Tuesday, November 30, 2010

More photos

If you're ever in Sacramento, The California State Railroad Museum is a must-see! We thoroughly enjoyed it!



Strolling through Old Sacramento with the grandparents was memorable. It was a beautiful day.


Opa treated us all to Old Fashioned Taffy.





Liesel got special permission to spend the night with her great-grandma in the retirement center and ate breakfast with her the next morning. I have fond memories of spending the night with Grandma when I was about her age, so I was ecstatic that she would have at least one opportunity to do this. I called a couple of times the next day to check on her and she said she was looking at pictures with Great Grandma and would I please stop calling and interrupting her. Apparently they had fun together!


Zoya was absolutely mesmerized with Great Grandma's wrinkles.


I have always loved the view from my Uncle and Aunt's front yard. Can you see the vineyard across the street and the mountains in the distance? I spent a year with them while I was in High School so it almost felt like going back 'home' in a way.


We spent the day at their mountain cabin playing in the snow and then warming up by the fire afterward. How fun!!





Uncle Steve took John and the kids to pick the biggest and sweetest granny smith apples EVER. We brought home a bunch and have been enjoying cinnamon apples, apple crisp, and have plans to make apple salad. YUM.


Uncle Steve teaches mechanics and woodworking to High School students. Thank goodness he has developed a lot of patience. He even let Joseph help.


Jude and Zoya enjoyed the backyard tire swing together....


Grandma and the girls baked homemade rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. Even Grandma was cracking herself up as she couldn't remember whether she had added the salt, sugar, etc. She IS ninety-two after all! (Or is she 93, I can't remember?) We were all relieved when the rolls turned out not only edible but delicious!


After a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner Uncle Steve slipped out and soon after we received a surprise visit from SANTA CLAUS!



I absolutely loved how tenderly Santa interacted with Uncle Steve's grandaughter Jillian. How sweet.



The Grand Canyon!!! Don't worry, we only stayed long enough to snap a few photos. And if a monkey harness/backpack ever came in handy, it would be on a little boy with Down Syndrome at the Grand Canyon!


6 comments:

Julie said...

I live in Sacramento and I would have given anything to spend an hour with your whole family while you were in my area! I'm glad you enjoyed your stay!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an awesome photo/blog! Thank you so much for sharing all of it with us. I'm glad you liked Old Sac..can you imagine those streets lined wall to wall with bands and candy booths on Memorial Day every year? I especially love the 'hugging photos'...I was hoping to get some copies of those, and now I have them.:-) Uncle Steve made a wonderful Santa, and G'ma Nagle is as beautiful as ever. Weren't Opa and Oma awesome tour guides? Thank you again for sharing your family with me and everyone. Love you all, Aunt Sharon

Justine said...

Love that Liesel got to spend the night with your grandma and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to see the WHOLE family embracing your wonderful kiddos! Precious!

Charissa said...

Julie, I wish I had known! It's always fun to connect with fellow blogging families across the nation! :(

Melissa said...

Looks like you had a wonderful family vacation! Love all the pics! Can't wait to see you guys again.

Unknown said...

I love all the pictures. What a great trip!