After receiving our second invitation to an August wedding in San Francisco, I had a hair-brained idea that the kids and I would go home to California for a month. From there, God provided in every way, enabling us to have the most spectacular summer with our entire families and so many of our cherished friends. It's going to take me some time to form coherent sentences that do our trip justice. For now, I will share the photos and add the stories a little later...
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| Hellacious travel day #1. I was fearful that Dad might disown me somewhere over Denver, but, by the Grace of God, he still let me and my entourage stay at the house for the month! |
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| My buddy and me. |
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| They both fought hard. |
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| Emmy got the boot from my row after harassing Sissy. We were so very blessed to have the one and only extra seat on the plane next to Mom, Dad and Juju. |
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| Cousins reunited!!! Emmy's very happiest smiles happen when she's with Claire and Andy. :) |
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| Meeting Uncle Grant for the first time ever!!!! |
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| He's a natural. :) |
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| Sissy leans into Grammy after church. |
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| We had an impromptu swim and lunch party at Grammy and Poppy's house after church! |
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| Meeting Auntie Eliana! |
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Getting glam in our "new" dress up finds from the thrift store!
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| Jakie Ry wanted in. :-) |
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| Sis and Andy making me over. |
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| Our girls! |
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| These two have a love-hate relationship. |
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| Some bouncing around here...Dress up! |
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Papa teaching Emmy how to blow bubbles with bubble gum.
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| Still working on it. |
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Oh, Sis. She totally takes advantage of Mimi and insists she be fed via the "over the mountain through the tunnel" game.
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| Swimming and picnic lunch at Grammy and Poppy's. |
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| Visiting with Auntie Kerry!! |
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Kris is a saint. :)
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| Reunited with my sweet Hils at Lisa and John's wedding!! |
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Pap and Juju at Chris' house for the Odell family gathering!
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| Clare, Uncle Kent, Auntie Kerry and Jamesie Boy :) |
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| Juj making her rounds! |
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| Man, I love this picture. :) |
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| Testing out the new tree swing...it was a HIT! |
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| Sis and her beloved Umple JP. |
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| The tables turn! Pushing Mick! |
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| Auntie Kristi and Jamesie boy :) |
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| Sis didn't want to leave... |
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| The Oakland Zoo with my cousins! |
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| I unloaded my boy on my Kris. ;) |
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| Checking out the monkey! |
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| Sweet Shannon and Jakie Wy Wy. |
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| One of my very favorite parts of his mobility is that he looks for me whenever I'm not near. He's clearly a Mama's Boy already, in the best way possible. ;) |
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| Park playdate celebrating Drew Landgrafs 3rd birthday! |
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Performing "Let it Go" for Grandpa Jack. Sis has taken it to the next level with costumes and props!
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| Bedtime story with Mimi. Littlest book ever. |
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| Feeding the ducks at Blackhawk Plaza! |
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| Chowing down at the Landgrafs! |
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| Learning about gardening from Mimi! |
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| These two are starting to show their preferences for toys. Julia was obsessed with a tiny stuffed owl we affectionately named DeeTee (a sound Julia makes all the time) and a Ken doll head (not pictured.) James carried a block or a wooden hammer. Whomever said boys and girls are the same obviously never had kids. |
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| Uncle Grant is the coolest. |
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| Pretty sure all my kids think Auntie Kristi hung the moon. |
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| Waiting for sun screen to dry with Grammy! |
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Poppy gets a gold star for managing all the kids in the pool!
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Uncle Grant devoted his afternoon to catching a tireless Sis as she jumped into the pool.
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| Auntie Eliana, Uncle Ben and Hailey join the party!!! |
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| We met sweet Hailey for the first time ever!!!! We love her so much!! |
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| Sleepy, sleepy boy. |
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| Julia adores her Auntie Eliana. We all do. :) |
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| Sissy raids the dress up box at Auntie Kristi's house! |
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| A whole lotta love up in here! |
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Sitting next to (on?) Poppy and Daddy's pavers at the All War Memorial at Oak Hill Park.
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| Feeding ducks at Oak Hill Park (despite the obnoxiously large sign telling us not to.) |
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| Uncle Ben came to visit from work!! |
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| Auntie Eliana!! |
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| Hailey tries watermelon for the first time!! So grateful to be able to be around for momentous milestones such as this one! :) |
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| Sissy with her garden. Papa brought his fastest-growing seeds home from the store for Hannah to plant with Mimi. Too bad Hannah also like to play in the dirt and unearthed her seeds a few days later. :-/ |
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| A special treat for lunch! |
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| Sharpening his choppers. |
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4/4 babies sound asleep in the car!
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Rapunzel hair.
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| Early morning play-dough sesh. |
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| Emmy loved the butterfly she had painted on her face at Uncle Ben and Auntie Eliana's block party! |
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| Dinner with Grandpa Jack! |
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| Mimi and her little shopping apprentices. $10 shopping spree at Papa's store! |
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| These two clung to the chew toys that Emmy picked out for them. Turns out, they are in high demand by the four-legged furry customers at Papa's store! |
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| Emmy not only loves the Crayola molding clay, silly putty, cheez-its and flower seeds but also the bag and receipts. She treasures it all. |
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| Look who we ran into!! |
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Picnic lunch at Inspiration Point in the Berkeley Hills! We set these two up in the back of the suburban...They were like a couple of zoo animals.
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Steam Trains at Tilden Park!!!
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| Kris and juj! |
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| You'd think that this would be a highlight of Hannah's whole California adventure because of her love of trains. Instead, she was terrified and hasn't stopped talking about her extreme distaste for tunnels. |
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I love this picture. :)
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| Just doing what we do most of the time...Playing on the floor. |
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| Sissy preforming "Let It Go" for my cousins, Betsy and Grace and my Auntie Jackie! |
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| Auntie Jackie, Betsy and Mom! |
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| We crashed Mom's classroom work day when we needed to get out of the house...Hannah was in HOG HEAVEN with Mom's stuffed animal basket. |
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| Hannah put a Baboo in every chair. |
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| Someone's going exploring. |
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| Julia playing with the doll house Emmy created for DeeTee the tiny owl during quiet time. |
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| How Hannah wakes people up. Consider yourself warned. |
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| Playing roadtrip! Emmy's brainchild, of course. |
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I can't help but laugh every time I look at this picture...They crack me up!
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| First stop after picking Daddy up at the airport...In N Out!!! |
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Dinner at the Landgrafs! Emmy is exposed to super hero play! A nice reprieve from princesses, for sure. :-P
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My Nick meeting our dear niece, Hailey, for the first time!! Ben, Eliana and Hailey came over for breakfast...Making the best of our early mornings!
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| Pool party at Grammy and Poppy's Anniversary celebration! |
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| Playdate with Hailey!! |
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| Sleepover!! |
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| Disney movie marathon! |
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Sis would not rest. It was funny for awhile and then she was voted out and spent the rest of the night in her "Princess bed" (aka Pack N Play.)
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| Beach day!! Picnic at Venice Beach in Half Moon Bay! The last beach trip we'll ever make with crawlers! haha! |
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Emmy photobombing the picture. :-P
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| Making use of the timer. |
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| I realized that Sis has a gleeful smile on her face in every picture I have of her at the beach. :) |
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| Eating sand by the fist-fulls. |
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| Sea otter sighting! |
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| Sis in her element. :) |
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| Hannah calling everyone's phones from Grammy's house line... |
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| ...Offering kisses for sale. :-P |
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Cuddling up to Grammy on the porch swing. :)
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| My boys!! |
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| So many hungry ducks! |
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| Fairyland in Oakland with Grammy and Poppy! |
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"The young woman who lived in a shoe with so many children she didn't know what to do..."
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| Lunch at the legendary Fenton's Ice Creamery! I doubt Poppy has ever had a more high-maintenance lunch companion. |
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| Dinner out to celebrate the anniversary of Mom's 29th birthday! |
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| Mom and her people! |
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| These two were in for the night of their lives! They went to see an outdoor showing of FROZEN with Uncle Ben, Grammy and Poppy!! |
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| Horn Family portrait!! Only one of Sis not picking her nose! |
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| Grammy and Poppy and their grandbabies! |
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It wouldn't be a family portrait without Sis pitching a fit.
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| Perfection! |
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So beautiful...both of them. :)
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| Grammy out did herself and found matching tutus for all the girls! |
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| How blessed are we to have all of our cousins in the same frame?!? |
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| Brunch at Hap Magee Park with the Sacksteders, Grandma and Grandpa Sacksteder and all of the Horns, and Mimi, or course. Amazing! I can think of no better way to start the day! |
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| Taking it all in. The brunch food and the ambiance. |
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| Jamesie and Grandpa Sacksteder. :) |
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| Beautiful Clairey! |
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| Big night out to celebrate Arge and Pei-Ling!! |
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| First night out just the four of us in a long, long, long time. Like, I can't remember the last time? |
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Hailey, so kindly, sharing her beautiful headband with Juju. Sharing clothes already!
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| Our first Odell-Horn-Sacksteder photo in years!! It seems as though it takes an act of God to get us all in the same place at the same time. |
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Grandpa Jack has full arms!
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| The Sacksteders!! SO GRATEFUL that Grandma and Grandpa Sack's trip coincided with ours!!! |
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Celebrating the babies' first birthday!
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| Whatever is on Daddy's plate is ALWAYS more appealing than what is on Emmy and Hannah's plates. |
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After such a long summer apart, everyone wants to be in Daddy's breathing space. Me included.
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Juju strikes back!! She's going to be a tough little cookie after putting up with Jamesy's shenanigans!
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| Jamba Juice and park date! So simple and so much fun, mostly because we were all together as a family of 6. |
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| ANYTHING to be near Uncle Jamie. To include disguising themselves as blankets. |
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| Hellacious Travel Day #2 |
