Winter Wonderland....

I am going to let these pictures speak for themselves. They were taken on Thursday, December 18th. We are supposed to get more snow this week. I sure hope it holds out for when Dominic gets here the weekend after Christmas.

First Snow of the Season....

Wow, I looked at the date of my last blog....it's been way too long! Working full time again is tough....I don't get to play as much as I'd like to. Sooooo, here are a few photos of our beautiful snowfall that we woke up to this morning. We had a dusting on Saturday, but it was all gone by Sunday mid morning. The weather folks have been saying we were going to get it, and finally it came in over Sunday night. It's been snowing on and off all day and we are expecting more tonight and over the next couple of days. It's an early White Christmas, but we love it!

I didn't go outside - just opened the back door and flashed!

Looks like about 3 inches piled up on the rail and table.

This was last week at sunrise - when the storms were starting to move in. Yep...that's right, I said sunrise. Beautiful!

And this is what was waiting when I came home from work early to beat the second wave of snow. Guess there's nothing better to do.....so Hermie the hound and daddy took a nap.

End of Summer Harvest

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Guess I've been busier than I thought I was this summer. And summer has really flown by fast this year. Our garden wasn't as fruitful this year as in years past. Our corn crop was pretty small, but we were able to share with family and friends and still have a few ears to freeze for those cold winter days ahead. Our tomatoes have finally gotten to the point where I can start freezing them. We have been enjoying lots of BLT's and now it's time to get them ready for winter sauces. I used to can them, but once I got my Seal-a-Meal, no more sweating over the canner for this gal! Here is a shot of today's harvest. The yellow tomatoes are called Jubilee and they are yummy! They make great salsa, very sweet! I better get busy!

Born to be Wild!!!!!

What an adventure I had this weekend. It was the annual Funds for Freedom Mountain Bike Run that started here in Tehachapi from the local VFW. Well, since I started working at the motorcycle shop, I figured I would volunteer as a worker for our booth and I am glad I did. What an amazing site to see the estimated 1500 riders take off for their 160 mile run. I have never attended an event like this and it was an experience I will never forget. I have a whole new respect for the biker population. These folks are dedicated to not only their sport, but also for raising money for our vets and troops. They are also an interesting bunch! It was great entertainment just people watching. We were extremely busy in our booth and I was crowned the chaps lady since each time I showed up at the booth for my shift, I was approached by women to help them try on their chaps! Sold all the chaps we had with us! I was also impressed by how gentlemanly the guys were. I was expecting awful things, but they were all very polite and I wasn't even exposing any of my body parts:). If you have a chance to ever go to see one of these events, its worth the time to see at least the start of the runs. The rumble of the engines is an awesome sound and the patriotism shown by all is what America is all about! I have captured some of the event in pictures, but they do not do it justice. It's one of those....had to be there kind of things, especially the rumble of the engines, too cool!

Old glory was hung high in the beautiful Tehachapi Sky. When the trumpeters played the national anthem, you could have heard a pin drop!

The entrance to the event at the VFW

A sample of the bikes lined up on Tehachapi Blvd. For those of you familiar with Tehachapi Blvd., picture 6 rows across of Harley's from Curry Street, all the way down to the Best Western Motel. That's about 4 city blocks long.

Leather and bandanas were the preferred attire for the day
Apparently, if you start in the front of the pack, you have to have horns on your helmet so everyone can see you
Boobs are the best bottle holders when riding a bike. I saw lots of this all day long, even when they weren't riding.
Start your bikes! These were the escorts for the first leg of the ride which took them in to California City where the second set of escorts took over with the missing man flag.
Everybody was ready to roll! They come out in rows of two working left to right. It took about 15 minutes for all the bikes to roll out.
As the bikes kept rolling past, I noticed that most folks standing on the sidelines were indulging in the morning drink of choice....a bloody mary!
Girl Power!

Busy in the Booth!
The Monaghan Motorsports crew at work in the booth. I was busy out taking pictures while they kept selling!

This is the attire that I will be wearing at next year's event. Scott has also asked that I wear this look more often.

Dominic turns 8!

Sorry about the lateness of this post. Dominic turned 8 years old on June 10th and we celebrated his birthday on June 7th. Kristen pulled together a great beach party at the sailing center at Alamitos Bay. The weather was great and the food was perfect! Kristen grilled up some awesome tropical chicken kabobs and to go with the tropical theme she made a tropical pasta salad....yummy. I would have never thought to put fruit in a pasta salad but it works!

Dominic's friends from school came and they built a great sand castle with moats and everything, but the highlight of the party was the super soaker squirt guns. Seemed like it was boys ganging up on the girls at one point, but I think the girls loved it! Here are a few pictures from the day. I can't believe 8 years have passed by so quickly.

Aunt Joni and Uncle Dan

Boys and their toys!
Opening presents while the kids keep working on the sand castle.
Dominic read every card and thanked each person for their gifts. His mom is teaching him good manners
The mad rush for the cupcakes! they disappeared fast and they were tasty...I had 2 myself.

Aunt Joni helps Dominic gather all his gifts.

Dominic's First Communion

Well, yes I am a bit behind, but I am catching up now. Dominic took his first communion on May 10th. It was an interesting service and I learned a lot about Catholic ways that day. I have never attended a first communion before. Dom's entire class was involved and they all participated in reading bible verses, thanking teachers and helpers and then they all sang together. It was a nice day and then we celebrated at Cirevellos Pizza afterwards. Here are a few key photos

Dominic with his class before the service

All the kids singing-notice Dominic, he's looking right.

5 generations there that day.

Dominic hams it up-Kristen made the cake, it was yummy!

Beautiful!!!!!

This is why we love where we live. A few weeks back the weather was really wacky up here. Well, thanks to the dirty air in Bakersfield, we get some pretty awesome sunsets. Here is what it looked like the night of May 14th. You can actually see the lake reflecting the bright orange. I took several shots from around the back yard. Just lovely!

Boy...I'm behind!

Boy am I behind. I haven't posted in almost a month. Now that spring is here, I have been very, very busy with work around the property, not to mention I now have a JOB! Yep, a JOB!
I am working Mon-Thurs for a Motorsports shop here in Tehachapi. Don't know a darn thing about motorcross bikes, accessories and the such, but I am learning. I don't really need to know much since my job is mostly administrative, but I am starting to figure this stuff out. Well, that's it for now. Hope to post more regularly now that I am getting in to the routine of going to work 4 days a week.

Surprise!

We pulled it off. Wanda (Scott's mom) turned 75. The siblings have been planning her party for months and the party was Friday night, May 2nd. She was extremely surprised and we were so glad she had no clue! The look on her face was priceless and she squealed like a teenager when she saw all three of her children and their spouses together for the occasion. There were lots of other family members and lots of folks that she has known since high school and fun was had by all. Guy, Scott's brother, MC'd the event and started off the roast, but when Aunt Phyllis (Wanda's sister) roasted her, I nearly fell off my chair laughing. I never knew Wanda had such a wild side! We stayed in a condo at the Palm Desert Resort where Wanda and Terry live. It was awesome! We roomed with Aunt Liz and Uncle Trent and had all the family over for a Saturday BBQ. We ate a lot, drank quite a bit of wine and told lots of funny stories about the Coleman siblings childhoods. It was great to be able to sit and relax with everyone! Here are a few pictures of the surprise.



Wanda with Coni who flew in from Nashville


Scott was trying to make sure Wanda caught her breath!


Guy flew in from Oregon and was a great MC!


Wanda sang us a few tunes. She has a great voice.


The men played golf very early Saturday morning.
This was the hole by our condo.

Fun Times in North Carolina

We just got back from our vacation in North Carolina. We had a wonderful trip and finally got to hold our new Granddaughter Charlotte, "Charlie", for the first time. Jeff and Sarah are a great team at parenting! We spent a lot of time with all the family back there and ate, then ate some more and then ate more. You know how that goes, the family gets together and naturally y'all have to eat! Jeff and Sarah took us to all the usual spots we like to go to including the flea market and the awesome fish market at the farmers market. I got my fill of crab cakes and fried oysters...yummy! We also took a couple of day trips to visit Mt. Airy (Mayberry) and a couple civil and revolutionary war battlegrounds. The weather was on and off, but the shrubs bloomed out at Patty and Steve's place just in time for Easter photos. Here are a few shots from the trip.

Grandpa Scott holds Charlotte for the first time---yes, she is a Yankee Fan like her Daddy
All the proud grandparents
Charlie's first Easter
The proud parents on Easter
Scott, Jeff and Charlie on Easter
Isn't everyone pretty! Scott in the Mayberry Jail-looks pretty good behind bars, eh?
Kim in the Mayberry Jail
Is this another career change for Scott?
Charlie loves her Dad and Grandpa Scott
I think you can tell we are proud grandparents
Pretty in Pink
We think she grew while we were there....look at those healthy cheeks!
Bronx loves Charlie

A beautiful sunset just as the rain started along one of the backroads

Grandpa Scott is always able to get a smile and a laugh from Charlie