Monday, April 28, 2014

Garland Ranch









Justin is gone a lot.
He's also here a lot...just at random times.
Student life is weird.

So Saturday night when he was out being a rent-a-cop I took all the kids to Garland Ranch.

August was happy to hide in the tall grass like Owen, Drew, and Sally.

Sally posed way too much for pictures (I can't explain that pose 2 pictures up).

And we couldn't keep Auggie away from the water.

It was great.

And once again I'm happy to live in this beautiful place.

Happy Birthday to Us

Justin's Birthday
My guitar (that Justin has taken over) got new strings. Wasn't really a present, but came in the mail on his birthday.

A gas leaf blower was his present, but didn't get as much use. Weird!

Crepe paper from the ceiling and ribbons on the wall courtesy of Sally.

A full day of school.

Taco Bell for dinner.

And ice cream cake from Cold Stone.






My Birthday
Justin has Fridays off so we went to my favorite Wagon Wheel for breakfast.

Hiked (more like walked) at Garland Ranch. First time there. So beautiful.
While on our walk Auggie fell asleep on my shoulder. He wants Justin most of the time so this was happy birthday to me.

Got flowers at Earthbound Farms.

Tried to nap. August didn't cooperate.

Shopped.
As we were driving home it started pouring. Kids had to walk home in the rain and were waiting on the porch for us. 

Cupcakes with family before our late dinner.

Tommy's Wok with Sarah and Jeff. 
Left the kids home alone (with sleeping August) and Drew texted us 90% of the time. Justin sent him that pu pu platter picture. Justin is a funny 12 year old. And now I'm wishing we ordered that. 

Monday, April 21, 2014

2 Days of Easter

 Easter Bunny came on Saturday.


 Egg Hunt on the beach was also on Saturday.




 Drew and Sally found the gold $1 eggs.

 August was not interested in eggs.


But WAS interested in the golf balls I found while hiding the eggs.
(this beach is right below the Pebble Beach golf course)


This spot was perfect.
We were the only ones on the entire beach most of the time.


 As we were walking from one end of the beach to the other,
Drew said the ocean looked like a painting.
Love when they notice for themselves how beautiful it is here.




Saturday was so great.

I felt good about doing the hunt/baskets on Saturday so we could focus on Christ on Sunday.

But Sunday morning wasn't the peaceful time I was going for.

We watched "Because of Him" and other church videos.
(that part was good)

We played games.
(and fought during those games)

And somehow we were late to afternoon church! :(

Then I had technical difficulties with my video for sharing time.

But Justin figured it out and sharing time went pretty well.
(to be precise...I felt frazzled during Junior Primary, but got it together for Senior Primary)

The kids cooperated with my after church picture request.


And we had delicious fish tacos for dinner (one of my favorite Easter traditions).

Last thoughts:
- Looking at this picture, it is still weird to me that we have 4 kids.
- It also kind of blows my mind that we get to be together forever. But it's true. And it's awesome.
- I'm grateful for the Atonement. I think of Grandma Lunt every single Easter. My mom just had Grandma's wedding ring melted down and made into pendants for my sisters and I. I wore my necklace for the first time to church and it worked in perfectly with my lesson.
- This year my Aunt Sherri and Uncle Clel were also on my mind. They just passed from cancer. I know I will see them all again and it will be a happy day.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Drew's Baptism

 Saturday, April 12
Seaside, CA




Things I would like to remember about Drew's baptism:

- Our family that came: my parents and Justin's brother Paul came for the long weekend; Linus and Sara's family flew in just for the day (pilot's perks!); my cousin Chad's family came over from Palo Alto; Justin's uncle Wayne and his wife Marian were so nice to come from Mountain View.

- My dad's great talk on The Holy Ghost. Drew will never look at a mouse trap the same.

- Friends that participated. This was a stake baptism with just one other boy, so they divided up program responsibilities. Drew chose Owen's good friend Cal to say the closing prayer. It was a sweet prayer. He left the musical number up to me, so I asked the Carson kids from church to sing "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus."

- Drew's cute face throughout the whole thing. So sweet during his baptism and confirmation. And happy holding his new scriptures.

-  My mom filling out his baptism book with him afterwards on the way to his baseball game.

Things I would like to forget:

- The craziness leading up to the baptism (Owen disappeared with friends for way too long).

- That I forgot to bring Drew a change of underwear and a towel. He got to go commando after the baptism and he and Justin shared a towel.


Straight from the baptism, Drew wanted to go to his baseball game. He made it for the last couple innings and got a great hit.

Then we had pizza at the park right there (George Washington).

 Lucy, Jocey, and Sally in Lucy's "castle"

Paul, Justin, August, Wayne, Marian
(Linus and Sara had to catch their flight)

 Dallin is famous for his faces.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

My New Favorite City

If you look real close you can see a whale spray out there.

We ditched school Friday and took my parents and Justin's brother Paul to Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
(they were both in town for Drew's baptism)

This visit was awesome thanks to the multiple whale sightings, my dad's spotting scope/binoculars, some beach exploring, and a picnic.






 There's another whale out there.









After the lighthouse, we drove a few miles up the road to explore some more Pescadero.
Harley Farms is a goat farm that does tours and sells their worldwide award-winning cheese (they beat France!).

I don't always love goat cheese, but when I do it has cranberries on top and walnuts in the middle.
The ricotta was my favorite, but I couldn't think of any way to prepare it that would do it justice.

 Apricot pistachio, cranberry walnut, and "Monet" goat cheese.

 They gardens where they grow the edible flowers for their Monet cheese.

 Justin had to hold back the urge to milk those goats.
Okay not those ones, those are babies.
But their moms.
(his first job was milking goats and scooping poop)



 This room was so cute. They host private events and dinner parties there.







Next stop: Arcangeli Grocery for fresh garlic herb artichoke bread and olallieberry pie (not pictured).
Both were amazing. The pie was better than Gizdich, the usual favorite around here.
 On the way to the grocery store there was this pile of free stuffed animals.

 Just what Mom wanted.

Some fresh produce samples before heading home.

Had a lovely visit in cute Pescadero.
Home of the free stuffed animals and $18 pies.