FROM TAKE-OFF TO SUNSET

Well it's finally done. It has taken me two months to post everything I wanted to about our family trip. It was a reunion of the Jim & Kathey Branch of the Ahlstrom clan. We hadn't all been together in two years and it was really nice. I do have a few regrets. It would have been nice if we had more time to just sit around and visit in places where we could actually hear each other. It also would have been nice if we could have visited Wilma again, (we had seen her in February though) and I would very much have liked to see my friend Penelope who I've known since first grade, but haven't seen for eons.

Well here's the story. It's actually in four parts, this being part 1. Some of these were posted before, but I've rearranged them to be in order. The last ones are new. It's old news now and perhaps no one will be interested but me, but I had fun doing it. ^o^

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At last the day arrived for our family trip to California. We left on Monday, June 16 and flew to LA by way of Dallas. Kirsten has always been interested in people, so we had her sit on the aisle. She had a great time watching everyone. Jim had the middle seat and Betsey had the window seat in the row in front of us. I had a seat by a window too, and could actually see out, which was a pleasant change. The last couple of flights we've been on, our seats were right by the jet engines which didn't present much of a view.

When we travel I always take along something to read, but this time I discovered that a long flight can be shortened dramatically if the book I'm reading is really good. My friend Connie introduced me to books by Beverly Lewis, who writes fictional stories about the Amish and their culture. Connie loaned me The Shunning, and The Covenant which I didn't realize were each number one in its own series. The author is good at angst and cliff hangers and there's always a bit of conflict and or mystery going on that might not be resolved for several volumes. When I got to the end of the first book I groaned--"No, it can't end this way. There has to be a sequel!" Luckily sequels did exist and the library had them. I took two with me on the trip.

We arrived in LA around 5:30. Helena and her family arrived a few minutes later from Seattle, via a different airline, in a different part of the airport. We arranged to meet them, and Barb and Kyle at a car rental place. Barb and Kyle, who live in Utah, drove down from Solvang, where they had been visiting Kyle's grandmother. We knew we would need them to assist us because we had one rented mini van and 7 people and lots of luggage, a wheelchair, and carry-ons, etc. It worked out great. We checked into our various hotel rooms as soon as we could and then went to Peter and Karen's house--not that I was anxious to see Elizabeth or anything.

And here she is. At five months, Elizabeth's newest accomplishment was staying up in a sitting position. YAY Elizabeth! She looks pretty pleased with herself, and mighty cute sitting on this quilt that her mommy had just finished. This is definitely one of my favorite pictures. She melts my heart. ^o^ (Note: if you click on any of the pictures they will enlarge.) We were all more than a little hungry by that time, so we went looking for a place to eat and settled on Claim Jumper. It was late and there were twelve of us, so we had to wait awhile. In the waiting area was a table with a painted-on checker board. Here are Kate, Doug and Kirsten. TUESDAY

Tuesday morning we were pretty zonked from traveling, so we didn't do much. Our hotel was right near a mall and several restaurants were within walking distance. For lunch we went over to Chili's. Kate rode in the "big stroller" with grandma. (Because of my breathing difficulties, I often use a wheelchair when I'm away from home.) What can I say? Here's another favorite picture.

We had an idea of some things we wanted to do, but didn't have specific plans for any day. We knew we wanted to include a beach trip sometime. Karen had suggested going either early in the morning or about 4 in the afternoon so the sun wouldn't be too strong. Tuesday seemed like a good day to do that, so that afternoon found us making preparations, including some hair braiding.

This shot of Barbie and Betsey was taken in the hotel lobby. It too is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.
Those who went in the water did a lot of wave jumping. Helena and Jim did a little kite flying. And here are our son Peter and his wife Karen holding Elizabeth. It was windy and very sunny. Barbie (our youngest daughter) says, "Ha! My tummy's bigger than yours, but I've got a good excuse!" (The good excuse will make her appearance on or about October 31.) Poor Kyle. He had a nice BIG sand pile and then a big wave came and washed it all away. I thought his expression was awfully cute. Awwwwww. Barbie always thinks he's cute. (If you click on Kyle's picture and enlarge it, his expression shows up much better.) I'm not sure what Helena (daughter #2) and her husband Doug were doing in this picture, but they look happy. ^o^ Their daughter Kate wasn't interested in going in the big scary water. She enjoyed playing in the sand and also making sand angels. Kirsten and I didn't go in the water, but we enjoyed watching everyone. There was something for everybody, and a good time was had by all.

Please go on to part 2…