Laugh with Us...

How to decorate a cookie

2011-11-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Lauren and Sophie decorated cookies at Tots and Treats. They were full after eating the toppings, so daddy got to eat the cookie itself!
-Ben

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-14T14:16:00.001-08:00

At Stanford Mall
-Ben

Ready for the next adventure...

2011-09-04T14:04:00.001-07:00

-Ben

Park playtime

2011-07-27T14:58:00.001-07:00

-Ben

Flowers of the porch

2011-07-27T14:27:00.001-07:00

-Ben

2011-07-20T20:03:00.001-07:00

-Ben

10 man tent

2011-05-07T22:17:00.001-07:00

We set up our new tent in the park. Lots of neighborhood friends came over to check it out. It could sleep 10 men, or about 20 kids I think!
-Ben

Enjoying an outdoor wedding

2011-05-07T22:09:00.001-07:00

-Ben

Getting ready to crawl!

2011-04-27T20:17:00.001-07:00

-Ben

Lunch on the porch!

2011-04-01T18:59:00.001-07:00

-Ben

2011-04-01T18:14:00.001-07:00

Sophie drives an old fire truck in Los Gatos. She already got her permit! (for old stationary fire trucks)
-Ben

park time: fireman pole

2011-03-30T18:45:00.001-07:00

-Ben

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Mmm! Spinach and potatoes

2011-03-05T12:39:00.001-08:00

Actually, Ella is thinking "bring that cell phone a little closer so I can grab it!"
-Ben

Happy Birthday Sophie!

2011-02-18T22:16:00.001-08:00

Sophie is 3 years old today! Ben took most of the day off, and Grandpa Mar flew into town yesterday. Auntie Gem, Uncle Andrew, and cousin Nathaniel came for dinner and to sing, too!
One of our destinations was the little gym today, where it was the parents vs the kids cleanup game!
Unfortunately it has been raining so we had to reschedule tommorrows big party to next weekend.
-Ben

Half Moon Bay sunset

2011-01-23T17:19:00.001-08:00

-Ben

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3 feet of White Christmas

2011-01-01T22:18:00.001-08:00

Snow time at Grandma & Grandpa's house!

Cousins

2010-12-29T09:50:00.001-08:00

Max, Ella, and Anna getting acquainted.

Bumbo time

2010-12-06T22:25:00.001-08:00

Ella has reached the age of the bumbo!

Happy 5th Birthday Lauren!

2010-11-16T21:18:00.001-08:00

Nicole made a princess cake that was mmm good! Auntie Gem and Uncle Andrew and the cousins came to celebrate too!
The girls also spent a good 30 minutes playing with the stickers in the cards from Grandma and Grandpa!

Decorating cupcakes!

2010-11-14T19:12:00.001-08:00

Nicole made these cupcakes and the girls decorated them for Friday's classical conversations weekly class.
Saturday was our friend Anika's 5th birthday where more cupcakes were enjoyed. As you can see, they were delicious! Winnie the Pooh bear came and ate some honey right from our table!
Tomorrow is Lauren's actual birthday, so it won't belong until more cupcakes! Mmm!

Sisters

2010-10-29T12:46:00.001-07:00

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Some pics

2010-10-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

The girls re-live old times in the cow toy! Ella will have to wait her turn.

Ella's first trip to Napa. We went for a day trip while Ben had his time off after Ella was born. We are at our time share Vino Bello. Very nice! We'll have to come back when we are less sleepy!

1st Hospital Visit Pics

2010-09-03T10:18:00.001-07:00

Sleeping beauty....

This is the cart for transporting her to the nursery and back.

She is finally here!

I'm a big sister now!

Meeting auntie Gem and the cousins: Josh, Michaela, and Nathaniel.

Lauren and Sophie Meet the Baby

2010-09-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Lauren and Sophie take turns holding the baby in the hospital. Afterward, Lauren asked, "Mommy, Can we keep her?" and "Can we take her home?"

Our baby girl

2010-09-02T07:10:00.001-07:00

Our baby girl is here! 8 lbs 14 oz, 21 inches long! She was born at 6:01am. Nicole and baby are doing well.

Just days away

2010-08-25T21:41:00.001-07:00

We are just hours or days away from baby #3! Nicole is ready to be done!
We all went to Nicole's check up today where the doctor did an ultrasound and the did a stress test on the baby. Everything is looking good.
You can see the baby's profile in the picture. The doctor thinks she's already 7 pounds!

I'm not tired

2010-08-19T20:41:00.001-07:00

Lauren rarely goes to sleep willingly. She conked out so fast here that she still has her hand on her face from rubbing her eyes. She slept like this for a good 10 minutes!

Experimenting with color

2010-08-09T23:13:00.001-07:00

Trying something other than white!
-Ben

Monkey bars

2010-07-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

Monkey on the monkey bars!
-Ben

Summertime at the swimmin' hole

2010-07-18T16:03:00.001-07:00

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Baby shower at work

2010-07-09T13:10:00.001-07:00

They had some cake and gave us a blanket with the company logo here at work today for the four employees having babies this year (3 have girls, 1 boy). We have less than 2 months to go!

Newsboys Concert!

2010-07-05T23:43:00.001-07:00

We rocked the house tonight at the Newsboys concert at the Alameda County Fair! It was so awesome to see them play live - they have some great new music with Michael Tait as the lead singer now. Lauren was covering her ears, but Sophie was jumping around dancing!
After the concert we checked out the pony rides (you can see Sohpie on her pony in the background) and the animals. The kids got to pet a fawn that was only 2 weeks old.

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Flashback

2010-07-04T22:58:00.001-07:00

This was Lauren or Sophie?

Cleaning Fish

2010-06-27T23:15:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the support of my lovely wife, I caught my limit of 10 rock fish plus three more for my fishing pals Perry, Zac, Noel and Ian on Saturday! I also caught a rare salmon, but I couldn't keep it because I was using barbed hooks and you can only keep salmon caught with barbless hooks. :( Everyone on the boat ended up with their limits. It was my first deep sea fishing trip in two years. Unfortunately, it was the first time I've ever been sick on the boat. Half the guys got sick! Ugh.
After the girls watched me clean the fish, Sophie went over to her kitchen set, somehow found her plastic fish amongst the hundreds of food toys, and started cleaning it with her toy knife. That's my girl!
-Ben

Playdough pearls

2010-06-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

Lauren is trying on her home made play dough pearl necklace.

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Shanghai Aquarium

2010-05-31T21:50:00.001-07:00

We had a nice morning at the aquarium while it rained outside.

Shanghai

2010-05-31T16:47:00.001-07:00

Here's some good food we found at a restaurant in the Super Brand Mall in Shanghai. We could have paid another 100RMB to sit at a table overlooking the city lights and the Hangpu River, but since we had already been on a river cruise we decided to just focus on the food. The spare ribs in the pumpkin was particularly tasty, and the kids loved playing with the umbrellas. :) They also loved jumping around the kids play land while mommy got a rare pedicure!

Happy Hollow

2010-04-09T14:07:00.001-07:00

Spring panorama

2010-04-08T12:26:00.001-07:00

its a beautiful spring day... here's the park using the panorama feature on my phone.

Local wild flowers

2010-04-03T21:28:00.001-07:00

I snapped these pics while jogging last week.
-Ben

easter egg hunt!

2010-04-03T13:13:00.001-07:00

easter egg hunt and party

Pampered chefs at work

2010-03-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

-Ben

Out for ice cream

2010-03-15T23:56:00.001-07:00

Actually it was frozen yogurt, but it was still very yummy! We spontaneously made a special outing just for ice cream. The last time we went out for ice cream was when great grandma, great grandpa, and great aunt Debbie were out to visit!

Lauren's artistic explosion

2010-03-09T18:26:00.001-08:00

Lauren was particularly quiet while I was getting ready for work the other morning. Nicole was still resting in bed while Sophie played around.
Turns out Lauren found a blue transparency marker and went from her coloring book to the wall to the carpet to the railing to a vase to our Chinese art scroll from Gulin! Looks like I need to break out the paint. (sigh)

ALL crayons, markers, pens and pencils are now way out of reach!
-Ben

Fun with celery

2010-02-23T12:31:00.001-08:00

Hidden Villa

2010-02-22T23:54:00.001-08:00

It was a perfect day for photos on Saturday. Here is a sneak preview!
-Ben

Chinatown

2010-02-15T00:17:00.000-08:00

More pics from Chinatown. Boy was it crowded!
-Ben

Chinese New Year + Valentines + Sophie and Josh's Birthday!

2010-02-15T00:13:00.001-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year and Valentines Day from LA!

We had a tasty Chinese banquet for lunch and a big family New Year's and birthday party in the evening! All day partying!

Baby Fiona

2010-02-13T22:56:00.001-08:00

Nicole's cousin, Helen, had her first baby two weeks ago. Here is Fiona snoozing. Helen and her family live in the same apartment building as Nicole's Dad, so it was so easy to visit everyone today!
-Ben

Rose Hills

2010-02-13T12:53:00.001-08:00

for Chinese New Year and valentines day!
-Ben

Making cookies with Daddy

2010-02-05T19:02:00.001-08:00

mmm!
-Ben

Visiting Gong-gong's

2010-01-21T12:45:00.001-08:00

The kids love to explore and have some fresh fruit!
-Ben

Exploring Gong-gong's Garden

2010-01-21T12:41:00.001-08:00

We had a chance to see the wonderful garden Nicole's dad has been busy with lately. He had tree ripened tangerines and kumquats for us to enjoy, and he sent us home with lots of fresh Chinese vegatables!
-Ben

La Brea Tar Pits

2010-01-16T21:31:00.001-08:00

We have been visiting LA for 10 years, and we finally made the 5 mile trip to the world famous tar pits today. I learned that camels used to live in North America today. They became extinct after the last ice age, which had some drastic climate change that is one possible explanation for the extinction of many large mammals like the short nose bear, the mammoth, mastadon, camel, saber tooth cat, and a different bison.
-Ben

Duck Hunting

2010-01-09T23:23:00.000-08:00

I got a chance to go duck hunting this week, the 3rd time this season (the most I have been able to hunt in years!). My friend Chad had a spot open in the blind he shoots at in Los Banos and it worked out for me to go (thanks Chad, and thanks dearie!). We hunted it until about 10 AM and had shots at the most birds I've seen in years. We each shot 5 ducks (the limit is 7). I shot a green-wing teal, a spoonbill, two widgeon and a drake gadwall. We cooked up three of them tonight and they were delicious! It brought back a lot of fond memories of hunting with my Dad back in Minnesota.

Lauren's first snow

2009-12-27T21:15:00.001-08:00

Lauren was so excited to play in the snow she jumped out of the car and right into the foot of snow at grandma and grandpa's before we even got snow pants on her! Once we got her into the proper clothes she played outside for almost an hour while we had Christmas eve dinner! It must be her Scandanavian blood.
-Ben

White Christmas in Minnesota

2009-12-26T13:11:00.001-08:00

We made a Christmas day snowman at my parents house. The snow was wet and perfect for construction1
-Ben

program

2009-12-18T11:02:00.001-08:00

-Ben

Lauren's xmas program at school

2009-12-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

all 3 and 4 yr olds. it is so cute!
-Ben

Angels breakfast

2009-12-12T14:00:00.001-08:00

Some of Lauren's artwork

2009-12-07T13:31:00.001-08:00

from Noah's place at church and from preschool.

Rice krispie bars!

2009-12-04T17:49:00.001-08:00

Let's make some rice krispie bars, Mom!

Thanksgiving weekend in LA

2009-11-28T22:07:00.001-08:00

Shopping around town on Friday, and enjoying some excellent noodle soup at Fu Fu Tei restaurant. Mmmm!
-Ben

Thank you!

2009-11-14T15:15:00.001-08:00

Thank you Auntie Nancy & Uncle Geoff for my birthday gifts! I'm going to wear all the barrets at the same time!
-Lauren

2009-11-12T21:30:00.001-08:00

Birthday cake hat! Cool!

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Evening stroll

2009-11-05T22:10:00.001-08:00

My beautiful wife out for a family stroll.

Ranch 99 shopping w/ Sophie and Nicole

2009-11-04T20:11:00.001-08:00

Yes - they do sell fresh bullheads at Ranch 99. Mmmm...

Megan's bday party

2009-11-02T23:59:00.001-08:00

mmm!

Johnson farm 3

2009-10-31T15:01:00.001-07:00

Lauren forces a cheese while playing on the tractor with a new friend. We had a great time feeding the animals, going on a hay ride, choosing some pumpkins and decorative corn from the field, and meeting some of the families there who are part of a local home schooling group. Good times!
We may go back in the winter for a Christmas tree - the main business for the farm is Christmas trees that you cut down yourself.

Johnson farm 2

2009-10-31T14:42:00.001-07:00

I wasn't fast enough to catch Sophie panting to do the sign for dog. She had a huge smile on her face as she petted this big farm dog. You can see she has no fear even though he is about 3 times her size!

Johnson farm

2009-10-31T14:29:00.001-07:00

Sophie dismantles the tip of a corn cob she found while gleaning in the field at Johnson's farm in Boulder Creek (not too far north of Santa Cruz).

Yee haw!

2009-10-30T11:09:00.001-07:00

Sophie rides the horse in the dentist's waiting room.
-Ben

Cutting paper

2009-10-29T21:31:00.001-07:00

Lauren is saying cheese while cutting some paper before bedtime.

New phone

2009-10-24T22:18:00.001-07:00

I just picked up a new phone with a full keyboard on it and a 3Mpixel camera. Much better for posting to the blog! It isn't an official "smart phone" because I didn't want to start paying an extra $30/month for a required data plan. Still, it is a lot smarter than my old phone and the keyboard makes typing a message like this possible. The model I got is the Lg enV3. So far so good... hopefully I can avoid soaking my new phone like Nicole did to her enV2 (partly my fault for the bad choice of sippy bottle I put in the diaper bag that day)- at least hers still works but her display blinks all the time now. :(
-Ben

Mmmm!

2009-10-24T21:59:00.001-07:00

"Kay-kay" - Sophie's word for cake. We were grocery shopping at ranch99 this evening.
-Ben

Hammer time

2009-10-24T21:52:00.001-07:00

If you listen carefully, you can hear Hammer saying in a muffled voice, "save... me!.... Can't.... breathe!"

Hammer

2009-10-23T20:21:00.001-07:00

Here is our hamster "Hammer" (as Sophie has named him). As you can see, he can really move!

Ice cream anyone?

2009-10-23T20:02:00.001-07:00

The girls are taking turns playing "ice cream stand" - something they do almost every day! Yum!

Name?

2009-10-23T14:51:00.001-07:00

Sophie's latest development is to point to people or characters in a book and say, "name"? It sure is cute!

Fireman's Pancake Breakfast

2009-10-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

We headed down the block to the local firehouse for the annual pancake fundraiser a few weeks ago on a beautiful Saturday morning. The pancakes were excellent. We heard the chef was none other than the infamous chef of the Facebook cafe, who apparently used to work at the Google cafe. Unfortunately, pancakes were about all they had left by the time we got there, as the sausages and fruit were popular among the early birds. Sophie and Lauren were quite happy to find they still had plenty of syrup.

The kids learned to stop, drop, and roll, as well as watch a live demo of some fire fighters rescuing someone from a smoking building. They also had box car races and a couple fire engines for the kids to climb around in.

Sophie was getting extra friendly with this kid she never met before (she almost kissed her), and this little girl is concerned!

gilroy gardens

2009-10-11T17:37:00.001-07:00

sophie loves to figure out the buckles even though we are at an amusement park!

Visiting Iowa

2009-10-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

We haven't taken the time to put some pictures of our vacation to MN, IA, and WI on the blog. It's about time (3 months later)!

Here we are checking out the park behind Grandma and Grandpa's house in Waterloo, Iowa. It was so neat to be back there to visit with Aunt Cindy, Grandma and Grandpa, and show our kids some of my favorite places when I was their age.

We also attended the Holmstrom family reunion in Maynard, IA which is about 30 minutes from Waterloo. I didn't know I had so many relatives! The reunion went back as far as my Great Grandfather Edward Holmstrom and his siblings level and down. He had 5 brothers and sisters, and my grandpa had 6 siblings so it can get big fast! Here we are with the Edward Holmstrom clan.

Captain Sophie

2009-10-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

Captain Sophie shows Uncle Geoff how to steer the pontoon boat safely. This was during our trip to Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin in July.

Cheese!

2009-08-16T21:20:00.001-07:00

Sophie is ready to water ski!

A short sunday afternoon hike

2009-08-02T16:22:00.001-07:00

Methusala redwood tree in santa cruz mtns - 1800 years old!

Easter Flashback

2009-07-14T22:57:00.001-07:00

What's up, doc?

bonfante gardens!

2009-07-10T10:17:00.001-07:00

quack quack

Lets Play!

2009-06-27T11:47:00.001-07:00

Half moon bay

2009-06-27T11:44:00.001-07:00

Finding treasures in the sand

Strawberry ride! Wee!

2009-06-04T20:37:00.001-07:00

Rides at great america

2009-06-04T20:32:00.001-07:00

Good times

2009-05-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Apple fries at great america

Cheese!

2009-05-04T20:00:00.001-07:00

Breakfast

2009-04-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Sisters

2009-04-19T18:15:00.001-07:00

Having a snack by the library.

Sophie speaks

2009-04-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

Nicole says "strawberry" and Sophie responds "da-beeee"!

When we take pictures, Sophie says "eeeeeeee". So she's got the vowels down...

We finally see signs that her first two teeth are coming in as well!

Flashback

2009-04-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Tax day, one year ago

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T20:46:00.001-07:00

Egg hunt and face painting!

Sophie Walks!

2009-03-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here you can see Sophie is quite mobile!

Costco trip

2009-03-24T22:35:00.001-07:00

Here's a typical trip to Costco.