California pictures......finally!

As I wrote about last week - we went to California to see Nicia & Joe over the school's fall break. The entire week was really a treasure for us. At 16 months, Alyssa was just so cute! Here she had put her pajama shorts on her head:

Time for prayer!

On one of our first days there, Dave had a meeting in Cambria, an hour north of Santa Maria. We all went with him and headed to a beautiful beach while Dave got to have fun giving his presentation. :) Nicia and Emily had a blast in the water, going in a little bit, then running away from the water as it came in. Nicia was such a great sister, getting in and actually playing with Emily. She loved it!

Emily finally got totally soaked:

Holding what she called her "cheese"

Dave came after his presentation and spent more time on the beach with us.

Here's a cute picture of Nicia & Joe that day:

Saturday we went to Avila Farm where they had all kinds of things for fall, pumpkins, petting zoo, hay maze, hay ride (we skipped since we'd already been on one), and yummy fudge.

We took lots of pictures here, but they all had shadows. Sorry!

I love Alyssa's face here....

Of course we had to go geocaching while we were there. There were some we never found, but there was one we had to kind of go on a little hike to get. We found it, and it even had a California geocoin in it, which apparently, is kind of rare!

While looking for one of the geocaches in a wooded area, we came across this really cool labyrinth, which if I remember right, was a replica of one in Europe. It was huge! We had a lot of fun finding our way to the middle - very cool.

Alyssa was the smart one - she just climbed over the rocks to get to the center

"Hey Grandma, what's taking you so long? Just climb over the rocks!"

Another day we got up early and went to a beach that was known for its sand dollars. We were only able to find a few small ones, but we had a great morning there, playing in the water and sand, and Dave was able to do a lot of metal detecting too:

Notice the car in the background of the picture above. This was a really cool beach - they let us drive right down on the sand, not far from the water's edge!

As I said in my previous post, we were able to see Dave's Dad and Marion on our way home. Emily had a great time playing with her Grandpa:

Here are some pictures of Aunt Emily and Alyssa. Emily was such a good aunt - she played with Alyssa a lot and was so cute looking after her:

Reading Alyssa's new book

Toot! Toot! Here we come!

Just hangin' out on the sand together - precious

Family: Life's Greatest Blessing

California Trip

Hi all,
I've been out of commission with blogging for over two weeks now. We went on vacation to Nicia & Joe's over the school fall break from the 15th-22nd and had an absolutely fantastic time! I haven't been able to get to my pictures, which has been so frustrating, so I've been waiting to blog. But it may be awhile before I get pictures up (left cameras at Dave's parents' house and some pics are on a different hard drive - long story). For now, please see Nicia's blog for pictures! We had a lot of snags on our trip down, making the drive 17 hours (should have been around 12!), but there were good things too, like having lunch with our dear friends, the Nissons, in St. George, and eating Tommy's hamburgers in Barstow. Yum! Emily is such a trooper on the road. Singing and playing travel games with us, reading, working in an activities book, taking a nap, and generally keeping pretty well content.

Alyssa was just the star of the show the whole time - absolutely adorable! Since we skype with them every week, I think Alyssa recognized us pretty well, because she was so good about coming to us when we got there, even though it was really late. I forgot how comforting it is to have a baby snuggle up to you! Aunt Emily loved playing with Alyssa too (we have the cutest picture of them laying on the beach visiting together), and Alyssa's Grandma and Grandpa - well we just enjoyed every minute with everyone!! Joe & Nicia have a darling place there in Santa Maria, and the weather couldn't have been better. I'm a beach fan from my growing up days, so I was right at home with all our trips to the beach. A little colder than southern Ca, but still just as beautiful.

From playing Ticket to Ride & Farkle, to beach trips & searching for sand dollars, to going for walks, shopping (I found some darling outfits for Alyssa!), visiting, geocaching (this is such a fun and cool thing to do), and eating the yummiest food (thanks to Nicia we ate lasagna, apple pie, and chocolate molten lava cake - all homemade!) It was all just wonderful!!

On the way home, we stopped to see Dave's Dad & stepmom (near L.A.) It was good to visit with them. We met them in Granada Hills, the town where Dave went to high school. We got videos of them in front of their houses and church, telling memories. Those are going to be some priceless videos!

It was really a joy to spend time with everyone. Truly, family is what life is all about. Thank you again, Joe & Nicia, for helping to make the week such a great memory for us!! We love you!

Senior Grad Trip to D.C.

The weeks have flown by without any blogging, but I'm trying to get back on track. June 17 we were privileged to take Jordan and Andrew on a senior graduation trip to Washington D.C. for a week. We wanted to see as much as possible while there, so we really kept moving - wore the boys right out, but I think all in all it was an awesome trip! So much to tell and so little time to tell it, but here's small recap:

After arriving in the late afternoon, we started out at the Arlington Cemetery where it was hard to imagine how many people have died throughout the years, in defense of our country's freedom. Over 200,000 service men and women in this cemetery alone - rows and rows of small headstones as far as you could see. We were able to see the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier, a somber must, if you ever go. Sorry these pictures didn't turn out so well.



A neat story: While leaving the cemetery, a gentleman came up and was trying to give us 2 tickets. We explained that we had 4 people, and he said, "just a minute my neice has 2 more tickets." Long story short, these people had 2-day tickets to ride the double-decker open-top tour bus all over D.C. They had used the 1st day and had to leave town and wanted to give us their tickets for the 2nd day ($32/each). We were so excited! As it turned out, the gentleman had been a marine paratrooper in World War II, so it was awesome to talk with him for a little bit and be able to thank someone first hand for what he had done for our country.

Andrew & Jordan with World War II Marine Paratrooper

The next morning we took the double-decker guided bus tour all over D.C. - we all loved it! Even when we had to duck to keep from hitting head-on with tree branches! Definitely a extra unexpected blessing for us.

On top of the double-decker bus - US Capitol in the background

We had arranged to have a staff-led tour of the US Capitol that afternoon - really a once-in-a-life-time experience. Here's the ceiling of the rotunda:

Dave & Kathy inside the Capitol rotunda

The next morning we got up extra early to stand in line for tickets to go to the top of the Washington Memorial, and tour the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where our money is made. Both were really worth the wait!

Washington Memorial with sun directly behind it

Jordan with $1,000,000 in $10 notes (don't get any ideas Jordan!)

We walked to and visited all of the different memorials there - Lincoln, Jefferson, World War II, Vietnam, Korean War, Theodore Roosevelt - all were inspiring, and I can't do justice here to describe my feelings as I read placques and contemplated all the events that have taken place over the years to create and preserve our great country.

Andrew cuddling up to George Mason

Posing with another World War II Vet at the World War II Memorial

These gentleman were so sweet and got teary-eyed as we thanked them

for their contributions to our freedom. A touching experience...

We didn't want to come to D.C. and not see the actual documents that helped make everything happen. The National Archives was another treat. The documents are looking worse for the wear, but the lights are kept dim, and the air is very controlled with anti-pollutants & right temperature to help preserve them as long as possible.



We even made a quick trip to the scene of the crime where Andrew was born - right in D.C.:

(Not sure what that emergency is, Dave) :)

One day we headed south a little ways to tour the National Marine Corps Museum. It was awe-inspiring too, and had a section for each war that had been fought. The displays in the front foyer were life-size and very life-like, even down to the skin on the soldier statues, which looked very real.

Famous flag that was erected by soldiers when they took over Iwo Jima -

notice how tattered it is after just a short time of being flown.

Some fun mixed in with all the sightseeing.....

These two bro's are tight :)

We made sure we went to see the DC temple. It was just as majestic as I remembered from many years ago. We relaxed a little and watched a movie in the visitor's center before heading out to eat at a local place called Booeymonger's - fabulous philly cheesesteak sandwiches and fries! Loved the name - kept saying it after we had left.

On Sunday we visited Dave's old ward in Maryland which was nice. We spent that afternoon in Gettysburg, another somber, but very worthwhile tour.

We're standing on what is called the "high water mark" or Cemetery Ridge where the final hours of the battle were fought. It was near the end of the trip, and you can tell that the boys were all camera'd out!

We're so grateful we had this opportunity to go with Jordan and Andrew to view all these historic sites and feel of the strong patriotism of so many others before us. We owe so much to our forefathers! At church today we sang America the Beautiful and The Star Spangled Banner, and I couldn't help getting teary-eyed during both of them. I love my country and feel very blessed to enjoy so many freedoms in this great land. Thanks for a great trip, guys!