a Thanksgiving to Remember

We spent the holiday in California celebrating Thomas Bateman's beautiful life.  We chartered a sail boat and had a quaint, special family service at sea.  We spread his ashes in the Pacific Ocean at 34° 38. 93' Latitude and W 119° 70. 75' Longitude place.  We shed tears, shared stories, reminisced, sang hymns, released doves, laughed, did a little dancing and ate Danish pastry.  The boys wanted to wear their scout shirts in honor of the love their grandpa had for scouting.  Most of the family was able to attend. We missed Bethany and Sean and their cute little boy Adair.  Bethany gave birth to a sweet baby girl, Clair Marie, the Saturday before so they weren't able to attend.  Christian and his new bride Katie along with Katie and her new husband, Christopher, were missed too.  They attended the viewing in Las Vegas and represented our family well.  They are going to school at BYU Utah and Idaho. 

It was a gorgeous day in Santa Barbara.  Couldn't have asked for better weather.

 Jacob and Rebecca with their kiddos James and Emma.

Maria and Julie

 Leighton pondering life and danish pastries.

Meeka, Kennedy and Hannah had the best time!  Kennedy was born in January, Hannah in February and Meeka in March - all approaching 16 years old. Such fun, kind hearted girls.

 Boston, Preston and Mike

Daniel with his nephew James and niece Emma

 The beautiful ocean blue

 Cruise ships have started to port in Santa Barbara and it was cool to see one there.

Kennedy with Meeka and Hope

Hannah and Mike

The 4 brothers - Mike oldest, then Paul behind him, Byron and the big baby Eric

 Hailey and Maria

This is the only picture I have of Byron and Amy's family.  They have 8 girls with the last two being twins.  It was fun to watch their family soak up the sand, sea and food:)

Marie, Hannah, Mike, Preston and Sonia

Julie and Paul's family with Sonia - Daniel, Hailey, Maria, Jacob (married in), Rebecca with their kids James and Emma

 A passing sail boat.  Picturesque.

Annica (Byron and Amy's)

Eric at the helm

 Leighton photo bombing Mike and Marie's family photo.  The tall gentleman on the end is 6'7" and dating Emily.  We hope he takes the leap of faith and joins the family permanently.

After the service, Eric blasted "Celebrate" over the sound system and Mike and Boston busted a move.

Maria, grandma and Kennedy

 James - always smiling

Sonia had intended for each grand kid to release a balloon at sea but the balloons weren't allowed.  They're bad for marine life.  They made for a perfect addition to Emily and Ryan's picture though.

After a lunch of KFC at the park, we stripped down and went to the beach.  It's the biggest, best playground on earth.  Everyone had a blast!  The girls made a jump rope out of sea weed.

 Leighton and his sexy bod are always a sight.

Kennedy getting her creative on.  Meeka, Hannah and Kennedy are all in pose and take picture mode.  There were at least 50 picture of those 3 on my camera.

 Jackson trying to compete with his brother.

Boston didn't want to be shown up.

Another party charted the same boat we started the day in.  It was cool to see it around sunset and take it all in.

Sonia/Mom is always a good sport and happy as can be.

There was a lot of public display of affection with these two. 

The boys played a game of dodge ball.

 Charlie's Angels

Sunset dodgeball.  Doesn't get more romantic.

Silhouette pic of the Angels.

HomeTown Buffet welcomed us nicely for the Thanksgiving meal.  No one had to wait for food, no one had to clean up and everyone was happy.  Not too shabby if you ask me.

 Kennedy loves to watch the show "the middle" and this was the restaurant where they filmed their Thanksgiving scene.

A brunette, blondie and a red head.  Gorgeous in all colors.

Eric was talking to a lot of people with this stuck on his tooth/gum.  He didn't seem bothered but others were.

He picked a table all to himself so he could spread out and eat in peace.  He's been trying to eat a little healthier as of late but this meal was one he gave himself free reign with.

 Jell-O jigglers were the favorite side for Byron and Amy's twins - Lydia and Olivia.

Boston was so proud of himself for winning this stuffed Santa.  Surprisingly, it made its way home and is sitting in Boston's bedroom.

 At the airport, like father like son.  We flew into San Diego and spent a few days there before the rest of the family arrived.  We visited all our favorite spots - Leucadia Donuts, the Fish Hut in Carlsbad, Little Italy in down town San Diego where we dined on Mimmo's Italian.  We also took in the Science Center and Imax at Balboa Park.  We drove around Coronado Island and asked the kids if they wanted to go into Mexico and it was an adamant, "No!"  Ok then.

Our rental van and my lovely cold sore.  It comes with me everywhere as of late.

We hit up a flea market in Encinitas.  Flea markets = torture for me.  Enough said.

The kids all scored cheap sunglasses.

The Imax at the science center and the kids exploring.

 We ate at Don's Country Kitchen where the biscuits and gravy consume your whole plate.  Boston said dad's biscuits and gravy were way better.  Eric does make a mean biscuit and gravy.

We went to the Oceanside beach and  rented boogie boards and played in the sand.  Boston is still on crutches at this point but kicks them to the way side most of the beach days.

I think he's making a heart...

Leighton's flip flops broke and Eric thought these Mustang blue sandals would be perfect.  I laughed when I saw them and Leighton refused to wear them.  Eric forced the issue and Leighton obliged.

I went in reverse order with this post because I wanted to focus on the memorable ceremony and family time in California.  Other notable items from November included...

This big pile of hair is Boston's.  He cried.

But then he liked it, then he hated it, then he loved it.  It's a love/hate relationship still.

Kennedy completed this pre ap chemistry project with the help from 3 doctors, 3 chemical engineers, 2 clueless parents and a persistence that only Kennedy digs for.  This is a foreign language to me but Kennedy gets it and that's all that matters at this point.

I cannot believe November is over and it's already December.  The minute we got home from California (Saturday at midnight) I started decorating for the relief society progressive dinner that was at my house last night.  December is full of fun parties and dinners and Christmas cards and of course celebrating the birth of Christ and a time to reflect.  I am looking forward to it all and plan to take it day by day.  I haven't taken our Christmas card photo or created the message that accompanies it, purchased a single Christmas gift or considered neighbor/friend gifts but I know it will all get done sooner or later.  Eric's dad wasn't one to fret about tomorrow but lived a gracious, peaceful life.  He set a great example and it's one I'd like to follow and install in my own children.  We could all slow down and smell the roses a little more.  Here's to a peaceful December:)