Holiday Memories

Happy New Year everyone!

It's a wonderful word, isn't it? 'New'... how grateful we are for the recent memories that have been made, and how excited we are for all that will be made in this new year...starting with today, of course, as one of my new year's resolutions is to be ever more intentional about living in the present. The past few months have been filled with wonderful time with family and friends... what gifts. Here's a glimpse into the adventures of the Ward household... Our friend Danny turned 25 and his wife threw a bowling party where everyone had to dress up like Danny... you can see some red hair, soccer apparel, and Casey's brown shirt representing chocolate milk, as Danny enjoys this drink!

And here are the boys in Santa Barbara for our Thanksgiving celebration... why so glum, Matty? Is your beer bottle empty? (ha!) Casey appears to be quite content with his crackers...


Walking on the beach on Thanksgiving evening... what a treat!

Just another ugly night in Santa Barbara... ha! Doesn't get much more beautiful at this...

Family photos... minus my hunny who had to stay back at the house to study...

Matt's girlfriend Courtney... love you Court!

You should pose like that for your hospital badge photo some day Case...

And we headed up to Ione to celebrate Pops' retirement!!! Yay for Pops!!! We are so happy for you...

And of course one has not experienced all that Ione has to offer until one has driven a tractor... go Court! Pops is an excellent teacher and is very savvy with tractors... very helpful when it comes to teaching novices like Courtney and myself.

You're a natural Court!

Pops giving a speech at his retirement party prior to cutting the cake

And the cake said it all... just how long Pops has been looking forward to retirement. And now you're there, Pops! Congratulations, again...

Uncle Bob and Gramps having a drink together

So sweet

The Mason girls

Caught ya on camera, Gramps!

Russell made a personalized sign for Pops' retirement gift... so thoughtful

Down in Loma Linda at a Christmas party

Casey and his buddies, Greg and Nathan

And Christmas at the beach... oh so wonderful. Congratulations, mom and dad, on being done with the beach house! It could not be more beautiful.

Love you, darlin'

Evening photos off the porch

People have to work for Christmas dinner...

The boys making bread from scratch for Christmas dinner... a first for sure! It was delicious...

Decorating the tree (on Christmas morning, no less!)

And moving backwards for a minute... Christmas Eve at Mimi and Papas...

Jack, Amy and Anna with the pup, Charlie

Awesome hat, Papa!

Back at the beach house...

Kayaking adventures... a thick fog forced an early return to the house

It started out nice and clear though!

Out feeding the sea gulls off the bulk head

And to officially break in the new fabulous beach house we had an in-promptu dance party on the patio... awesome!

Even Grandma got her groove on

The dancer the morning after, recovering...

And here we are on New Year's Eve... girl time!

Sisters...

The men discussing life, death, and the universe...

Love you, momma...

The darling engaged couple... and Hayley's a nurse now!!! Congratulations again, Hayley!!! We are so proud of you...Smile for the camera, Papa!

Mimi attempting to straighten Casey up... :)

New Year's Eve dinner

Cheers!

Wine, anyone?

Before we departed Seattle, Casey and I were able to make the rounds and spend time with some of our precious friends... The girls gathered for breakfast with all the babes... Talk about blessings... how fortunate I feel to have such wonderful friends. And Casey spent quite a bit of time with his Young Life boys... he has been so dedicated to remaining in their lives... an extremely loyal mentor. He loves those boys and wants nothing but God's highest for them. We had a spontaneous dinner with our dear friends Andrew and Chandra, and were able to see a few more friends along the way as well. What a fun-filled vacation it was!

And now we find ourselves back in Loma Linda, with Casey in the familiar pose of being bent over his desk, reading book after book with highlighter in hand... And we are grateful. Grateful to God for all that He has blessed us with and hopeful that in the midst of our brokenness and imperfection we can use those blessings for His glory. Much love to you in this new year...