Family Time

 

Sandwiched between two very busy church weekends, we made a quick trip to Fresno.  I got to see my entire immediate family with the exception of just one, my nephew Ryan.  The rest of us gathered at Kim and Rodney's for dinner.  The main attraction, of course, is our little darling ~ Bo!

Three generations ~ "great" Aunt Kathy, Bo, and Auntie Krysten

 

I didn't get a single picture of my brother, Rick, and his wife, Diana.  We enjoyed catching up.  They went to Ireland and Scotland in October, so we had a lot of traveling to talk about!  We stayed up way past all of our bedtimes, but enjoyed the time so much.

On Friday, Kim, Les and I went over to Lauren and Jordan's for some more time together.  These two were having quite the conversation:

It's so fun having a little one around again!

Happy Left Handers Day!

You know there's a day for everything, right... er, correct?  Well today is Left Handers Day.  As a lefty, I've learned to do some things with my right hand by necessity (I've never owned left handed scissors) and some things I was taught to do right handed (my right handed brothers taught me how to hold a baseball bat.)  Just about everything else I do left handed.

Approximately 10% of the population is left handed.  There are many lists of famous left handers.  Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Michelangelo, Ronald Reagan, and Beethoven were all lefties.

I come by my left handedness honestly.  Mom was a lefty.  She had beautiful hand writing and taught me how to place my paper at a diagonal to avoid smearing.

Grandma Luella, Mom's mom, also was a lefty.  She is obviously the one who taught Mom how to turn the paper to avoid smearing!

And we have a fourth generation lefty - my niece, Krysten!  At family meals we try to sit next to each other so we aren't constantly banging elbows.

I'm sure there are advantages and disadvantages to which ever hand is dominate, but it's pretty cool being able to hold Les' left hand with my right hand and we both have are strong hands free!

Anyone else left handed?

1966: Sister Celebration

My sister, Kim, is the oldest of the Fultz Four.  She was born on April 23, 1959 (hopefully she's not reading my blog and isn't ready to strangle me for revealing this fact!)  I was born five years, four days and two brothers later!

When I turned 2, Mom wrote in my baby book, "I guess we'll always celebrate with Kim.  This year we went to Storyland.  On the date we had cake and ice cream.  Grandma Luella, Marie and Esther came to help us have fun."

Storyland is a fun little place found at Roeding Park in Fresno.  It opened in 1962 and admission today is still only $5 for adults and $3.50 for children.  "At Storyland, fairy tales come to life. Follow the path through the Park and find Humpty Dumpty, “three little pigs,” Mother Goose, Alice in Wonderland, witches, pirates, a castle and much more. Use your magic key to unlock our talking boxes and listen to stories of adventure and danger, fantastic worlds and heroic journeys."

Jack and Jill falling down the hill while Krysten and Lauren fetch a pail of water

I don't remember celebrating my 2nd birthday at Storyland, but I certainly remember going there many times as a child and later taking my nieces, Krysten and Lauren.  There's something special about seeing a book come to life!

We've definitely had our share of sister spats and ups and downs but I'm so thankful to have a sister to celebrate life with!

Happy National Chocolate Day!

I don't know who comes up with all these "national" days, but this is one I fully support!

My Dad did not like chocolate...

I inherited my Mom's genes in this matter!

My niece Krysten got Mom's recipe box after she passed away.  90% of the recipes were for chocolate!

Celebrate this sweet day with someone sweet today!

2015 Magical Moments

Happy New Year's Eve!  I know I'm not the only one saying, "I can't believe how quickly this year has gone."  2015 was the year of travel for us - Les traveled 25 weeks - 22 were for business.  Thankfully, I was able to tag along for 14 of those weeks - 13 were for business, our only vacation together this year was our trip to Florida for Thanksgiving.  Les took two cycling trips with Lance - I'm glad they can do that together and I'm happy to stay home during those trips!  Along with traveling, it's been a great year.  I thought I'd highlight one thing from each month:

January:
On January 1st, I embarked upon a new Bible Study - Women of the Word.  While I didn't reach my goal to study one woman a week, I did study 33 women and learned SO much.  My life has definitely been enriched with this study.

February:
Our first of four trips to Oahu this year.  We celebrated a delayed Valentine's Day on the North Shore.

March:
Les was gone 16 days during the month of March.  He was in four states and I didn't go at all.  Brianna Miranda and I were twins one Sunday, so there's my highlight!

April:
I turned 51 and we took our second trip to Hawaii.  This time we celebrated my birthday at Sea Life Park.  I also got to hang out with Levi Bentz for a while.

May:
We celebrated our 24th anniversary at Disney's California Adventure.

June:
Les was home almost the entire month of June!  We took one short trip to Las Vegas for a business conference, but it was nice to stay home for a while.  The only highlight about Vegas was when it was in our rear view mirror!  Funniest picture was this "compare at" price...

July:
July was looking like another stay at home month until about the 15th.  We got word that Les needed to be in O'Fallon, Missouri for two weeks!  I found a cheap ticket and was able to go along.  I saw the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis for the first time.  Truly spectacular!  I also started training for marathon #4 while in Missouri.  Extreme heat and humidity didn't kill me, so I knew it was going to be a good training cycle.

August:
Les traveled to Utah for a week long bike adventure with Lance.  While he was gone, Kim, Krysten and Lauren came for a short visit.  We enjoyed a quick trip to Santa Barbara.

September:
We took our third trip to Hawaii.  Guava chiffon pancakes.  That's all.

October:
Early October we were still on Oahu and I ran the Brio Ice Cream 25k race as part of my marathon training.  Les had another busy travel month.  We flew home on a red eye on October 9th, getting home on Saturday morning.  Les flew to Philadelphia on Sunday morning - a six hour time difference!  He was home for a week then flew to Scottsdale, AZ.

November:
November was a big month!  I ran the Revel Canyon City Marathon and had a 7 minute PR!

At the end of the month, we traveled to Florida for the McElhaney family reunion.  Seven of us ran the Mexico Beach Community Garden Turkey Trot 5k.

December:
We took our final trip to Hawaii.  Les was one of the wheelchair cycling escorts for the Honolulu Marathon.

We had a super mellow Christmas at home, just the two of us.  My final picture is from a mountain bike ride a couple days before Christmas.  We have had a busy, but healthy and blessed year!  God's favor has shined on us.

Family Therapy

Les and I have both been enjoying some family time.  Les and Lance have been cycling their way through southern Utah for the past week - visiting Bryce and Zion Canyons along the way.  I didn't get a week, but I did get a much needed weekend with Kim, and her wonderful daughters, Krysten and Lauren.

Not only did we get to visit, but we got our ocean fix!  We made our way to Santa Barbara on Saturday and proceeded to sit on the pier for about 3 hours, talking, laughing and catching up on our lives.

There's just nothing like time with family.  People who share your history and just "get" you. We don't get enough of it!

Thank you for coming, my dears!  Come back soon.

Happy Birthday, Krysten and Lauren!

Happy birthday to the sweetest nieces in the world!

I fell in love when you were under four pounds each...

We share a love for all things chocolate...

And you have made me proud to be your aunt every day since!

Love you to the moon and back!

Weekend Getaway

We took a road trip this past weekend and it was a whirlwind!  We drove up to Fresno Friday afternoon.  Les was up bright and early Saturday morning and headed to North Fork for the 22nd Annual Grizzly Century bike ride.  I got up not too long after he left and went for an eight mile run.  Then it was time to get ready for Ladies Day at Truth Tabernacle.

The guest speakers at Ladies Day this year are very dear to my heart - our very own Pastor and Sister White!  Sis. White did an excellent job as she spoke about prayer.  There is nothing more powerful than a praying woman.  Sis. White had Sis. Caroline Rogers and her daughter, Stephanie Barnes, sing the song "If I Have To."  There's no "if" about it - we have to stay on our knees.

I'll stay on my knees if I have to
I'll fight to the bitter end
I will not be defeated
Cause I've put all my trust in Him
So say what you please
I'll stay on my knees
Praying for you… if I have to.

Pastor White's title was "Thank God for the Preacher's Wife."  Such a powerful message!  From the time I was 8 until I was 27, I did not have a pastor's wife, but I have been blessed by many preachers wives who have helped me in my journey.

The Tarazons and I were the last ones out of the building!  So many friends to see and hug and talk to!  From one month old Avaughna Mantooth (I taught her mother, Tara, in Sunday school) to dear Irene Wilkinson (who taught me in Sunday school) and so many in between.

Les and I enjoyed Sunday morning service at Truth Tabernacle, our first since Elder Morton retired.  It is wonderful to see the church in good hands with Bro. and Sis. Tim Lackey.  It's always good to sit with my aunt and uncle, Joyce and Ken Gilstrap - I'm so glad they are part of Truth Tabernacle.  

We didn't get to visit with very many because we had lunch reservations with Kim, Rodney, Lauren and Krysten, so we slipped out before service was completely over.  We met for lunch at Sakura Chaya.  Catching up while watching our chef prepare our meal was a lot of fun.  And we even took a few pictures before hitting the road!  We made it home just in time for Sunday night service in Victory Tabernacle!

These three, right here, mean the world to me!  Love them SO much! (That can be said about the picture above and the picture below!)

Happy Birthday!

Twenty seven years ago your combined weight was less than seven pounds, but you filled the hearts and arms of our entire family!

Happy birthday to the world's best nieces!  Love you to the moon and back!
Aunt Kathy

P.S.  We really need to get some new pictures together.