Happy Birthday, Papa Welch!

My Papa turned 90 this weekend. We got together as a family to celebrate him and his 90 years of love, loyalty, faithfulness, hard work, and generosity. He has been an incredible model for us, as grandkids. My dad chartered a boat and we cruised around the Newport Harbor on Saturday morning, and then had a big BBQ that night. What fun!



The Captain and his First Mates

Come Fly With Me.......

Rosie and I are home today, doing laundry and getting caught up after a fun few days in Seattle. Ron was recruiting last week in the Northwest, so Rosie and I flew up for the weekend to join him. We got to spend a fun weekend with our good friends, the Rozemas. I will tell you all about our adventures... but first, I have to tell you about our flight.
I was VERY anxious about flying alone with Rosie. We've flown a bunch of times but never just the 2 of us. Rosie is in that stage where she doesn't want to sit, be carried, or ride in her stroller. She is constantly asking, "DOWN??" So, naturally, I was afraid that we would both be frustrated at the end of the day.... and make the poor soul seated next to us completely nuts. I polled my friends with kids and got some great ideas about how to keep her entertained on the flight. I was armed with tons of snacks, new toys, favorite books, Apple (Rosie's beloved stuffed pig), a HUGE bottle of milk, and ehhmmm.. don't judge me, a bag of suckers. It was my mom's idea.. and let me tell you, it was a great one. So Rosie and I settled into our seat after going through the Security Nightmare. Whoever came up with that process obviously didn't have children. Let me get this straight.. I have to take HER shoes off too? What am I going to do, place a TINY bomb in her TINY size 4 shoe? Luckily, my dad walked us to security and helped me shlep all of our gear onto the belt.
God certainly gave us traveling mercies that day, and we had the whole row in the plane to ourselves. There may have been someone originally seated next us, but as soon as he saw us coming, he promptly pushed the flight attendant button and asked to be moved. I don't blame him. We're not exactly low key passengers.
So, Rosie and I settled in and we pushed away from the gate.... and then stop. Our pilot came on the intercom and announced that Seattle was fogged in, and that all planes were grounded until further notice. I don't know much about Air Traffic Control, but HONESTLY?? Nobody new this information before they loaded us all on the plane, like cattle? At least Rosie and I could have been running laps around the airport!
2 hours later.... let me say that again in case you missed it the first time: 2 HOURS later, we took off. I had gone through most of the snacks, all of the new toys, all of the books, and all of the milk, plus a little extra that I begged the flight attendant for. I broke down and pulled out the suckers and gave one to Rosie. She put it in her mouth, looked at me and raised her eyebrows and said, "MMMmmmmmmmmm." A few minutes of calm.
Overall, Rosie was a gem. She did the very best that she could. I had a package of stickers that I had intended for paper, but when Rosie started sticking them all over the seats and tray table, I didn't stop her. When we left the plane, it looked like a war zone. There were ground Goldfish and Graham Crackers on the floor, stickers on the seat, and bits of shredded paper everywhere. It was a disaster. I think I heard one of the flight attendants mention something about a power sprayer.
Once we got to Seattle, it was a total blast. We drove up to Anacortes to see our friends, the Rozemas. They have 2 little ones and Rosie was in heaven. We loved the gray days and the time spent with good friends. We took a fun walk to the beach on Sunday morning to let the kids run and play. We got some great pictures of the fun. We watched the Superbowl with Jenny and Dirk and a few of their close friends. It was a great time together. The tough flight was well worth it.
Wouldn't you know it? Rosie fell sound asleep on Ron's lap on the flight home. I guess my little escapade didn't need a reprise! Whew! Thank you, Lord, for taking good care of us!

"Welcome aboard flight 523 with nonstop service to Patience and Deep Breaths!"





Our weekend with Dirk, Jenny, Ben, and Ruthie














The YSSC recruiting team.

Rosie (and Ron) fell sound asleep on the flight home.

Men Are From Mars......

This week I bought Rosie some little nesting blocks similar to the ones that Rosie has been admiring at Lucy's house. Rosie loves it when I build a tower with the blocks... a tower that she gets to knock over. She says, "DOWN," and then pushes the whole thing to the ground. Rosie and I thought that our little game was VERY fun... that is, until, Rosie got a taste of Ron's version of the same game.
I was cooking dinner tonight and heard Ron and Rosie building the tower, and then knocking it down. I heard Ron mention something about using the "bus" to knock it down and heard Rosie squeal with delight. I just had to see what all of the commotion was all about. I was shocked to find Ron teaching Rosie to crash the Wee Bus full of Wee People into the blocks! Those poor Wee People... on their way to Wee Work and Wee School. They never knew what hit them. It was Wee Chaos. It never occurred to me, during the week, to crash the Wee Bus into our block structure.... let alone a bus full of Wee innocent people.
It got me thinking about the way that I play with Rosie verses the way that Ron plays with her. I got to thinking about nature verses nurture.. and the Sociologist in me probably took it way too far. Rosie and I rough house and chase... but nothing like the way she and Ron rough house and chase. When Rosie and I rough house and chase, she laughs... when she and Ron rough house and chase... she LAUGHS and screams... mostly out of sheer terror.
I know that part of this comes from growing up with 1 sister verses 4 brothers. I know that part of it has to do with gender. I was challenged, none-the less, to play differently. Let me be clear that I don't plan on committing any Wee Massacres on any Wee Communities like my dearest husband. But, I DO plan on learning to play with a sense of adventure.... even if it gets noisy and chaotic.

Will You Be Rosie's Valentine?

Ron's business, YSSC, has started a new campaign as an incentive to get kids to sign up for camp. If you sign up before February 14th, you get this fantastic shirt that the lovely model is showing off. I just had to post this little Honey!

On another note, what an amazing week we have celebrated, with the inauguration of Barack Obama! I am excited for this new chapter, and a little apprehensive, as this amazing man has incredibly high expectations on his shoulders. I'm entirely grateful because, when Rosie is an adult, it won't be an amazing triumph to have a minority running for office, but rather, it will be common place. We're on the right road!

On The Run

So, I'm running my 3rd 1/2 marathon tomorrow. But, it's my first post-baby 1/2 marathon.... and everything has stretched and sagged more than I would like. I think thats why God made Spandex... so that we mommies can run with everything still intact. Training for this one has been a really good discipline, and has actually been fun for me. Naturally, as a mom, your needs and plans are the first to be sacrificed. Luckily, Ron has been so great about taking Rosie during the week and on Saturdays so that I can get the long ones in without pushing the jogger. So, here I go! Don't worry, I will be sure that Ron knows what I am wearing tomorrow so that he can give my description to search teams when I don't return.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation. Here are some of the highlights!

It all started with a visit from Great Grandpapa Welch!




Christmas Day was spent in jammies. What a fun day.












Happy Birthday, Ron. You are our hero!




Celebrating the New Year with the Biasells!