Sacramento- The Backyard

6 Boys and 1 Girl for a week

There was a lot of superhero play but she never seemed to mind. We had some good laughs our last night. Larry and I had all the kids and we spent a good hour outside taking videos of the kids and their skits. they loved it and Larry got into it too.

San Francisco

This is the view as we headed toward Fisherman's Wharf

Aboard the S.S. Jeremiah

Alcatraz

YUMMY!!!

Golden Gate Bridge State Park- One of the first Children's playground in the USA

It was cold and foggy by the time we got to the bridge. So sad to not get a better view.

We finished our day at Boudin's. You can watch them make the best sourdough you have ever tasted. We bought an alligatorshaped loaf to take home and share with the Dickerson's. We made homemade tomato soup from their garden to eat with it!

Sacramento

We headed to stay with our friends the Dickerson's in Sacramento after camping at Lake Tahoe. They have four boys pregnant with their fifth child and hosted us for a week. They have a 3b/1b house, it was small but one of our best times on the trip. They left everything they knew and moved to CA about a year ago. We knew we were supposed to go and encourage them and love on them on our trip. They did the same for us. It was a unity of the Spirit of God that cannot be understood outside of the Body of Christ. It is an eternal love and affection for one another that can only be felt if you share in the knowledge and saving power of Jesus. It is described in Ephesians. It is a mystery that we have only skimmed the surface of and it is precious!

Ok so that being said we explored Sacramento and San Francisco while we were there. The Zoo had a free day and we took all the kids. It was a breezy morning and it didn't take us very long to go through the Zoo. Highlights were the Lion, Jaguar and the orangutan hiding in a box. Wish I would have gotten that photo.

Today

We are in New Mexico today. We spent the whole day (10 hours) driving on Friday and it was one of the easiest drives. The kids did great and we were here by dinner. We filled the driving day with school, worship, prayer and great tunes. It was a wonderful time for us all.

We left Carpinteria after being there for two weeks. Addie and Doug were wonderful hosts and we are so thankful that they allowed us to stay as long as we did. The time we had to meet with the family from Roatan Honduras and other families from their church and neighborhood was great. Doug is a grill master and the tri-tip in Cali is so good! We have got to get the grill up and going again in GA so you guys can taste some of it. It is served with guacamole and salsa. We had avocado's everyday. A friend of hers down the street has an avocado tree. We got over $40 in avocados in one trip. The tree they say is touched by God because it produces all year long. We swam in the pool almost daily and went tot the beach a couple of times. We wouldn't mind taking a trip back to visit when we can find a good flight. We really enjoyed the relaxed way of living. It is very laid back and the towns are quite small on the coastlands. You start to meet people fast and then you see them often because everything is so small. One of my favorite treats was playing BUNCO. What a great idea for fellowship. I am hoping to do something like it in GA when I get back. It provides ladies to get together, eat and play without the kiddos! We got together with people from their church a couple of times each week we were there. Our last night was visiting with a family that lives one street away from the main drag. The ladies all went for a walk and stopped by the $1 taco joint on the way back. I can't put into words how much I love having everything so close. You barely need a car! Nothing like the suburbs of GA. I had no idea what I was missing.

Alright kids are ready to get going and I am holding up the fun!

**Please pray for Sean his cold is now in his chest and we had a very rough night. He is now wheezing and even though we are praying my mind is still trying to figure out how to get a nebulizer and treatment. Please pray that my faith will rise and that we will know when we need to do something more then just steam baths and homeopathic remedies.

Afternoons at Lake Tahoe

Not only was camping so much easier at Lake Tahoe we as a family had some great time together playing, laughing and relaxing. Sean took naps on the beach every day. We also met some great people at the campsite next to us and we had a family game night with them. Just being us wherever we go. We love to have people over so that is what we did even camping.

Lake Tahoe Hike- Cascade Falls

Oh, what happy faces you see. What a beautiful landscape to behold. THE HARDEST HIKE!!! The volunteer who told me about this hike must have had her hikes confused because she said the kids would do great. It was a easy to moderate hike. She was very mistaken.We did not get very many pictures of this hike. It was very steep and right on a cliff. The hike in to the falls was about a mile but we were exhausted. We took quite a bit of time at the top to just sit. It is a great hike for adults and older teens but not little children.

Lake Tahoe Hike- Eagle Falls

We walked a short half mile to the falls. The hardest part of this hike was finding a parking spot ;) After seeing the falls we crossed the BUSY street to explore the rocks and view on the other side. The kids played in the water here under the bridge. It is a great spot for families with small children.

Signal Mountain

We remembered the name of this mountain because in the whole trip we had the best service while on this mountain. We stayed an additional 15 minutes just to check e-mail, text and make update the blog :)

Our Favorite Hike- Hidden Falls

 Driving from Colter Bay to Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park. GORGEOUS!! We were not able to make the 2.5 mile hike to Hidden Falls around Jenny lake so we took the boat across the lake and hiked not quite a mile to the falls.

 Hidden falls. The cool breeze and the shaded area for us to sit and just enjoy the falls was delightful. Then we took two wooden bridges towards an inspiration point. We made it about .4 miles and the steep grade was just too tough for the kids. So we had to turn around and head back.

 We stopped by the falls again then held hands back to the boat. I am so glad Larry caught this photo. It reminds me of my cousins when they were little and a painting that my Gram did of the picture.

 Part of the falls as they followed the trail back to the boat.

This is the view while the kids waded in the lake after we ate lunch.

One last gorgeous photo to leave you with!