Jolly Ole St. Nicholas

Apparently, C didn't find him so jolly
But Em did. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said very thoughtfully, "a present." That's her sidekick cousin Ricky.

Natural Habitat

Lately I've been able to enjoy some of the area's natural wildlife with the girls. I'm trying to help Em feel more comfortable around animals. She thinks dogs are great as long as they're on the other side of the street. And it's not uncommon when she goes to play in the backyard to come back in about 15 seconds later and inform me there's a bug out there. When I go to check it out, it's usually an ant or a tiny speck of a fly. The other day she was very put out by a humming bird. Really.

So, a couple weeks ago we went to Pacific Grove's monarch butterfly sanctuary. This is really a cool place. Every year thousands of monarch butterflies fly hundreds of miles to live out the winter months in this ideal eco-climate. And in the spring they migrate back to their place of origin. What's so cool is that each year it's not the same butterflies that come, their life spans are so short that it's actually several younger generations of butterflies that make the same migration each year to the same spot. Somehow they know where to go.

ANYWAY, in this picture you can see them clustering to keep warm along the tree needles. They deceptively look like leaves.

As we were admiring the butterflies one flew directly at eye level towards Emily, which made her very nervous. Just before reaching her, it turned suddenly and lit upon a little boy's pant leg.
Immediately after that near death experience, Em wanted to go home. I had to keep convincing her that butterflies are nice. She kept saying, "I don't like butterflies. I like kitty cats. Kitty cats are nice. I don't like butterflies."

Reading up on butterfly literature. Are they truly a species to be feared?

Another instance of a complete stranger insisting on taking our picture. They're so nice here!

Close up of one of the little critters. I tried to get Em in the pic too.... yeah, fat chance. She wouldn't go near it.

So a couple days later we went to the wharf. The wharf offers all sorts of wildlife viewing. Harbor seals and pelicans hang out there every day. As we were standing on the wharf looking over the bay I spotted some seals playing in the water together. They were splashing and doing flips and literally kissing each other. This pic doesn't do it justice. They were a lot closer than what this photo depicts.

I excitedly pointed them out to the girls. Look Em! Do you see the seals playing in the water?

Em, trying to figure out what I was so excited about, crouched down and to get a better look between the two wooden boards. She exclaimed, "I see it Mom! I see the web!" Confused I took a closer look. Instead of spotting the seals, this is what she saw:
Yeah, a spider web one inch from the tip of her nose.

So, not so much success there, although I really love going down to the wharf, it's so relaxing and I can usually find some good chocolate along the way.

Some more seals relaxing in the sun. Sometimes we can hear them barking from our house! Em and C do really cute impressions of seal barking.

So, just yesterday we had another chance to see some local wildlife. Actually, not so wild. Farm animals. Our friends scored a deal where they're basically going to farm sit for a family and live in their farm house for free (except for utilities) for the next eight months. All they have to do is feed the animals twice a day.

Em was much more at ease around these animals. Both girls LOVED it in fact. Maybe because all the animals were behind a fence. Or maybe because we have about fifty books/toys that are farm animal themed.

Here's an alpaca. Am I the only person who has never heard of an alpaca? Probably. They were pretty cool. Reminded me of a Dr. Seuss character.

An emu. The lady giving the farm tour told us she eats emu egg omelettes!

Not so scared of the goats.

And go figure, Em's very favorite farm animal was the pig. She couldn't stop talking about the pig.

Cute little guy

Em's friend Izzy (remember hide-and-go-seek?) who is moving out to the farm. Hopefully we'll get to visit a lot!
I had to get a picture of the pony's antlers. Classic.
And on a completely unrelated note, I had to get some pics of C at the ward Christmas party donning her Christmas dress. She only wore the hat for about four seconds that night, so we had to take a pic fast.

And in case you're wondering where the heck my hubbie is, here he is in his natural habitat as of late, poor guy!

Where's Emily?

I found myself in kind of a strange situation on Friday. I was at a little rocky beach with Emily, Caroline, and my friend's daughter Izzy... we were a bit stranded as her mom ran to the market (literally, the farmer's market). I was a good eight miles or so from home and only had my bike with two seats in the burly for my little ones. So really, we couldn't go anywhere until Izzy's mom came back. To pass the time I asked the girls if they wanted to play a game. Izzy jumped at the offer, "hide-and-go-seek!" So I counted while they hid. Em has never played before. Really. I tried to explain it to her. Following Izzy's cues, she went to hide herself. When I opened my eyes this is what I saw:Closer up:
Awesome hiding place Em. When it was her turn to count, she would hide her face in her arm, count, and then when she was finished she'd just stand there. I'd yell, "Come find us Emily!" She'd saunter over and just look down at me crouched behind a rock, and not say anything. Trying to help her get the idea, "Look Emily! You found me!" She'd just stared back at me, expressionless.

We played for a really long time, because Izzy's mom forgot to look at her watch and lost track of the time. Sometimes Em would hide with Izzy... this was their reaction upon me finding them one time
Another stealthy hiding place of Em's after opening my eyes from counting
And again, the girls' hiding places after I opened my eyes.
I don't think Caroline is really hiding, I think she's just playing in the dirt. After playing several rounds of hide-and-go-seek without Em ever fully grasping it, we played freeze tag. Now, again Em was clueless. When she was "it" she was "it" for a very long time. Too bad I didn't get any shots of that.

I'm trying really hard not to gloat...

but after a winter in Warsaw I figure I've earned the right

The weather here in Monterey on November 26 is sunny with a high of 72.

The park is crowded

And yes, these people are playing volleyball with their shirts OFF during Thanksgiving weekend.

It sure beats this...

although I'm sure when the June fog rolls in, I'll be missing the beautiful Warsaw summer.

For now I'm completely content with where I am.

While I was out in KS I got a little history lesson from Nancy about Ben's Grandpa Shaha (you know how I love history). You see, Grandpa Shaha is the patriarch of the clan and all the grandchildren adore and dote on him. But when I married into the family over five years ago, Grandpa Shaha had recently had a stroke, which has rendered him unable to speak and so I feel a little cheated, like I never got to know the Grandpa Shaha that everybody loves.

The Grandpa Shaha that everybody loves

So, here are a few interesting tidbits Nancy shared with me about Grandpa Shaha that I never knew (and please, feel free to correct and revise anything I may have screwed up):

He played the French Horn

His father served in WWI, and he himself served in Korea and Vietnam (that part I did know)

He had two brothers, one who as a young father was hit and killed by a drunk driver

His parents were the typical "Okies" who left the dust bowl region of the US and emigrated west to California during the Great Depression (from KS I believe?)

He attended a military academy in CA where his mom was a cook and his dad was a janitor

He always wanted to be a soldier

He attended Stanford University

He married an uptown girl from Beverly Hills

He was a battalion commander in Vietnam and miraculously saved the life of a co-pilot whose right arm was hit by shrapnel in a Little Bird helicopter. He did this by leaning out the back of the helicopter to hold the co-pilots right arm in place to stop the bleeding while the person sitting next to him held onto his belt loop. Yes, true story.

Upon meeting missionaries, he had a miraculous conversion to the LDS church and gave up his vices of smoking and drinking in no time (that part I knew too).

Anyone else want to share something about Grandpa Shaha that I've missed?

Grandma and Grandpa Shaha with their five children. They take their military heritage very seriously

Grandpa Shaha's posterity

Early Thanksgiving

We had an early Turkey Day with Ben's family, but first I must mention Benny Boy's b-day on November 7. He doesn't look a day older than 25, does he?

Then it was off to Kansas to see Ben's family.

He really has a remarkable family.... all four sons are serving in the military. Joe just got back from a year tour in Iraq (while his wife and two young ones were here on their own) and Steve came home a few months ago from Afghanistan. Between the boys, they have seven deployments... four to Iraq, two to Afghanistan, and one to Bosnia.

All the Shaha clan including seven grandchildren ages 3 and younger stayed under one roof. It actually worked out quite well, not as crazy as I was anticipating. They are all quite attached to their Grandpa Shaha.

Good turkey and good company
Ben making a dorky face
C stuck to her typical Cheerios... she has no idea what she's missing out on in life (that was a crazy string of prepositions).
Lots of video games and rocking out on guitar and drums (failed to get a picture of that, but a staple at any Shaha gathering).
Lots of bonding time for the grandkids
We also had a family photo shoot... this is just a teaser. Isn't it funny that such a male dominated family who is all about the army, football, rock 'n roll, and action movies have six granddaughters and only one grandson? I just love that.
Trying new hairstyles on C
Decorating sugar cookies was a hit with the girls.


And the lone grandson Jack sports his Grandma's old wig from the college years. Ha!
All the Shaha kids except for Dave and Wendy who had to leave early. Do you like the ushanka hat I'm sporting? Ben got that for me in Moscow. Super cool to wear in Poland but not so super cool to wear in California.
And all good things must come to an end. Ben had to fly back early for school so I flew back on my own with the girls... quite the feat, but we made it thanks in large part to this cute little pull along Grandma gave as an early Christmas present to Em. It was a hit! Thanks Pat and Nancy for all the great food and accommodations! We had a super fun time.