Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Presidental mob-scene

Monday... President's Day... what better way to celebrate than a trip to the library of one of our greatest? Air Force One, presidential limo, beautiful gardens, views, and special activities for the kids... sounds like fun, right? Well, it would have been if the place hadn't been mobbed! It seemed to me like an obscure place to go, but apparently thousands of other families had the same great idea. It was so busy that the only available parking was over a mile away at the bottom of the steep mountain drive. Needless to say, we decided not to take that hike and ended up at the local ice cream shop instead! So, we still got a cute picture, but not quite the cultural experience I had envisioned. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately!)

Friday, February 15, 2008

Tax time!

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before that I’m a (mostly-retired) Certified Public Accountant (exciting profession, I know!). This time of year, of course, is traditionally a pretty crazy one for us CPAs. In the past I’m managed to avoid much of the tax crunch because I’ve never worked in a tax department. However, this year I’ve volunteered to spend a dozen hours or so each week working from home for an organization that prepares returns for pastors and missionaries. I’m not a tax expert, but my knowledge has grown exponentially over the past few weeks, and I’m actually starting to feel like I know what I’m doing! Unfortunately, the time I’m spending with 1040s and W-2s is time that I had previously spent with you, my bloggy friends. I still plan on keeping you all up-to-date as much as possible, but please forgive a couple of months of what will likely be photo-heavy and deep-thought-light blogging!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Well intentioned



I had resolved not to post any more photos from Disneyland for a while. Dan and I had also resolved to take the children to the local Tet festival to celebrate the Lunar New Year, in honor of Reagan's heritage. However, a most-appropriate backdrop for Minnie and my sweet little asian baby, coupled with a house-bound trio of sick children on the day of the festival, have defeated all of my good intentions. So, here you are stuck again viewing Disney pictures with no hint of the authentic celebration I was planning on telling you all about! Maybe next year...

Friday, February 01, 2008

Done!

A short interview with a very sweet, tootsie-pop-bearing judge and several hundred pictures later, the re-finalization of Reagan's was finally completed this afternoon! Though the legal implications were far less than that of the Giving and Receiving ceremony in Vietnam, it was surprizingly emotional. The judge, clerk and attorney general (who played photographer for us) seemed genuinely excited for us and pleased to help make it a very special moment. But the quote of the day came from Parker who understood that the ceremony would legally change Reagan's name. As we were walking out of the courtroom he asked me, "what is her name now mama?" I told him, and he said "oh, that's a nice name!" Though we've been calling her that for over a year now, it's a relief to know that we have the approval of the state of California and the three-year-old!