The Last Supper

Angie & Eliza

Wednesday night we had dinner with our cousins and the Carrols one last time. It was a great dinner and we had fun watching the kids shoot off a water rocket and visiting. We have really enjoyed getting to know them and we are already missing them!

The boys had so much fun launching the rocket.

Daniel didn't get his very high the first time.

Ben and Daniel are such little hams. They are going to miss each other.

Eliza & Aunt Marylyn

Aunt Marylyn and Uncle Ron came out to stay with our cousins while their mom and dad went to Europe. It was so much fun to visit with them and I really appreciate all the help they gave us while we were getting all the moving stuff taken care of.

The Dads and their little princesses.
Scott & Elyse, Scott & Anna, Andy & Eliza

The cousins minus Anna and Bradley since he was hiding!

Scott and Diana were so good to let a spend a couple of nights at their house. They are better than a 5 star hotel! There were mints on the towels and we got waffles fresh off the iron! We have really enjoyed their friendship. Good luck Scott!

May 5, 2010

Katie & Kyle

Here are the long awaited pictures of Kyle. We all really like him.
We think he is a keeper. :)

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These are the three duets they preformed for us. I think they have a lot of fun together. What do you think?

On the Road Again...

Last Tuesday the movers came to box everything up. They got done soon enough to have the movers come pick everything up the same day. It was amazing! We were able to schedule the carpet cleaners to come a day early and got all the cleaning done. It was nice to be able to leave Thursday morning instead of that evening.

Mom and the kids ready to start the road trip.

This is the cute pig plate I got from a friend, so I had to add it.

The stuff in the garage

The Jamaican movers, they worked fast!

Cody, Ashley and Grace
Good luck on your residency Cody!

May 4-6, 2010

Road trip on Highway 101

Andy had a Friday off because he got an award at work. We wanted to see some more of the Giant Redwoods, so we took advantage of the three day weekend. On the way out there we saw a Lamborghini on the road. We knew that Ben, my nephew would love to see it, so we got some pictures. It was fun to try getting the "best" picture possible.

Bradley just kept saying, "Cool car!"

As we passed the "cool" car.

Looking at the car in the mirror.

We also saw this hot air balloon. We asked the boys if they wanted to fly in one some day. The vote was unanimous, so I guess that means we are going to have to go some day.

We stopped at Calistoga, CA to see the geyser. There are only three geysers in the world that are "faithful" or consistent when they erupt. This one erupts about every 5 minutes. The water comes out at something like 360 degrees!

They also had some Tennessee fainting goats, some Jacob four horned sheep and a couple of llamas. We couldn't get the goats to faint, and believe me we tried!

I love Daniel walking around with his sunglasses on.

We loved seeing all the spring flowers. They were beautiful.

Getting ready to get back on the road. We loved how the flag looked flying against the blue sky.

I am not sure what the orange flowers are called, but they looked so pretty with the blue bonnets.

I miss seeing all the blue bonnets in Texas.

We drove out through Napa Valley to get to highway 101. There are so many vineyards out there. If you haven't been there you should definitely go. It is really pretty country!

Along the way we had to stop to feed Eliza and Bradley had to find a bush. The boys went on a hike down by the river. They made little boats to race. While we were at the river there was a Big Foot sighting...

Don't worry... we got Daniel back unharmed! :)

April 16-17, 2010

Ave of the Giants

After visiting Muir woods the first of the month, we decided to head up the coast to see more Giant Redwoods. A friend told us about the Ave Of The Giants, a road that runs parallel to highway 101. He said is was very scenic and had some really big trees, so we decided to check it out.

This map shows the beginning of the Ave of the Giants.

The Ave of the Giants winds through different groves of Giant Redwoods, Douglas Firs and Giant Sequoias. In each grove you can pull over and walk on trails through the trees.

I can't remember which grove this was, but it was beautiful!

It was amazing to see the size of these trees. You get a whole new perspective seeing them laying on the ground.

Andy took this looking straight up the trunk of this tree. I like the way it turned out!

Oh...how cute!

We loved all the little bridges crossing this little creek!

The boys "fishing".

Another massive tree on the ground! Andy is standing down by the bottom and it still reaches way above his head. He actually climbing inside the trunk a little ways.

This is the same tree about 60 feet out... still massive!

The boys loved this stump. They were pretending it was their castle that they had to protect.

"Mom look how high we are!"

This was a very impressive giant!

Climbing up for the adventure.

"Muscles!"

Andy said it was amazing to look down the tree and see how many other trees it took out when it fell. We decided it would be a spectacular experience to watch one of these giants fall. (From a safe distance of course!)

The guys walked about 50-60 from the base to where a section of tree was cut out to allow people to stay on the pat.

Bradley jumping down. He is so fearless!

Daniel was too scared to just jump because it was so high. He just sort of leaned down.

Eliza and I in front of the section they jumped off. I am roughly 5' 5''.

We really enjoyed walking among these giants. I can understand why there are so many people who devote their time and energy into saving the trees. I am continually amazed at the vast variety there is in the creations the Lord has made for us to enjoy. Surely that proofs how very much He loves us!

Driving down the Ave of the Giants, or maybe this is highway 101. I can't remember, but both were very beautiful to drive!

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This is a short clip trying to show the size of some of the trees. This is at the grove we walked through.