Disneyland and Birthday Celebrations

During Thanksgiving week, all the Sheppard's and Stoddard's met in LA for a fun filled time at Disneyland (it was Leo's, Colin's, Adi's and Max's first time!!!) and the surrounding area. We spent three days in Disneyland enjoying the rides, the people (they broke an attendance record our first day there!) and the food.

While we were down in LA, we celebrated Jennifer's 34th birthday with a Mickey Mouse theme at a local restaurant. A day later, we celebrated Max's 2nd birthday with a Woody-Buzz theme. Papa's 62nd was celebrated at the end of the week - no theme, just plenty of family who were glad he was there!

While in Disneyland, Papa rented an electric cart. We thought we would get into rides quickly, using the handicap card (lines were at least a 60 minute wait that first day!), but it turned out that Papa could get into the ride, but had a really hard time getting back out, so he opted out on almost all the rides. Papa and I enjoyed watching all the kids' eyes (big and little) wide with wonder and excitement as the three days passed.

Adi was just a little afraid of the dressed-up characters, but was willing to get close up and personal when Aunt Jen held her on their visit to Minnie's house.

Max's favorite character right now is Woody-Buzz (either will do, as he calls them both by the same name!) and it was so sad when we finally got to see the Woody character that Max had fallen asleep and no matter how gently Leo tried to get him to wake up, he just wouldn't.

One of the highlights of the trip was spending Thanksgiving evening with Danielle's whole family - her two brothers, her sister-in-law, her mom and dad and their partners - and introducing the young nieces and nephews to each other.

Nana probably got an A- from Papa on her driving, and he even drove a couple of hours in California. We were very glad that we had our snow tires rotated in Redding on the way down and put back on when we were headed home - lots of snow and ice between Weed and LaPine.

It will be a trip we will remember for a long time!!

Star Wars, Fire Fighters, Dragons and Pirates

October was a very busy month for the Stoddard's and Sheppard's. We celebrated Colin's 7th birthday with a Star Wars' theme, trekked through the pumpkin patch, went to the High Desert Museum to see the Butterfly exhibit, and dressed-up for Halloween. So sorry about all the pictures and videos, but it was so hard to choose between all the cute photos and action shots of my favorite kids.

At the High Desert Museum we were up close and personal with butterflies and moths. The three kids were delighted and it was hard to get them to come out of the exhibit. It was spell binding! They also got to experience an old-fashioned Halloween with bobbing for apples, puppet making and a puppet show.


The pumpkin patch had a train ride, petting zoo, hay bale maze and a large ship made out of bales of hay. It was quite something to see!

They did take time out to get some school work in, a dip in the hot tub, and a shopping trip to fill up the Christmas boxes they do every year for some little boy and girl in Africa.

Summer in Bend

Summer is always full of adventure and taking advantage of all that Oregon has to offer. We spent some time in St. Helens playing in the backyard (Papa was the champion sharpshooter), watching Colin play flag football, going to the Dollar Store (a favorite pastime of Adi and Nana!), and just hanging out.

The kids got over to Bend for some last minute fun before school started. Colin made a beeline for the fishing pond and Adi and Nana took sketch pads to help pass the time while Colin caught three fish. Mom took Adi and Colin down the Deschutes River in Dad's raft and we all went to our favorite hangout: the Family Fun Center for some miniature golf and go-carts. And, we can't forget the bicycling and swimming in Sunriver with a quick pony ride thrown in for good measure!

Our good friends (and birthday twin!), Cathie and Roger, went up the mountain with us for a great dinner at the top of Pine Martin. Spectacular view and good company. Cathie was a real trooper for getting on the lift!

Zach's and Lauren's Wedding in Las Vegas

My niece, Lauren, got married last weekend in Las Vegas! Despite the 110 degree temperatures, we had a great time with family. We even took in two shows: The Jersey Boys and Lion King.

One of my favorite places was the Palazzo at the Venetian Hotel. I could have spent all day just sitting there! It really looks like we are in Italy!

We had lots of fun dressing up for the wedding (see below) which was held at Mandalay Bay - just a quick walk from our hotel, The Luxor.

Below, you will see the five Garvey "kids": Dick, Janie, Bob, Marti and Mike (father of the bride!)