Passing Time

I can not believe it is November. Here is a recent picture so you know we are all still alive and doing well.  We have done SO many fun things and started a whole new schedule that finding (making) the time to write has fallen by the wayside.  Hopefully I will have the motivation to go back and write about Kara's first day of preschool, her AWANA class on Wed. nights, her dance class, our amazing trip to Sea World including dining with Shamu, and lots of fun times with friends and family.

Since I just have to start somewhere I will start with Halloween.  We had a great family party with almost all of Aaron's family.  We all dressed up (usually just the kids do) and took tons of pictures.  In case you don't know, Kara is Link, the hero from the Legend of Zelda games.  More specifically the one from the game Wind Waker.  We played it this summer in Oregon almost every night and Kara LOVED it.  Nicole (mostly) and I made her costume.  She was thrilled.  I am Batgirl and Aaron is Neo from the second Matrix.

I really need to get to bed.  Preschool at 9 tomorrow morning.  I really will try to AT LEAST get more pictures up.  :)

Making the Blog Private

We figure that it's probably a good idea to make our blog private. Don't worry! Just e-mail us at kanda61700@yahoo.com with your gmail address and we'll add you to our list of readers. We'll switch over to a private blog in a few weeks to give you a chance to let us know your gmail address.

May

Dance class

Kara's friend, Carolynn

April

Instead of posting for each event in April, I've decided to just get it all on here.

Our second Mammoth trip with Rose, Bill, Brent, and Emily. More good times!

We attempted to fly her 99-cent kite, but it just wouldn't take off without me running all around the yard. I'm sure Kara thought of it as a success.
Just before Easter, Jamie's family visited for a week! This is the first time I got to hold Cameron.

Painting at a place called Color Me Mine

Coloring eggs with Aunt Nicole
Easter at my mom's house
Kara loved playing with her cousins!

Mammoth in March

We went to Mammoth for the first time with our friends, Bill, Rose, Brent, and Emily. Aaron, Bill, and Brent went skiing for most of the trip and the girls hung out at the lodge. We also enjoyed their indoor heated pool while it snowed outside!

The Problem

Ok, to all of my avid readers here is the problem. My nice, quick, better laptop was recalled because of a heating issue we have had since we bought it a few years ago.  I had to send it in to get fixed.  While it was gone we transferred everything onto a refurbished, bitty, inexpensive laptop so I could keep up with the money stuff, e-mails...etc.  ALL of my pictures are organized and stored on the bitty laptop at this time.  I now have my nicer one back but it doesn't have any pictures saved on it since Dec. 2010.  Now that Aaron is officially off for the summer I am hoping within the next few days he will have a chance to transfer everything back on to the nicer laptop.

Also, we have all been sick so many times this winter/spring it is ridiculous.  A couple of weeks ago all three of us had the stomach flu at the same time.  SO not fair.  Now Kara has a terrible cold, which the dr thought was allergies, but now she has a temp. up to 101.  In between all the sickness we have gotten in a few fun things.  I will try to get the pics up soon.

Swimming Lessons

Kara loves the water--which is great--except at the lake in Oregon all summer.  We just want to make sure she stays safe if she ends up in the lake unexpectedly.  Her best friend Keira is in her class too so that makes it even more fun. 

Another 3 Inches?!

Kara's hair is growing so fast and is so healthy we had to cut it again.  She screams when I wash it, hits and kicks when I comb it and runs and hides when it is time to put a small ponytail in the top so it stays out of her eyes.  Three inches won't make that much of a difference to look at but it sure does when it comes time to comb it. 

February

Ok, ok, I know we are VERY far behind in our blogging.  We have been keeping pretty busy and have not had a month since last October that one (or all) of us have not been sick.  One of the cute things we did in February was Kara and I went to tea with our friend Theresa and her daughter, Caroline.  The girls had never met and after about 25 minutes of eying each other they decided they would be friends.  From the back it was hard to even tell them apart.  We are planning another play date after spring break when we are hopefully all healthy again.

Catch Up

In January we had a beautiful day so we decided to spend it at the park.  It was Kara's first opportunity to really ride her bike that she got for her birthday!  I love living in California (most of the year) we never know when we might have a gorgeous day in the dead of winter.

When There Aren't Words...

It is REALLY hard to come up with a blog post when my heart hurts so much.  After a long battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis we said our good-byes to Aaron's dad on January 27.  With his wife, all five children and their spouses by his side the life support was turned off that evening and we were all with him as he passed.  It was/is heart wrenching.  The service was beautiful on Feb. 1 with all of his children speaking.  There were beautiful songs, his younger brother's eulogy and MANY family and friends from nearby and far away.  There are tons of articles all over the internet if any of you are interested in his accomplishments and talents.  Just type in Boyd D. Kirkland.  To him the most important thing was his family and that is definitely his most amazing accomplishment.  We all miss you SO much Dad K. 

Cruise with Bomma and Papa

Long Beach

Kara was so excited about her very own bed!

Kara loved the kids' program. She colored this shirt all by herself.

Our view of Catalina Island from Mike and Myra's balcony.
Kim and I enjoyed the view and read while they took Kara ashore.

Kara insisted that she have cherries on top of every serving of ice cream.

Ensenada