A good day hiking

 We hiked one of our favorite hikes

 to the point at San Simeon

This is a tree that fell near me a few weeks ago

 Through the trees and along the bluffs

 Past interesting geology

 To the perfect picnic spot

 And back along the beach

Christmas 2016

 Bixby played his Ukulele for Santa and friend 

 Christmas morning saw many presents 

opened at Kelly and Brians.

 The boys of the family..Mike and Bix

Bix, Brian, Brians dad Doug and my dad, Oscar

 Mom and dad gave us an art lesson

 Brians mom, Olwyn and dad had good conversation

 Mike and Kelly cooked

 With help from Olwyn

 We pulled crackers and wore the silly party hats

and played tunes on blowers !!!

Lots of desserts including Kellys Plum Pudding

 Bixby was the sanest of the group 

and

concentrated on his Lego building

Tree planting

We often plant trees on the Fiscalini Ranch the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year it was rained out so we did it a few Saturdays ago. We dedicated this years planting to our friend Ken Persinger who died suddenly a few weeks ago. Many trees were planted on the hill near the A frame house he and Kathy were restoring. We were lucky to spend a lovely few days with Ken and Kathy this September in Bend, Oregon. We did many active things together and it just shows us how we should treasure life each and every day.

   

A family visit

Lots of good family fun this weekend. My brother, Bill and his wife Patty and their son Alex and his fiance Kristen came to visit. We mostly sat around and heard old stories from my mom and dad,  enjoyed a few hours chatting while watching the ocean, played charades with Bixby, enjoyed mom and dads new deck, and laughed a lot. It is such a special time for us to have 4 generations together.

 Alex and Brian enjoying a serious discussion.

 Bixbys finger is in a splint because 

he banged his hand at a party the night before.

 The painting in the background is my dads painting of Bill

 Bill juggling blocks

 Alex and Kristen are planning their wedding in April

 "A nice comfy pillow" according to Bixby.

Bixby is usually left handed

 but found that he can draw with his right.

 As we were all saying goodbye

 I was annoyingly snapping quick pictures.

The quality isn't great because I didn't have the flash on

but they do capture the spirit of our family.

 The painting in the background here is the one mom did of dad