I recently got to spend one glorious week under the California sun. I have seriously missed warm weather. I really hope one day I get to live in a place where you can comfortably spend time outside all year round. I got to run a perfect 6.3 mile route outside through beautiful Yorba Linda every morning I was there. It felt so good! I can't wait 'til it's running weather in Flagstaff again. We're getting there! At least after the awful cold of winter, we have a gorgeous spring, fall, and summer to look forward to (if we are still here to see them).
Since my dad kindly footed the bill for a one-way ticket back to Flagstaff, Jeff was able to drive down with Luke and I for the weekend. When we arrived on Friday night, Jeff and my dad immediately got to work programming the two fancy new TV's my dad just bought for the living room and his bedroom. Jeff wasn't sure if coming to California for less than 48 hours was worth it. One of the things that convinced him to come was knowing he would get to help with those TV's. I guess until he can afford to buy his own 63" TV, he has to live vicariously through others. We also got to see my dad's latest project - a beautiful new master bathroom for him and my mom; yet another example of his gorgeous work.
Saturday morning, Jeff stayed home with Luke while I went with my family to the funeral of a very dear friend. Her name was Dana King and there really aren't words to describe what an incredible person she was. She suffered from MS for many years before her death, and yet she lived a life of service and selflessness. She loved everyone and despite the hardships she was going through, she was always more concerned with your life and how you were doing every time she saw you. The funeral service was beautiful. So many people loved Dana. She will be so missed.
That afternoon, I got to spend a couple of hours with my sweet husband at the beach. It was gorgeous down there. We were wearing jeans, but we would have been comfortable in swimsuits. After living in 20 degree weather, it was crazy to see people wearing bikini's, eating ice cream, and long boarding around shirtless in the middle of January. It was wonderful to walk barefoot in the sand, holding hands, listening to the ocean, feeling the warmth of the sun on our faces, and talking about our future. I love my husband ... and the beach.
Jeff flew home to Flagstaff Sunday night. I missed him for the five days we were apart, but at least this time Luke slept in his crib every night instead of sleeping in bed with me because I didn't want to sleep alone.
The weather was perfect on Monday, just like every other day of the week so Luke and I took a nice walk over to Mamal and Papal's house. They can't get enough of Luke and he loves them right back so we stayed for a nice long visit. While we were there, Luke got his very first band-aid. He grabbed my Diet Root Beer can, sticking his finger in the hole and squeezing so that it cut the underside of his knuckle. Mamal got him a tiny band-aid. It didn't last long though because Luke flexed his finger repeatedly until it fell off. We got to see a lot of Mamal and Papal and a lot of my Aunt Debi too throughout the week. We loved spending time with them.
That night, my mom took me to Target to buy Luke toys to play with at Grandma's house. She got him an exciting pop-up toy (apparently the most fought over toy in the nursery at church). He hasn't quite figured out how to make the animals pop up, but he loves to push them back down after they jump up and scare him. She also got him a moving, squeaking, battery-operated squirrel (see the picture of Austin at the end of this post) because if you know Luke, you know he loves anything fuzzy, especially if it moves.
On Tuesday, my mom and I tried to take Luke on a hike using the nice new carrier I bought at Target the night before. It was not a success. Luke really needed a nap and he's not exactly a fan of baby carriers anyway. He warned us with (hilarious) growls for the first 10 minutes while we climbed up to an area with a nice view for a picture. After that, we decided we'd better take Luke's threats seriously and head back for the car. It's a good thing too because just a few minutes later, he erupted into hysterical crying, which continued all the way to the car. Poor baby took a nice, long nap when we got home. Oh well, maybe next time.
Wednesday, Brooke and the kids went to Disneyland and I got to spend a great day with my awesome brothers. First Patrick came over in the morning and took Luke and I to the beach for Luke's very first time. Patrick and Ashley are always so busy when we come to visit so I usually don't get to spend much time with them. So I felt very privileged to get to spend a few hours one on one with Patrick on his only day off all week. He was so nice to spend his precious free time with Luke and I. We had a great time discussing life and marriage and enjoying a perfect day at the beach. Luke loved it! He was fascinated by the feeling of walking barefoot on the sand and couldn't get enough of the ocean. The first time I stood him up in the damp sand several feet from the water, he immediately started to run for the waves. And he had so much fun chasing birds and running around in the shallow water with his fun Uncle Patrick. I forgot my camera, but Patrick was nice enough to let me use his fancy new phone to capture Luke's first visit to the beach ...
Luke needed to fuel up before hitting the water.
The first time I brought Luke near the water, he hit the ground running - straight for those waves.
The water was freezing. This was Luke's first time feeling it. Later, when Patrick was holding him in the water like this, he tried to jump over a little wave.
By the way, those "Little Swimmers" Luke is wearing are not diapers. If the baby is in the water, pee goes into the water. However, since Luke was not immersed in water, but instead was on my hip, the pee ran right down my leg. Lovely.
Luke laughed like crazy and reached for the water when Patrick flew him across the waves. Apparently Luke didn't mind that the water was ice cold because he just kept wanting to touch it.
Luke was fascinated by the feel of the sand between his fingers and surprisingly, he didn't try to eat it.
On Thursday, I spent most of the day hanging out with Brooke and everyone else over at Mamal and Papal's house. Brooke and I went for a nice walk with Luke and Brooke's 1 1/2 year-old, Natalie, during which, we got in plenty of girl talk. And that night, they came over to check out the new bathroom and say goodbye to everyone.
During Luke's bath that night, he took notice of the bubbles for the first time. He was concentrating so hard as he tried to catch them. He would move his hands slowly through the water and then quickly try to pinch them between his fingers. It was really cute.
After Luke's bath, we went downstairs to visit with everyone ...
Mom, Natalie, and Austin. Natalie and Austin are playing with Luke's new Grandma's house toys.
Shawn was counting all of the objects in Luke's colors book.
Austin playing with the squirrel. When you rub its back, it squeaks and goes down on all fours.
Brooke and Luke. I miss her already.
The next morning, I went for one final, glorious run before Katrina and I got on the road, headed for Flagstaff and I said goodbye for now to my family and beautiful California. If I didn't miss my sweet, hardworking husband so much, I would have been tempted to stay and wait out the frigid Flagstaff winter under the warm California sun.
2 comments:
Ouch. I miss Cali. And you. And I'm sad I didn't get to go to Dana's funeral. A bitter sweet post this was, indeed.
It was so wonderful to have you guys all here for a little while! You got some great pictures at the beach. I will have to buy some baby powder (ie magic sand remover) for the next time Luke goes.
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