CJ Video Skiing Black Diamond in Breckenridge

Seagulls

The whole reason for the trip to CA was for our family to meet up at my brother's house and spread my mom's ashes in the ocean. That was what she always wanted. So, among all the fun we were having, we still had to face our last good-bye to mom. But, after going back and forth about where and how to do it, we decided to go to the local beach near my brother's house.

My mom always told my dad that after she died, she would come back as a seagull and watch over him (and poop on his head if he looked at another woman). Well, the evening we gathered to spread her ashes was quite memorable. We got into a circle and were holding hands. Dad read something he wrote and David walked out into the water to spread the ashes. Lots of tears were shed. As he was doing this a bird flew by and one of the kids said, "Oh look, there is Grandma." But, we said no that it was just a pelican. And then, Jackie looked back at the box up on the beach where mom's ashes were and there was a seagull pecking at it. We all screamed and ran up to it...turns out, the seagull opened the box and took out the little silver hanging pendant with mom's name on it. It flew into the air, circled around us with the pendant in its mouth, and flew off! NO KIDDING! It was the only seagull around, there was no food nearby, and it circled us! After all the tears we shed while we were gathered in our circle, there was almost a sigh of relief...and laughter! The kids all started running around saying "that was Grandma!" It was just a perfect ending (or beginning) for mom.

4 1/2 months since last post!!

When I started this blog, I thought it would be the perfect way to stay in touch with family and friends that we don't see very often. Well, the only way it will work is if I actually USE IT!! It's been since June 1st since I posted. Wow...the whole summer flew by and I didn't post anything. I won't go back and try to recreate all the things we did in the summer, except for one significant one.

In August, we took a two week trip to visit Pete's family in MN. We spent 6 days at the cabin in northern MN and had a blast! The kids absolutely love to hang out at the cabin, to fish, to waterski, jet ski, ride the motor scooters, and just to love the beautiful place that the cabin is. CJ got up on waterskis for the first time ever!! It took a little coaxing (ok, a lot...the promise of an X-Box 360 for his birthday), but once he got up, he loved it. Of course, with his little 68 pound body, he popped right up. Clara was very confident waterskiing this year and actually didn't even to be bribed to ski...she loved it. Amelia made our vacation very typical. She came down with a horrible case of swimmers ear and had to go to the ER because she woke up screaming in the middle of the night and her ear had nearly swollen shut! So, no underwater swimming for her. Charlie really seemed to like it. He liked taking boat and jet ski rides and exploring around the cabin. Of course, we all loved hanging out with Pete's family. Here are a few pictures of that leg of the trip.

The second part of the trip was to California. We spent 4 days in San Diego where I got to reunite with college friends. A big surprise was my very dear friend that lived overseas moved back to the U.S. and was visiting her mom in San Diego. So, we all got together and did lots of catching up! It was an awesome visit! We did Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, visited my Alama Mater (UCSD), and snorkled in La Jolla cove. What a blast! On the way to San Diego, we stopped by my old high school, the houses I lived in, the church where Pete and I got married and more! Here are some pics of that part of the trip.

The last part was the most memorable and was the whole reason for the trip. I will post that in a separate post as it deserves special attention!

Spring Break!

The kids had off last week for their spring break. We were very fortunate to have Grandpa Walt come to visit us while the kids were out of school. The kids loved having him around and I did, too (I always have a list of fix-it items for him to work on when he comes)! It was a busy week...we spent a few days at home, then 6 days at the beach, and then back home for Easter. We had a really fun time at the beach. Our friends joined us for a couple days which made the trip even better...the weather was cool, but we were able to do lots of kayaking in the canal, play in the sand at the beach (waaayyyy too cold to even put your feet in the water), go on our favorite nature walk to the bay, do lots of outlet shopping, tour a historic town nearby that we'd always wanted to go to, and, of course, EAT CRABS!

Random Pics Since I Haven't Posted for a While

Since we have been dealing with the loss of my mother, I have not posted pictures in a long time. So I picked some events that happened over the last few months to show you....a visit with a family who adopted a girl from Charlie's orphanage a few months before us, Charlie's baptism, Christmas, and a ski trip to Colorado. Enjoy!

This picture is self-explanatory...guess which players the kids sought out?

The Vikings, of course!

Together again...Charlie and his friend from the orphanage!

The smile says it all...shear delight!!

Swimming!!

The following are pics from Charlie's baptism.

See...he can still use chopsticks!!

These are pictures from Christmas. We were so happy to have Pete's family visit from MN. Charlie got to meet his cousins, including Taya who was adopted from China 3 years ago!

Who is this bearded man?

The kids in Christmas PJs.

Our first Christmas family photo with Charlie!

G and G Schmidt and their 7 (!) grandkids!

Charlie and Taya!

These are from our ski trip to CO with our good friends the Zilkenats. They used to live here in our neighborhood, but moved last year. We are so happy to stay in close touch with them!

Our little ski bums!


When I say he can throw a good tantrum, I mean it!! See the tonsils?!

They Can Water Ski!!

We just returned from a vacation with Pete's parents and his sister and her family. We spent 4 days in MN at Pete's parents house and then traveled to CO for a week at a Dude Ranch. The kids really enjoyed spending time in MN at the house where their daddy grew up. For some reason, they loved seeing daddy's bedroom. Of course, Amelia immediately asked why daddy got the small room and her Aunt Amy got the big room. What was daddy's answer? Grandma likes Amy more! OK, you have to know Pete to know he was completely kidding, but Amelia quickly found me and asked me if I knew that Grandma liked Amy more than daddy. I have to remind Pete how literal kids are!

While in MN, we did what lots of Minnesotans do, we spent time on the lake. Pete's parents have a beautiful, big backyard right on the lake in town. We had a great time jet skiing, boating, swimming, and water skiing! It was a big year for the Schmidt kids...all three got up on skis!! Clara has skied a number of times, but CJ and Amelia never have tried. We borrowed a home-made ski board and CJ and Amelia just popped right up! Clara got up on regular skis. Here's a video of each kid!

Clara on Skis



CJ on the Ski Board



Amelia Can Ski, Too!

Other highlights of the MN part of the trip were hanging with cousins and going to the Vikings Training Camp and getting Adrian Peterson's autograph on a football! We left for the ranch after a few days...I'll post more pictures on the ranch later.