Thanksgiving Blessings!

We were so excited to have a full house for Thanksgiving! Grammy flew in from Arizona, then Steve, Krystal and Lilly! Then came Eric and Stacey, and finally Kristy made if after Cody went to San Luis to pick her up and tow her broken car home.

On Thanksgiving Day we had all the family from Sacramento come for several days of eating, game playing, visiting the beach and Monterey Aquarium. Even Eric's family and best friend, Jeff, were able to come for a day. What a blessing to have everyone together, including all grandparents!

The highlight of our time together was celebrating the marriage of Steven to Krstyal in August and welcoming Krystal and Lilly to the family! We held a little reception for friends and family that could come. It turned out to be a very special afternoon.

Papa (Mark) and GG (Grandma Gayle) are enjoying their new role to 6 year old Lilly!

One of our alpacas, Zsa Zsa added to all the excitement and gave birth early to a darling 11 pound male cria that we have yet to name!

The blessing of the one and only dog we have ever had, Annie, sadly ended when she died peacefully after the busy week. We were glad she got to see Steven one last time since she really was his 15th birthday present. We will treasure the memories of our beloved golden retreiver.

Fall Frolicking

We weren't empty nesters for long when Mark had to learn to be a bachelor again! I made a trip to Florida to visit Eric and Stacey. I really enjoyed our time together. I loved helping out in Stacey's classroom and got to meet her sweet kids. Her job is really demanding but she is doing a great job. I was invited to join their couple's Bible study and to friend's home for dinner where the highlight was trying out a harp! Stacey and I went to St. Augustine's for a day which was lots of fun. Eric and I had some time to bond together on the long trip to the airport. Unfortunately, it involved visiting with a police officer!

After being home from that trip for a week, I led a trip to the East Coast with middle school students. It was so much fun to tour Boston, Philadelphia, the Amish and New York, including a Broadway show.


Our first Halloween without kids but it didn't stop Mark from carving a pumpkin or me from pulling out my special costume!Our caretakers at the ranch, Sam and Cody, came over to show us their new truck they bought to modify for off roading. Apparently, they have spent too much time in Prunetucky as they have become total rednecks!

Kristy Moves to SLO!

We had a barbeque the day before Kristy left for Cal Poly. She was given a 'dorm' that is really a condo for transfer students. She and her 3 roommates have a living room, kitchen, 2 bathrooms and each a private bedroom. Hers has a great view of the horse barn, pond, and hillside.
Annaka is from San Luis and Laura is from Minnesota. The fourth roommate is from San Clemente and hadn't arrived yet. This first week is WOW! - Week of Welcome. Classes don't start for another week so hopefully she'll have time to get settled in and make some friends. It's very quiet at home without her but we know she'll love this experience!

Cruising the Mediterranean

In honor of our 30th anniversary we splurged and went on a Mediterranean cruise! The whole experience was fantastic. Leaving from Rome, we visited Monte Carlo-Livorno, Italy-Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca-Tunisia-Palermo, Sicily and Naples. This first harbor is Monte Carlo. It was a spectacular day and we walked all over the city, gardens and ocean front.
This little village doesn't have cars, just boats! It was drizzly but warm. This area is called Cinque Terra because it is five lands that terrace the hillsides with vineyards. The last photo is a picture of the terraced hillsides with grapes ready to harvest the next week.
This is the view from the deck in our room as we were coming into Naples. We had lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets on this trip!

Visit from the Austrians

We were happy to have Ernst and Ingrid and their family and friends from Austria come visit for several days. Ingrid was my family's exchange student when we were in high school!
We were able to visit them when we went to Europe last summer.










The penguins and jelly fish are some of our favorie exhibits.





A visit to the Monterey Peninsula would not be complete with out going to the aquarium and hiking at Point Lobos.
This fat little squirrel packed in several dog cookies that I found in my pocket!

San Diego, Catalina Island and Ensenada Mexico!

Dad enjoyed going to the museum behind this HUGE statue of the famous photo. It is in San Diego and called the USS Midway.
We took a taxi out to La Bufadora, a natural blow hole that you can see only fizzled when we were there. The trip out was about 20 miles and was pretty sad to see such poverty.
Overall, it was a great time with family and friends, relaxing, sight seeing and EATING!

Cruising to Mexico!

On July 16, 35 of us went on a 5 day cruise to celebrate Educational Resources of Monterey County's tenth anniversary! The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time!
Grandpa enjoyed all the food. Marilyn was not feeling well the entire week and actually ended up in emergency on the way home due to a pinched nerve.


Catalina Island was very fun to explore. We rented a golf cart with the McGowan's and were able to see where the recent fire was, check out expensive homes and enjoy incredible views!

Summertime in Salinas.

Annie, almost 13, making her morning trek up our long driveway to bring up the newspaper. She is completely deaf and her legs often give out. We don't want to think about not having her around.
Phil and Diane, Matthew and friend Micah came down from Portland for a visit. We had a great time together and enjoyed a fun dinner at Kianti's in Santa Cruz.
Here's our freshly painted home decked out for the Fourth of July! We had a great view of fireworks all over the valley.

Family Times

On Father's Day, we drove to Sacramento to celebrate with my parents and Jim's family. Gracie was about to turn two so she got to open some gifts early, with Noah's help!
It was 97 degrees there and when we arrived home 3 hours later, it was 30 degrees cooler!






Stacey came home for a quick visit after her school let out in Florida. Eric wasn't able to come with her but she had fun playing Hand and Foot with Grandma and Grandpa, visiting friends from Santa Cruz and filling her suitcase with goodies from California!