Decorating

I have to put this up today. We finally got our tree done last week. Keith and Liz decorated it with us. I did mention not to put to many ornaments near the bottom of the tree. BECAUSE Chloe thinks it is her personal play area.

The pictures aren't in order. We found Jonah laying on a rather bumpy quilt. When I lifted the quilt there was Jade. He crawls under the quilt during the night, to stay warm I believe. He looks a little scrunched here, but doesn't seem to mind.
Here is Chloe, she bats at the tree and knocks down the ornaments, garland and what lights are there. So we now leave the bottom of the tree bare. She is in her own "personal" space, even with the presents under (which are not in this photo).

Really!!

Shame on me. IT has been 2 months since I blogged. Not that I don't have anything to say, I do. I just haven't. There is so much going on here, just trying to go through things and the time it takes. When Dan starts going through things in the garage I feel i should help him. It goes so much faster with 2 of us. But alas, things in the house do not get accomplished, and then my energy runs out. I really need to get rid of things in the house, also. Thin things out a bit, and life is much more enjoyable. I have made it my goal not to clutter 2 of the bedrooms, so they are available for company. The third room I use for my crafts, but also need to keep it clear enough to put down some airbeds for company. Soooooooo, I am also arranging that room.. But as we have gone through some of my mom's boxes, we are finding a wealth of photos from my dad's side of the family, my childhood and many others, so I cannot just get rid of those, that is creating another issue of where to put them. I just continue to arrange and get rid of things. Little by little we are getting there. Getting the car in the garage was a major feat, it was my idea and we did it!!! Yeah!
Dan has been working in the part that is his little shop area and rearranging it so it is more useful to him.

Well time to get to some sewing. I have so much I want to blog about, maybe later today I can, we'll see how the day goes.

Today

Today is Friday, Oct. 15. We have been gone since the 1st and will not be home until Tue. or Wed. We are thankful that a neighbor was a good friend before he was a neighbor, as he is going in and taking care of our cats and keeping an eye on our place. Keith was there last week-end so he checked things out.
We are on the last leg of our journey, at my sisters in Oregon. Sunday we will go to our place at the lake, and then either Tue. or Wed. we will go home and it is time.

We enjoyed our stay in Victoria. The last day we were there it rained in the evening. We watched whales, while standing in front of the ferry, on the way to Port Angeles. Stayed in and B&B there. I am afriad that B&B's are a little pricey for us
We enjoyed the sight seeing and will post pics when we return home.

The beach was nice and we enjoyed early morning walks at low tide. That is Dan and I enjoyed the walks, while the others slept.
Even though fun, I am ready to be home again.

God Bless

Yikes!

It has been a while since my last post.
We were busy while Ryan and Elizabeth were home. We did some boating and had a BBQ here for them and their friends, which was nice. It was good that his family also lives in same town so they could visit with them without going out of town. I let them use my cell phone while they were here and while at home they also used our car. It made life a little easier for them.

We have been sorting through things we still have. I sometimes just want to chuck it all, but over 20 years of school supplies are good for someone else, sooooooooooo~~ I will do another yard sale. When I do this one I will send a flier to my former supervisor and she will send it out to the prek supers in the district, who in turn will pass it on to their staff. I have big books ( the 3 ft x 2 ft ones), books with tapes/cd's for the listening centers and some games and puzzles. Of course, I will be saving somethings for when the grandkids are here.

I finished my quilt top, got the batting and backing. One thing left, I need to go in and find out had to do the final boarder. The instructor has given me her number so I can call and go to her house. When the quilt is done it will be for my grandson to use when they come to visit. I have a kitty fleece for my granddaughter, that she really likes. That way they both have something to use when they come to visit.

We had the dog put to sleep. Even though she was old (15 1/2 years) and not doing very well~~ it still was a bit emotional for us. At one time I would have put her down with no reservations. Kandy was my folks dog and she would have made a great junk yard dog. She could be rather mean. I believe she may have been that way because my parents were elderly and she felt protective. Living here for over 10 years mellowed her, though I still would never trust her around the grandkids. When our youngest two kids were in high school there always were lots of kids here, plus parties (well supervised of course.) The kids were involved in leading cell groups as were many of their friends in high school~~ so we also hosted cell groups here. For those who don't know: Cell groups are individual Bible Study groups led by high schoolers , with an adult advisor from our church. The kids also had a once a week meeting for all the cell leaders for training sessions (not here).
So the dog just got used to people being here.

We now are getting ready to head up north to Oregon, Washington and Vancouver Island. Dan and I are going on vacation with his sister and her husband. On the way home we will visit with my sister and then spend a couple days at our place at the lake, then home we will come. We will have lots of pictures to share. And I am so looking forward to some cooler weather. We will do a little shopping tomorrow. There is a new Kohl's in town and we went there today to check it out. Tomorrow is the big grand opening, so we have picked out a couple things we want. One being a tote I can carry that will be big enough for the camera's~ icluding the video camera, plus my wallet. I need a nice black sweater to wear and we found one, plus a couple shirts Dan picked out (for him). We will use the discount coupon's we received in the mail. An extra 30% off of everything, after the early bird discount sounds pretty good to us. We have picked out what we want so it will be easy to go in and get the items.

In the states

I posted the web of the event we went to for Ryan. It is a broadcast of the event so it is 144 minutes long. Just watch the first several minutes for the entertainment part. The aeriel acrobats are spectacular. After the ceremony there was a reception and some book signing. I will write more later and post some photos when I have more time, on the event. His parents and 2 of his sisters also were there. I will say that Hollywood is really overrated. The website also has some other info on it about the event and the contests they sponser.



http://www.writersofthefuture.com/



The most exciting part was getting to see Elizabeth and Ryan for the first time in a little over the year. We were and are excited for Ryan winning (he didn't win the grand prize) last year and being eligible to attend the conference. It should be a huge boost for his career in illustration. He is now published and did a book signing at the reception and at Boarders (Sun.) in Pasadena.



After we met them at the hotel (Hollywood Roosevelt), Ryan got settled, took them out to eat, etc. We then drove Elizabeth to Santa Barbara to stay with her brother (they went to an event BBQ in Hollywood on

Thurs.) We spent the night in Santa Barbara and spent most of the next day with Elizabeth. Even though the weather was a little on the chilly side, we (Dan & I) enjoyed it as it was 110 at home and we weren't looking forward to going back to that!

We went back on Sat. to get Elizabeth and then on to Hollywood until Monday.

Today we will be getting things for a BBQ here on Thurs. and food/gas for boating on Wed. I will write more later. It is going to be a full week. They leave next Tue. for Korea again. We will take them to San Francisco airport instead of L.A. It will be an easier commute. L.A. traffic, I have nothing good to say about it.

June & July madness

I haven't had much time to blog the last few weeks, having company for much of the time. I have posted some photos of the goings on here. Click view all images for a better look.
Our oldest daughter came out from Colorado for a week long visit, with the kids. We enjoyed the visit very much as were sad when it was time for them to go home. While here we had fun. The kids played in the little blow up pool outside when it was hot, and met the neighbor kids (close in age) and had fun playing with them. We went boating, which was good for the the kids this time. We found a beach at which to stop and play: we also took along food for lunch. Brandon busied himself making a fort by dragging long branches from the beach to the tree we sat under. Needless to say that just a couple weeks later his fort was under 6-8 feet of water (the lake fills up from some upper reservoirs that fill from the snow melt). Caitlin was busy playing in the water and having grandpa bury her in the sand. It was a great time.

The day after the kids went home, our niece from Ohio came out for a 4 week visit. Just 19 and just graduated from high school. While here we did some shopping and she got a new hair do. We went to Santa Barbara to visit with Keith and she loves the ocean. Now she lives close to Lake Erie so it isn't as if she never sees large waters, she does, but then the ocean is different. Shortly after getting to SB we went to the beach and she found a shark's tooth (which we made a necklace she designed, after we got home). We went to the Santa Barbara zoo, which is right there with an oceans view. Saw a school of porpoises outside the jetty and a 'Sailing 101" class in the harbor. She got to do a few things for the 1st time, (due to economic reasons) like eating dinner on the wharf at a seafood resturant that we like. We visited a maritime museum and just hung out and had fun. At the beach park, where Keith works, is some natural flowing oil/tar, coming from the sides of the cliffs. There is quite a history with the tar and the native Americans that lived there.

She went to our youth group one night, and had a blast. There was a big 4th of July picnic at church and while it was a long day, later she was able to have some fun with the youth there and loves to play volleyball.

Some of Keith's friends came over and they went to a teahouse, and that was also enjoyable for here. At home, we took her boating.

Keith came down and we went boating again and he did some kneeboarding, she just wanted to swim~~ having dome some tubing the week before. The also went out and hung out with some of his friends.

We went to Kings Canyon National Park so she could see some of the 'big trees' and we also went to Boyden Caves. That was something we hadn't done and it was time well spent. Though I must say that the hike to the caves does have a short but very steep part, and I did have to stop to catch my breath. It was a guided tour and the caverns were amazing.

We took her to San Francisco Airport for her flight back to Ohio last Wednesday. We missed her soon afterwards. Stopped at IKEA on the way home for a few things. We then stopped to visit with oldest son, in Morgan Hill. It was a hard day for him, his cat of 15 years had kidney failure and he was having her put down. She was the sweetest cat, so friendly and loving. We will all miss her.

While doing all this I started a quilting class. I missed the 1st class (vacation) and the last class (Santa Barbara) but will be able to make them up. The instructor has as afternoon class also, and the next 3 weeks there is class. I talked with her, and if I am unable to make those classes (which I will do 2) I have the option of setting up a time and going to her house to finish. Which may be the case as the week of the last class I have jury duty, so that is a wait and see case. I will get my sewing done up to where I am suppose to be, having the center of my quilt pieced together, the next classes will be doing the boarders adding the backing (& batting) and edging.

Now that I have done an update, I will spend a little time catching up on other friends blogs. Having company was great, but my niece can spend hours on the computer~~

It has been and busy but fun time, and now it is just us 2 again and that is ok also!

Will write more about this trip later. It was fun.

Clearing oout.

We cleared out my mom's storage, finally. She has been gone for 4 1/2 years now, it was time. I also figured it was time for me to start thinning out some of my school supplies. This corner, near our garage, is what it looked like the day before the yard sale. Boxes of things! Some were my mom's, not important heirlooms or anything like that, just stuff. Some of it my school supplies. Things I wasn't going to use again. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate teaching for some 22 years. Some of the books I had multiple copies of for my listening center. Yes the district does give you money for supplies, but somethings you just buy out of your own pocket because they don't have purchase orders for those stores. It isn't like you spend it all at one time, it is an accumulation of years of collecting.

We set up the storage when my dad passed away so the 11 1/2 years of dust kicked my asthma up real bad, to the worst it has ever been. It has been very windy here so with the dust and pollen I am looking forward to some cleaner air for a week.

This is the day before the yard sale, setting up. Dan took the (one day a week he works) day off to help me set up and it did take most of the day. The tall book shelf ended up full of some of my curriculum books and children's books I have collected over the years for my classroom. I sent a flier to my former supervisor and she e-mailed it to staff, etc. in the program. Many teachers came out and went through the books, one stayed for 3 hours going through everything. I made a good amount, and that at selling the children's books for .25 cents each. That wasn't half my books. I need to finish going through things and will repeat this in the fall, a couple weeks after school has started. After the initial set up of the classrooms and meeting parents, etc. All the things that go on when school resumes. Except for the curriculum books that didn't sell, everything went to the Salvation Army after the yard sale (the same day). The curriculum books I will sell for $10.00 to a friend of my son's who is studing Child Development.

We cleaned out the shelves in my son's former room and took out the wall to wall shelves and hung them in the garage. Of course that meant cleaning out the going through what was there. Looks much better. Found his legos and washed them in the bathtub. Along with the legos, we found the binder with all the instructions for every set he received. That was a pleasant find as I had forgotten we had set that up for him. It will make it nice for our grandson to be able to reconstruct legos as he can look at the instructions.I still have so much to do, it seems unreal. However, we take a little at a time, and it will get done.

I subbed last week, and when I got home I told my husband I didn't want to do it anymore. Of course, I had decided when I retired last year, that one year of subbing was all I was going to do. I will always miss the children, but I am done with teaching and so far don't really miss much of it. Just the fun parts of activities with the kids.

We now are ready to leave for a weeks vacation tomorrow. We have the boat all hooked up to the truck, the truck is loaded with some of my mom's furniture that will go to my brother. I am looking forward to some boating and relaxing and catching up on some reading. We have no internet or tv at the lake. I can't see paying for cable when we aren't there all the time. We use our cell phones and don't have a landline connection anymore.

It is late and I am still not sleepy so I guess I had better go double check my last minute list.

God Bless I will post some fun pictures when we return.

Kings Canyon

Went to Kings Canyon Nation Park the other day. I have never been there before, and after living here since 1993 it is about time. We took a picnic lunch and just enjoyed the day. However, I must say that if I am going to do any hiking where there is still snow (packed by tourists) I am going to have to get some boots that have traction. I really don't like sliding when I didn't intend to. The first is a view from the road. We went to "Roads End", which is the name of the end of the park. Beyond that is hiking and you need a permit for many of the areas. Below is the Kings River.

I took this one of Dan, while I was inside a fallen tree.

He wanted to get close to the river for some good shots. I need to download his pics now. You can see how treacherous the river is, and this is not the worst we saw of the white water.

Saw lots of the bear signs.

This is the famous "General Grant" tree. The trees were impressive, but after living in and amongst the 'Big Tree's in the sierras, they are just as impressive. I can honestly say I have seen the largest trees in the world, and my family also.
Grizzley Falls.

All in all it was a great day. The caverns opened the weekend after we were there, so we are thinking when my niece comes out this summer (from Ohio) we may just take a trip there a explore the caverns.

Garden items

Planted some carrot seeds earlier in the year. Thought it might be time to pull some. We have been using them, and they are good. However, since we haven't planted carrots before we did not realize they need to be thinned in the garden. You can see the results. We even got a white carrot (albino). Needless to say as it is void of color, it is also void of any kind of flavor, totally tasteless, not even a hint of any flavor. That is a first for us. I will get a little more ambitious next week and pull some more.

This is one of my favorite roses. The blossoms are big, when fully opened. This one is about half way open. I heard a knock on my door last weekend. A gentleman and his young son were driving by and saw the roses, he asked if he could cut one for a bouquet he was putting together for his mother-in-law as it was her birthday. That was admirable of him since most people just take one as they walk by. He was, also, teaching his son a lesson about asking (the boy was around 7). The rose is on the corner, next to the street.




On a more somber note.
We were going downtown to purchase a book. It had rained quite a lot on Tuesday so I didn't want to go out, it was quite a storm. Wednesday they said more rain, but we weren't expecting the same. As we left the house it was beginning to shower some, but not to heavy. By the time we got to the freeway it was a very heavy downpour. Fortunately for us the traffic was light as the shock we were about to get was incrediable. Shortly after entering the freeway Dan made a commet and started to slow down, I looked up and saw this car coming right at us as it was spinning on the freeway. I just knew it was going to hit us, but it didn't it went right by us by a foot and hit the guardrail then bounced back into the middle of the freeway. We had stopped by now, and waited a minute or 2, the car slowly drove to the side of the road. Dan got out to see if she was ok, another truck stopped behind us to see also. I told him I didn't know and that I was calling 911. We were near another exit, I stayed on the phone with 911 as we followed her to a gas station where she pulled in. The dispatcher said there would be an emergency vehicle going to the gas station to make sure she was alright. The car was a mess, the rear end completly smashed in on the left side where she hit. People need to realize when driving in rain like that, slow down. I remember seeing cars going off the road left and right when I lived in snow country. Sometimes even a 4-wheel drive won't help. Caution is very real and senses need to be used. As we drove away from the gas station (after D. got out and talked with her again) D. said "Praise the Lord!" amen to that. God is good!

Rain storm

We had quite a rain storm on Monday. We didn't get any hail, however many surrounding areas did. It was quite a down pour with lots of thunder. You can see the rain on one side of our house, and an amazing rainbow on the otherside of the house. Because the sky was still very gray you cannot see the vivid colors.

Whenever I see the rainbows it reminds me of Gods promises!

Fun, random pictures

I think this is a fun picture of the truck in front of the "Calistoga" bottling plant in Calistoga. They don't have it on, but in the past the 'radiator' had a large spray of water coming out of it. {If you click or double click on any of the pictures they will enlarge} We had a good time at the lake (last week), my brother and his son were there. It rained Sunday night and into Monday. We then had a real good rain early Tuesday morning. Sat. thru Tues. without TV or internet, we did get some radio. We got some reading in, went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" (real cute), drove around and got some work done around the place. It was relaxing. The lake level is up, this is at the county park where we launch the boat.

This at Lakeport park, and this goose isn't just talking, he was going up and really hissing at any and everything that walked by him. Maybe he was protecting his female, there were several other geese around him, plus many ducks in pairs~~ probably mating season.

This gnarly old tree is in the State Park. When my older children were little it was a nice full tree that I used to place the playpen and blanket under and we could enjoy the shade as we played in the water. I believe that many of my family, kids, cousins, parent, grandparents, etc. have memories of being under this tree in the summer. Sad to say it sure doesn't look like it produces much shade anymore, it looks hacked (probably because the large branches were dead and it was a safety issue).

In my front yard the pigeons come to the bird feeder. This is a first ~~ an albino pigeon.

Off to the lake until Tuesday.

Prayer please.

It has been real touchy lately, for our friend, the one who had open heart surgery a few weeks ago. I spent a couple hours with her on Monday, while her husband was at the doctors. She is very tired and doesn't really feel well~~just not doing well. She had another heart attack on Tuesday. Apparently there is nothing more they can do surgically, they will treat her condition with medicines. Two of the arteries they replaced are plugged again. She will come home tomorrow. At this point I ask for prayer for her and her family. Her daughter is a missionary in Indonesia and she will be coming in on Tuesday.
She is a strong Christian and in the past has been very active teaching Bible Studies and ministering to other, now it is time to minister to her and her family.
____________________________
I spent part of my day driving a friend from church around and about, delivering Easter Lilies to shut-ins. She is such a blessing to these people, and I feel privileged to be able to drive her to their houses.

Nice Day

It was in the mid 70's yesterday, and right now it is 74. Yesterday and today Dan decided to work on his Studebaker. He put in the passenger seat today, so now 2 people can ride in his car. Yes, it is drivable and it is insured. In this picture he is doing some adjusting work where the pedals are.



The kitties are not allowed in the bedrooms, however, they still like to give gifts. This was outside my door when I got up this morning. I suspect it was a "gift" from Chloe. At least it isn't a real mouse.
More then one of the kitties made their way outside. Jonah looked both ways and at me as he hid behind the bushes. I let him play a little outside, with Chloe yesterday. It was so nice I didn't want to stay inside, nor do I today.
My purple iris's are blooming. Some are done already.

A friend of mine, at church, is "helping" me to sign up for quilting classes. Bless her, it is something I have wanted to do since the mid 1970's and just haven't quite gotten there yet. So, while sorting through some of my mom's things we have come across some nice fabrics. However, since they have been in storage for sometime I am in the process of washing what I want (to get the musty smell out). I have sold some at yard sales in the past, so what I don't keep will go there. We have, also, found a wealth of sewing supplies, so I am in the process of organizing what I am going to keep. I have not sewn all month, and am wanting to finish some dresses for my granddaughter, do some mending and do some sewing for myself. When the weather is sunny here, I have much more energy and have the gumption to sort. When it is just gray and dull I seem to be listless. Rain, I love, it is just those dull, gray, cold days the central valley is known for.

Today, Keith found out what the insurance will pay him for his bike. They totaled it, so he gets a pay off. I feel bad for him, he so was into his motorcycle. I am grateful that he is alright, and not banged up to bad. God is good.

Have a Blessed day!

Prayer

For those who read this, I am asking for prayer for my son Keith. He has a motorcycle, which he got last spring. He layed it over this afternoon, going around a corner, I don't know all the details as of yet. He is pretty beat up, no broken bones he says. As I type this he is on his way to the doctors so I don't know exactly the extent of everything. He is driving himself to the doctors. He is pretty shaken up. Pray for his physical well being as well as his mental state. What's done is done, I pray nothing more serious will show up at the doctors. Also, for his sake (& mine) pray no one takes the bike and that it is still fixable. He really likes his bike. It is still in the mountains where the accident occurred. Apparently there was a couple that are camping up there somewhere that helped him. They were a God send, God Bless them.

I have a Bible Study tonight, and my husband is going to call me with Keith gets back to him. Until then my stomach will be in knots, as it will be for several days to come. Tomorrow is Friday, if he isn't so stiff he can't move, hopefully he will be able to take care of the insurance, etc.
It is really the pits that we are 4 hours away and waiting, well that stinks.
Doesn't matter how old your kids are, the anxious feelings never go away when they are hurting. You still want to take the pain away.

_________________________
Update

Just got off the phone with him. He is bruised up and going to be very sore. If he is still in pain in a week, the doc. said he may need some physical therapy. He is on his way to the bike and will call AAA to pick up the bike (tow) and take it home. The bike is not ride able at this time. God is good, he is ok.

Asked prayer

A dear friend of ours had triple by-pass surgery on Monday. I am asking for prayer for her recovery from her surgery. We went to visit with her today, after church. Her twin sister was there, we missed her husband. She is still in a lot of pain from the surgery. God willing, we pray her healing goes well and there are no complications. Her name is Marge, and she just turned 80 last month.

Amazing!

Since my last post, both my husband and I have had a birthday. I am still coming to grips that I am in my 60's. What is that suppose to feel like? I have no answer. I read somewhere that "It isn't how old you are, it's how you are old." We are experiencing that and more. The gym we went to has closed, so we need to walk more.

The kids are all grown and living on their own, God is gracious. We are enjoying our "empty nest" and are reinvesting in each other, not that we didn't before. We do miss our children very much and wish they lived closer, but that is not in God's plans at this time. We look forward to visits when they can, and I am planning on going to S. Korea sometime this year to visit with my youngest. My niece is planning on coming for a visit from Ohio, and my oldest and her children are coming out from Colorado, also. We will have the picnic basket and boat in order by then.

I am enjoying my Beth Moore Bible Study, and it is helping me meet more of the new women at our church. I didn't go last week because our son came up from Santa Barbara to get somethings to furnish his new place. He had been renting a room from some friends and recently moved into a small studio apt. on his own. We helped him to furnish it and get kitchen things together, including a couple basic type cookbooks. His place has a tiny kitchen with no stove. They provided him with a burner (portable) and microwave. We purchased, for him, a toaster/convection oven. We were also able, through the generous donation from on of my husbands dear friends) give him a small couch and dining table. Those, along with his bed fill the place up, so he has told us. We went grocery shopping to get him some very basic items to stock his kitchen, plus some extra. He paid extra for food where he was before and only purchased his lunch stuff, but he did that when he lived at home.

The weather here has been gray and overcast much of the winter, with rain. There has been some sun, but not a lot. We are now caught up on rainfall, however, with 3 years of drought we are still behind.
I am posting these pictures, because I think they are just amazing: the rainbow I took after Thanksgiving. After rainstorms here we can have amazing rainbows, usually two and you can see them from end to end.

This one, taken the end of January. Usually we don't get amazing sunsets, but this one was quite colorful. Not as brilliant on film as seen by the naked eye. Still amazing.
God can make beautiful pictures and we can look at them and be so blessed by His handiwork!

God Bless

Santa Barbara Trip, Jan. 2010

Some of the pictures from our trip to Santa Barbara. Pictures are of the beach clean up of yachts/boats destroyed by Januarys storm. Pictures taken at the Presidential Library. Note the picture of Reagan created out of 10,000 Jelly Belly's. And the Santa Barbara Mission and a couple of fun ones. Check out the massive root system on the fig tree. I took one picture at the mission and the larger one at the train station. The homeless have set up housekeeping between the roots of the tree for protection from the weather, at the train station. Picture 9, with the blue and butterfly is an acutal piece of the Berlin Wall that was presented to President and Mrs. Reagan.

Oh My!

Again, almost a month since my last post. I have started several times but something else always took me away, and when you share a computer it isn't always your turn when you have a thought to post.

Let me back up a bit. Our Christmas was good. Before Christmas my husbands sister and her husband stopped for a visit on their way from Vancouver, WA to San Diego and again in early Jan. on their way home. We had a good visit both times. Our youngest son was here for Christmas and we had a good visit. On the 1st of the year our oldest and her family were here for a few days. Always good to see them and our grandchildren. A week after they left both our boys were here for a few days, and Eric's girlfriend also (we get along well, very nice). So we had an open door for a few weeks. My husbands words after the boys left were "Well, I guess the holidays are finally over for us." I guess so, what could I say.

Toward the end of the month we went to Santa Barbara to visit with Keith and do some sight seeing. I posted a few pictures, of course afterwards I remembered~~ they post backwards from how you put on. So here goes.

The day we went home we went to the Santa Barbara Mission. We had gone in August when we were there, but not inside. This time we went inside. It was a nice visit, but very much like the others we have seen except for the personal touches, and that it is much larger then some of the other missions. Of course, not to mention that when you look out to the ocean the view is still fantastic. It is the oldest mission still in use in Calif. They have mass as well as it is used for "religious" conferences, etc.
..
.The second day we were there we went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. That was amazing. I have not visited any and I wanted to see this after watching a special on TV about it. It is the only presidential library that has an actual retired Air Force One plane housed there.
It is the same plane that Reagan used during his presidency. He flew over 600,000 hours in this plane (don't remember the exact number ~~ though we told it). We did get a chance to go inside, though they allow no photography inside. The reason being is that (even though told not to) people will forget to turn the flash off on their camera's. As you know, flash photography can ruin artifacts, over time. To date, his is the only PL that has an actual sized replica of the oval office, nice. The first PL started with Hoover. There are 2 in Calif. the rest are either in the Midwest or back east somewhere.

The day we arrived, it was to early to check into our hotel room, so we went to the beach to see some of the sights. This is what we saw, clean up of some of the boats/yachts that were destroyed in the previous weeks storm. K posted some pictures on his Facebook the day after the storm that showed many beached vessels. If you click on any of the pictures you can see more detail.

So sad.

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Hit something and lost much of my post.

I am getting back into activities at church. I have recently joined the Thurs. eve Women's Bible study. We are doing a Beth Moore Bible Study, entitled 'Breaking Free.'

I am also going back to SS with my hubby. I kinda enjoyed having a little time to myself Sunday mornings, but my reason for not going (initially) is now going elsewhere. It was someone whose style I didn't enjoy, but that excused ended a long time ago. Besides, since we got a new pastor 2 years ago many new people have joined and I do not know them, so how else but by being a little more social and attending events, etc.

Today I am sorting some of my teacher stuff, getting ready for a yard sale I hope to have in March sometime. I will make fliers and take them to the office, or, my supervisor said to e-mail them and she will make copies to give to all the teaching staff in the Child Dev.

I also list my yard sales on Craig's list.

Later I will do a slide show of some of my pictures from my visit. Much to do today.

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God Bless and have a Great Day!

Lots of rain!

Quite the day for storms. Storm # 3 this week rolled in with lots of wind and bursts of rain. It rained most of the day. They are all lined up in the pacific. I listen to the news and how they "cry" at the outages, etc. that go on here, never quite prepared. I feel for those in S. Cal in the fire ravaged area with the mud slides, etc. going on. Calif. seriously needs the rain that is falling, unfortunately causing havoc for many.