Home for a couple of days Updated

Thank you, all, for your lovely comments, thoughts, and prayers. Mom has been doing fairly well, but she starts Thursday with another "procedure". So, it is off to another round of doctor appointments and back to Mom's to stay for at least a few days.

Pictures taken with crappy cell phone camera. Sorry. As always, click on the picture for a larger view. :)



On Highway 101 (Highway 1) before getting to Santa Barbara. It was getting dark, but it was so beautiful.


The Channel Islands were so clear and close. Sorry they don't show up well here. You can just barely see the fog starting to roll in.




Stole this from Carmen. Thanks, Dear. What a difference in camera quality. Channel Islands from Highway 1 Santa Barbara County, California.

Actually, we (my husband, daughter, and I) "snuck off" to beautiful Santa Barbara, California, for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday party and a mini family reunion.

Of my in-law's ten children, only one son couldn't make it. (He is self-employed, this is his busiest season, and his substitute workers came to the party.) My husband is the oldest child, and our son is the oldest grandson and the third grandchild. (I'm pretty sure Carmen is the 6th grandchild.) In-laws have eighteen grandchildren ranging in ages 34 to 3.

Carmen & Molly. Molly is the 2nd to the youngest great-grandchild. Molly belongs to one of our nieces.

Six grandchildren and two of the seven great-grands weren't able to come.

Grandma and Grandpa with a little over half of their grandchildren. Pictured here: grands aged 32 to 3. By the time this was taken, a couple of the grown grandsons had left the party. (The oldest grandchild had just had a baby, so her family wasn't at the party - too far to travel with a itty-bitty one.) The two next to Grandma are twins. The 3-year-old was so tired. Too bad he has his face covered. He is just a doll. Okay, they are all cute :D

So disappointing that everyone wasn't there; all of us would have loved to have seen them. All of Mom S's siblings were there along with all (her family side) of her nieces and nephews and some of their children! It was a rushed trip (two long days of driving one way) and a little stressful, but it was great visiting with those who were there.

Our son D & his better half K. lol Really, both are super "kids".

Our son and his family met us there, and then we traveled north to their house for a day a couple of days.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog. It was a chilly 57 degrees.



The size of the supports on Golden Gate Bridge is amazing.





This is a view from D & K's driveway. Yes, that is a small, very old, private cemetery.


So good to spend a little time with our "kids"! Our (step) granddaughter will be a senior in high school! Where does the time go? I didn't get a decent picture of her with this camera. "Kirs" was being her normal silly self, and yes, her hair is purple.


"Kirs"

"Kirs" and her Aunt Carmen


Our grandson will be in the 8th grade. He is still on the little side. Although you can't tell it here, he's only about an inch shorter than his Aunt Carmen. (He's always hungry, so I expect he'll shoot up tall this school year.)


J with his Aunt Carmen
Rough housing in the house. Both old enough to know better. LOL