And "Safety First" takes the Championship!!!

Last night's championship game was AWESOME. It went an extra inning because of a tie, then we had to come back by 5 in one inning. It was probably our most exciting game of the season, and all of the sudden, I just LOVE co-ed city league slow-pitch softball! I'm hooked. It was SO foggy last night, that it was almost comical. I could barely see the batter from center field, hence the horrible quality of our photos. (Oh, and Nate played awesome! It's fun to watch him slide. He likes to slide. Sometimes he slides when the ball isn't even near him.)




There's nothing like a good game with good friends. And, we lived up to our name....no injuries this season. Go Safety First!!!

Father Finnegan

This has been cracking us up for a while now. We sit in one of the front rows for church usually because Finn sits still more when he can see what the priest is doing. Well....he's been taking notes. Now "Father Finn" pays us a visit at least once a day. Tonight he almost performed a full Mass for us, and even let me pull out my camera for some shots. (I'm not sure the priest at our parish would allow that.) Enjoy, and may God bless you.


First, the procession...he mimics the alter server by carrying the "cross"(part of a guitar stand).


After several laps of that, he places it carefully down and grabs the "incense" (my half marathon medal) and swings it around for a while. (This is one of Finn's new additions, as he saw the preists recently do this during Christmas.)



Then he marches around with the "gospel" (an old red Presbyterian hymnal he found in the garage).




After he has made sure EVERYONE has had a good look at the book, he finds a suitable lectern for reading it. Usually this is gibberish (fake adult language) maybe some pointing (that's his own addition really....must be reading Revelations) followed by "The word of the Lord." He always awaits our response.



Then, of course, the offering. (You're really put on the spot when you're the ONLY one at Mass...in the living room.)


Next, the liturgy of the Eucharist, the blessing of the bread and wine. (This usually includes some mono-tonal singing of pretend words.)




That's it. I just wanted to share it because I think it's so darn cute. Who knows, maybe he will be a priest some day.

And as for Selah, she's pretty content sucking on her feet these days.

Christmas was fun! I'm exhausted.

We started the trip off with the 6+ hour drive to Woodland just in time for the annual caroling party at Granny Peg and Papa Tom's house. Always a good time!



Tia Lina graciously carried Selah while Finn and I did percussions and Nate rocked out on guitar.


Finnegan, checking out Granny Peg's crèche.


This AWESOME gift from Uncle Josh was a total hit with Finn. We've heard many mind-blowing versions of "Frosty the Snowman" ever since. Move over Elton John! (Thanks Josh)



Finn participated in the Monley's traditional "Blessing Cake" this year, with help from Dad.




After Woodland for some days, Yuba for Christmas Eve day and then back to Woodland for Christmas day, we bounced over to Rohnert Park to visit with my side of the family for a while, then Santa Rosa to visit friends, and back to Woodland for a few more days and then headed back to SB just in time for New Years.....Did we miss anybody? Gotta love the holidays.


This was my best attempt at getting a photo of all the cousin's kids on the Kellogg side of the family (minus my sister Jen's 4 kids.) Six kids, all under the age of 3. This is Finn, Selah, Eli, Wyatt, Trilea and JJ.


This built-in backgammon game at the Kellogg's house was so cool. They had a the greatest back yard deck area with a built-in BBQ, fire pit and split level deck and outdoor seating area. Too bad it was so wet during Christmas.


I enjoyed getting know little Eli better.



A glorious moment of two napping children.



Selah had fun rolling her way around everywhere she wanted to go, including under this chair.

Let's Here it for Christmas Spirit!

Okay, before we celebrate the true reason for the season, let's go ahead and get some pagan rituals over with....

gross






We snuck a quick meeting with Santa right before he entered the holiday parade downtown. Finn was kinda scared.



Finn's been "helping" soooooo much in the kitchen lately, making his own oatmeal in the morning and lately, helping me make Christmas cookies and fudge. These may look gross, but they were so delicious.

Beach Day in December!

Sure, if it weren't for all the lights on State Street, it would be hard to tell it's almost Christmas here in Santa Barbara. Saturday was a beautiful day, and if it's not quite cold enough for scarves and beanies yet, then we might as well wear our wet-suits and hit the beach. It's been over a year since Nate and I have surfed, so we called up our good friends Jared and Jos and went to one of our favorite spots. Finn, who has a love-hate relationship with water, found two new friends in Jared's nieces, Evie and Georgia. Did I already mention that it was a beautiful day?

It's funny how just getting a couple of good rides can make waiting out there for an hour totally worth it!





Finn, keeping a safe distance from the waves.



Evie and Finn had so much fun playing in her little dome tent. Hmmm....I know what Finn would like for Christmas.....


And guess who can sit up all by herself now.....

with a little help every 12 seconds or so.....






This is Nate saying, "You're supposed to put your wet wet-suit to dry on the rocks, NOT on my dry clothes!" (oops.)


It was so good to get out there in the peacefulness of the water with Jos. We used to go all the time. The colors of the sky and the mountains against the ocean were amazing, so peaceful.



Happy girl after a blissful nap at the beach.



crack kills.

Giving Thanks

I have so much to be thankful for right now: A loving husband, two adorable little rug-rats, a tight group of devoted friends, a great extended family and another year in beautiful santa barbara. Our Thanksgiving holiday was sweet. We saw both sides of the family. We love having our families close together....but it does make for lots of bouncing around. :-)

We spent Thanksgiving day in Yuba City, save for a 10k turkey trot in Sacramento with Aunt Jo Jo. 26,000 people participated in the Run to Feed The Hungry. The crowd was insane. I loved running through my old stomping ground though.
Thanksgiving in YC

Aunt Jo Jo


My mom did so much work to make our Thanksgiving great. A special touch this year was little individual turkeys at each place setting, made of oreos, jelly bellys, candy corns and frosting. It kind of makes my stomach turn to think about eating that combo, but they were really cute.



Great grandma "nana"



Papa Summy lookin good, ready to attack the turkey.



There's finally enough kids to have a legitimate "kids table". For years it was just my siblings and cousins....in our twenties and thirties.


We had a babysitter this year....it's called a bounce house. Kinda awesome.

Weekend in Woodland

Papa Tom and Granny Peg


We celebrated Great Grandma Alice's 90th birthday!!! I really enjoy Grandma Alice. She is so sweet and fun to talk to. It was fun to see her meet Selah for the first time, though Selah wasn't in the mood, as you can see. I like this picture anyway.


Four generations!


Reading with Uncle Dominic.


Despite the look on Finn's face, we had a great field trip to the train museum in Old Sacramento. The look on his face has more to do with the scene of a zillion kids in the toy train area...

Madness.


Uh oh......another hair cut from Papa Tom!


Daddy got one too! Twinsies!