Happy 89th Birthday!

Yesterday would have been my Grandma Bea's 89th birthday. She passed away almost 13 years ago; it's amazing how long ago that feels. To celebrate her birthday my dad suggested that we take a day trip to my grandparents' grave-site -- my Grandpa passed away almost 7 years ago.

We packed up a picnic lunch and headed down to L.A. for the day... it was a B-E-A-UTIFUL day.  I've hardly seen the city with so little smog! It really wan't a sad day at all. It was so fun to hang out as a family and to be able to decorate my grandparents' headstones with flowers and flags. I thought I'd share a few photos from the day.

The view of snow-capped Mt. Baldy from the grave-site. 

She was and is so loved! I have such sweet memories of her.

My grandpa. He is very loved too!

While we were there we reminisced and told animated stories.

 We practiced our "smolder." 

We stared in awe of the beauty of the day and fidgeted with our hands. 

And we took a total of two shots that weren't candid. :) (I'm bummed that we didn't get one with my parents actually facing the camera!) 

I hope you don't think this post is morbid! We had such a fun time celebrating the lives of our grandparents that we didn't focus much on the fact that they aren't with us now. So anyway, here's to my grandma... Happy 89th! 

I’m back! {I think}

a semi-unrelated photo of last night's understated-ly glorious sunset

I didn’t really intend to take a break from blogging this month: it just happened.  I’ve noticed that it’s refreshing to take little writing breaks here and there because even though writing is something I love to do, it is nice to sit back and reflect instead of just producing!  In the last few weeks I spent the bulk of my time in Chico, California (my college-home of two years) staying with some family who live there and who I miss dearly!  Then I flew home and BAM it was Christmas.

I’m finally getting my feet back under me and recovering from all the celebrating.  The holidays are so fun and yet profoundly demanding of energy!

Posing for our annual Christmas morning photo... We weren't exactly awake yet. :)

Today is the first day in a while that has allowed for a leisurely morning and relaxed conversations with my family members.  As I type, there is a fire in the fireplace, Christmas music playing (who says it has to stop the day after Christmas!?), and I just started reading Dickens’ “The Tale of Two Cities.”  

Happy Saturday, friends! I hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas festivities and are looking forward to an exciting new year!