Father's Day at Huntington Lake

This year for Father's Day we celebrated with friends up in the mountains. Our friends, the Co family, invited us to join them for a weekend at Huntington Lake. We had a great time relaxing, taking a short hike, cooking some great meals, and renting some paddle boats to take out on the lake! I thank God for the wonderful man he gave to me as my husband! He is an amazing dad to our children, whether they need hugs or kisses before bed, a hand to hold on their way to school, lessons on how to ride a bike, or even discipline. And he is such a great role model to so many boys at our church as he gives his time leading 5th and 6th graders in Bible studies, and hanging out college guys over coffee, dinner, a run or a round of golf! I am so proud of Randy, especially because he takes time to grow closer to his Heavenly Father, and truly wants to know Christ and be like Christ as we raise our children. Happy Father's Day!

Us...on the move, the last 2 weeks

So a couple things have happened in the past 2 weeks since my mom left town. Thursday, June 11th was the last day of school for the kids! Audrey completed her last day of 2nd grade. Isaac finished his last day of kindergarten. They had a BBQ lunch for all the kinder teachers, kids and their families. The kids performed a couple dances too. Unfortunately, all the flyers that went home said 11:15 was the start time...but the teachers started the dancing at 11 (long story). There were a lot of disappointed parents running into the kinder playground with video cameras in hand, ON TIME at 11:15 only to see them finish up and say "Thanks for coming. That's our show. Get in line for the burgers." So...as God has gifted me with forthrightness (is that a word?), I spoke on behalf of the disgruntled parents (myself included) to have them play the songs again after lunch. What ensued was quite chaotic. But considering that the first time they did the songs Isaac was pouting and near tears, standing under the tree, not dancing because "My mommy and daddy aren't here" (we heard this from his teacher, when we got there ON TIME at 11:15), I didn't care. Isaac was happy to show off his dances for my camera, even in the midst of the chaos. Here's the hukilau. And the makarena. Good job Isaac! After bringing all the kids home from school we bundled up to head to Kings' Canyon with some friends for a couple days. It was pretty chilly, never getting above mid-60s, but lots of fun none-the-less! The boys went on an adventure to find a geo-cache of toys...unfortunately, no luck. We took walks through the Azalea and Sunset campgrounds. Isaac played with sticks and Audrey played with the Schlesselman's dog, Daisy. We also hiked to Ella Falls, visited the ranger station, had a warm campfire every night, and just played and played. Violet loves camping! We got home Sunday afternoon but, since Randy had the day off Monday as well, we got the chance to unpack, relax and rest before getting "back to normal" on Tuesday. But after a couple days of "normal" summer, we were ready to head back up to the mountains. Friday we headed up the 168 to Huntington Lake with the Co family and stayed for the weekend in their cabin (see above post). And today we started a week of mornings at VBS, afternoons at swim lessons, and evening with who knows what else? I'll keep you posted. Hope everyone is having a good summer so far!

A visit from Grandma!

This past week and a half has been a blur. The closer we get to the last day of school (Thursday), the more hectic the kids' schedule seems to get! What better way to make it through but have my mom here to help! My mom, however, didn't fly all the way from Kansas just to help me get things done for a week. She also came to see her mom and, of course, the grandkids. We had a great week! Here's a quick summary of everything we did...Mom flew in Friday night, May 29. Saturday morning we spoke together at my church's mother-daughter brunch. When the church ladies were planning the brunch and asked me to speak they jokingly said, "Wouldn't it be great to have both you AND your mom share being that it's a mother-daughter brunch?" I told them that she was already planning to come to Fresno on the last week of May, so they up and moved the date of the brunch in order to coordinate us speaking together! I thought it very apropos that we centered our talk around an object lesson from the Bible (2 Timothy 2:20-21) considering my mom can see an object lesson in just about anything that occurs in nature, in a movie, or just everyday life! Sunday we drove to Visalia to join my Grandma Meredith for church and lunch (at Las Palmas, of course), but managed to make it back for a birthday party in the evening. Monday and Tuesday were filled with trips to school, the grocery store, the dentist, the quilt store, antique stores, La Boulangerie, Gottschalks, baking strawberry lemonade cupcakes and more. Wednesday we headed to Visalia to help my Grandma with some cleaning around her house and yard and a quick lunch, but made it home to pick up the kids in the afternoon, take Isaac to karate lessons, and pick up Chinese food for dinner. And even after all that my mom still didn't feel productive enough (boy, my mom's got energy)! So...to OSH we headed Wednesday night to buy a can of paint for my bedroom (I picked a color months ago and had yet to get around to painting). Thursday morning we managed to prep the room and finish a first coat before the kids got home from school. Violet enjoyed wiping down walls, as you can see! Randy had Friday off and was able to take care of the kids for the day so my mom and I could return to Visalia for one more visit with Grandma. My mom's two sisters were also able to join us for lunch...a real treat (L-R) My mom Janice, her mom Verle Meredith, her older sister Michele, her younger sister Jane. Friday evening we finished the room and put it back together. I still need to pick a white to re-paint the door frames, baseboards, and window shutters, but it looks fantastic so far! Saturday was our last full day together and we made it like a true vacation day! We started with breakfast at Mimi's. Then we headed over to Edwards Theater for the first showing of Up. This movie was so fantastic! It had a great storyline, gorgeous colors, and a fabulous message. There were a couple scary parts (mean, growling dogs that chase people) that would frighten small children but Violet made it OK as long as she was on Grandma's lap. If you have the chance, young or old, go see this movie while it is still in the theater! After the movie we headed home for lunch and some relaxing time in the backyard for the afternoon. For dinner, the kids wanted to treat Grandma to Ginza Gourmet Teriyaki. And we ended our day reading the last chapter of Toys Go Out, a book Grandma brought with her and read to the kids every night before bed. The kids were very sad to see Grandma leave on Sunday morning (they were barely awake when she kissed them goodbye at 6 a.m.) but we are counting down the days before we leave to drive to Kansas!