This Joy’s Life

We are on a family vacay in Laguna Beach and I wanted to share some of the pictures I’ve been taking in all my relaxed free time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I’ve enjoyed taking them in this sunny, warm, beachy, seaside town!

House on the cliffs overlooking Dana Point Harbor

Caution!

Citrus inspired tree

Public Restroom tile work

seaweed

swim at your own risk

surf's up!

who needs sunglasses?

what's that?

splish, splash, more fun than a bath!

these waves are makin me nervous

the ladies' man

As promised, here are some pictures to give you a feel for the traditional Indian wedding I attended at a Sheraton in the cornfields of Iowa this past weekend. It was a full on two-day affair. The fan-fare, outfits and colors were amazing, but, of course, the best part was seeing my friend marry his beautiful bride:

Fun times at the Sheraton!

The happy couple at the Sangeet

Kevin, the best man, Suzanne and Sylvia

Me dressed in my Salwar Kameez for the Sangeet

Sylvia, Suzanne, Me, & Jessica decorating the groom's car

The groom in his wedding day garb

Sylvia, Kevin & Yashan

Mother of the groom, Chetna

The groom's father, Praful

The groom's sister, Ami

A ceremonial coconut

Surrounded by ceremony

Man & Wife

Thank goodness we're finally married!

I'll dance to that!

Here are two quick examples of the absurdity of the “conversations” between my daughter and I these days. They make sense to no one but us; Clara more so than myself, I’m afraid:

Clara: These toys are monkeys.

Me: Maybe you’re a monkey.

Clara: Yes, BUT those are my books!

****

Clara: See the sun, mommy!

Me: Oh, yeah, I do see the sun.

Clara: Because you can’t go up in the sky anymore.

You can see she’s figuring out how to use her conjunctions, though it seems the cause and effect aspect of it is not quite yet within her grasp.

I know you can’t beleive it, but here are some new pictures of Clara.  She and Jack are “playing” soccer now on Thursday mornings.  It’s pretty darn cute.  See for yourself:

Clara: Look! I cleanin!

Me: That’s a great job your doing. I’m going to make you the Royal Duster.

Clara: Oh boy! That sounds like fun. Dad-dee, we’re going on a Roller Coaster!

*Thanks to Lorie on FB for bringing this to my attention.

On Tuesday we got to the Atlanta airport an hour early so that we could quickly meet Nicole and Brayden for lunch. Brayden has just turned 1, which is amazing to me. Tempus fugit. Them Latins said it best!

NicoleBrayden:
Clara and Nicole:
Choy:

Another holiday video for your enjoyment. This is Clara and Jack doing their best “Chubby Checker” to a VERY ’70s version of Jingle Bells a couple days before Christmas:

Just some pictures for the family (and whomever else is interested) of Clara in her Christmas dress:

Have I mentioned I’m not really a fan of the snow? Which is a shame because I used to love it as a kid, especially since we rarely saw any in Georgia. But, as an adult, you realize snow = lots of work; Lot’s of wet clothes to be washed, floors to be mopped up, effort to layer everything on, shoveling to get yourself and the cars out of the driveway, etc. Ba-Humbug to Snow!

Still, it does make everything, even garbage cans on the curb, look prettier. Here’s the ice sculpture the Snow made for me with my hanging flower pot out on the front porch:

And our new split rail fence took on a real photographic quality blanketed in snow:

I took those as Chad, Clara and I walked over to JackGwen’s house just to get out in the fresh air and for a change of pace after being couped up for so many days. Got a couple fun pictures of Jack doing his best “Shiloh Jolie-Pitt” and Chad doing his best “Jolly Ol’ Elf”: