Emilie Morgan Freeberg

Today one of my best friend's, Ashlie, had her baby, Emilie Morgan Freeberg.  Emilie weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces and is so cute!  (All of these photos I stole from Martin's Facebook page - I'm making an exception for going on FB today - had to stay updated on how Ash's labor was going!)

Ash in the hospital

New parents!  Martin & Ash with baby Emilie

New mom and Emilie

Aunt Morgan and Grandma Sherri

Grandma Sandra Freeberg

Congratulations you guys!  Can't wait to meet Emilie :)

Funeral

Sunday morning we headed back home to Modesto bright and early to make it in time for the viewing for my grandpa's funeral.  After the viewing we went back to my aunt Sandy's house and hung out with my cousins (who had flown in early that morning from Minnesota).  It was really nice to have some time to catch up, even though I wish the circumstances had been for a happier event.

Sherri, me, Kev, Matt, Heather and Lindy

After the funeral, Kev, Me, Heather, Sherri, Lindy and Matt

Mom, Me, Heather, Sherri, Lindy, Matt and Dad

Amy, Fredy, Martin and Ashlie all came to the funeral, which was really nice but I couldn't resist taking a photo of everyone on their iPhone's at the reception after haha

Picture on the Dome:

Sherri, me, Ash, Martin, Fredy, Kev, Amy, Lindy

Sisters

Kev, me, Sherri and Lindy

The funeral was at a really nice funeral home in Turlock and although it was sad, I think my grandfather is in a better place and now at peace.  It was also nice to see so many old family friends and relatives that unfortunately you only really see in situations like this.  

The 'Nard

Friday Kevin and I both worked lunch shifts but had the night off so we decided to head to Oxnard and visit my sorority sister/friend Somer and her boyfriend Jason.  Jason's parents have a beach house in Oxnard and they have been asking us to come visit them for quite some time but of course we are always working weekends (and they have normal jobs haha) so we decided to make a quick trip.

This is the view from the roof of Jason's parents' house.  

It was pretty nice to have an ocean view from the roof.

The beach house

The Oxnard beach

It was really nice and I'm so glad we went.  We went there Friday night, spent the night and then headed back to Redondo on Saturday to work that evening.

Glass Castle

I don't know how else to start this particular book review without starting it off by saying that I absolutely love this book.  I read it a few years ago (I think around 2006) when my sister Lindy had bought it and read it.  I remember that she didn't particularly care for it but once I started reading it the first time, I just couldn't put it down and finished it very quickly.  The same happened to me this time when I began re-reading it.

This woman's memoir is so intense, so unbelievable and yet told in a way that is almost matter-of-fact and not judgmental at all of the crazy childhood her parents provided for her.  The fact that her and her siblings survived is unbelievable enough, but they also all ended up turning out relatively well, especially considering the way they were raised.

I highly suggest this book - and would dare to say that it is almost one of my favorite books.  The story is so intriguing, so encapsulating and the fact that it's a true story makes it that much more remarkable.  I have a few friends that I've met along the way that have had difficult childhoods and I always suggest for them to read this book.  Not that their own childhood wasn't tough, but I always felt like they could empathize with the main character and relate it to their own hard upbringing.  Great, great book and a must-read for anyone who hasn't yet.

Last night my grandpa (Papa) Melvin Reiswig passed away around 9:45 pm.  My mom had texted me earlier in the day warning me that things weren't looking good and that he had been struggling for a few days (he has been in a hospital/hospice style place since last summer) so we knew that he wasn't doing well but it was still sad and slightly shocking to think that the time has come that he has now finally passed.

My grandparents were dairy farmers but retired by the time I was old enough to remember spending time with them, so to me they were always just our grandparents that had lots of time for us.  We would always hit up the local coffee shop any time we spent a day with them, which was actually a doughnut shop, and my grandparents had their friends that they would meet up with like everyday.  My grandma passed away when I was in 7th grade and since then my grandpa married another woman, Ellie, when I was a freshman in college.  

Even though we spent a lot less time with my grandpa as time went on (school, work, life gets in the way and takes precedence, unfortunately) it was always nice to know that he was still there.  Now, all maternal and paternal grandparents have passed and to me it sort of makes me think even more of my grandma who passed away because for me they were so linked together as far as all my memories of my childhood go.  I love you, grandpa, I miss you grandma . . . but I know that they are all in better places now and looking over us.  

All the grandkids at our wedding -

 Jill, Sherri, Melinda, Me, Kevin, Heather, Matt, Great Grandson Pete and Papa

Mom, Papa and Dad

Me, Papa, Kevin and Ellie

Next on Book Club

This week I finished The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell and let me just tell you that there were a lot of confusing things going on here.  I began this book thinking that it was about an African family - mostly because the cover appears to be of a black woman.  However, halfway through the novel it becomes clear that the family is from Scotland, though they lived in India for awhile, so it is very unclear.  I don't mind whatever nationality the family happens to be, but it's just hard to imagine and picture the characters when you're confused about what they look like.

This is basically a story about family secrets - Iris, the main character, has a grandmother with Alzheimer's and believes that her grandmother was an only child, yet one day Iris receives a letter from a mental hospital in town telling her that her great-aunt needs has been living there for over 60 years and the hospital is closing down so this great-aunt needs a new place to live.  It's supposed to be a mystery of why no one in the family ever spoke of this woman and why she was hidden away for all these years.  However, I don't think the payoff at the end is enough to make the book worth reading.  

Next up:  The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  I have read this before and love it but am going to re-read it.

Triplett's Visiting the Triplett's!

This past weekend Kevin's brother, Bryan, sister-in-law Erika and nephew Carter (and unborn nephew) came to visit Kevin's parents in Manteca, so we knew we had to visit them too.  They live in Washington State and visiting them isn't always an easy task (we've only been to see them once since they've lived in Washington for about 3 years) so if they're in our state, we know we have to take advantage of that and find a way to see them.

This post is going to be a little long with lots of photos - but hey, that's what I do!

This was the first morning after we had arrived and Carter had been sleepy and not sure about us (we hadn't seen him since this past June) but once he saw that we had a present for him, he quickly came around :)  He's playing with the Zoo Lego's we brought for him

Uncle Kevin and Carter Bear!

Carter is a huge lover of Play Doh - this is the baseball Uncle Kevin made (and now the white Play Doh is permanently pink lol)

Like father, like son

Kevin, Carter and Jenny in the background - Jenny is a sushi chef at a restaurant in Stockton called Coco Ro and it was delicious!  

Carter on a horse just his size

At Manteca's Bass Pro Shop

Carter on a cool four-wheeler type thing

Kevin decided that this has drawn the line - Bryan changed Carter on Kevin's lap lol

Cutie!

Bryan, Erika, Jenny and Nori

Bryan went to put Carter down for the night - I think Bryan fell asleep first!

Kevin and Jenny at the Sacramento Zoo

Bryan, Erika and Carter

The whole Triplett clan: Jenny, Erika, Rich, Nori, Carter, Bryan, Kevin, Me

Bryan and Nori

Carter

What a cute little butterfly

Scary spider

Erika (and unborn baby Triplett) had a craving for something sweet - so she got this huge ice cream sundae in Old Town Sacramento

Erika, Me, Jenny

Carter with his train whistle that Uncle Kevin bought him

(Carter loves trains!)

Brothers

This is Kevin, Jenny and Bryan viewing Jenny's boyfriend via skype.  Poor guy haha.

The weekend was really fun and it was great to spend some time with the Washington Triplett's.  We're hoping to go visit them in August after the new baby is born.

Next on the Book Club

In keeping with the trend of reporting on what I read last week, today I finished another book:  The Art of Racing in the Rain.

My friend from home, Kimmy, suggested this book a few months ago and then my friend from work, Janna, also told me that she was reading it so I decided to see if it was at the library - and it was!  I started it and finished it today and I really liked it.  It was a relatively easy read, a tear-jerker for sure (not like a Nicholas Sparks book though, right mom? haha) and it gives a great idea of what your favorite pet may be thinking when they're around you.  

A few weeks ago I also read The End of Overeating.

This book is both terrifying and fascinating and makes you really think about what you might be ingesting, especially when eating out.  We definitely used to eat out all the time, but now we don't have enough time to, which is probably a good thing.  

Now, on to the next book!  Not quite sure which one to pick out of my stack from the library . . . but will keep you posted on what I choose and what I thought :)

Good-Bye, Rani

I just realized that we are saying good-bye to way too many people these days - Danny left at the beginning of February for his National Guard training (though he will be back soon) but last Wednesday we had to say good-bye to Nick's girlfriend, Rani.  Rani and Nick met in Croatia during Nick's travels last year (though Rani is Australian) and she decided to come back to the U.S. a few weeks after Nick did in December.  Unfortunately, since she isn't a citizen she was only allowed to be in our country for 3 months and her time had come where she had to go back home.

Dustin, Mike, Rani, Susie (with the beanie on), me, Kev, Nick and Jules

We were all able to hang out the night before Rani headed back to Australia and it was sad to say good-bye.  We all really came to like Rani and enjoyed becoming friends with her - but hopefully this isn't good-bye, but just a "see ya later" and I hope that someday we can visit her in Australia or whatever country her and Nick are traveling around.  We will miss you, Rani!

Lent

Lent started last Wednesday on Ash Wednesday and according to Wikipedia:

Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to the Canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.^[1][2] Thus, Lent is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently.

I decided to give up Facebook for Lent (even though my mom suggested diet Coke would be a good thing to give up haha) and I've been doing pretty good.

The first two days were tough - it's amazing to realize how much I was checking Facebook, be it from my laptop or from my phone, and it's sort of nice not checking it.  So, so far going strong and keeping away from all those Facebook updates :)