Landscape Update, Phase 2

Our fruit trees arrived!

The trees arrived while I was battling the stomach flu.  So they sat in their box for a week until my parents were insistent to get them into the ground. Thanks Mom and Dad!

 Initially we thought we would use hard wire cloth to cover the bottom and sides of the holes to protect the trees from gophers.  After pricing out the cloth--it was way too expensive.  Instead I ended up purchasing gopher baskets.  This is how we ended up with a trench.

 Mom and Dad trenched through the soil and hardpan so the trees could be planted.

 A little soil amending.  Our soil was barren, hopefully mixing in some healthy soil will help these little trees grow strong and provide us a bountiful harvest of fruit.

 Little helper, watering.

We have mulch to put over these roots to help protect from frost and keep the roots moist.  

I'll be mulching the trees soon!

Snow in Palm Springs

After giving my parents a quick tour of San Diego, revisiting areas they have already seen, we took them over to Palm Springs.

It took nearly 2 hours to drive to Palm Springs.  It was a chilly morning but everyone was excited to ride the tram to the top of the mountains.  Carl, Elena and Papa waiting for our tram.

Here comes our tram!  Look, snow at the top of the mountain!!

Walking with Grandma down the trail...to find our own patch of snow to play in :)

Making a snow ball!

Gotcha, Papa!

I'm going to get you, Elena!

More snow balls!!

Snow is so much fun!

Especially when you get to throw it at each other.  

Look at the glee on their faces just after clobbering Papa.

Grandma Rae Grammy (Elena renamed Grandma) and Papa

This is the best I could do for a group picture.  Elena was not interested :(

The sun was a bit bright but gorgeous!

Cold, wet...all done.

Budding photographer at lunch.

Checking out the valley (Palm Springs) below us, far, far below us!

The view below.

Another try at a group shot...Elena, Elena, Elena.

Taking the tram down with her new friend, the Great Horned Owl.

Happy New Year!

 My parents flew in to watch Elena during her winter break.  Unfortunately, I didn't feel good most of December and came down with the stomach flu the day after they arrived.  After a few quiet, rainy, COLD days, we left the house.

 We went up to Mount Soledad for fantastic views of the ocean and city.

 Mount Soledad is a local monument for soldiers.  

There are thousands of plaques surrounding this cross.

 Then we headed down to the Children's Pool to watch the seals, pelicans, waves....we hoped to see whales, maybe next time. 

After lunch we drove over to Cabrillo National Monument.  There are spectacular views from the top.  We drove down to the tide pool overlook hoping to get a glimpse of whales.  There were a lot of boats, not so many whales.  Elena had fun climbing the rocks.

Stiehl Gathering

 This year Grandma Jo flew into LA for a visit with family.  Carl's cousins George and Brenda hosted a dinner at their home; Christian flew down from San Francisco.  Elena was a bit rambunctious and at the end did not want her picture taken (can you tell?).  It was really nice to see all the family, some we haven't since Elena was a baby.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

 This is our first quiet Christmas.  Every Christmas is different and though we didn't see extended family, we thought of everyone today.  We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

 Santa knows how much we love tangerines and provided each of us some in our stocking.  Elena's enjoying them while observing Daddy building with her knew toy.

 An owl kite was sent by Santa.  I'm not sure who the kite was for--Elena or Carl :)

 Carl loved flying the kite in the yard...

 ...while Elena was sneaking mandarins from our tree.

Oh, she does love her fruit!

Dinner with Pop and Grandma Lorraine

 Elena loves reading and spending time with grandparents.  

Perfect time to snap a couple of pics after dinner :)

Elena's 1st Musical - Peter Pan and Wendy, SDSU

 Today Elena and I have planned a mommy-daughter day.  First, off to get her hair cut off.  I love her hair but she refuses to let us brush it.  She was given the option to let us comb/brush her hair once a day or have it cut short to her chin.  Well, her decision was a cut.  Above is a before pic.

 And after...quite a few inches were cut off!

 Posing for a picture before we get in the car, on our way to see Peter Pan and Wendy; Elena's first musical experience.  We are super excited!

 Elena harnessing her powers.  She really does have magic powers; they are constantly changing.  Some powers include "green light power," "happiness," "jumping," and "sunshine" are among the most popular.  I do love green light power.  She sits in the back of the car with her hand out at the upcoming traffic light and a contorted face--most of the time the red light does turn green for her.  Never doubt this girl's powers :)

 One of the perks of living near a university with a drama department, there are reasonably priced performances.  The fall performance at SDSU was Peter Pan and Wendy.  Here we are giddy before the show.  Elena enjoyed the show tremendously.  Because she is 3 we had to purchase 2 tickets though she couldn't see so she sat on my lap the entire show.  The first 2 rows of the theatre (off to the sides) were open to young kids and their parents.  We checked it out but it was just too close to the stage for us so we sat in our assigned seats.  We're looking forward to another SDSU production in the near future!

 Walking back to the car, Elena couldn't resist running on the grass field.  She nearly ran into the group of college kids playing.

 The next few pictures are emotional pics of Elena.  

Above she's getting a little cold as the sun is beginning to set.

 Surprised!  I mentioned that I might have a cookie in my purse :)

 And to get it, she needed to give me a nice smile.  Amazing the efforts we go through to get a cute picture of her :)

All tuckered out.

We had a wonderful day together!