Family

We've had a flurry of activity and a houseful of laughter for days now and I'm not sure I can go back to my real life when this all passes. My second family, Dale's mom and dad and sister and nephew, arrived Sunday after church and our lives will never be the same. We've been busy taking them all over the state of California to see all the magic that draws millions to this area every year. We went to the lovely Surf Beach, just a few miles from our house the first day. It was fantastic since there was miraculously no fog and the sun was setting. The next day we had the worst storm in the history of the central coast- which means it rained for more than five minutes. It actually rained all day and night. That is unheard of. Unfortunately, we had scheduled Solvang, the little Dutch town for that day and froze under umbrellas as we strolled down the strip. After basketball practice we took all the kids bowling on base and had a lovely dinner at the snack bar, my personal favorite genre of food. Yesterday we trekked to Avila beach and took them out on the pier where I mistook three diving sea lions for dolphins and raised quite a fuss to get someones attention to share this misnomer with. Unfortunately most of the other spectators were natives and knew I was only making a fool of myself and everyone with me. Avila Barn looked like locusts had been there; the shelves were nearly bare thanks to a huge end of the year sale. We still managed to pick up a couple of cap guns and, oh yes, let's not fail to mention another purse pet to add to the collection. *I'm becoming the Burgermeister in my highly volatile state...*

We all love to play games, so every night after the kids go to bed there is a rousing game of something. O night we played Fight to the Death SPOONS. If you've ever played this potentially violent card game, you know what I'm talking about. And if you know anything about me or Dale, you know we are both competitive; excessively so. So when I grabbed the last spoon, he caught the handle of it and nearly flung me across the table trying to get it from me, which explains why I'm standing to write this post. I've had such an easy pregnancy so far, I forget that I'm even pregnant and that I am always just a mistake away from landing myself on permanent bed rest. Growing six babies in this body has left me fragile, as much as I hate to admit it. So I'm hobbling around trying to look normal and function as usual. Pray for me. I need my back not to fail me.

I don't know how we'll get through another six months without visual contact

with our family, but we still have them, so Fa la la la la la la la la!