Shoe Time

We got out Anna's shoes for winter and Luke fell in love with the orange flowered Converse All Stars. He had to have them on. I had bought them at a second hand store awhile ago, not sure if Anna would fit them this winter, but she does. And even if she doesn't wear them out, the flamboyant Leah and I'm guessing the darling Luke will finish them off!


See my big flowered feet?

Big stuff. Really big stuff. Probably double the size they need to be!

When he was done he had a hard time figuring out how to get them off. They tied all the way up his ankle and he had no idea why the normal 'kick them off' thing wasn't working.

More Dirt

Dirt is pretty boring to look at. And pretty messy to have en masse in piles in front of your house with the wind blowing it everywhere... including into the house. You can't really tell, but this is the final product of the front yard and hopefully the grass seeds laying in the carefully covered dirt and topsoil and fertilizer will grow in the next couple of weeks not only to encourage us for all the dirt we (mostly Derek) have moved around, but also to make the front of the house look more welcoming, cared for and less, well, dirty!

The Kids and Their New Cousin

When we went to the hospital to visit baby Ethan Kenny was able to get some pictures of the kids holding him. They all really loved it. Check out my sister's blog (on the side, the Johnson Family) for pictures of them holding him. I think they're all adorable!

Night Shots

As the sun set it showed red through the smoky clouds. The fire was still raging pretty strong at sunset. I didn't use my tripod so the pictures that I took a few minutes ago in the dark are fuzzy, but they are the western edges of some of the fires, located in the same general place as where the smoke billows were showing from our porch earlier in the day. They've extended the red flag warning (high fire danger, ususally due to low humidity and strong winds) until at least tomorrow night.

Earthquakes and Fires

We were welcomed back to California by a pretty strong earthquake this summer; no real damage done, just some scared kids. We are also getting treated to what seems now to be an annual very active fire season. The Santa Ana's are back (strong winds, warm weather) and humidity is very low. Gusts up to 60-70 miles per hour race through the canyons and passes here. Our porch furniture relocates to the south side of our back yard, the kids plastic two level play structure fell down and we no longer wonder why the tree in the backyard tilts so severely to the south!

The biggest fire burning tonight can be seen from our front porch. There are actually 2 or 3 fires off in that direction and in the pictures below you can see some of the smoke billows. I don't remember ever hearing of so many houses being lost. The wind is moving those hot embers so quickly that the fire crews were overwhelmed earlier today. The winds have laid down a little tonight and the crews are furiously working to put down lines and defenses, but for the most part the fire is totally uncontained so if the winds pick up again, there will be very little to stop it from taking more houses.

When my mom and sisters were out in September we stayed at a hotel in Yorba Linda right off the 91 freeway. A strip mall a few hundred feet away from that hotel was on fire earlier this afternoon, and was completely destroyed. I'm sure there is other damage in the area, which is less than 20 miles from us. The wind is blowing the fire and smoke away from us so we don't have any side effects of poor air quality, ash snow or even a smoky smell in the air, but a few miles away it is a totally different story.

The big plume in the middle of this picture is the Yorba Linda fire, the one to the right is the Brea fire.

He's Here!

Kenny and Kathy welcomed their first baby, a beautiful (and handsome) little boy. Ethan James Johnson arrived yesterday, November 12th around 8:30 p.m.. He's a big bundle of joy (normal for our family, though) weighing in at 8lb 11oz and a long 21 inches. He has some long thin hair in places and it varies in shade from darker to light. He is absolutely adorable. Kathy is tired and sore, but on the way to recovery!

We were able to spend a little time with him today. I didn't see him open his eyes, but he did a little with some others. Luke adored him. From the beginning he wanted to hold him and love on him. I helped him hold Ethan and everytime I asked if he was all done, he'd say, 'No, more!'.

Congratulations, Kenny and Kathy!

After

I know, it is just dirt. But we love 'just dirt'. It is sooo much better than 'old sod filled with weeds' and it is also one step closer to 'green grass'! This is what our yard looks like now, after all of Derek's hard work. Next weekend = grass seeding!