Speaking of Resemblances . . .

Left: (Oli) me at 2 weeks   Right: Doug, my son, Isabella at 2 mos., and Daughter-in-law,  Mary

Click the picture to enlarge it (check out the tongues!), and return to normal size by clicking the white X on the black background at the top, far right.  It will look like the sample you see here at the right.

Are there resemblances (below)?

I have no concept of who looks like whom,except with identical twins!

So, you help me out, and add a comment at the end.

(Below)  Mom Oli

My two children:

(Below) Alli and Doug

And their kids ---

(Above 2 pictures: Doug with his and Mary's daughter, Isabella, 21 months.

(Below) Sam - 8 years old - Alli and Dave's 1st child

(Below) Ben - 5  years old. Alli and Dave's 2nd child

(Below)  Mary and Doug, and a snippet of their daughter, Isabella's, arm.  :)

Missing:  Although not in the Skene lineage, here are two husbands

missing from the pictures above:

Richard, Oli's husband (below)

My daughter Alli, with her husband Dave,

captured at her brother's Great Gatsby Party (below)

Christmas Day Family Time

On Christmas Day, the Family Gathers in San Gabriel

 L to R: Doug from NYC, Priya from Texas, Richard, Pris, Annie, Joel from Texas, Oli, Jesse.

Missing from the picture is Mary and little Isabella, from NYC, who returned to 

the hotel for Isabella's happie nappie.

(Above) Pris, Annie, Joel, Oli, Jesse, Richard

(Above) Jack, Annie, Joel, Oli, Jesse

Having a huge laugh over pictures on my Mini iPad, of the Thanksgiving "mock" Scottish games in WA State, with all in their Scottish Skene tartans, and Alli and Doug 

doing a caber toss, wood splitting and rock throw!  Who knew we had all that talent?  :)





 

Christmas Eve Brunch

Family favorites came for brunch at Sarducci’s at the Train Depot.

Just in time!  We're ready now.

Playday with Pris and Jack

We enticed a willing Pris and Jack to take the train down to help us celebrate our birthdays.  We had so much fun that before they left, we were plotting a repeat event.  For starters, we had a leisurely brunch at Sarducci's at the historic train depot.

After a leisurely brunch, we browsed the nearby shops where Pris and Jack captured a peacock!

Here's the peacock at home at Pris and Jack's.

Excellent shoppers!  My sis and bro-in-law.

First glimpse of an interesting chandelier.  Jack is sizing it up.

And now, from another angle!  Wonder if we could make one of these?

Love it!

"Exquisite" is all over the place at this shop.

After a heavy morning of browsing through shops, it's time for a smoothie at Crystal Cove.

We're slurping at a cliff, and at the bottom is the Crystal Cove Cottages, an historic site with reasonable rates.  Richard knew all about it, but the rest of us were so intrigued about the history of the cottages that we now have a coffee-table book about them. 

http://www.crystalcovebeachcottages.com/html/index.php

Rejuvenated by the smoothie, we're now at a nursery which is loaded with gift items.  Like this hat?  We all did, but the head size was too large.  Too bad.  Looks great, Pris!

Perfect fit!

Back near home now, showing off another nursery just 2 miles from us.  That's Pris in the white jacket, getting ready to swoop!

Successful swoop!

It was so much fun that I'm making a list of more places to go on your next trip down.  btw, "trip" = 60 miles!

Seventy didn't hurt a bit!

70 years old today, and it is a gift to know God has given me all these healthy years to do so many things, but most meaningful to me are: to be the mom of two amazing children, a gramma for (so far) two amazing grandchildren, and to have so many loving and delightful family members all over the place, plus, and most startling of all, to have been "saved/rescued" by God to become a follower of the King of Kings!  His is unspeakable love.  Then there's the much more recent surprise gift of Richard, who spends time thinking of ways he can love, support and bring happiness to me!

A Day of Celebration!

Richard and I had brunch at Sarducci's on the patio of the historic train depot in San Juan Capistrano.  You can barely see the patio umbrellas above.  After brunch, we rather unexpectedly trotted off by train to San Diego!!  :)

We completely relaxed and enjoyed our California coast, from the "busy" to the . . .

. . . quiet beach . . . I think this is Trestles which at the right season, it a huge attraction for surfers.

Once in San Diego, we headed to the USS Midway, a ship/museum I'd never visited even when I was going to Coronado while Dave and Alli lived there.

Richard . . . looking things over.  He loves structure and mechanics.

Navy planes need to be able to fold up their "arms" in order to fit on a carrier.  Even helicopters.  Guess I'd never thought of that!!

The E-2 Hawkeye with overhead radar dish that could sweep the sky for hundreds of miles in every direction. The plane was filled with communications and sensor gear, serving as a flying command center.  It could collect, analyze, and share data with ships and aircraft, as well as coordinate multiple attacks against the enemy.  Sound like I copied the placard in front of the plane's nose?

Richard says this "couple" replicates a famous photograph taken of a sailor who grabbed a nurse he didn't know and kissed her . . . so elated was he to be back in the USA!  Apparently the nurse died not so very long ago.

Photo of the statue, but closer.

Getting ready to come home from a wonderful San Diego day.

San Diego Train Station

San Diego Station

Relaxing all the way home, so we'll have enough energy to have dinner at Lucy's Mexican Restaurant!

A Weekend with Randy and Brooke's Kiddos

All the pictures are clickable to a larger size.  When the larger picture appears, click on it too, to make it bigger.

Rhyan, almost 4, has "cuteness" down to a T!  She's a puzzle wizard and puts Legos together in no time.

Chase and Rhyan found lots of ways to play in the sprinkler!  They'd already masterminded many vehicles and buildings with Legos, loaded a basket with lemons picked from our tree and made lemonade, and helped greatly with the task of planting lettuce.

We're off to the San Diego Zoo!

Strategizing with a map. Rhyan, Randy and Chase.

The kids' biggest laughs came while rippin' around the "ice" tunnels in the polar bear section.

Rarely do you see tortoises even moving, but today there was a spat.  Over and over again, the turtle on the right lobbed his head over to the dried grass that the middle turtle thinks belongs to him, and got this ominous response!  Please do click for a larger picture, and then click it for a good view of tortoise tongue!  :)

And in the polar bear pool, one bear was having a great old time tossing a big toy against the guard window, along with tsunami-sized splashes!  It was an event that drew crowds which blocked me from getting a good picture of the antics.