At the Beach

One of the things we did during our reunion in June was to visit Bodega Bay and play in the sand and surf.  Adele wins the prize for bringing more than memories home.  I think we washed something like a cubic yard of sand from her hair.  But she, along with all the rest of us had loads of fun.  It blew the whole time we were there (naturally) but the sun came out for the last couple of hours, so we all caught some rays.  Here is a video of those who played in the water.  Still photos will follow in a subsequent post.

Reunion Time

Since our family from Indiana came to visit us in May we have had a lot of fun times with lots of family.  What a joy it has been to have them here around us for a time.  This post begins a series of posts that will highlight some of the delightful times we have had.  I cannot promise that they will be in any particular order - certainly not in chronological order.  The best I can hope for is that I will get to covering all the activities.  So to whet your appetite, here is a photo summary.

 Lots of Cousin Time

 Lots of Good Food Prepared by Excellent Chefs

 Great Grandma Time

And with the guy in the yellow shirt.

 Time at the Beach

 Cooling off in the pool.

 Time on the Throne.

 And standing around on mountain tops.

 Visiting where Jelly Bellies are born.

 Lots of Trains.

 A special visit to the Temple.

And - of course - Nap Time!

So that's just the beginning.  Stay tuned for more to come.

What's been going on.

We have been pretty busy of late, and don't have photos of everything, but here are some glimpses into our recent past.  Mostly from Bike Around the Buttes, but then some other things as well.

 The cross on the hill in the eastern foothills of the Buttes.

This is just the beginning.

 Another attempt at an artsy shot, including the Buttes, a rock wall and palm trees.

This is on West Butte Road almost to the South Butte Road turnoff,

which, as it turns out, is rather well hidden.

 South Butte from Pass Road.  Lots of gas wells in this area.

 Within the first couple of miles is a ranch with lots of fun animals,

including this miniature horse and camel.

I got another photo of a miniature Brahma bull and some llamas but it was too dark.

 Old Long Bridge.

 When I was almost exactly (lacking only a few hours) 14 months old my dad loaded

all of us in the car with a few things and we drove out of the county on this bridge.

As you might guess from your calculations, it was Christmas Eve of 1955

and we were headed to Gridley in advance of the flood waters

that entered Yuba City shortly thereafter.

Now the shots you have all been waiting for - the happy cyclists.

This is one of us coming into the first rest stop.

 It was a beautiful day, but as you can see the drought is taking its toll.

The Buttes are usually very very green at this point in the year.

The Saturday after the Bike Around the Buttes (i.e., last Saturday)

we participated in a stake day of service in the local riparian park

on the west side of the Feather River.  As we were leaving we noticed this organic 

weed control service - a bunch of goats on the side of the levee.

Beats burning it off I'll just bet.

Now Is Christ Risen

From Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

What a wonderful weekend we are having - the confluence of two great events being celebrated in a single weekend.  First and foremost, in remembrance of the most important event in the history of the earth, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, we celebrate Easter.  In conjunction with this celebration we have the marvelous blessing of listening to His apostles bear witness of the truths of His Gospel.

Considering all of this I thought it would be nice to post some photos of our weekend.  We cannot really communicate all we feel, but perhaps we can through some photos allow you to share in some of what we are doing.  Yesterday many - perhaps more than half - of the speakers in general conference spoke of the central part the family plays in the Plan of Happiness.  Our feelings of gratitude for this truth is demonstrated in this portrayal from our living room of the Savior watching over our family in all of their activities, wherever they may be.  May we all remember to often look up and feel His presence, for we are never alone.  Indeed, "Dearest Children, God is Near You".

As you know, we are experiencing a drought here in California, and as a result we united last Sunday as a stake and fasted and prayed for snow in the mountains.  The result is that this weekend - today and next Tuesday - we are receiving snow in the mountains and a little rain here in the valley. The Law of the Fast is something that when obeyed in faith brings tremendous blessings to an expansive population.  Just listen to President Eyring from yesterday morning's session.

Okay, here are a few photos from the old homestead:

The magnificent Snowball Bush - the blooming of which is one of our favorite Spring events.

 The Rose Garden.  It is really producing this year,

providing beautiful sights and smells in our front yard and in our house.

 Deep purple iris and vibrant pink geraniums.

And if you look closely you can see the new Camillia plant we bought in WA for Christmas.

More geraniums, along with other pretty flowers along the back fence.

Our Japanese Maple doing well in front, along with more flowers.

 Potatoes in the back, onions on the left and peas and cilantro down front.

Oh, and new raspberries down front too.

 Billions of strawberries this year!  Not quite ripe yet, but the promise is there.

 And the grapevine is going well.

 Along with lots of lemon blossoms.

And teeny tiny limes already growing.

 On the inside, this is the way the roses look adorning our dining room table.

And the chocolate I got yesterday - all dark.

 Another view of the same roses - the purple ones are very fragrant.

And notice that we are getting our things out for display again,

with Fernando Llort in the background.

 More roses - these in the entry way, along with a little bunny from Aunt Jacque.

An additional blessing this weekend is the visit of Uncle Byron and Aunt Jacque from Utah.

It is always fun to see them and spend time visiting with them.  We love our brothers and sisters.

And finally . . . macaroni salad for general conference is a family tradition.

But we haven't done it lately, so we made up a batch yesterday and ate it between sessions today.

What a treat that was!

So we hope you all have enjoyed listening to the word of the Lord through His servants this weekend. We plan on reading and listening to the great messages many times over the next 6 months, particularly those pertaining to marriage and family.  I will close with an interesting quote regarding family on a macro level from the latest George MacDonald book I am reading (The Flight of the Shadow):

". . . how little can any of us tell about even those ancestors whose names we know, while yet the nature, and still more the character, of hundreds of them, have shared in determining what I means every time one of us utters the word."

Saturday in Sabino Canyon

We had a great little hike last Saturday up Sabino Canyon, just NE of Tucson.  We went up a very nice paved road to a little place where we could rest by the water and then hiked out using a trail through the desert.  It was about 4 miles altogether and only Ani had to be carried.  It was cool enough all day, making it pretty crowded, but a fun time all around.  Here is what it looked like to us:

 Getting started at the canyon's mouth.

 Grandma in her hiking shoes next to her friend, Mr. Saguaro.

 Our delightful hosts for the hike.

Both TV & ME were the best of hikers, toughing it out the whole way.

Jeff took the 3 kiddies over the creek, jumping rocks as they went.

 The beautiful desert.

 I love the Saguaro forests here.

 More desert and clouds.

 More Saguaro forests.

 The pretty side of the desert.

 I thought this was pretty, with the Saguaro silhouetted against the rising sun.

 The water in the creek was very very clear.

 More desert scenery.

 The Hippo Rock.

Deer tracks.  When we went off onto the trails they mostly seemed dry washes.

This is Sunday.  It rained while we were attending Church

and this is what it looked like pretty much all day.