The End

The End

by Jill

It all seems so odd. Are they really leaving? Is this really the end of an era? Indeed it is true. This week we had our last dinner together as a California family. ShaSha and Papa will be driving out of California early Sunday morning. The last few days have been filled with sorting, packing and tossing. I will miss so many things; the spontaneous get togethers, the holiday meals, overnights, Easter shopping, sitting in the back yard chatting…so many things. But there is much to look forward to; exploring a new house with a much larger yard, cross country trips, visiting east coast places…and so much more.

Safe travels to you Papa & ShaSha. There will always be a bed here for you. Come visit often. You can even use us as a stop over on your way to the Big Island. Love you bunches!!

Toothless

Toothless

by Jill

This afternoon BigZabba pulled out her own tooth. Her front tooth had been loose for several weeks and it was driving her a bit crazy. Today was the big day.

Later in the day LittleZabba came to me and asked for some string. For what? She said, “Oh, for some business.” I thought she and her sister were working on Valentine gifts and needed string for a necklace. So I got her some yarn and she said it would work well. A few minutes later BigZabba came to me and asked for some help. See she was having some trouble tying the yarn to her other loose tooth. She wanted to surprise her Daddy by pulling out her other tooth. Her plan was to tie one end to her tooth and the other end to the door, then close the door. Her other tooth isn’t quite ready to come out so she was disappointed that her plan didn’t work out.

Race Results

Race Results

by Jill

Yesterday my friend and I ran the Surf City Half Marathon. We were so lucky to miss the rain. It was a beautiful day. We started out with lofty goals, which after the first 3 miles I realized I would never make the 2 hour goal. I did hope to finish faster than my previous race, and I did it! I was able to cut 4 minutes from my time. So I am proud. We did well.

Win One, Give One

Win One, Give One

by Jill

After reading all the comments it is too hard to only have one winner. So, we decided to pick 3. Using random.org here are the 3 winners:

Comment #61 Kelsey MacDonald
Comment #75 Lisa Brunner
Comment #34 Twila

Congratulations! Make sure to check your email for a note regarding your prize.

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Update – Contest is now closed. A winner will be posted soon. Thank you to everyone for participating. It was great to read through all the comments. You guys are super generous with who you want to share a blanket with.
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Welcome AllyZabba fans! Welcome to the Win One, Give One Giveaway!

This giveaway has two parts. First we want to know which style of large blanket you would like to win. The second part is we want to know who you would like to give a blanket to and why.

In this giveaway everyone wins! You get your blanket of choice and you get to make someone’s day much brighter by getting a surprise gift!

Leave a comment here and our winner will be chosen on Friday. Good luck to everyone!

fine print – giveaway is for large size blanket only, including the cuddlezabba. only one entry per household. contest ends at 6pm PST, Jan. 29. winner will be notified by email. if the winner does not reply within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

World Vision Half

World Vision Half

by Jill

Last Sunday was the race for World Vision. My running buddy and I got up super early and made our way down to Venice. We made a tentative goal to try to finish the race in 2 hours 15 minutes. We both thought that was not a very realistic goal, but we thought we would give it a try. At 7:13am we were off. The course was very straight forward, a simple out and back. It really wasn’t very scenic…running down Venice Blvd. to the 10 freeway, turn around and come back. We started out entirely too fast, which tends to happen with race day adrenaline and all, but by mile 6 we were both feeling like the race should be over. My running friend, who is the ever present cheerleader, encouraged us along the remaining 7 miles. We finished strong, at only one minute over our goal time.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to World Vision for the race. I am so grateful that I was able to do something fun as well as support a very worthy cause. Many children and families in Africa will now have clean water thanks to your support.

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Family

Family

by Jill

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Family is such a precious part of life. I love spending time with my family. We could be cleaning the garage, cooking, shopping, or eating…we love being together. The past month has brought change in my family, with the death of my grandmother, and the next few weeks will bring even more change with my parents moving to Virginia. The days of spontaneous lunch dates, overnights, and shopping trips will be done. Our time together will have to be planned and scheduled. I can’t even imagine what this will be like for us. I have never lived more than 50 miles from my parents, and now they will be 2,649 miles away from me. Good thing we have a good phone plan!!

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Change doesn’t have to be bad. This move will bring about new opportunities for my parents as well as new vacation ideas for us. We will be able to take the kids to Williamsburg, Washington, D.C., Jamestown..and many other East Coast places. We may even take our first cross country road trip. If BigZabba has her way she will convince Papa & ShaSha to get horses or chickens!

In the next few weeks they will be packing up their house, and beginning the next season of life. Things will be different, but no matter what we will still be family.