On Thursday afternoon Monica, her Mom and the kids arrived for the weekend. I hurried home from work and was greeted with big hugs, kisses and freshly picked flowers (by Margie) on my bed. Friday morning Aunt Sara took them to Disneyland to begin celebrating Abby's 13th birthday. Timothy & Mom arrived later that afternoon and we all got together for a wonderful birthday dinner. Abby picked out everything on the menu and we had a great time eating, opening gifts, and just enjoying being together. Saturday morning Sara, Mom & Margarita took off for a day of sightseeing in Hollywood. Tim & Monica spent a "kid free" Valentine's day and Grace, Jon and I took the kids down to Dana Point. After grabbing a quick bite at In-n-Out we arrived at the Ocean Institute. The kids got to see all kinds of fish, jelly fish and sting rays. Margie and Aunt Grace got to pet the star fish. After finding all the things on the scavenger hunt list we were off to see Heather. Her dad is one of the caretakers of the mast ships Pioneer and Spirit of Dana Point. These are replicas of old pirate schooners. It was fun to explore the deck and then go below and see all the little nooks and crannys. The kids loved it. After that we met up with Tim & Monica at the circle in old town Orange where we ate dinner at Felix's Cuban restaurant... mmmm yummy! Sunday I was up bright and early with Christine to set up the hospitality refreshments at church. We went to the third service and the nine of us filled up a whole row =) After the service we stayed for a lunch and special speaker Kelly Green who is a missionary in Colombia. It was encouraging and uplifting to hear what the Lord is doing. Family weekends are always fun but sad when they have to end. The rainy gloomy Monday matched my mood. You can see more pictures of the weekend by clicking here!