Some Highlights from our Yosemite Trip

Seeing as I took over 350 pictures of our Yosemite trip, I could only put on some of the highlights, and even those took up a lot of space! We can't begin to tell you how much fun we had on this trip. It was our longest stay at the park (a whole week!), and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  This is one of the most beautiful places God created.

This is on the Vernal Falls lookout bridge.  You can see the falls from here, but if you hike further up on the Mist Trail, you can go to the top.

Lower Yosemite Falls

We had a thunderstorm, with hail and all.

Cooped up in the camper for about an hour.

Vernal Falls

Top of Vernal Falls

Mirror Lake

Our friends, Lou, Brian & Michelle and their 2 kids went to Yosemite as well.

It's a BEAR!!!!  He found a cooler that wasn't locked up in the bear box, opened the cooler lid and pulled out some sour cream.  Yelling and honking weren't going to scare this guy away. Finally a park ranger sprinted at him and chased him away.

This one's for Mike and Kelly.  Notice the cup!?!

Tom and Kelly took advantage of the free art classes offered at the park.

Kelly inherited her Dad's artistic ability.

Upper Yosemite Falls

One of the meadows.  I think it was Cook's, but I'm not sure.

Half Dome

Community Chapel

This is a popular photography shot.  I took a class held by the Ansel Adams Photographic Art Gallery. We walked to various locations where Ansel himself shot some famous photographs.

Nevada Falls is about 2 miles above Vernal Falls.  We hiked by this on our way to Half Dome.

This is Half Dome where you can climb the cable ladder to the top.  We hiked about 10 miles to get there. It was a long hike, but worth it. Kelly even made it!

She was, however, apprehensive about making the climb to the top.  Tom took her about halfway when her little hands got too tired.  Maybe we'll make it up next time!

(If you click on the picture, you might be able to see them. They're almost in the middle above the clump of people.)

Above are a few of the magnificent views from the bottom of Half Dome.

Kelly even found some snow to play in!

Making our way back down from our long journey. Only a few miles left to go! Boy, were we tired after 20 miles of hiking all day.

Mandi's attempt at shooting Half Dome at sunset.

While Mandi waited for an hour to capture the sunset, Tom, Kelly and Lou explored. This gauge shows how high the waters have gotten.

On our last morning I tried to capture some sunrise shots of Half Dome.

Throughout the week we saw lots of mule deer.  They graze in the meadows and don't seem to be scared of people. I was pretty close to this one.

I captured this shot of El Capitan on our way out of the valley.  Bye, Yosemite!

Getting Closer....

Yosemite Movies

Kelly found some leftover snow!

Tom shot this video after we returned from our Half Dome hike.

Back from Yosemite

We had the greatest time at Yosemite! The weather was perfect-we even got to experience a hailstorm one afternoon! I have over 350 pictures to download, so it may take a little while to post the good ones.  I'll do a few ASAP just to wet your appetites!

Okay, so I couldn't go to sleep without downloading my pictures and movies. Yes, I said movies because we bought a handheld digital camera just for our trip.  Here's the first picture I took as we drove into the valley.  Breathtaking, isn't it?

Our New Honda

Today Tom took Kelly for a spin on her new Honda trail bike.  She had so much fun.

They rode around our backyard.

Then Kelly had the seat all to herself.  Tom helped you get used to it.

Then she rode it herself.  Look at Tom's face-what a proud moment!

She got the hang of it!

Root Beer Time!!!

Tom has been brewing a little homemade root beer in his free time. Last night he decided it was time to break it out.

Look at that smile!  He was so proud.

Servin' it up!

Everyone gave it a try.

Tom's been storing up the small brown bottles, so finally he got to fill one.

Cheers, everyone!

Anniversary Part 2

On Saturday night, Tom took me to 333 Pacific, a new restaurant in town.  It was one of the best places we've ever eaten.  The service was great, and the food was fabulous.  The prices were what one would expect at such a nice place, but definitely worth it!  I would highly recommend this place to anyone who's in the area.

The restaurant is under all of those new condos they built by the pier.

I managed to catch the end of the sunset.  It was gorgeous.

After dinner we had a nice stroll on the pier.  What a wonderful night that I was treated to.

Happy Anniversary

It was 11 years ago today that Tom and I were married.  We have been so blessed to have a beautiful, smart daughter, a wonderful family and great friends.  We are thankful for all that God has done in our lives.

Last night during our normal Friday night gathering Tom surprised me with some flowers and a cake.  I am so lucky to have him!

We shared this beautiful cake with all of our friends.

Easter Dinner

We shared a delicious dinner with our friends, Lou, Brian & Michelle and the kids. I made ham, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rice pilaf and broccoli. Tom baked some yummy bread, and Michelle brought some gingerbread and chai.  It was a great night.

Michelle, Brian, Tom and Lou enjoy the meal.  If you look closely, you'll see yellow name cards on the table. Kelly wanted to make these.

The kids enjoyed their meal at the coffee table.

Dressed Up for Easter

Before heading to church Sunday morning I made Kelly pose for a few pictures. The sun was in our eyes, but the flowers were so pretty....

Praise Report

Many of you know that we have been waiting for Tom's new assignment, as his job in Coronado is coming to an end.  Well, today we finally found out that Tom will be assigned to Miramar. He will have to commute, but we will be able to stay in Oceanside!  God is so good and we are ecstatic about the news. Thank you to all who have been praying for us. God answers prayers!

Balboa Park

Tuesday was free museum day at Balboa Park, so we headed down to San Diego with our friends. Even though the Museum of Natural History was packed (spring break is in full swing), we managed to have a good time.  Tom was even able to "escape" from work for a little while to meet us at the park.  We also checked out the botanical gardens and ate lunch at the Spreckels Amphitheater.  It was a fun, though exhausting day!

Our little girl's getting so big!

Annie, Kelly and Emma are great buddies.

Couldn't help but post this picture of Tom pointing to the sign.

He sure is fabulous!!! (at least I think so!)

Tom explains how the swinging pendulum works when we were at the Museum of Natural History.

"Lemonade"

On Wednesday Kelly's second grade class performed the musical, "Lemonade".  It's a cute story about a bunch of fairy tale characters who are having a bad day.  Kelly played the part of Little Bo Peep and Jack's mother.

You can see Chicken Little and Little Red Riding Hood on either side of Kelly. There's also Mother Goose, Rapunzel and some piggies on the right.

Our Little Performer

Kelly did a great job with her lines, but our shy girl would not look up while she was speaking or singing.

The music teacher, Mrs. Ward told us how hard our little performers worked to learn their parts.

St. Patty's Day Feast (a few days early)

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a few days early since the holiday falls on a weekday.  Our friends, Lou, Brian and Michelle, Rob and Kristin and everyone's kids came over Sunday night for food and fellowship.  There were 14 of us altogether!

You can't celebrate St. Patty's Day without some corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots! We cooked everything in a gigantic pressure cooker.  It took less than 2 hours and was still so tender.

We didn't have enough seating, so the adults sat at one table, the kids at the coffee table.  From left going clockwise-Tom, Lou, Kristin, Rob, Brian, Michelle, Mandi.  Maddie didn't want to be in the picture, so she was the photographer.

The kids' table-Kelly, Evelyn, Emma, Andrew (being silly, as usual!), Annie and Jedidiah.

Awana

Kelly's been attending Awana for about a month now, and tonight she earned her second jewel! For those of you who aren't familiar with Awana, it's like Bible club or vacation bible school all year round. The kids have relays or games and Bible class.  Each week they recite Bible verse(s) that they've memorized, and after they've finished a section of their book, they earn a jewel. Kelly's whizzing through her book and is constantly reciting verses.  Right now she's working on the New Testament.  Boy, I sure wish I could remember as much as this kid!

Here she is showing off her new vest.

The set of wings was the first thing she earned. Then she earned the red jewel.  Tonight she received the green one.

On Friday Kelly's school had Dr. Seuss Day. The kids in Kelly's class made foot puppets, played Dr. Seuss bingo and decorated hats with chocolate icing, cheese spray, pretzels and goldfish.  I helped with the activities.

I read The Foot Book and then the kids traced their feet and decorated them.

Here's Kelly tracing her foot.

Here's her finished foot.

This was the chocolate icing, cheese spread activity.

Kelly's teacher, Mrs. Gelvin read Horton Hears a Who to the class before snack.

Fishing on the Pier

On Sunday night we went fishing with the Selings on the Oceanside Pier. There weren't a lot of bites, but the kiddos (and the dads) had a great time. Little Annie was the only one to hook a fish.

Kelly was very excited to be going fishing.

She even touched the anchovy bait.

Tom had to give her a hand.

She's waiting patiently and she's cold.  The evening was brisk and windy.

A nighttime shot of the pier.