Denied!

I thought I would catch up on some blog reading today...

I first went to Keetha's blog. It was fun to see pictures of her cute new granddaughter. And it was good to hear her mom is home from the hospital.

Then I thought I would check out Shannon (as in shannonofthewoods). DENIED! Looks like only invited readers can read it. And I am not invited. :-( Shannon, I thought we were friends. Did I upset you? Did I not work hard enough at the feast? Did I not compliment you enough? I said I liked your shoes. Doesn't that count for something?

The Flight!

Yes, that is a photo of lightning hitting an airplane. Fortunately, that wasn't our flight, but it could have been.
We left LAX with out a problem. Security was a breeze for us (thankfully since Anna had to go the bathroom!) Our seating assignments were goofed up and we were all spread out, but we got those changed with three of us together and one just a row behind. We boarded without incident and took our seats in the back of the plane. The plane took off and things were great. We were even scheduled to arrive in Indy a few minutes early.
We flew along for about three hours or so when we saw lightning out the window. YIKES! Then the plane ran into some turbulence. This wasn't your average turbulence though. We were doing some major dropping! The kind like on a roller coaster where your stomach goes up to your throat. People were getting freaked! This was some storm!
We were descending into Indy when it got really bad. As were beginning our approach, the exit lights came on. Not a good sign! That only happens in emergencies! I was doing some serious praying... Dave and I told each other we loved one another, I was talking to God as if I was going to see him soon.
As we were headed down, we suddenly headed up... almost straight up - or so it felt. We were unable to land because the run way was too dangerous. The plane circled the city a couple of times waiting for the storm to pass. We then tried to land again. The exit lights came on again.
We did manage to touch down, and as the brakes were applied, you could feel the plane sliding around. Once again, I was sure we would crash. Thankfully, we didn't.
We had to sit on the run way for about 10 minutes or so while we waited for a gate. The pilot said that if anyone needed to use the restroom, we could. There were several people that did, probably because they were so scared!
We got off the plane (about and hour late) and went to get our luggage. We were scheduled to arrive in Indy at 11pm. We got there at midnight. We had to then wait for our bags because the employees were not allowed on the tar mack to get the luggage off the plane because of the lightning. Finally, the bags came and we got to our car. It was 1am before we were on the road.
We were driving in our Saturn... the car that has broken windshield wipers. And it rained the whole way! Rain-X works though. It was repelling the water and we were able to drive home. We had to take a different route than we usually do because of detours and road closures. Finally, we made it home at about 2:40am. We were in bed by 3am. And Dave had to teach Summer School at 8am the next morning!
So, that is the story of the scariest flight ever. I don't really want to get on a plane anytime soon... but I will. We fly to Colorado July 1.

Day 6

On Sunday, we went to Otto and Norma's church -Arcadia Bible Church. It was a quick visit with folks there, because we had plans for lunch right after church.

Our lunch plans were with the Beamans and the Warmuths... friends of Dave's from long ago. Dave and Darin (Beaman) have been friends since Jr. High and friends with Jeff (Warmuth) since High School. We ate a place called "Dish". Then we went back to Darin and Janie's to hang out. We ended up spending all afternoon playing the "Wii". Dave and I had never done that before. Fun! I was pretty good at bowling. :-)



From Darin's (La Canada Flintridge) we drove to Thousand Oaks to Dave's sister Ruthi's house. Ruthi and Dave (Ruthi's husband) were not home yet but were on their way. They were in Idaho during most of our CA visit. What timing, huh?

We hung out with Grandpa and Grandma for a bit until the fam got home. We stayed the night there and the kids played until it was way too late and woke up way too early to play. Emma had fun with Sammie and Anna had fun with Andy and Johnny.

Johnny, Annie, Andy

Sad Emma and Happy Sammie

"The Cousins"

Day 5 - Westmonsters

Saturday was spent hanging out at Dan and Jane's. It was nice to have no agenda for a few hours! Dave and I were able to go to IKEA and Target... we realized that stores in CA offer a better selection. Too bad we couldn't fit it all in our luggage! We would have bought a lot of stuff if we could've gotten it home somehow.

We had dinner plans with the "Westmont Gang" AKA "Westmonsters". These are friends of mine from college. We met at an outdoor mall and just hung out in the courtyard. It was a good time to reconnect.

Anna and Melissa. I just love this picture.

Rachel, Jen, Lynne, Me, Melissa

Mel and Me

Lynne and Me

Me and Jen (who is pregnant with baby #5!)

Me and Rrrrrrrachel

Day 4 - Seeing Many Friends

We spent our Friday visiting with many friends. It began with lunch at Ruby's Diner on the Balboa Pier. We met with my college roommate, Marcia, and her family. Marcia is battling breast cancer (and she is doing well!) and I really wanted to see her. She is done with chemo and nearing the end of radiation. I am thankful she is doing so well!

The Toevs Fam and The Fox Fam - from left to right, back to front...Ronda, Dave, Marcia, Bryan, Emma, Anna, Ava, Nathan

Family photo on the beach!

After lunch, we went to see our former neighbors... we visited with Amanda, Abby, Lily and Sophie... John was at work, so we didn't get to see him.

This photo is more amazing than you may realize... Anna is IN the water. She went in willingly and all by herself. She even smiled!

Amanda and I were pregnant at the same time with Emma Kathryn and Lily Catherine. They were born 15 days apart. We used to walk daily (because you can in CA!) while pushing our babies in the strollers. These two girls don't remember living next door to each other, but they acted like they have been neighbors for years!

Here are all the girls... Lily, Emma, Sophie, Anna, Abby. Fun times!

After our visit, we went to Boy and Cece's (Roy and Cecelia's) for dinner. I didn't get photos of them though... silly me! It was fun to see them again.

California - Day 3 - Disneyland!

We spent Thursday, June 5 at Disneyland. It was a great day! The weather was perfect. The girls were wonderful. We even got to take Rachel with us. Emma loved that!

Here the girls are in front of the castle... the photo eveyone has to take. Not sure why there is a dark spot in the corner... but at least you can see the girls and the castle in the background.

This picture was taken in line for Space Mountain. Can you believe Anna made the height requirement? Barely, but she did make it. Rachel loves Space Mountain and she was showing Emma and Anna how to dress like they were going into space... sweatshirts on, hoods on. At this point, our girls had no idea what was in store for them. Then we went on the ride... Rachel loved it, Dave loved it, I loved it, Emma and Anna... not so much! They were so freaked! Hope we didn't traumatize them too much!

We happened upon a "Princess Coronation Ceremony". Anna loved seeing Mulan, Belle and Sleeping Beauty.

Emma and Rachel with Minnie just outside Minnie's house. Anna was a little scared, so she didn't want in on the photo.

Anna was scared of Minnie, but not Pooh!

Anna liked Tigger and Eeyore too.

The day really was a "magical" day in the Magic Kingdom. The girls were so great all day. The only thing that would have made the day better was if I was able to connect with some friends that were going to meet us there... that is if only my lame cell phone worked! Sorry Heather and Jen!

Caifornia - Day 2

After we finally got moving around on Wednesday, we went to see Grandpa and Grandma in Arcadia. We went to lunch... at In-N-Out of course! Now that is what a hamburger is all about! (that's their motto too) We hung out in Arcadia for awhile and then headed to Irvine where we had dinner with the Sanders. Dave and I had fun with Brett and Wendy, Emma and Anna had fun with Abby and Gwen.
We knew Brett and Wendy from church, pre-kids and even pre-dogs. We got our pups around the same time. In fact, Sophie (their dog) is Squirts only friend... the only dog she has ever gotten along with! The four of us (6 if you include the dogs) used to do a lot together... meals, camping, watch movies, play basketball (well, Dave and Brett did), just hang out. Then we had kids about the same time. We still did things together... then we moved. We had our second children close together too... only by then we lived miles apart.
We try to visit when we can.

California - Day 1

Our trip began on June 3, Tuesday. There were several detours along the way, but we still managed to make it to the airport on time. We flew to Minneapolis where we were scheduled to have an hour before our next plane to LA. Our seats were scattered, so we waited in line at the ticket counter to get our seats changed. Just before it was our turn, they announced the flight was oversold and they wanted volunteers to take a later flight. Of course we volunteered! (We were the first 4 on the list.) Our new flight left only 2 hours later. They gave us money for dinner, 4 round trip tickets, and vouchers to use for snacks on the plane. We had a great dinner at Chili's and still had vouchers left over. So, we got 2 Starbucks coffees... and 2 frappaccinos... and 2 cookies... finally our money was gone. We boarded the plane and got to LA where our luggage was waiting for us - we were able to bypass waiting at the carousel for our bags. After loading up in our PT Cruiser, we headed to the Baldaufs. Better late than never, right?!
We just love getting bumped. :-)

Here we go!

We are going to California tomorrow! Emma wishes we were already packed. I won't let her start yet. Gotta do laundry first!

Things we are excited about:

• seeing family
• seeing friends
• Disneyland
• In-N-Out Burger
• the beach

What we're not excited about:

• traffic
• smog
• people everywhere
• gas prices (that applies anywhere!)
• not being able to enough time with people
• LAX
• flying in general... it just isn't fun anymore!

Today is a busy day getting ready. There laundry to be done, suitcases to find, 3 ounce bottles to fill, and a house to clean. (I hate leaving a messy house!) Guess I better get busy!