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Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

Our last stop of the day, Pier 39. The weather was perfect, the company the best, a treasured day. Leah wanted to go to Alcatraz but this is as close as we got. She also had it in her mind to take an evening swim. We did convinced her otherwise.
Silly girl!

I had the most fun with my sweet, sweet friends. Even though Leah is really 2,000 miles away we had lots of fun pretending she was with us. It is good to have fun, to be silly and to be blessed with such wonderful friends.

More SF fun

We had so much fun shopping and walking and talking in SF. Williams-Sonoma is the funnest store ever. We were treated to blackberry crumble samples that they were cooking at a demo. Very delicious. Leah must have missed her red mixer from home because she got a bit friendly with the one at the store! Next we went to Tiffany to browse and to get my bracelet cleaned. Again, Leah was all over the store. We had to tuck her away in my bag for a bit. Next stop was Coit Tower after enjoying a refreshing Starbucks. I think Leah likes to be in front of the camera. Just kidding Leah :)

A note to Leah.....

Leah, We wouldn't dream of going to SF for the day without you. Just wanted you to know that we were thinking of you all day:

Just a few suggestions for the next trip.
1. Maybe wear a slip. We could kinda see your underpants.This could be why people were checking you out all day, lots of staring :)
2. It is illegal to bounce around the car while it is motion. We know you were super excited though!


Love,
Carolyn and Katrina
p.s. More pictures of the fun day to follow........

We had a great time yesterday exploring the beauty of Lake Tahoe. The US Forest Service has many wonderful nature walks and historical museums. We walked the Rainbow Trail first. It is a 1/2 mile loop trail that took us to the Stream Profile Chamber. The chamber is an underground viewing area showing the underwater wildlife of Taylor Creek. It was very peaceful to watch the fish.
We spent a good part of the day exploring the Tallac Historic Site. This site is the home to what was, a century ago, the summer retreats of three elite San Francisco families. On the grounds are The Baldwin Estate, The Pope Estate, and Valhalla. Absolutely beautiful grounds! The property is lake front and offers so many places to picnic, bike, swim or just relax.

The meadow and lake view from the Rainbow Trail.

Mads and one of her best baby friends at the underground viewing area.

The view near the Pope Estate.

The girls standing at the fireplace in the Baldwin Estate. Built 1921. The kitchen was awesome!

Just one shot from the Farmer's Market in San Francisco. I went to the city this past Saturday with my wonderful friend Carolyn. The weather was perfect as was the food. We had so much fun. I will post more in the next few days :)

I picked all these just this morning. They look good and I don't even like fresh tomatoes. I love them as a sauce, sun-dried and even don't mind ketchup. I think it is a texture thing. We had the best corn on the cob of the season with dinner tonight. I made these yummy potatoes as a side to the tri-tip from the grill. We have a fresh pineapple, red delicious apples, cantaloupe and watermelon waiting to make a salad for tomorrow. I love the bounty of summer that our Lord provides!

I am the luckiest mom I could be. All of my children are healthy and happy and most of all, love the Lord with all their hearts. I am so thankful that Jared has found a wonderful young lady who also loves God. I pray that they will follow the Lord's will for their lives and they will always serve Him.

The girls delivering the cake

The girls have set a few goals for the summer. Have fun, swim a lot, stay up later, sleep in, and do nice, unexpected things for others. Today we baked a chocolate cake to take to our local fire department. We wanted to show them to how much we appreciate all their hard work and sacrifice. We were treated to a wonderful tour of the fire station. The girls were very taken by our petite lady firefighter. She is young, hardworking and very kind and in the middle of a 96 hour shift! She told us that after all her gear is on, she weights in at about 200 pounds. M & M really liked the info about the power of the water coming from the trucks. We were informed that the hoses could pump 1,000 gallons per minute. That would be enough water to fill three swimming pools! I was surprised to learn that the mpg of the large fire truck was 2. I was guessing 1 mpg.

We had a wonderful, unexpected fieldtrip.

We attended a funeral today to celebrate the life of a wonderful man. He loved God, his wife and everyone else he knew. As we said goodbye to the man's WONDERFUL wife, she told me the story of the necklace she was wearing. She said about five weeks ago she saw this pretty necklace but then noted that she did not need another necklace. The weeks passed by and she forgot about the necklace. Her husband died on Tuesday. The necklace arrived in her mail box yesterday with a note of love from her husband.

What a beautiful gift he sent her from heaven! That story was better than any movie especially if you know this wonderful couple. Praise God for His love and grace.

I love to take walks. When I go with the girls, we chat and notice and laugh. When I go with my sweetie, we talk and smile and hold hands. The most important walk I take is with Jesus. It is quiet and powerful, it is safe and personal. The path of my walk with my Savior is not down the street and around the corner. It is everyday, everywhere, everything. He wants to walk with you too!

The best way...

to cool down after a bike ride is to twirl through the sprinkler!

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
~ 1 Peter 5:7

How many loaves of bread could we make?

I meant to pick this a week ago and forgot! We will be making some zucchini bread this weekend. There should be enough left to grill with olive oil.

It is officially summer for us. This is the first week the girls were out of school. Madison went to her first Youth Conference and Mia got to be an only child for four days. Mia and I spent a very relaxing morning at the zoo with some very sweet friends. What a great start to summer!