The Strahans: January 2011

1/29/11

Reminders

With thoughts of moving on our mind we are reminded of so many things we will miss about California. No matter what time of year we can always be outside, which is heavenly with a toddler! We love Lacy Park for a quite weekday morning, or The Huntington Gardens on a warm Saturday afternoon. We have so many great memories of running around the track at the Rose Bowl, and we are making so many new memories at the AMAZING Kidspace Museum. And of course there is the LA Zoo, Disnyland and all the Rose Bowl Parade activities right in our backyard. Our church has been such a blessing to us in so many ways and we can't imagine living here without our LifeGroup! What sweet friendships that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. My just down the street first mommy friend, Ellen, and her sweet family. What an example they have been to us of how to be Godly parents. This list could go on and on.
California: although at times you have seemed harsh and oh so far away, I am reminded today of just how good you have been to us. I am thankful that we still have more time here to spend in these special places and with these special people. Thank you God, for this little reminder, to not get so caught up in the unknowns of our future but to simply enjoy the life you have given us, right here and right now.

1/25/11

Lolly and Pops!

As I mentioned in my last post, Lolly and Pops came to visit us for a week. It had been awhile since they had been with us and we so loved having them here!
We spent one day at Disney, enjoyed seeing the LA Zoo, spent time at one of our favorite places, Lacy Park, did some shopping, and spent as much time as we could enjoying the 80+ degree weather!

Most of our days were planned around where we would eat, and we ate A LOT!! My dad's favorite fast food burger is an In-N-Out found only here in California (and maybe a few in Arizona?) so we had to eat there a couple times during their trip. We walked over the Norma's Taco Stand on Green Street for lunch one day and enjoyed eating our yummy tacos outside in the sun. We ate at our favorite BBQ place in town, Zekes TWICE once for lunch and Sunday for their delicious southern breakfast where I had biscuits and gravy with a side of grits for the first time in years! One night we drove over to the cute little town of Sierra Madre for some Mexican food and decided to go back the next night and try the pizza place next door! We finished off our eating frenzy with a yummy steak dinner at Houston's, a family favorite for years.

My parents got me a sewing machine for Christmas and we bought it while they were out here. My mom was so patient with me and helped me learn how to work my machine while starting me on my first project, a cute little dress for Sophi. We laughed a lot while making it but I think it turned out pretty well.

My dad went to IKEA twice to find just the right table for my sewing machine and set me up with a great little work space to keep my new hobby going! Thanks Dad! You're the best!

Lolly and Pops helped us out so much while they were here, stocking our pantry and freezer with plenty of food, fixing little odds and ends, and helping us get our house ready to put on the market in a couple of weeks.We so enjoyed our time with them and hated to see them go. Sophi and I drove them to the airport and watched as they flew away in Pops airplane. The whole way home Sophi kept saying "Where Lolly go?"
Thank you Lolly and Pops for loving us the way you do and spoiling us while you were here. We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

1/20/11

A day at Disney

Lolly and Pops came to visit us last week after they attended the National Championship game in Arizona (War Eagle!!). We spent one of the days they were here at Disneyland! Even Josh took a day off from dissertation writing (a VERY rare occurrence) to join in on the fun. Despite the unexpected start, with Sophi throwing up in the car on the way there (yuck!), we had a blast. It got up to 80 degrees that day (only in Southern California!) and we all enjoyed spending the day in the sun watching Sophi take in all the magical sights and sounds of Disney!

Sophi with Mickey January 2010

Sophi with Mickey January 2011

Dumbo!

It's a small world...

The boys were tired

Not so sure about Duffy

Loving Disney with Lolly...

and Pops!

What a fun day at Disney! Thank you Lolly and Pops for making our day at Disney such a special one!

1/10/11

Auburn Tigers are National Champs!
WAR EAGLE!!!!!

1/5/11

Ringing in the New Year

We arrived home on December 31st at 12:00pm with 3 extra hours to our day. We were able to unpack, grocery shop, unwind and get Sophi to bed early! Since we don't have tv we couldn't watch the ball drop this year, but that turned out to be ok since we ended up calling it a night at 9:00pm!

We were fortunate enough to attend the Rose Parade last year with my parents, which takes place right outside our door on Colorado Blvd. Sophi was little enough to sleep through most of it and we could all enjoy it!

(Sophi last year at the Rose Parade)

This year we decided to just walk out right around the time it would be passing by our street and see what we could see before taking Sophi back in for a nap.

(At the corner of our street, Harkness Ave. and Colorado Blvd.)

As luck would have it we walked up to the street to check things out right as the beginning of the parade was about to pass by. The people we were standing next to (who were sitting in chairs they had brought) offered us some of their extra chairs and voila, we had front row seats!

(The blue line is the one that everyone had to remain behind to view the parade,

the pink shoes are Sophi's feet!)

These people had been camping out for over 24 hours and we had been out there no longer than 10 minutes! What luck!

Each float is made entirely out of organic materials. It is absolutely amazing what all they can do with flowers, seeds, veggies and more!

Sophi loved watching the parade, "dancing" and clapping to the music and waving to everyone who passed by.

She was quite the crowd-pleaser and caught the eye of at least one person on almost every float who would wave and smile right at her. She even caught the eye of this year's Grand Marshall, Mrs. Paula Dean who waved right at her. I know I am biased, but how could you not smile at my sweet Sophi and her precious face?!

We hadn't anticipated staying for the whole parade, which lasted about 2 hours, so were a little unprepared to handle a restless 15 month old, but despite her restlessness we all had a blast!

This will probably be our last opportunity to walk out our front door to see the Rose Parade and we feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to see it again this year! It is a special Pasadena memory that we will always cherish! Maybe one year when Sophi is older we can return to Pasadena and show her all the special experiences she got to have while living in California!

Here's to a great start to 2011!

1/3/11

Christmas with family

Our Christmas this year was a two and half week whirlwind of family and friends, good food and great memories! Instead of telling you all about our adventures with words I thought I would let the pictures mainly speak for themselves.
(Be warned: there are A LOT of pictures on this blog!)