trip to Yuma, AZ

This past weekend we took a trip to Yuma, AZ so we could attend the district church conference. We had a great time traveling with our friends Gary and Chloe! We drove thru some very diverse terrain on the way. Here in the California desert, we saw huge farms of produce, including large groves of date palms (in the background).
We also drove past the Sultan Sea, this huge expanse of salt water in the desert! I couldn't believe how big this sea was...
And then, just before we drove into Yuma, we came to the sand dunes. (When we drove back thru this area on Saturday afternoon, the area was covered with hundreds of RV's, trailers and 4-wheelers buzzing up and down the dunes.)
This was a group of some of the women that met on Saturday to discuss the work of women in our district. I am enjoying being back in the ministry where I can reconnect with old friends and make new friends! (We also had a wonderful time seeing four of our "african friends.")

A Fun-filled Saturday

Earlier this week we got a call from a friend who lives in North Dakota. She was in central CA visiting her sister and they were planning to be close to our area this weekend. So we made arrangements to drive to Upland (long weekend-- very busy freeways=) and meet with her and her family members. It proved to be a longer time on the roads (they were very crowded) than we had planned. But the time together was wonderful and we enjoyed our time together immensely! Thanks, Hilma, for calling us! After supper with Hilma, we drove further east to help our daughter-in-law celebrate an early birthday. K needed a little extra help this year blowing out all those candles...
K and her little buddy had a very hard time extinguishing the candles! No matter how hard they blew, the flames always came back! (It was fun watching his face when the candles would spark back on again!) It was great to see so many of J&K's friends once again.
And then there were presents, too...

A Busy Valentine's Day

We enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's Day. My husband presented me with this beautiful bouquet of roses the day before ("Valentine's Eve"). The little heart motif is a gift from one of our friends who owns a sheet metal cutting factory. As a hobby, he often creates decorations and then gives them to people. He is so creative and giving!
On Valentine's Day, we were invited out twice! We joined friends for a noon meal at a Chinese buffet restaurant (and ate too much!). Then, late in the afternoon, we got a call from a couple in our church asking us to join them for an evening meal. We had such a wonderful time of visiting with all these friends. God has blessed us with a whole new bunch of friends once again!
Between the meals, I decided that I had to finish painting my bedroom. I started this project last week, and here you can see the results. Now all the rooms are painted, just the bathrooms and hallway are left.

Back to school

Today Mark returned to medical school. We enjoyed having him with us this past week, and I know that he loved having the warm, sunny days (especially when he heard of all the snow, ice and cold that the midwest was experiencing!) Even though he was on his first spring break, he spent MANY hours studying. He is such a diligent student, and we know that he will make an excellent doctor. Keep up the good work, Mark! We're all proud of you!

warm winter days

We have been enjoying having Mark with us this week. The weather has been unseasonably warm (88 degrees both yesterday and today) so we decided to top off a gorgeous day with a visit to Huntington Beach. We arrived just as the sun was setting.
We watched as a young man was catching a wave... We enjoyed watching a family with a couple of little boys searching for treasures on the sandy beach. It brought back memories of when our boys were little...
This little guy reminded us of Mark when he was a little boy. His obsession with wearing an oversized cap restricted our view of his beautiful brown eyes for almost a month!

at the beach

Mark and his dad...
Mark and his mom...
God painted an extravagant sunset for us.
It was beautiful to the very end! Even the waves seemed to mellow as the rosy horizon started to fade.

more family fun

The evening before my parents left, Mark came home for his spring break. It was nice for the folks to see at least two of our boys while they visited here in CA.
Mom had decided that we should celebrate my sister Becky's 51st birthday at the airport, since we have seldom all been together in one place on her actual birth date! So mother baked a cake and decorated it, we brought along the plates and fixings, and celebrated outside the San Diego airport terminal1 (Beck said that she is starting over at one, now that she has passed the 50 year mark=)
We were able to enjoy the warm sunny day together before we sent the midwest folks back to their 20 below zero weather! And the cake was delicious, Mom!
Soaking up some more sun rays...
Rayn and Glenda were still sporting the look that they adapted as tourists to Mexico...

visit to the Nixon Library

Yesterday we visited the Nixon Library. It is close by us and we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day where we could enjoy both the indoor and outdoor displays. The grounds were lush green and held a beautiful variety of both flowers and trees.
Mom and Dad ended up in this group of dignitaries from all over the world. (they are the ones in living color...)
J&K posed in front of the former president's limo. We were so happy that they could join us for this outing. Jamie even helped us ladies find a strawberry stand later that afternoon. Those were the best strawberries--picked fresh that afternoon!
We packed a picnic lunch that we enjoyed in a nearby park. After we had eaten, we went back to the museum to see the parts that we were unable to see earlier that day.

Last night we were privileged to have lots of visitors! Jim's best friend (his "brother") Chuck stopped by on his way from AZ to Los Angeles. It was fun to see him again after several years. And it was very enjoyable to see the two friends together again!
Welcome to the modern age! It seems like everytime we have visitors lately, we usually end up looking at something on the internet eventually...
It was a perfect time to take a family pic. Even "baby Izzy" posed perfectly for the camera.

a visit to J&K's

We were able to take the folks to visit J&K so that they could see where they live. They also got to meet Izzy (the puppy) for the first time.
Izzy entertained all of us with her playful spirit. Even dad, at 85 plus years got down on the floor and played with the dog!

small town folks in the big city

One evening we visited the Crystal Cathedral with my folks. They have often watched the church service on TV so were interested in seeing the actual site. We were privileged to hear the huge pipe organ being played.
Touring the grounds, we saw the many statues, carvings, and monuments that people have donated. Dad was especially impressed by this one of the "Good Shepherd finding the lost sheep."

"You can take the farmers off the farm, but you can't take the farmer out of the man!" (and woman!) Mom and Dad found this cow while we were walking downtown Coronado and of course it was a photo opp!