Phil's

If you are EVER, ANYWHERE NEAR Moss Landing, you MUST go to this great fish market/restaurant called Phil's. It is the best, best, best place to get your fix of fresh seafood!!! Shrimp cocktail with their homemade sauce....mmmm!

Unbelievably delicious fried artichoke hearts.

Fried prawns, calamare, oysters and scallops. Fried, fried, and more fried.

After rolling out of our chairs, we took a walk down to the beach. So beautiful!

Pikes

On Wednesday, Ray's birthday, we all met in Madera for a picnic with Ron's family. All the siblings and Ron's father were able to be together for the first time in years. There were also many cousins able to be there. One more thing, for those of you in the midwest, are you noticing the short sleeves?

We took Mark's boys and they had such a great time. Afterwards we were going to take them to an amusement park called Storyland. When we drove up to the gates, we learned they were only open on weekends. Opps!
Thank goodness for Chucky Cheese or the boys would have been so disappointed.

The Little Pike Boys

We spent the last week back in Sunny California visiting family. Can you believe it was in the 60's everyday! Mark's boys are such a hoot! But I had forgotten how much stuff little kids need whenever you go somewhere. Diaper bags, treats, car seats, drinks....This day we were off on an adventure! All three boys' car seats fit into the back of the rental car. Odin is in the rear, Ronan the middle and little Archer is in the foreground. We took them to Manzanita Lake to feed the ducks.

There were a few Canadian geese in the mix. Archer loved the ducks and geese and wanted to be right in the middle of all the fun.

Odin showing a big grin. He was having fun feeding bread to the ducks.

Ronan was hilarious. He would not stop chasing the ducks because he loved the feel of the air their wings made when they took off.

By the end of the day Ron and I were exhausted......

Another First!!!

Well, Ron finally got his first buck today. I was playing, I mean exercising with the Wii when I got a call from his cell phone. After tracking deer for 3 weeks, he had staked out a spot where it looked like they were hanging out and got a nice size buck with his cross bow. Boy was he excited. He did have to drag it up the ravine for about 30 minutes to the truck. In the snow. I helped him drag it into the back off the pickup (gross, gross, gross) and off we went to the check point and then the processing shop. Did I mention it was a little gross, but soon we will have a nice supply of trail bologna (it's an Ohio thing....) and some other cuts that I will have to learn to cook. Notice I did not post any pictures. Oh, we have them, but the icky factor was way too..... well.... icky.

Images of Christmas

Christmas this year was spent in Georgia at our oldest daughter's home. Cindy and her family went to so much effort to make this Christmas as jolly as possible. Cookies and candy treats to eat, crafts to make and outings to exciting activities.....not a moment was wasted!

When our children were young, each year they and their cousins performed the Christmas Story, complete with costumes and much drama. How wonderful to see their children continue the tradition.

Christmas morning brought stockings full of treats and presents from Santa and family.

Another wonderful year with those we hold dearest. Merry Christmas everyone!

Windy Meadows Farm Blog

My friend Mary has just entered the blogging world in a big way. You can check out her amazing writing and photography at http://www.windymeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/ She has a knack for reminding us of simple country pleasures and joyful moments in our everyday lives.

The Stanley's Trip to Roscoe Village

One of our favorite flights is to Ohio's Roscoe Village. It is a quaint little canal town that has been historically restored and has some wonderful shops and restaurants. Here is one of the Stanleys looking out the plane window before we all boarded! This Stanley is secured in his seat for the short preflight.

After we take off, he is allowed to come up front and check out the controls.

We flew over Deer Gulch Cabin to check out the setting.

Here he is with some other paper people (dressed in costume for the era of course!) planning our day.

The leather shop to get a belt of horse sleigh bells. They sound so festive! Before we left, the Stanleys insisted on getting a pic of themselves on the handmade saddle.

A few more pics.

Canal boat.

Stanleys on the canal boat.

Our favorite shop is the old time general store and candy shop. Real good salty licorice scotties!!! The nice shop ladies said the boys could go behind the counter, for a few moments, if they didn't touch anything! Afterwards we went to lunch at the Warehouse for Fish and Chips! It was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.