The sun is peeking through my fog and maybe I can get it all to burn off by tomorrow. We'll see, we will see.

So much to say... So little time

I have been thinking a lot lately. Don't gasp like that! You know that I think TOO much, usually. I have come to realize a few things about myself and have a better understanding of why I act and react to certain things in the ways that I do. It was a big revelation. Too big to encapsulate here, but it's about me being a REALLY hard worker and not being able to give in to have FUN. I am working on it.... I will keep working on it.

We had a fun weekend. We went to Build a Bear and the children no longer have "naked friends" as they referred to their sadly, un-clad animals. Gavin chose an army outfit and a skateboard (?) and Ella picked out a ballerina dress complete with slippers for her bunny. She noted that the skirt was awfully short and that "Rabbit" should have some panties as well. Who am I to stiffle that kind of modesty?

Saturday, Andy had to work (BOO!) I cleaned out the kids' closet and worked around the house before we headed to my brother's house for a birthday celebration. (his, not mine) Sunday was GREAT! My mom came over and joined us for a visit to the Discovery Center where they had a special exhibit called Spooky Science. It was all about Egypt...so, there were snakes and scorpions (yes..live) and pyramids and mummies. Very interesting and very fun!

This week is zipping along and today, Ella did not nap. I hate that. She was cranky and into everything and she is still awake now, at 7:30, even though I know that she is exhausted. She is "reading" books to herself and I am taking a break from her! Andy and Gavin are at piano. I do have some laundry to fold and I really want to organize myself for scrapbooking tomorrow so I guess that I should bid you all, a fond farewell.

Vacation Interupted

Well, I guess that it is a bit anti-climactic to write about a vacation that ended so long ago...

but I feel that I left the story unfinished!

I got sick! A BAD head cold. I think that I had been fighting it off and that big hike just did me in. We spent the next day, at Rite Aid getting me some medicine and orange juice and just hanging around our camp. We met a really nice family from Duarte, which is just 30 minutes from our house. They had 3 boys and Gavin loved riding bikes, digging in the dirt and playing Pokemon with them. Ella trailed after them and had her own fun.

On Sunday, August 26th we took the gondola to the top of Mammoth Mountain... WOW! What a view. The altitude and the walking wore me out quickly and we went back to camp for more relaxing.


The next day was cloudy with lots of thunder rolling in all around us. It was gorgeous with the clouds in every possible shade of blue, gray, and lavender. We went to Convict Lake to fish and have a lovely walk amongst the elms and aspens along the shore of the lake. We had our lunch and headed back to our camp.

The last day of our trip, we spent a great deal of the morning just visiting and chatting with our new friends. At last, we packed up and headed toward home. We visited the Hot Springs, which were incredible, but have been closed to swimming due to increased volcanic activity. Yet another change, and experience I would not be sharing with my family. We stopped again at Schatt's Bakery so that we could take home some goodies. We also stopped at Dirty Sock Hot Spring. It was a place that served as an overnight stop for my family when I was a kid, as we headed up to June Lake, or Mammoth. We would pull in late at night, sleep and then get up and climb into what looked like a stone jacuzzi... a natural, sulfur hot spring that had been fortified for swimming. I remember my Dad driving along in the dark, with his nose out the window, trying to find the turnoff. At Dirty Sock, you could smell it before you could see it.

I found that this site had also changed. The pool had been rebuilt and was much larger, and I think that due to the increased volume of water, the sulfur was not as strong and the odor not nearly as pungent. The other draw back of the reduced sulfur was that the pool was VERY slimy with algae and there were TONS of dragonflies. Now, dragonfiles themselves don't bother me, but the stage before they fly... they are darting around IN the water. Needless to say, we didn't get in. But we did get "buzzed" by a jet fighter on it's way back to the Air Force Base before we left. THAT was exciting!

We arrived home, safe, tired, refreshed and rather, FILTHY. We had a great trip and look forward to our next adventure together!

SHHHHHHHH!

Don't tell, but I am home alone, in the middle 0f a Tuesday afternoon! I went to work early, then left to run errands... both for work and for home... now, the groceries are all put away and it is quiet... very, very quiet.....

Oh, and my house is CLEAN! Ana was here today, she is my cleaning angel....I have never been more grateful to have help with this daunting task.

I was hoping to have more time to write, but... I must leave soon to pick up Gavin at daycare.

I love these times of peace, they give me the strength to get through the times of craziness! Just thinking about tonight and the homework and the dinner and the papers and the baths and the stories and the dishes and the laundry and the projects and the mail... yikes.... I think that I just broke out in hives!

I haven't written because we have been BUSY!!!!! We were hardly home last weekend at all. I went to an all day scrapbooking event, YEAH! I had to leave for 4 hours in the middle of it to do a wedding, BOO. I made money, YEAH! I was the coordinator for the ceremony and the simple cake reception that followed AND I was the photographer! YEAH! The Bride was a princess, BOO and the Mom was Momzilla, BOO. We had a few things go wrong and I really did break out in hives, BOO. In the end, everyone was happy, YEAH.

Sunday we went to church and then to another family's house for dinner. It was really fun and we loved hanging out with them. We stayed too late and nobody went to bed before 9:30.. ugh!

Yesterday was AWESOME... we took Ella to Disneyland... just Ella, while Gavin was at school and we treated her to a Princess Fantasy Day! We did all things girly and princessy (is that a word?) and NO boy things AT ALL! We even went to a special character restaraunt where the princesses come to your table! She loved it and we loved watching her and had a blast!

My time has come to an end and the peace and quiet will soon be replaced by lots of joyous and raucous activity. Ta-ta... enjoy!

A Fun-Filled Week

Wow! I have not sat down at my computer for over a WEEK!!! Pretty scary! My Aunt was in town last week, visiting from New York and we ran all over the place!

Last weekend we went down to San Diego for a big family get together and had a great time! Here is a picture of my niece Jordan... what a cutie pie!

Monday, Carola, Ella and I went shopping in Downtown Disney. She picked up gifts for her granddaughters and bought Ella a Cinderella dress for Halloween. I got the glass slippers and we are set! Anyone know how to do "Cinderella Hair"?

Tuesday I went to work... a blessed day! Calm and Quiet... well, except for the fact that the church hall flooded over the weekend, ugh!

Wednesday we went to Huntington Gardens and trekked all over the place! It was pretty hot that day, but we still had a great time and a lovely lunch! We also stopped at Toys R Us, for more gifts for the granddaughters.

Thursday, Carola and I went out to Glen Ivy for a day of rest and rejuvination. We soaked in the mineral baths, wallowed in the mud, went down into The Grotto to get painted with seaweed moisturizer, laid out in the sun, had lunch and had a glorious day. That evening we went to see Cirque du Soleil (did I spell that right?). My cousin's girlfriend got us 4 tickets and we took Gavin, it was really cool and he loved it!

Friday, Gavin ditched school (c'mon - he was up until 11:00 p.m.!) and we went out to Pasadena to see my rother's Gym and to visit with his family.

Needless to say, we are all exhausted and most of the household chores for the week were laid aside (except for the 5 loads of laundry that my Aunt graciously helped to fold!). This did not stop us from heading to Chuck E. Cheese this morning for a birthday party! I will wrap up my vacation next week, really there is not that much more to tell! Until Monday.....

Our vacation, day ???

By this time I really had no idea how many days we had been gone, how many were left or even, what day it was. I was fully in vacation mode! We spent the day, hanging out in camp and the "guys" went fishing out on the lake. They rented a boat and had a great time, and did not catch any fish. It was a mellow and relaxing day.

The next day we moved to our new campground. VERY level and very nice, but still with no hook ups. We took a walk across a stream and visited the Mammoth Consolidated Mine. An old abandoned mining village with dilapidated houses and rusting mining equipment strewn around. We walked to the entrance of the mine and looked beyond the steel bars preventing our passage at the small railroad tracks that led inside and around a bend. You really know where Knott's and Disneyland got their ideas for the mine and railroad rides... That night we took showers with the last of our water and said goodbye to "clean" for a while.

Friday, August 24th (I asked someone what day it was and reset our clock accordingly) We headed out in the morning to visit "Earthquake Fault". It is a giant rip in the ground, like in the movies, when there's an earthquake... well... it really happened! When I was a kid there were Rangers who would take you down into the crack and tell you about it.... it is now completely fenced in with LOTS of signs telling you to stay back from the edge. It was still pretty cool.

Next we went to the Adventure Center to board a bus that would take us down into the valley. We took a short walk to Devil's Postpile which is an amazing geological formation and then decided to take what will forever be known as "THE HIKE". Off to Rainbow Falls! It was a little over 3 miles round trip and lots of it was flat, some kind of hilly, but not bad. BUT....there had been a forest fire several years earlier and ALL of the trees were burned so there was NO shade. The gray pumice sand mixed with ash and the trail reflected the sun onto our faces, as we trudged along. Gavin decided to cool his feet in a stream along the way, WITH HIS SHOES ON! He did not seem to mind, even though he developed some small blisters. We got to the top of the falls and looked at them, longing to jump into the water and cool ourselves, but it was another 2 miles round trip to the bottom and back. NO WAY! The dog was tired and Andy had Ella in the backpack, not to mention that we ran out of water! We trudged back to the bus stop and have never been more happy to load up! We were all FILTHY and EXHAUSTED and headed toward town and our campsite. I realized that I was far to tired and starving to cook, so I told Andy to pick a place to eat. A small joint called "Burgers" caught his eye and a plan hatched. We walked in looking dirty and disheveled with 2 kids, they seated us in a back corner. Andy and I ordered the most enormous $9 burgers that you can imagine and we devoured them in their entirety. The kids wolfed down giant cheeseburgers and with belly's full, socks dusty and chins greasy we headed back to camp to crash.

The Vacation, continues...

On Monday, August 20th we got up, packed up and continued our drive up the 395 Hwy. We headed out to Bodie, a Ghost Town that is kept in a state of "arrested decay". Many of the buildings have been left, just as they were when the last inhabitants walked out the door in the early 1930's. It is a pretty neat place, although in it's hey day of the California Gold Rush it was reported to be the most "lawless' town in the west. Bodie boasted 32 bars and 52 brothels...whew. My favorite fact about Bodie is the journal entry of a young girl when she discovered that her family was moving there, "Good bye God, I'm going to Bodie.". It was a bit warm that day, but it was cool to walk around, look into windows and imagine what the town had been like with people in it. Gavin had the opportunity to do the "Jr. Ranger Program" while he was there and had several sites that he had to find and then we read about them and answered some questions. He got a cool badge when he was finished.

After Bodie, we went to the Mono Lake visitor center and looked out over the lake. We also saw an interesting movie about Mono Lake and all of the birds that fly there to nest. (oh, and flies, too... gross). We headed to our campground for the night and enjoyed our last night of hook ups and showers. I did some laundry to prepare for the next week of living in the dirt! I read a LOT of Harry Potter and could barely put it down to go to sleep....but finally... sleep won.

On Tuesday, August 21 we drove up the mountain and into Mammoth. We stopped at the Visitors Center to get information and the market, to get milk. During our drive to the campsite we spotted a turn off for "Obsidian Dome" and it was a name I had remembered from when I was a kid. We found a shady spot to enjoy lunch (Spaghettios... oooooh I LOVE having a motorhome) and then checked out the BIG pile of Obsidian before us. Obsidian is a volcanic rock that is shiny and black and can be very sharp along it's edges. Native Americans used it to make arrowheads! Gavin found some good pieces and we also found some pumice. We took the samples inside and had in impromptu science experiment with the rocks and discovered that pumice is so full of holes, that it floats. (I knew this, it was the kids' discovery)

We made our way to Twin Lakes which is absolutely gorgeous and set to the task of trying to level our motorhome in the MOST un-level spot. A challenge, but at last we got it level "enough" that I would not roll out of the top bunk at night. In the site was a "bear box", a metal locker where you put your food if you are tent camping and the kids played in it for almost an hour. Who knew that a box could be so much fun! They closed themselves up in it and screamed and pretended that they were on a ride at Disneyland. Pretty funny! Gavin and Andy headed out to try fishing for a while, and luckily I had an alternative dinner planned, because they came back, with no fish. We had a campfire and our first Marshmallows... Gavin was pretty stoked about that. We all crashed out, slightly sticky and fairly exhausted from our day of adventure

Blog Name Change

Yipeeeeeeee! We made it through the first full week of school. THIS week, I fully understood the meaning of "hump day". I awoke Wednesday morning at 6:00 a.m. and turned to Andy and said, "Isn't it Friday yet?". It has been a bit of a struggle to get back into the swing of things! I can tell that school is back in, by the amount of blog entries on the other "mommy" sites... they are few and far between. (Hey, that means that you all have more time to read my rambling).

I have gotta lotta stuff to talk about, and I am not sure if I can channel it all well enough to get it in here... but... here goes... I'll try to focus. I guess I will write today, about the new name of my blog.

I have been obsessing again... this time, about the name of my blog... I never really liked, "Huffaker Family" since it is really MY blog, about me and my "stuff"... I mean, obviously my family is in it.... but I have seriously been lying awake at night, trying to figure out a better title. "Because I said so" is already taken and so is "You are not the boss of me".... I pondered "Get your toe out of her nose", but that would take a great deal of explanation. In my post that I wrote before I left for my vacation, I mentioned adventure and alluded to the fact that sometimes, this job is not "glamorous" or "romantic", but it is an adventure none the less. I have been reading about Andy's cousin who is riding a bike across the U.S. and I also have a friend who just returned from India where she did some amazing volunteer work. Some of my family just returned from Europe, and some are heading off to Paris in a few weeks. I sometimes feel like I am left behind, like I have left a part of myself behind. The part that used to do stuff like that and who used to have the time and the freedom to travel (if not always the money). I just got an email that compared raising a family to building a temple and that the work is done slowly and it takes a LONG time to see your results, and all of that together, has led to my new title. My journey has been mostly uphill, and I carry a heavy load. I frequently feel as if I cannot take it, I want to quit, put down my pack and head back down the mountain to a day spa and call it "done". The altitude gets to me and I feel lightheaded, out of breath and frankly, sick to my stomach. But I know, that I will reach the summit. I will keep on trekking and sometimes I will have a skilled Sherpa by my side to help me carry my pack and lead the way, and sometimes I will go it alone. Sometimes the maps are good and the way is made clear, and other times, the road is rough, the path is hidden and the overgrowth is impenetrable. I will keep trekking. I will reach the summit. I will see my kids off to school, I will see them graduate from school, I will watch them grow and mature and I will stand on the highest peak and look into the blazing fire of their future and I will smile and I will laugh and feel the pride of having gotten here. I will sit at the top for a while and rest, and then I will begin the next journey, to climb the next peak... that one will most likely be one of self discovery (or self RE-discovery). This is an adventure for sure, one full of struggle, accomplishment, doubt, certainty, fear. love, joy, sorrow, tears, laughter, good days and bad. It is not easy and sometimes, not even enjoyable and then, some days are the best I have ever had and better than I had ever imagined coul be. I will keep trekking, I will keep climbing, sometimes, I may just sit and rest. Thanks for joining me on my journey.

Back to the vacation!

Alright, back to my vacation, which has now been almost forgotten...

Day 3, Sunday August 19th

First stop: Breakfast at Schatt's Bakery. Famous, crowded, and wonderful...every visit to this area should include a trip to Schatt's! They have sweets, breads, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, sandwiches and all sorts of fabulous wares! Gavin bought some Swedish Fish (for LATER) and chose a doughnut for his breakfast, Ella picked out a HUGE apple turnover. Andy got a danish and I had a ... a..... um... I don't know what it's called, but it's a big circle of twisty, flaky pastry and it has cinnamon and sugar ALL OVER IT! I had this treat once or twice as a kid and have always loved it! After devouring our super sugar loaded breakfast, we were off!

Next stop: The store (we did that a LOT on this trip). We can only carry 1/2 gallon of milk in our lil fridge, and we went through one of those every 2 or 3 days....towards the end of the trip we could fit 2 in... thankfully! After a quick market trip, we were off to a little town, called Law's.

Law's has a Railroad Museum that is 11 acres of preserved buildings and trains and a depot and lots of grass and trees. It was really interesting to go into the different buildings and check out the old equipment. One building is set up like a printing press, a doctors office, a mercantile, and another is the livery and has a buck board in it and other farming tools... oh, and THIS:

It is a siamese lamb and it has 2 heads...it did not survive birth, but lives on in a glass case, at the Law's Railroad museum.

There are 2 houses that a preserved and fully furnished to show how people used to live and one thing that impressed me was that the linoleum from the 1920's still looked PERFECT and colorful and shiny. It looks MUCH better than the linoleum in my kitchen that was put in around 1950! Hmmm.... I guess that they really don't, "Make 'em like they used to". We had a great time hanging out and the kids explored and ran around and got good and tired before heading back to camp!

Back in camp, we were able to just hang out and relax a bit. Gavin took Sadie for a walk and Ella played in the dirt, and I read Harry Potter! The next day would be a busy one, so after our evening camp fire, we headed off to bed early so that we could get some rest!

(just like I am going to do NOW!)

"Running the Rails"

On the couch

There is nothing like an injury to mess up your plans! I began this week full of hopes and plans to get many a task accomplished. I made lists, I made lunches, I headed out to school with Gavin, the bike trailer-stroller, and the dog. I was going to volunteer at the bookfair, I was going to the market, I was going to blog and catch up on some paperwork (I think that I should stop saying "catch up" on paperwork...you never, never catch up...you just keep working). On the way back from dropping Gavin off at school, we met another dog and Sadie is not really dog savvy as of yet. She jumps and goes, well... crazy! We parted ways, but Sadie had other plans, she decided to give me one big tug to try to catch up with the other pup and I got my foot between the grass and the curb and CRUNCH, went my ankle. Searing pain brought me to my bum, cursing. I was not sure how hurt I was, but I knew that it was not good. The dog realized that she had made a bad move and cowered next to me. Ella shyly asked if I was o.k. After a few minutes, I realized that I would have to walk the 5 blocks home and as I got to my feet, I began to cry. It REALLY hurt and it hurt in my knee and my hip...."Oh, God!", I thought, "How bad DID I hurt myself?" As I was limping home, a fellow mom stopped her SUV and asked if I needed help, the dam burst and I began to bawl. I believe that I sounded much like a Kindergartener when I said, sobbing, "I FELL!!". She loaded up my stroller, and my kid, me and my dog and drove me home. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to my Angel!

I put on the ice, and the ace bandage and took a fistfull of Advil. I stayed off of it all day and it quickly shrunk from the golf ball sized swelling, to about the size of a bouncy rubber ball. I could not sit at the computer, I could not go to the store, so.... I watched Oprah, and Ace of Cakes, and 20/20 and made lunch, and baked muffins (oops, on my feet too long... )

It is much better today, but it still hurts, especially if I move it the wrong way. But I do not think that we will need to amputate. I am off to ice it some more, before I go to bed.

I should have tried harder to enjoy my "day off", but... gee.... that wasn't really what I had in mind!

Vacation, Day 2

Saturday, August 18...Captain's Log (actually I am the skipper!)



The walls of the canyon are the most gorgeous deep red, but apparently only at sunrise and sunset! The rest of the day, they are kind of pinkish, with some darker stripes. We walked around and Gavin got a geology lesson and we checked out the visitor center. Well, about 10 a.m. it was already almost 100 degrees, so we packed up and hit the road! The 395 Highway and it's treasures await!

The spots of interest were already marked on the map, but we were open to stopping at whatever looked interesting. The drive from Red Rock to Bishop was probably about 3 hours (max.) but we stretched it out and it took us all day. We figured that it would be more fun and better for the kids if we stopped a lot to stretch and take a break for lunch, then they could rest for the final leg. That was the plan, and that's what we did!

First stop: Dirty Sock Springs.... a natural sulfur spring off of the (dry) Owens Lake. It is called Dirty Sock, because it is very smelly.

Yvonne: "O.K. Andy, look for a little sign that says 'Death Valley' and then turn right. Slow down, it should be here somewhere, umm... somewhere, umm. You just passed it. Why are you driving 60 mph when I told you we were going to turn?

Andy: "Boy, these things sure just pop up, don't they? Do you want me to go back?"

Yvonne: "No, it's too far now (because you are driving too fast) Oh, well, we will see it on the way back"

Andy: "Hey, Beef Jerky! Let's stop here" (screeeeeeech, goes the motorhome)

Yes, we missed our first "attraction", but found "Really Good" beef jerky. The place was an old gas station and was COVERED with stickers. The prices were inflated and the jerky was, o.k. We bought some and headed down the road.

To make up for missing Dirty Sock, Andy turns off of the Hwy at "Fossil Falls" and we rattle down a gravel road to a dried up riverbed and water fall. Reall very cool. The obsidion and granite lava flow had been covered with a roaring river some time ago and all of the rocks are polished, rounded and smooth and you can see where the water would have been swirling around before it plunged down the fall. Back to the car, back to the Hwy.

Another turn off was for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns. We stopped there when I was a kid and I had been impressed with these large adobe brick buildings. They are egg/dome shaped and when I was a kid, you could go inside of them. After rattling down another gravel road at 9 mph (if we went 10 mph, the motorhome rattled so much, that I thought we might leave part of it behind) we arrived, to find that time (and vandals) have not been kind to the Kilns. Both were broken at the top and there was a large chain link fence around the whole thing. We could look at them, and could even still smell the smoke from inside, even though they have not been used for at least 50 years! They used to cut down cottonwood trees and burn them in these huge ovens until they turned to charcoal, then they used the coal to run the mining machinery in the foothills! I was bummed and felt silly that I had dragged my family out to see this sad sight. I guess that things change and that time and the elements are not kind. We had lunch and headed back, to the Hwy.

Driving through the small town of Indpendence we spotted a funy home that had a small scale old west town in it's front yard. We stopped to ponder such a thing. It looked as if it was built for 3 year olds. Gavin would have been too tall for most of the doors. It seemed to just be "some guys hobby", to build this town in his yard, out of scraps of wood and metal, discarded door handles and auto parts. We drove around to the back where you could see that his ENTIRE yard, was this town! Hmmmmm... I complain about Andy's gardening and mandolin hobby sometimes, but I am glad that he hasn't picked up something as completely wacky as THIS!

We were getting pretty close to Bishop and we found the Fish Hatchery! (there are actually quite a few hatcheries in the area, I don't even know what this one's "official" name is) We pulled in and walked up and down long rows of concrete fish troughs. The kids fed the fish some smelly fish pellets, which I had the pleasure of holding in my sweaty hand (should have taken some paper cups with me). Gavin thought that it was pretty cool to throw great handfulls in and create a feeding frenzy! Ella laughed at the "silly fishies". We found out that you can actuall "herd" fish! We started at one end of a trough and held an arm out over the water, the fish, fleeing the shadow of your arm, all swam toward the other end of the trough. They would create this big wave going along and at the end, they would have a pile up and flop around and lots of them would jump! "O.K. guys, it's hot and I am sure that the fish have had enough for one day!" Back, to the Hwy.

"Bishop! We made it!" We pulled into "Brown's Town RV Park", tired and road weary. We found our camp site, set up, walked the dog and went off to shower! Ella and I showered together and Gavin and Andy did the same. The showers were $1.00 for 7 minutes and Ella and I barely got done after $2.00. Andy couldn't understand, because they only needed $1.00. I tried to explain the lather, rinse, repeat process for shampooing long hair, but he was lost. I didn't even go into the part about conditioner! We had time to relax and have some dinner and a campfire and then, we all fell into bed. Day one of touring...fun and finished. Tomorrow we would explore Bishop and Law's and make a stop at the grocery store.

Gavin : self portrait