California Trip

Snippets of Our Trip to CA

Celeste, Jonathan, and I took a week's long trip to CA. I wish the whole family could have gone, but we had a good time, anyway. It was so special getting to spend time with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and my brother and his sweet family. It was especially exciting for Celeste since she was able to experience her first airplane ride. Here she is with Jonathan just before boarding the plane.

Since our camera has been out of commission, Celeste was our vacation photographer. She really captured some terrific shots. Below is Half Dome, my favorite mountain in the world. Perhaps it is because it's so unique, or just plain breathtaking, or maybe climbing it when I was fifteen has something to do with it. Whatever the draw, I just love it and never tire of seeing it!

We drove up to Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park (one of my favorite places on earth). We made it there just in time to watch the sun set. Breathtaking. This photo below is the Diving Board (left) and Yosemite Falls in the distance. You may have seen a couple of famous photos of the Diving Board involving people. In the old days, people would do handstands on this outcropping; DO NOT ATTEMPT SUCH FOOLHARDY STUNTS! YOU WILL DIE! As a matter of fact, people have died, whether on accident or on purpose.....it's a 3000 ft plunge to the Valley Floor from Glacier Point. OUCH!

We're the handful of family who made the trip. My Aunt Julia is taking the photo. The back row begins with my sweet sister, Angel, and my wonderful dad. In the front, we have little ol' me, my beautiful Celeste, and my awesome Uncle Andy. If you look real hard, you can see the top of Jonathan's head at the bottom. ;-)

Okay, so I know this is hardly an adequate number of photos to come out of a family reunion vacation, but I still need to go through all of them and label them, etc., etc., etc. I'll try to get to that soon since I have loads of free time with nothing to do. ;-)

Yosemite National Park

"Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created."
Psalm 148:5

Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park

El Capitan

We hiked to Lower Yosemite Falls

We had such a wonderful time visiting with my grandparents, uncles and aunts up at the Skinner Ranch! It was a tremendous blessing to see my grandma, who has been recovering from a stroke. She was weak and frail, but God has been gracious during her recovery. We are so thankful!

We also had the privilege of visiting Yosemite Nation Park where I grew up during sixteen years of my life. It is the most beautiful place on earth and my hearts weeps tears of joy and awe each time I am there. I wish I could have taken more pictures of the wondrous scenery, but it happened to be quite cold while we were there so we didn't do all that we wanted.

I was especially disappointed to have not taken a picture of Half Dome. It's my favorite mountain in Yosemite!  I actually hiked/climbed this mountain when I was fifteen years old. A memory I will never forget!

I love my sweet grandma!

The girls LOVED hanging out with Sugar Babe on the ranch. She was feeling a bit under the weather so they were unable to ride her this time.

Ethan had a great time exploring the ranch and getting really dirty, just as a boy should!

My Uncle Andy is an artist in every sense of the word. He's a gifted musician, a talented artist (drawing), and a very skilled photographer. He truly amazes me! You can see some of his work in the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park! Whenever the family gathers, he pulls out his guitar and we all have a major sing fest! I love it!!! This particular day, he was singing favorite hymns to my grandma.

We picked up this very cute little souvenir for a real bargain while in the park.

After a long day, we had two very tired little girls on our hands.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with this unforgettable vacation filled with love, beauty, music and laughter!

Vacation-Modesto

Visit with the Hess'

After a wonderful visit with Greg's grandparents, we began working our way back down south. We made the short drive from Sacramento to Modesto.....about an hour and a half. In Modesto, we spent time with the Hess family, long time friends of Greg's. In fact, they are really like family! Ron, Patsy, Adam, and Samantha were like a second family to Greg growing up and now they're my family too! We love them so much! They are a really TALL family so it's easy to think that Greg belongs to them! Adam, Greg's best friend in high school, stands at seven feet, two inches. At least, that's how tall he was in high school.....he may have passed that up. Anyway, we had a superb visit with them.

We also spent time with Greg's mom, Judy! I am so upset that we don't have any pictures of Greg with his mom. We ended up running out of memory on our camera, so pics from this segment of our trip are sparse. Greg's mom was able to download all of our pics onto a disk so that we could empty our camera, but that was the last time Greg saw her! Bummer!

At the Hess', we celebrated Ethan's birthday again. It was a wonderful party and we were so grateful for their thoughtfulness! The kids also spent time playing pool and swimming in their pool. They had a blast!

It was wonderful getting to be with Greg's mom. We hung out all over Modesto, revisiting old hangouts. We walked around the mall, went to the park, ate lunch and ended our day at Funworks, a place with tubes and tunnels, go-carts, a golf course, and bumper boats! The kids didn't want to leave Modesto......they just had too much fun!

Well, here are the few pics we have from that visit. The first one is of Sam and me! Didn't I tell you she was TALL!!! ;-)

Sacramento Zoo

More Vacation Pictures

After having a great time at Uncle Gary's, we headed about seven hours north to Greg's grandfather and step grandmother's house in Sacramento. We had a wonderful visit with them. The kids played outside most of the time while the adults spent time catching up. We BBQ'd, played games and visited the Sacramento zoo. It was quite nostalgic being there because that's the zoo I grew up visiting. We also celebrated Ethan's first birthday. He ended up with two birthday parties on the trip. Here are some pics of our two days in Sacramento!

The Beach

Better Late Than Never.....Hermosa Beach

We ended up going to the beach three separate times, so these pics are from each trip. The first day we went, it was kind of cool and windy, so we just walked in the sand and let the kids put their feet in the water. We had a great time and we already miss the beach....and Uncle Gary!

Hermosa Beach...

First day on the beach....

Daddy and the crew...

The girls weren't bothered by the COLD water...

Uncle Gary had fun with Ethan...

Ethan loved the sand...especially eating it!

Seth enjoyed being buried by Gramie...

Hermosa Pier...

A friendly beachcomber took our picture..

Home Sweet Home

Ahhh........Home Sweet Home


After a wonderful, fun-filled vacation, it sure does feel great to be home. We made it in at about midnight last night. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed and being in your own environment after living the vagabond's life for two weeks.

We had an AMAZING time seeing our precious family and friends. We SO appreciated every one's hospitality and love. It's not easy putting up a family of eight, but they did it and did it with love and generosity. Thank you to those who welcomed us into your homes and took such great care of us!

In the next day or two, I will begin posting pics of our trip and writing about some of the highlights (like the beach and Yosemite National Park)! We'll have to weed through them all and pick the best ones. So until next time....

New ticker........It's exciting to be able to delete one ticker and exchange it for a new one. We look forward to meeting this precious baby in January. I'm just about 10 weeks along and this pregnancy has been much different from the others. My morning sickness has been very minimal. I usually feel pretty good in the morning, and then by mid day it starts to creep up and I usually feel sick in the evenings, but still mild compared to what I usually feel. I've only had one bad night so far so I am thankful. I pray that the rest of the pregnancy will be the same and that the sickness will taper off in the coming weeks. God has been so merciful and gracious and I thank you for your prayers!

Having a Blast

Wow.....I can't believe that this is the first time I've had the chance to sit down and write. We have had such a great time so far and have been kept quite busy.

Yesterday, we arrived at my brother Jason's house in Sonora, CA. It's absolutely beautiful up here and we're so enjoying our time with Jason and his family.

Our first stop was Redondo Beach to see Uncle Gary. My mom flew in and we picked her up from the airport. We had a BLAST at Uncle Gary's! We spent three days at the beach where pretty much all of us left with sunburns! I'm still waiting for mine to turn into a tan! ;-) The ocean was amazing and it was so hard to drive away from the coast. I understand why people pay the money they do to live near the ocean..........I would too if we could afford it!

We also had a sweet time with Greg's grandparent's and our close friends, the Hess'. We had the opportunity to take the kids to the Sacramento Zoo, and they enjoyed hours of swim time in the Hess' pool. The kids have been surprisingly wonderful on this trip. All the little ones have adjusted well to all of the changes and have had great attitudes and manners. Hopefully, they'll maintain this throughout the remainder of the trip. Ethan is the only one who has a meltdown every time we get back in the car. I guess I can't blame him!

Shortly after arriving at Jason's yesterday, we headed up to Mariposa to see my grandma. We're going up there again later in the week, but my dad and grandpa wanted the whole family to gather while my parents were still in town. It was so special seeing my grandma and the rest of my family. We all enjoyed a huge meal and just spent time catching up with everyone. My Uncle got a beautiful photo of everyone that was there. I'll have him email it to me so I can post it later.

Well, that's all for now........I can't wait until I'm able to post pictures of the trip.......probably not until we get home. We miss all of our dear San Antonio family and thank you for your prayers while we're away. Oh yeah, I have not been too sick at all. I'm feeling a bit yucky in the evening, but NOTHING compared to how I normally feel. I am praising God every day for His mercy and grace and thank you all specifically for praying for my morning sickness while I'm away!

Until next time..........

Family Udates

Grandma

I am very happy to report that my grandmother is resting comfortably at HOME! She is already improving wonderfully from her stroke. She can walk with some help and her speech has improved as well. I was able to speak with her very briefly yesterday and it sounded like Grandma, but different! Her speech was a bit labored and slurred, but I know she is improving each day! God has been so merciful and gracious and we are so thankful for His love and comfort! My family thanks each of you who have been lifting them up in prayer. They have felt the prayers and ask that you would continue prayer for healing and strength.

Pregnancy

Well, morning sickness is slowly creeping upon me. I have been so thankful for each day I've had with minimal sickness. I'm still praying and hoping that this pregnancy will not be as bad, but also preparing myself for the worst. Mainly, I'm just tired and have that slight "off" feeling so far. My sense of smell has heightened a bit and my saliva glands are starting to misbehave, but still holding strong. Please pray for a more tolerable pregnancy and pray for God's mercy and strength to cover me throughout the pregnancy. I'm so thankful for this new life being carefully knit inside of me and would not change a thing, even knowing what I may be in for! I am 7 weeks and 2 days along......just 33 weeks to go! Wow, that sounds like a long time!  ....sigh....

Trip

My goodness!  Just five days until we are CA bound! We are so excited, but I have to admit that I am absolutely dreading all the packing I have to do for our family! I am slowly mentally preparing and trying to write things down so I won't forget anything important. I'm sure I will forget something, being that I get serious "pregnant brain", which seems to get worse with each pregnancy! Today, I will unearth all of the suitcases and lay them out in my room. Each day I will add a few things to each suitcase so I won't have to rush at the last minute. We'll see how it all turns out!

I guess that's all the updating for now. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

We're Goin' Back to Cali, Cali.....

A Much Needed Vacation Coming Soon


We are eagerly counting down the days until we return to our homeland. Although we have grown to love Texas, my heart is still in CA. What can I say, I'm a CA girl and always will be. If you can get past the liberal domination, the traffic, and the silly wanna-be-laws like "no spanking your children", it's really a beautiful place.

The mountains, the beaches and the desert (if you like the desert) are at your beck and call. There is such a spiritual awe when you're standing at the edge of the ocean, watching the waves come rolling in over your feet. Or smelling the fresh aroma of the tall pine trees as you're hiking through the mountains of Yosemite National Park. My heart is welling up with joy as I think of the beauty of where I was born and raised. And, to top it all off, I will be reunited with family, whom I miss so very much!

Here's what our itinerary will look like:

Saturday, May 26th we begin our long journey through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and into CA. We will probably drive straight through, mostly because that's what we've always done out of pure eagerness to just get there. Our first stop will be Uncle Gary's in Redondo Beach. We will spend three or four days with him, but will be driving back to San Bernardino and the surrounding area during one of those days to visit my Grandmother and many aunts, uncles and cousins. My mom will be flying into LA to meet us, and to visit all of her family as well. Another one of those days at Uncle Gary's will be reserved for the beach! Ohhhhh yeeeaaah! The kids are already talking about the beach.....they're very excited!

From Redondo Beach, we will travel to Sacramento to spend time with Greg's sweet grandparents. After we drive them crazy, we'll head to Modesto to see Greg's mom, the Denbraves and the Hess Family. It will be so good to spend time with precious family and friends. From Modesto, we will head up the mountain to the quaint town of Sonora, where my brother Jason, my dear SIL Tara and their three beautiful children live. I am SO excited about seeing my brother and his family.

After having a wonderful time with my brother, we'll end our trip in Mariposa to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. We'll also be seeing Uncle Andy and Aunt Julie who also live in Mariposa. My grandparents live on a beautiful ranch bursting with trees and mountain views.

With my grandparents, we will spend a day in Yosemite National Park, where they lived and worked for sixteen years. I practically grew up there.  I also had the privilege of working in the park when I was fourteen and fifteen years old. I've probably explored, hiked, or swam in every inch of this beautiful creation. I even hiked up Half Dome (about a 12 hour hike) at the age of fifteen. Whenever visiting Grandma and Grandpa in the summer, I would sleep outside on a lawn chair so that I could stare at the stars all night long! The stars were so thick and glorious.....it was like getting a small glimpse of heaven. Actually, just BEING in the park was like getting a tiny glimpse of heaven. I can't even fathom how much MORE beautiful heaven will be!

I'm so thankful that my children will get to see so much family after such a long time, and see all the wonderful places we will be revisiting. I'm positive we will create memories for our family that will last a lifetime!

Photo Credit