An Original "Amber" On The Wall

I am so proud of this painting ! I received this from Amber and Lee for a mother's day present and I think it looks totally amazing on my dining room wall. At first, Amber and I thought it might need to have a couple of smaller companion paintings to hang with it, but now that I have it up on the wall I realize that it is perfect all alone there. The colors are so vibrant and just gorgeous. I absolutely love this painting - Amber did such a good job on painting it for me. ~~ thanks again, Sweetie.

the Grandpuppies !!

Tyke, Bullet and Dakota perplexed by the waves coming in at the beach in Fort Bragg. It was so funny to watch them play on the beach.

TYKE

DAKOTA

BULLET

Thes dogs just love their grandma ! Everytime they come to visit, or whenever I go to Turlock, you can just see the excitement in their mannerisms...it is just hilarious.

Pre-Deployment visit in Turlock August 2009

As mentioned in several earlier posts, John made a trip to California from where he's stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. He'd been given a weeks leave before his upcoming deployment. And, for that reason, Milt - who has been recently living in Texas - made the trip to California as well. We really enjoyed the week together - spending time in Lakeport all together for the first time in about a year and a half, before we met up again in Turlock at the kids' home. This was the first trip to Turlock for Milt since Lee, John and Amber bought the house and he was totally thrilled to see the choice they had made. Kohl was along on this part of the trip as well, because once John dropped off his truck to leave with Lee and Amber while he is away, John will go with Kohl down to Los Angeles to spend a few days there before flying back to Washington.
It's always a great time for me when everyone is together and lately that doesn't happen very often. This trip was just perfect, if not somewhat of a whirlwind in putting together all the little side trips before finishing up the time here in Turlock. As the kids are all getting busier and busier with their own lives, it gets harder and harder to get them all together for a visit and I cherish the times when we do.

.....SKYDIVING !!! August 27, 2009

The windsock over the airstrip is showing that it is a beautiful day in Lodi, CA which should bring forth a great jump for the kids. Since John made it home for a visit before getting deployed, he wanted to put together a jump. Amber was all for it, having gone with John one time before she was totally excited to be going again. And, this time, Lee and Kohl will join them to make their first ever jumps !! Excitement is in the air !

The kids all ready before the jump - at the Parachute Center in Lodi, CA

Kohl getting fitted with his parachute.

Lee getting fitted as well.

This is old hat to Amber - she's set to go !

The little jitney that will take the group out to the plane.

Here's John coming in....

and closer.

Amber making her descent.

She's coming in for a smooth landing.

Here's a shot of Lee under the canopy.

...and getting ready for the landing

ready to touch down.

a smooth landing for Lee.

and the cameraman asks for comments on the jump....

Kohl under the canopy of his first jump.

and another smooth landing...I think he's hooked !

the survivors !!

Amber was soooo excited that Lee went for it - happy 24th birthday Lee !!!

After the jump we had a quick little picnic and the kids all related how exciting the jump was..John was probably pretty much bored .. this is old hat to him. He brought along his jump log book and I can't remember which number jump this was...but he's adding them up. This was pretty tame for him compared to the Halo jumping he does for work. But, it was fun for him to share this with Kohl, Lee and Amber. Milt and I get a big kick out of watching the kids "fall from the sky"...it's pretty crazy thinking that they are jumping out of the plane !! Glad we were able to be there with them this time and watch.

Waverunners - August 2009

Josh Eaquinto, John and Kohl Hensler
enjoyed a fun time out on some waverunners they borrowed from Disney Water Sports.

Kohl, Corey Disney and John
John and Kohl both worked for Corey thru the summers of high school and they always enjoy visiting with Corey when they are back in town.

Kohl, John and Josh at Library Park in Lakeport, August 2009.

A Backyard Abalone Feast

After the fun time over at the coast getting these abs, Milt gave the boys lessons on cleaning the abs and getting them ready to cook !

Can you tell John is still just a little bit upset that Kohl got the biggest ab? Here he's showing the largest shell of Kohl's big ab with a little shell of a small one John got. All in all, no one really cared - I think the boys all just had fun out in the water together.

John busy at work getting some of the abs cleaned.

Lee is diligently working on his share...

Kohl was working hard at getting some of the abs cleaned and ready to eat...

And, there's more to clean...

And even more....what a messy, yucky part of the job this is.

Milt works on slicing the abs up as the boys get them cleaned from the shells.

Back in the kitchen, Milt shows Kohl and John how to trim the meat up before we get it ready to cook....(are you beginning to see how hard you have to work to enjoy this west coast delicacy?)

And finally - the kids all get to enjoy the good dinner of home cooked abalone. Lucky for Josh that John and Kohl ran into him this afternoon and he hadn't made dinner plans !

The breading station on the back porch. Our recipe is that once the abs are cleaned and sliced, you pound them to tenderize the meat - then we dip it in flour, milk and egg, and then flour again and quickly fry it. I've heard there are some great recipes for bar-b-que abalone -- we'll have to see about trying one of those recipes.

Milt is trying to keep the ab cooked up as the kids begin their dinner. Good thing we have this outdoor frying station -- this would make a terrible mess on the kitchen stove !

Doesn't that look yummy ! (I really wouldn't know, the only 2 times I ate abalone it made me sick - so, guess I'm allergic to it - haven't wanted to take another chance on eating it !) From what I hear though, everyone loves abalone and doesn't always get a chance to eat it.

Looks like the dinner was surely a success....we'll see next summer whether these guys all want to go out for another trip ! And, you can see from the wet suits hanging up in the background, there is always more equipment clean up once you get back from the coast.