My Nephew Ryder . . .

I was blessed yesterday because I was able to spend the whole day with my 14 year old nephew, Ryder.  Every year, I take him and his two siblings out  for the day to do a little birthday shopping and whatever else we might want to do, or are able to fit into our "day out" time frame.  I look forward to it so much because we get one-on-one time, which is a precious and rare commodity.  I know  because I have the same  challenges with my own three kids.  The bad part about yesterday is that his birthday was in August so quite a lot of time had elapsed.  Fortunately, kids are forgiving in that regard.

This blond haired cutie just brings so much joy to my heart.  Not only is he blond and handsome, but he has a heart that is golden.  It is tender, sweet, and kind.  He loves God and loves little children. In fact, he plans on having quite a few when he is an adult - some adopted.  The highlight of yesteday was when I asked him what kind of music he likes and he said he liked oldies music.  I asked, "like in the 80's?"  He said, "yes".  Lol.  He did add that I  am  NOT old, but he just wasn't born in the 80's, so it was old to him.  Gotta love him, I sure do!

Big Bear Vacation

' Big Bear Cabin.

Horses in town.

Many people had these bears in front of their homes.

Big Bear Blvd.

We found bear tracks!

Greg and Matthew Klein riding the Alpine slides!

Savannah

Landon hated it, can you tell?

Kevin and Emma

Savannah waiting patiently for lunch at the Tea House.

Emma waiting too!

Inside the Tea House, a girls dream!

The "boys" sat at their own table. Not sure if they loved it quite as much as the girls.

Mill Creek Manor Tea Room. (It was much more impressive and beautiful on the inside!)

My lunch - it was muy delicioso!

I love this picture of me and my sweet boy. He has the sweetest face!

Linda hard at play, creating squash albums!

Ahhhhh, a scrapbook store!

Savannah, decorating her pine cone!

A work of art!

This takes concentration!

Kids of all ages decorating pine cones!

This Summer we went to Big Bear for a little vacation with our friends, Greg, Linda, Matthew and Madeline Klein. It was nice to be able to remove ourselves from the desert blast-furnace heat and enjoy the cool, crisp mountain air. I don't think I even "perspired" one time, nope, not even once. If you are a desert dweller, you will appreciate the significance of this statement.

We had a wonderful time. We wandered and shopped in the quaint little town and we visited the scrapbook store probably way too many times. Linda, Savannah and I scrapbooked late into the evening, but who cares, we could sleep in! The men and kids went "sledding" and we tried a lovely little Tea House too! At the end of our trip, the kids decorated and glittered the many pine cones that Landon had painstakingly gathered. All-in-all, it was a wonderful adventure that we will remember for a very long time!

What fun did you have this Summer?