Music Man Portrait

A few months ago, Lynn and Jamie attended a French Hospital fundraiser and won an original portrait in the silent auction. The artist uses a photo you give her to get started. Danielle and Lacey have just started a music studio (Mini Melodies) and were looking for artwork to hang on the walls. Well, how about a painting of Marian (Lacey) and Amaryllis (Serafina), real-life piano teacher and student, to grace the halls of the new digs?! Ta da. If you'd like to contact the artist: sandra2paint@gmail.com

Here's the photo, which Danielle took!

New Year's Day 2016: Surfliner to the SB Zoo

All the Compound dwellers (except Sandy) hopped on the early morning Surfliner to Santa Barbara for a visit to the Zoo! We've done this trip many a time, but never with eleven people! Nothing like an AmDog on the way, some breakfast (we tried East Beach Grill this time, which at a busy time didn't work so well for a large family and was pretty expensive for mediocre food), the zoo, and Enterprise Fish.

The day's photos.

That's about how Jamie looks on a train, too.

Playing "Red Light Green Light" waiting for the shuttle.

Palm Desert

Lynn and Jamie joined Bob and Sandy for a 4-day vacation in Palm Desert. Such a great time! It was pretty cool (never got out of the 60s), but sunny and delightful. We enjoyed movies, libations, card playing, walking around, and general merriment. The "biggy" was visiting their zoo. And what to our wondering eyes should appear (at the zoo) - a very significant G-scale train layout! The zoo was layed out in such a manner as to be able to get many photos that looked like they were shot in the wild.

Palm Desert photos.

Our room looked out over the golf course.

Christmas Day 2015

With coffee in hand, the fun began at a very reasonable hour this year. We first did the Compound stocking stuffers and then headed to Nipomo for Christmas Breakfast and a gift exchange there. Going to Nipomo for breakfast was a bit new, and we loved it. Then back to the Compound for the Santa gifts and settling in to play with all the new stuff. The next day the boys went to Biddle Park to fly some of the new contraptions and burn off a little energy.

Christmas Day photos.
Biddle Park photos the next day.

Christmas Eve 2015

A rare photo of all eleven Compound inhabitants. Too bad it was a stand-in dog and not Sandy. There were a couple photo booths set up at the Grace5Cities Christmas Eve service. That was a good idea!

Gingerbread Houses

It was something of a Santa's Workshop Day.

All the photos.

Cookies and Carols

Tracy and Lynn decided it was time for a Christmas Party. This one would be simple, invite everyone, have holiday cookies and libations, and encourage folks to sing and play Christmas Carols at their heart's content. So we did, and it was the best time. The sounds of the singing and accompaniment was the best! Thanks to Lacey, her Dad, Danielle, Jackie, Natalia, John, and those I've forgotten who tickled the ivories, brass, or strings as the case may be, and thanks to everyone for pitching in their voices and sense of fun. We're thinking again next year...