Dave and Joan Muran

Sofia

2011-06-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

Cindy holding sofia now. Looks like I am loosing this game. I think we are plying with marked cards. The cards belongs to Cindy and Andy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Visiting Chicago

2011-06-26T18:59:00.001-07:00

Andy holding Sofia in the moby while we play rommy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Chicago

2011-06-26T18:54:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Spring Updates

2011-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

As Grandparents, it seems our life and activities revolve around the grandchildren.

And yes we are grandparents again.

Cindy and Andy had their little Sofia born on May 22 in Chicago. In fact Joan is back in Chicago now seeing her new grand daughter for the first time. I will also go back there at the end of this month, too. Isn't she cute in her first dress.

It has been easier to enjoy our other two grandsons, Collin and Evan, since they live near by. We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo to celebrate Evans 1 year birthday in March. We rode the train around the park, too.

Then back home to enjoy Evan's first birthday cake. I think Winston wants some too.

Then it was Collin's Birthday a month latter. Collin is now 3 years old. Watch out Collin, I think Evan wants your cake, too. He always wants what you have. But you are a good big brother to him.

We celebrated Easter at Melanie's and Will's house.

At the end of April, we all hiked up the back side of Mount Boney, the mountains near us, to Sandstone Peak. That is at 3,111 feet. which is the tallest peak in the Santa Monica Mountains National Park.

From the top you can see all over Southern California. The picture bellow is looking down on the small valley we live in and the Topa Topa mountains in the far distance.

And finally just last weekend, we had the joy of having Collin over to spend the night at Mormor's and Grandpa's house, his first night away from home.

We had a big surprise for him, too. We took him to the local Performing Arts Center to see a production with Elmo and the Sesame Street gang.

His first time in an actual theater and he sat and enjoyed the whole event.

Then of course we went out for Pizza and desert afterwards, too.

Who doesn't like that cherry on top.

Finally an Update with Christmas 2010

2011-01-31T21:54:00.000-08:00

I must get better at updating my blog. 6 months, really.
Most have read our Christmas letter and seen lots of our photos from last year.
So now what has happened this last month.
Lots more photos and of course Christmas.
December is always so busy with Christmas lights and decorations.

Joan's parents came from Denmark early in December and spent a lot of time with their great grandchildren, Collin and Evan.

We celebrated Melanie's Birthday at their new home in Anaheim.

We had some really nice weather and spent some time outside enjoying it. Collin is riding one of the girls hot wheels from when they were our little girls.

Collin and Evan love to take their baths together. We had to hurry for Christmas night.

Collin always grabs the camera and takes pictures himself, He actually took this picture of Joan and I.

Are we ready yet. This is my present.. I know it.

Grandpa, can you help me.

Evan loves Uncle Bill.

Looks like more grand kids on the way.

We were a total of 19 at one time to really celebrate Christmas.

Can't get any more fun than that.

First Time to Hawaii

2010-07-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Joan and I, after all these years, we finally made it to Hawaii.
It was Joan's cousin from Denmark that decided on a sunset beach wedding on Maui, So Joan and I decided to join them for their big event as no other family were going.

We first spent 2 days on Waikiki Beach. How beautiful was that.

A picture of Joan and I on our first night on the beach at Waikiki.

Every night there were free shows in the plazas and beach parks with Hawaiian music and hula dancing.

We were amazed at all the flowering plants. All the trees had flowers, too. We visited the Dole pineapple plantation and saw all the amazing plant life on the islands.

We then traveled to Maui for three days and the wedding. We stayed at an older more traditional island resort right on the beach with palm trees everywhere.

The sunset wedding was so beautiful. That is Helle, Nik and Matilda, Helle's daughter.

Back at Waikiki, we drove up the east coast for Island views that were breath taking.

And of course what would a tropical vacation be without the umbrella drinks along the beach. We found a favorite place to visit on our final days there.

Our final night in paradise.
Aloha to all.

We will return.

Make sure to click on our Picasa photo album web site on the right to see all our pictures from the trip.

Winter came and now its Spring

2010-04-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Joan traveled back to Denmark again this Winter to visit Family and Friends. The snow was thick and cold, too.

Only got one picture of Joan together with BedsteMor and BedsteFar.

She is in the middle with a big smile and a broom.

Oooops. Sorry that's a snowman.

Back in California Spring came one day in March at the beach, and Joan loves to take pictures of Collin playing. He is so big now and he knows when MorMor has her camera out.

The big event this Spring was the birth of our newest family member. Our new Grandson Evan David Barker, Born on March 26, 2010. Got to love that middle name. We have lots of March birthdays now.
The Proud parents Brian and Elisa.
MorMor is happy holding her new grandson on the day he was born.

Collin meets his baby brother for the first time. I think he was prepared for the new baby and now he is big brother in many ways.

Nearly the whole family got together at Brian and Elisa's right after baby Evan came home from the hospital.

Grandpa and Mormor sit together with our two grandsons. It is fun being Grandpa now.

Melanie and Will and the rest of us stand in front of Melanie and Will's new home.

It is not easy to buy a home these days, but they found their perfect home in Anaheim.
That's it for now from the Muran Family. Please visit our two photo album web sites by clicking on the links on the right and see all the pictures.

Disneyland with the whole Family

2009-11-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

Brian surprised Elisa for her 30th birthday with a trip to Disneyland with the whole family. She was surprised for sure and we all had a chance to be with Collin and his first time to Disneyland.

Collin's favorite ride was the Tea Cups. He liked Dumbo, too, especially making him fly up and down.

Brian's parents, Tom and Debbie were there as well as his two sisters, and then our family with Mel and Will and Dan, too.

The Castle and the entire park was all decorated in Christmas lights. It was beautiful.

You can see all the pictures by clicking on the link to the right to our Picasa Photo Album Web site.

Things We did this Fall

2009-11-13T22:18:00.000-08:00

Joan has a helper in the kitchen with the dishes. I think he has more fun with the water than washing the dishes. Bedstemor and Bedstefar were here in August.

Collin has fun talking to Bedstefar. I am this big you know.

Joan's Cousin Helle and her family were here for a visit. We went for a walk in the National Park near by. Can you see our home from here.

Rain is such a surprise to us in California and when it comes, we go out and enjoy it.
Jumping in puddles and getting wet. Can't get any better.

Collin learns the fine art of baking... at least what us men can do best.

At our favorite Pumpkin Patch. We have been going to this same pumpkin patch for more than 20 years. Started there when Dan was Collin' s age.

We had our first Halloween away from our home at Brian and Elisa's this year. Collin was a little chicken.
At 18 months, Collin quickly learned how to take his basket up to a door, knock on the door, and hold out the basket for candy.
And then run to the next door with Mormor and Grandpa.

Then Collin helped celebrate Elisa's birthday.

Yummy yummy cake.

You can see all our pictures this fall by clicking on the link on the right to our Picasa or Costco Photo Album web sites.

What we did this Summer

2009-09-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

We really had nothing big planned for this Summer 2009, but we were sure busy enough.
As you saw in our previous blog, we had a great time in Mallorca off the coast of Spain in the lovely Mediterranean Sea. The water was warm and the beaches were full of tourists. But with Joan's brother John and Karen, we had the best tour of the Island. It was fun every day until late in the night.

We spent a week in our time share condo in San Clemente and the kids were able to join us on and off. It was fun having Collin there too. Our grand son sure made it special this year.

But best of all, we pulled out the old tent trailer for yet another summer of camping. First we went local to a near by camp on the beach where we had the entire family including Collin for the first time. Just one night only but it was so much fun to actually have everyone there, the entire family at one time doing our favorite thing, camping. Campfire and smores.

Then the next day we took the trailer all the way up to South Lake Tahoe and camped there for the 6 days together with Cindy & Andy, Melanie & Will and Dan. And then our other two girls, the twins Brandi and Lacey and their men and baby, too, came up for one night. That is 11 of us in one camp with the trailer and two tents. One big happy family we are. Well so much for our quiet Summer with no wedding to host.
Remember to visit our two photo album sites, Picasa or Costco, by clicking on the links to the right of this blog and you can see all the pictures for our Summer 2009.

Hello to all from Mallorca, Spain.

2009-06-22T02:45:00.000-07:00

Joan and I arrived on Friday and we have been visiting with Joan's brother and sister-in-law Karen. They live in Palma for now, which is a beach resort town on this beautiful Spanish Island in the blue Mediterainian Sea.

I thought I would send a few pictures. We will be here for another week so maybe I will get a chance to update again later.

We also celebrated Joan's birthday. I wont say how many years, though.

Love to all from Joan and Dave.

Picking Blueberries at the Farm

2009-06-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

We went with Brian, Elisa and Collin to a farm nearby to pick our own blueberries.

Collin has fun wherever we go.

And loves all the new experiences and tastes, too.

And Collin loves strawberries, too.

See all our recent photos by clicking on the Picasa or Costco photo album websites on the right.

Memorial Day 2009 & other Events

2009-05-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

We were invited to Elisa's and Brian's for a Memorial Day Barbecue. What better way to spend the day with family and of course with Collin. Melanie, Will and Dan was there as well.

But we missed Cindy and Andy.

We played games, had good food and then went for a walk at the beach.

You can visit our Picasa Photo Album site by clicking on the link on the right and see all our home photos.

Family Trip to Chicago

2009-05-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

When family is spread out all over the country, it is wonderful when we can all get together for a weekend. We have been lucky this year so far and we were able to all get together again.

This time we traveled together to Chicago to visit Cindy and Andy. That is all except Brian and Will. We missed having them along this time.

We had Collin with us and of course he had to push his own suitcase. Collin had the best seat in the plan... Mommies lap of course. Then we invaded Cindy and Andy's Condo and all stayed there together and slept on sofas and an air mattress. All in the fun.

We brought the first warm weather of the year to Chicago for a day at the Zoo. And of course it rained after that and chilled down again. We took Collin to a children's museum where he was able to run around and touch and play with everything. Great place for kids.

Cindy and Andy cooked all the meals for us except for Sunday breakfast. We had barbecues on their deck and fine meals, too, together with Andy's parents, Mike and Pat.

Parker, their dog, was wonderful with Collin and he put up with all of us quite fine. Walks always make him happy.

You can see all the photos from our trip by clicking on our Picasa Photo Album link on the right.

Birthday Parties

2009-04-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

We had some recent parties to celebrate birthdays.

We celebrated Dan's 25th birthday. We barbecued steaks for his party. They turned out great.

Then last weekend we celebrated Collin's 1 year birthday. Elisa and Brian used our backyard and invited family and friends over for barbecued burgers and dogs. Can't go wrong with that.

And then it was Collin's first cake. Lots of first for his party.

Already in the cooler with Dad looking for a beer.

You can go to our Picasa web site using the link on the right to see all the photos and more. And Brian & Elisa's Blog Site has more to see as well.

Winter Update

2009-02-21T17:13:00.000-08:00

So . . . what have we been doing?

Joan traveled back to Denmark in January to visit her parents, Mona and Peter. It was off and on snow and rain. But cold. She was there for nearly 3 weeks.

As for me, I had an emergency operation while Joan was away that put me in the hospital for a few days. Not life threatening, though. Something called diverticulitis and ruptured colon. All the kids were there to help me and I got to stay at Elisa and Brian's until Joan returned home. Had fun with Collin all those days. I am slowly recovering, although back to work full time. I will have a second surgery at the end of March to put me back together again.

This video is of Collin having fun with the balloons I got while in the hospital.
I want to thank everyone for their love and support.

Joan's Cousin Helle and Matilda and her friend Nikoli flew over from Denmark for a weeks visit, too.

So not much else going on. Just the winter blues.

Lots of fun to see all the other blog sites.

Don't forget to visit our photo websites using the links on the right to see all our latest home photos.

The Holidays

2009-01-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas with Collin.

He made it special for the whole family.

Even Great Uncle Bill had fun with Collin.

Special, too was that we were all there at the same time. Hard to do with travel and in-laws.

So this was something special and happy for us all.

Our final picture of us all on the Beach at Brian and Elisa's the day after Christmas.

We wish you all a Happy New Year.

Make sure to click on the links on the right to visit our 2 photo album web sites at Cosco and Picasa to see our other photo albums including Brians Birthday Party. You can download or send out for prints from the web sites.

At the pumpkin patch with Collin

2008-10-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, we visited our old pumpkin patch is Santa Paula where Joan and I every year took the children to pick out their pumpkins. That started more than 25 years ago. We have pictures like this one with each riding their first pumpkins. Now it is the grandchildren's turn and we had fun going there again.

Collin and Mommy on a small pumpkin. The one on the right was the one we chose to take home.
Collin was here.

Go to our photo websites using the links on the right to see all the pictures from the pumpkin patch.

Collin's Baptismal

2008-10-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

Our Grandson Collin Thomas Barker was baptized in the Catholic Church on September 20, 2008.

Elisa's brother and Collin's Uncle Daniel was the Godfather and Brian's sister and Collin's Aunt April was the Godmother.

We all got to be there for him, and then we celebrated afterward at Brian and Elisa's home in Oxnard, California.

Summer Events 2008

2008-09-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

. . . . Hi Everyone;

I guess it is time for Joan and I to get started on our Blog site.

It has been a very eventful Summer this year with our first grandson, Collin, born on April 21st.

Then moving Elisa, Brian and Collin back home to California, where they now live nearby in Oxnard.

And then, of course, Cindy and Andy's wedding on August 9th.