Home From Morro Bay

Christine had a GREAT time in Morro Bay!

She learned a lot and had even more fun.

And she stayed pretty warm.  It was really cold there.  She slept in layers of clothing, but it worked.

They camped and cooked all their meals every day.

She threw away her clothes and shoes from the mud hike.  The teacher prepared us for that.  We sent the oldest and worst she had for that day.  And picked up a pair of $4.99 water shoes at Wal-mart specifically for that event.

Tide pools, kayaking, swimming, laying out, aquarium, papers, worksheets, pictures, examinations, soil, analysis, cold weather, sunburn, camping showers every other day.

Let's add a great big FUN to it as well.

btw:  the boys camped on the other side of the park.

Everlasting Gobstopper

The Everlasting Gobstopper is a gobstopper (jaw breaker/hard candy) that not only can never be finished, but never even gets smaller. It is implied that they may also be indestructible.

That's how I feel about these cheeks!  Just want to mug on them forever and never go away!

Before The June Gloom Begins....

...more spring cleaning.

Patio umbrella UP.

Patio chairs washed, and bbq's cleaned.

Oh! And we planted a lime and a lemon tree! The dwarf variety. Very excited about this. We pulled out some of the jasmine that was completely overgrown and spaced them along the fence by the Steele's. We use so many limes and lemons, guess it was time to grow our own.

 After researching and asking a lot of questions, we decided on a Eureka Lemon dwarf tree.

It will grow about 2-3 more feet and then we will keep it at that height.

Bearss Lime.

It is seedless!

Same here.  A couple more feet and then keep it there.

  We had a dwarf lemon bush when I was growing up in Torrance.  The thought of it brings back lots of fond memories.  Hope to make our own memories now.  Picking and making summer lemonade with the grandkids will be one of the first on my list!

Kids Say The Darndest Things!

{Ring, ring.}

Hello?

Hi GammaCindy!

Hi John.  How are you?

I good.

I have my bath and my train jammies.

Oh, I like your train jammies!

I know.

What else are you doing?

I have my blanket on the couch.  I'm going to sleep in the 'famine' room!

The family room?

Yes, the 'famine' room!

Kids say the darndest things.

Leaving For Morro Bay

Christine left this mornig for Morro Bay with her Marine Ecology class.

It is the big field trip they go on at the end of the year to put everything they have been learning in class to practical use.

 A very foggy, cold, misty Memorial Day morning.

 With Karley.

 With Gillian.

With Brittany.

They camp in tents and have to prepare all their meals.

It should be quite the adventure.

Jammin' --Part 1

The family that works   'jams' together, gets Jam.

 Got the berries on Saturday.

The best deal I know, other than to grow them yourself.  But strawberries are tricky to grow.  The conditions have to be 'just right'.  Warm, dry, moist. 

If you go to the main Pumpkin City stand between 5:30 and 5:45pm, all the vendors return the unsold fruit.  They go through the berries that are too ripe or not pretty enough to sell the next day and either throw them away or give them to a shelter.  They will sell them for jamming berries if you show up.  A flat is regularly $40.  I dickered and got them for $15.

We got them washed and stemmed on Saturday and made 42 pints of jam today.

We are good for another year.

Toast, rolls and biscuits, PB&J's, crepes, ice cream......yum!

Memorial Day

Adrianne and I spent most of the afternoon making jam.

More on that later.

Duff and I put our Seafood Pasta Salad together. 

Then we.....

 Got out the White Mountain and soon we had the most delicious vanilla ice cream. 

The family had decided to try a departure from the usual holiday burgers and hot dogs.  I had watched the Pioneer Woman show the week before and she had done a really good spicy pulled pork.  We went with that.  It takes 6 hours so I had to get it going early.  The house was fragrant with that and the jam.  The aromas put us in a food coma.  Haha!

The Peterson's invited us over to eat and swim.

Patti and I finished the sides in the kitchen and Duff manned the grill.

The guys had the basketball game on and we cheered our hearts out for Boston.

Ainsley had her first swim in the hot tub!

All in all, a nice day.

Future Generation

Lesson all done.

Waiting our turn to go to Sharing Time.

Dang, I love this cute class.

Sometimes I wish I was 'back in the trenches'.

Today's children are so smart.  They have good families and you can see how they are being taught at home.

As I look at my own children and now grandchildren, I see with different eyes the valiancy that is the future generations.  

Best Buddies Prom

Christine attended the Prom for the Best Buddies group.

She had a really good time.

It was held at the high school in Villa Park and all the chapters from south Orange County came. She even drove herself and the chapter president from our school on the freeway to Anaheim!  Good job navigating those California freeways and all the transitions you had to make.

 The group from our school.

Lacrosse Swimming

Now that the season is over, but they still need to hold practice, this is how the lacrosse team finishes their conditioning.

Looks very refreshing to me and the perfect way to cool down.

Morning In Newport Temple

Even though I didn't take this picture, it is exactly how the temple looked this morning.

So close to the beach and the fog surrounding it.

Duff and I went to the temple today.

I knew we should go, but there was so much to do.......

Everything changed once I was inside.

It does that to your soul.

We were reminded of sacred things that sharpen the perspective.

Brother Griffeth officiated.  He married Josh and Meredith and Natalie and Robert.  It was good to catch up with him in the sealing room.

He spoke to us couples before we began.  I learned some things from his details that I hadn't thought of in quite that way before.

It was a very good morning, and the rest of the day came together in the way it was supposed to.

56 Birthday

Today is my birthday.

I am 56 years old.

It has been a very nice day.

I've had lots of calls, texts, gifts, and cards from my family and friends.

Duff made me my favorite birthday cake:  German Chocolate.

The kids came over to sing and have ice cream and cake.

We had an old fashioned brisket for dinner.

Patti and Tyler brought flowers.  Nate and Alex brought flowers over too.  Renee brought me some candy.  Lisa K. sent me a beautiful card and bookmark.  Kim K. brought cookies.  The kids added to my new 'tupperware' supplies for leftovers and food care. 

All in all, a very nice day!

Thanks, everyone for your love.

You're the best.